Rebecca MacKinnon's Avatar

Rebecca MacKinnon

@rebecca-mackinnon

Working for a better internet that enables everyone, everywhere, to thrive. Posting as myself, not representing anyone else’s views.

2,911
Followers
1,346
Following
128
Posts
27.11.2024
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by Rebecca MacKinnon @rebecca-mackinnon

Preview
How to Organize Safely in the Age of Surveillance From threat modeling to encrypted collaboration apps, we’ve collected experts’ tips and tools for safely and effectively building a group—even while being targeted and tracked by the powerful.

“If your (Signal) group has more than 50 people in it, it's not a private space for communication,” EFF’s @evacide told @WIRED. Keep truly sensitive information to the smallest possible groups, or to one-on-one communications. www.wired.com/story/how-to...

19.02.2026 21:26 👍 137 🔁 62 💬 4 📌 3

Will this event be recorded?

19.02.2026 03:15 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

👀

19.02.2026 03:12 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
The Internet Still Works: Wikipedia Defends Its Editors Section 230 helps make it possible for online communities to host user speech: from restaurant reviews, to fan fiction, to collaborative encyclopedias. But recent debates about the law often overlook

@Wikipedia.org gets hundreds of legal demands every year to remove user-written content. Less than 1% get granted. We spoke with @wikimediafoundation.org about how they protect editors, and how Section 230 makes that possible. www.eff.org/pages/inter...

09.02.2026 21:59 👍 133 🔁 51 💬 0 📌 2
Preview
Beware: Government Using Image Manipulation for Propaganda U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week posted a photo of the arrest of Nekima Levy Armstrong, one of three activists who had entered a St. Paul, Minn. church to confront a pastor who

Any reputable journalism organization would fire someone who manipulated a photo this way; many have done exactly that. It’s a shame our government can’t adhere to such a basic ethical and moral code too. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

30.01.2026 01:03 👍 185 🔁 80 💬 5 📌 6
How Proportional Representation Could End Gerrymandering
How Proportional Representation Could End Gerrymandering YouTube video by Protect Democracy

Most Americans don't feel represented by either major party, but our winner-take-all election system only gives us one choice. Here’s how proportional representation could change that. Watch and share to spread the word: https://youtu.be/xN5V0au9Xms

09.01.2026 19:00 👍 25 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
EFFecting Change: The Human Cost of Online Age Verification Age verification mandates are spreading fast, and they’re ushering in a new age of online surveillance, censorship, and exclusion for everyone—not just young people. Age-gating laws generally require

Age verification mandates. They're everywhere! But does anyone really want them? 🙅‍♀️

We're breaking these laws down, from what they do and how they harm civil liberties. Join us live next week! eff.org/livestream-age

08.01.2026 23:04 👍 89 🔁 37 💬 1 📌 3
Preview
'Worst in Show' CES products include AI refrigerators, AI companions and AI doorbells Artificial intelligence took center stage at this year's CES gadget show, but not always for the right reasons.

Amazon’s Ring doorbell camera system won the “Worst in Show” for privacy at #CES2026 for “doubling down on privacy invasion and supporting the misconception that more surveillance always makes us safer,” EFF’s Cindy Cohn told @apnews.com.

08.01.2026 23:38 👍 178 🔁 60 💬 5 📌 4
Preview
The Homeland Security Spending Trail: How to Follow the Money Through The U.S. government publishes volumes of detailed data on the money it spends, but searching through it and finding information can be challenging. This guide covers the key databases that store

Want to track homeland security contracting? We've expanded our dataset of companies that sell tech to DHS and published a step-by-step guide to leveraging government procurement databases to investigate border and immigration enforcement. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

06.01.2026 18:00 👍 94 🔁 50 💬 1 📌 3

Remix these works for a chance at fame & glory! Submissions are still open for the 2026 Public Domain Film Remix Contest: blog.archive.org/2025/12/01/2...

31.12.2025 21:26 👍 288 🔁 96 💬 11 📌 2

Cool!!

31.12.2025 22:22 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Learning feminism before knowing its name: Verse’s story from Myanmar “Through film, I want people to feel empathy to see women’s emotions, existence, and oppression in new ways. My mind is always thinking for them.”

Support Global Voices! globalvoices.org/2025/12/28/l...

31.12.2025 22:21 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Post image

In deployments meant to chill dissent and peaceful protests, CBP and ICE have used religious scripture to justify violent authoritarian actions. Help the faith community push back, add your name to this letter by @interfaithalliance.org 🔗 LoveNotICE.org

29.12.2025 17:04 👍 42 🔁 16 💬 1 📌 0

Under the Fourth Circuit’s ruling, ISPs could be forced to cut off entire family homes, schools, and others when one person is repeatedly accused of copyright infringement. SCOTUS should reject this unreasonable ruling. eff.org/deeplinks/2...

30.12.2025 19:04 👍 92 🔁 32 💬 3 📌 2

Today is the last day to apply to EFF's Trainer Workshop series! If you want to up the digital defense of your community, apply now to join us for four newbie-friendly sessions which will prepare you to host your own grassroots trainings. eff.org/TrainerSerie...

18.12.2025 17:51 👍 28 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 0

Follow my Wikimedia colleagues at the UN today!

16.12.2025 17:27 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Happening today!

16.12.2025 17:26 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Americans' Privacy and Data: Congress Warned Over Warrantless Surveillance Congress is weighing whether to renew or overhaul a powerful surveillance law amid concerns it allows warrantless searches of Americans’ communications.

“Congress should end the many years of overreach by the U.S. Intelligence Community by requiring warrants for the collection or capture of any communication involving an American,” EFF’s India McKinney told @Militarydotcom. www.military.com/daily-news/...

16.12.2025 00:02 👍 176 🔁 72 💬 4 📌 2
Preview
Australia's under 16 social media ban under microscope at home and abroad "The social media feeds that once connected us are now driving us apart. Social media algorithms are flooding young men’s feeds with radical misogynistic content, inciting real-world harm.'

The much anticipated teen social media ban began in Australia on 10 December 2025. Its introduction was popular a year ago when legislation passed parliament but has also been controversial with many Aussies. Many question whether it will work and point out possible harmful unintended consequences.

16.12.2025 16:00 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Protect Democracy, CDT, and the Leadership Conference release new analysis of federal efforts to access voter data In our explainer, we examine the potential harms associated with the Trump administration’s latest privacy-invasive actions.

Government-wide efforts to access and aggregate unprecedented amounts of voter data and other personal info should raise significant concerns for every American. We outline the details and implications of the admin's latest privacy-invasion move with @cdt.org and @civilrightsorg.bsky.social ⬇️

16.12.2025 16:00 👍 14 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Age Verification and Age Gating: Resource Hub Age verification (or age-gating) laws generally require online services to check, estimate, or verify all users’ ages—often through invasive tools like ID checks, biometric scans, or other dubious

Feeling overwhelmed by the onslaught of invasive age-verification mandates? You’re not alone. We built a resource hub to break down how these laws work, who they harm, what’s at stake, and how to protect yourself. Join the fight at EFF.org/Age.

14.12.2025 22:04 👍 118 🔁 69 💬 3 📌 2
Preview
Why Isn’t Online Age Verification Just Like Showing Your ID In Person? This blog also appears in our Age Verification Resource Hub: our one-stop shop for users seeking to understand what age-gating laws actually do, what’s at stake, how to protect yourself, and why EFF

Online age verification isn't the same as a quick ID flash: it's surveillance. These systems collect your data and undermine your ability to anonymously access and discuss sensitive topics online. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

13.12.2025 18:02 👍 206 🔁 128 💬 4 📌 6
ICE is monitoring all Americans’ air travel
Hope you wanted warrantless surveillance in your stocking
by Nicole Schneidman and Scott Shuchart

ICE is monitoring all Americans’ air travel Hope you wanted warrantless surveillance in your stocking by Nicole Schneidman and Scott Shuchart

The New York Times just published a bombshell in a story that we’ve been tracking and the implications of it go far beyond immigration enforcement. In short, the privacy of all Americans is at stake. @scottshuchart.bsky.social and @nschneidman.bsky.social explain why. https://protdem.org/3XSE8Ko

13.12.2025 17:04 👍 36 🔁 20 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Documenting Police Tech in Our Communities with Open Source Research

Keep up with the different surveillance technologies police are using across the U.S., from body-worn cameras to cell-site simulators. Stay informed using the Atlas of Surveillance. atlasofsurveillance.org/atlas

12.12.2025 19:03 👍 66 🔁 21 💬 1 📌 0
Preview
After Years of Controversy, the EU’s Chat Control Nears Its Final After a years-long battle, the European Commission’s “Chat Control” plan, which would mandate mass scanning and other encryption-breaking measures, at last codifies agreement on a position within the

#Ageverification must not become mandatory. In general, the effect and implementation of age verification are still unclear, and the risks outweigh the benefits. There is no law worldwide that enforces mandatory AV for messengers. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

12.12.2025 06:56 👍 186 🔁 86 💬 2 📌 3
Preview
Why Isn’t Online Age Verification Just Like Showing Your ID In Person? This blog also appears in our Age Verification Resource Hub: our one-stop shop for users seeking to understand what age-gating laws actually do, what’s at stake, how to protect yourself, and why EFF

Online age verification isn't like showing ID at a bar. It's more invasive, affects far more transactions, and poses serious privacy, security, and free speech risks that in-person checks never do. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

11.12.2025 22:56 👍 175 🔁 104 💬 1 📌 3
Preview
The Best Big Media Merger Is No Merger at All The state of streaming is... bad. It’s very bad. The first step in wanting to watch anything is a web search: “Where can I stream X?” Then you have to scroll past an AI summary with no answers, and

A functioning antitrust regime would stop both the sale and the hostile takeover attempt, full stop. But Hollywood and the federal government are frequent collaborators, and the feds have little incentive to stop Hollywood’s behemoths from growing even further. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

11.12.2025 18:23 👍 49 🔁 17 💬 1 📌 0

Want to up the digital security of communities you work with? Apply to be a part of EFF’s limited Trainer Workshop series, where over the course of four weekly sessions, we’ll prepare you and like-minded organizers to hold your own digital security trainings. Deadline 12/18. eff.org/TrainerSerie...

11.12.2025 20:11 👍 33 🔁 11 💬 0 📌 1

Great resource!! So many people have been asking me about these issues lately.

11.12.2025 18:54 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
U.S. Plans to Scrutinize 5 Years of Social Media History for Foreign Tourists Even visitors from countries like Britain and France, whose citizens don’t need visas, would be required to share five years’ worth of social media.

Mandatory social media disclosure and surveillance “has not proven effective at finding terrorists and other bad guys,” EFF’s Sophia Cope told @NYTimes.com. “But it has chilled the free speech and invaded the privacy of innocent travelers” and Americans, too.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/...

10.12.2025 19:56 👍 150 🔁 63 💬 3 📌 7