David Kaye
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davidakaye.bsky.social
David Kaye
@davidakaye.bsky.social
16K followers 970 following 570 posts
californian. human rights, free expression, tech, international law. uc irvine. fulbright. article 19. prior: UN special rapporteur, GNI chair.

edu coalition (dm for details)

go bears!
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davidakaye.bsky.social
of all the fake news, weather is the worst offender. they said the rain would end at 4:30 and watson was ready to go! now it's 7 pm? 7:30? someone's losing their job over this (and it might be me).
a white terrier mix dressed for the weather
November 18, 2025 at 1:18 AM
davidakaye.bsky.social
labour doubling down on the danish model against migrants. this strikes me as particularly cruel: simply never let a person *with refugee status* settle & get on with their life. always uncertain when that status will be removed. a cold cold welcoming.
In Denmark, refugee status is temporary, and they provide safety and sanctuary until it is possible for a refugee to return home. In recent years, asylum claims have hit a 40-year low, and now, across Europe, countries are tightening their systems in similar ways. We must act too. We will do so by making refugee status temporary, not permanent. A grant of refugee status will last two and a half years, not five. It will be renewed only if it is impossible for a refugee to return home. Permanent settlement will now come at 20 years, not five.
November 17, 2025 at 11:26 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
literally
headline in times, "Too Powerful to Ignore, Saudi Prince Returns to Washington's Embrace"
November 17, 2025 at 5:13 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
New legislation to modify the interpretation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees all people a right to family life, will be announced on Monday. The Home Office said it would do this by giving more weight in human rights law to the “public interest” of removing foreign criminals and those who had entered the country illegally, although the government did not provide more information on how this would be achieved.
November 17, 2025 at 5:46 AM
davidakaye.bsky.social
the times is so frustrating on so much, but nothing like sunday’s delivery of ink and paper, even better when you get copy like this.

still amazing to me that patti and john cale connected to make this masterpiece.
the arts section of today’s sunday ny times
November 16, 2025 at 6:09 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
wait @apnews.com just deleted a post about trump’s military lawlessness in the caribbean? why?
i responded to an AP story by urging them to focus on the illegality of it all. but now the post is gone.
November 16, 2025 at 5:48 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
i'm done posting for the day and will just leave you with watson finally getting out on a delightfully rainy day in LA.
watson, a white terrier mix, out for a walk in the rain.
November 15, 2025 at 10:49 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
why? because this: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
The undisputed record demonstrates that Defendants have engaged in coercive and retaliatory conduct in violation of the First Amendment and Tenth Amendment. It also shows that they have flouted the requirements of Title VI and IX and cancelled funding in an arbitrary and capricious manner while ignoring required procedural safeguards. None of the jurisdictional hurdles raised by Defendants prevent the issuance of preliminary injunctive relief to stop the ongoing and imminent harms that Defendants are undisputedly causing. Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is GRANTED, for these reasons and those further explained below.
November 15, 2025 at 2:06 AM
davidakaye.bsky.social
universities, including my own, are doubling down on AI tools & chatbots without, in my view, really thinking this through. so much hype, so little reflection.
UCI's ZotGPT: "You asked, we're delivering" new ZotGPT features
November 13, 2025 at 6:02 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
i highly doubt this is true
“Lawyers up and down the chain of command have been thoroughly involved in reviewing these operations prior to execution,” he said, adding that personnel have “the opportunity to disagree.” Despite that, Parnell said, “no lawyer involved has questioned the legality of the Caribbean strikes and instead advised subordinate commanders and [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth that the proposed actions were permissible before they commenced.”
November 12, 2025 at 5:22 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
also: philosophically reflective
sign at heathrow, "face direction of travel"
November 11, 2025 at 9:50 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
i could not be more disgusted (particularly since i am loooong past disappointed)
ADL Launches Initiative to Track and Monitor Mamdani Administration Policies and Appointments, Protect Jewish New Yorkers
November 5, 2025 at 8:30 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
independent media + vibrant public broadcasting is critical for democracy. check out the full panel at the Council of Europe's Forum for Democracy: www.coe.int/en/web/world...

i hadn't been to a conference with a cartoonist doing real-time work for a while. love it. today's got a little punchy
caricature of me (moi, gack!) with one audience member saying, "il parle bien cet americain" and another responding, "justement, il est venu en france pour pouvoir parler". ha ha ha.
November 5, 2025 at 8:12 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
it is worth keeping in mind that Venezuela has ratified the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court. As such, any war crime/crime ag humanity of sufficient gravity committed on its territory *could* be subject to ICC jurisdiction. (it hasn't ratified amendment on crime of aggression.)
note from ICC website about Venezuela's status as a party
October 31, 2025 at 6:11 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
this comes from the 'quaint' era of the early obama years, when there was a refusal by very serious people to take accountability seriously
Two goals should guide our way forward: prevention and accountability. We need a process that results in a clear narrative of the program so that systematic inhumane treatment does not recur. And we need one that demonstrates to would-be lawbreakers that consequences follow from lawbreaking. President Obama’s desire to keep his legislative agenda intact during this time of grave economic crisis should be taken into serious account, but not at the cost of our traditional commitment to the rule of law -- which is, as you’ve suggested already, the thing that holds us together as a nation.
October 31, 2025 at 3:26 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
the displacement of individuals who genuinely meet the definition of "refugee" for purposes of domestic and international law, by people clearly undeserving and highly politicized, is scandalous. public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-19752.pdf
from a just-published presidential determination: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, in accordance with section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157), and after appropriate consultations with the Congress, I hereby make the following determinations and authorize the following actions: The admissions of up to 7,500 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year 2026 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest. The admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa pursuant to Executive Order 14204, and other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands. Refugee admissions under this determination, which may reach but not exceed the numerical limit described herein, are in all respects subject to the requirements of other Presidential policies and actions, whether issued prior or subsequent to this determination
October 30, 2025 at 8:20 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
while we’re here together, here’s my most memorable experience of decades of going to dodger stadium.
autograph of ray bolger, the scarecrow in the original wizard of oz
October 28, 2025 at 5:21 AM
davidakaye.bsky.social
watson, listening to nebraska on a pleasant friday evening in southern california
white dog in portrait mode
October 25, 2025 at 12:48 AM
davidakaye.bsky.social
one of these countries might very well draft a resolution for the Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to determine a threat or breach of int'l peace & security, just to have the Trump administration respond and, of course, veto it.
list of the 15 members of the UN Security Council
October 23, 2025 at 10:33 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
on Global Encryption Day, a reminder that digital security is *essential* for the exercise of human rights. from the conclusion of my 2015 report to the UN--> www.ohchr.org/en/documents...
Encryption and anonymity, and the security concepts behind them, provide the privacy and security necessary for the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in the digital age. Such security may be essential for the exercise of other rights, including economic rights, privacy, due process, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the right to life and bodily integrity. Because of their importance to the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, restrictions on encryption and anonymity must be strictly limited according to principles of legality, necessity, proportionality and legitimacy in objective.
October 21, 2025 at 3:52 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
the university of arizona refuses to sign trump's 'contract'. it's a carefully done response and, in my view, about the best thing one could expect - esp given the state's politics. letter is here: president.arizona.edu/sites/defaul...

throwing shade: this compact isn't about merit
👇
At the same time, a federal research funding system based on anything other than merit would weaken the world’s preeminent engine for innovation, advancement of technology, and solutions to many of our nation’s most profound challenges. We seek no special treatment and believe in our ability to compete for federally funded research strictly on merit. As a demonstration of our commitment to collaboration with the federal government, I have included below the University of Arizona’s Statement of Principles. These principles are not just an expression of philosophy; they are a commitment to strengthen or continue reforms that benefit our students, advance our shared national interests, and protect the taxpayers. Our principles affirm that our university community remains rooted in the pursuit of excellence with clear standards, transparency, and accountability. We welcome the opportunity to engage other universities, higher education associations, members of Congress, and your administration to advance and implement our principles in alignment with the national interest.
October 21, 2025 at 3:17 AM
davidakaye.bsky.social
this is completely nuts, based on a lie about european law and propaganda favoring the far right
The proposals also advise Mr. Trump to prioritize Europeans who have been “targeted for peaceful expression of views online such as opposition to mass migration or support for ‘populist’ political parties.” That appeared to be a reference to the European far-right political party Alternative for Germany, whose leaders have trivialized the Holocaust, revived Nazi slogans and denigrated foreigners. Vice President JD Vance has criticized Germany for trying to suppress the views of the group, which is known as the AfD.
October 16, 2025 at 8:42 AM
davidakaye.bsky.social
this is the core of brown’s rejection of the so-called compact. ✊ www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...
text of two paragraphs from brown letter available at link
October 15, 2025 at 10:14 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
not how I remember it!
For nearly three hours, Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain’s once-fringe populist Reform U.K. Party, commanded an audience in Congress on Sept. 3 as he testified against his own country’s free-speech rules.
October 13, 2025 at 7:13 PM
davidakaye.bsky.social
😢
sign going down escalator at schiphol airport says no balloons.
October 12, 2025 at 12:39 PM