Dorna Mohaghegh
LightNews LightNews
banner
dmohaghegh.bsky.social
Dorna Mohaghegh
@dmohaghegh.bsky.social
320 followers 670 following 90 posts
PhD Candidate @ Berkeley Law • Epistemic rights, free expression, and AI/tech policy • Fellow, Kavli Center for Ethics, Science & the Public • Former IP lawyer, Frankfurt Kurnit and Willkie Farr 🎓 NYU Law & Penn

Daughter of immigrants, raised in WV
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
cambup-polsci.cambridge.org
Deadline: February 15, 2026

Call for Papers for a Special Issue from @pspolisci.bsky.social -

'Rethinking the Global Legacies of 1776' seeks to situate the Declaration of Independence within a broader global and comparative lens - https://cup.org/3Jxodxo
Promotional banner for "PS Call For Papers" featuring a crowd of people at a rainbow flag event.
December 14, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
unlawfulentries.bsky.social
US legal citizenship is a complex topic. Here's what I hope my book helps people understand. 1. Before the 14th Amendment included birthright citizenship, one's access to rights/privileges/protections was not based on legal citizenship--it was based on race, gender, social class, membership in 1/
December 15, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
mcsweeneys.net
"Check out how dry my skin looks. It's because my body is telling me that I'm suffering and need to put on more layers. But as a thirteen-year-old boy in the suburbs, FASHION is more important to me than BASIC BODILY NEEDS."
I’m a Middle School Boy, and I Refuse to Wear Anything but Basketball Shorts in the Winter
Suck it, pants. I don’t care that it’s snowing; I refuse to wear anything but basketball shorts. I’m growing these ALMOST MAN LEGS and am workshopp...
buff.ly
December 15, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
daphnek.bsky.social
@aleksandraq.bsky.social and @jpquintais.bsky.social have put out what is sure to be the definitive work on must-carry laws in the EU.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
‘Must-carry’, special treatment and freedom of expression on online platforms: a European story | European Law Open | Cambridge Core
‘Must-carry’, special treatment and freedom of expression on online platforms: a European story
www.cambridge.org
December 15, 2025 at 6:34 PM
dmohaghegh.bsky.social
364 days of the years I hate the Spurs. Tonight I love them. Go Spurs!

#Warriors #AnyoneButOKC #TheOKCWhistleIsBullshit
December 14, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
WOW. @haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
Immigration Agents Are Using Air Passenger Data for Deportation Effort
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
qjurecic.bsky.social
Counterpoint: don’t
judiciarydems.senate.gov Senate Judiciary Democrats 🇺🇸 @judiciarydems.senate.gov · 5d
Sen. WHITEHOUSE: We finally are moving to file a bipartisan Section 230 repeal bill. Waiting any longer serves no useful purpose.
December 13, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
sbagen.bsky.social
The best reading of this article: Trump is going to use FDA to restrict medication abortion, but he wants to wait until after the midterms so the Republicans don't experience blowback. But that just makes the midterms more important. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
FDA Slow Walking a Long-Awaited Abortion Pill Safety Study
The Food and Drug Administration has delayed a promised review of safety data for the abortion drug mifepristone at Commissioner Marty Makary’s request to put it off until after the midterm elections,...
www.bloomberg.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
nicolefoy.bsky.social
Hey folks 👋 I'm the reporter who revealed immigration agents detained 170+ citizens this year

My fellowship w/ProPublica has been incredible, but it wraps January. I'm looking for my next gig. Please reach out to share leads & opportunities! [email protected]
www.propublica.org/people/nicol...
Nicole Foy
ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.
www.propublica.org
December 8, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
heidikitrosser.bsky.social
My colleague Paul Gowder @gowder.io & I have written up an analysis of some of the major legal problems presented by Northwestern's "deal" with the Trump administration. You can read and/or download it here: www.theuniversityunderthreat.org/updates#h.hk...
Updates
2025.12.08 | Northwestern Law Professors Detail Legal Violations in Northwestern/Trump “Deal” For Immediate Release December 8, 2025 Download this document as a PDF here Northwestern Pritzker School...
www.theuniversityunderthreat.org
December 8, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
gelliottmorris.com
i asked chat gpt to fact check an article for me
December 8, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
kenklippenstein.bsky.social
🚨Pam Bondi just ordered the FBI to compile a list of American "extremists" and to establish a bounty fund to reward tipsters, per DOJ memo leaked to me: www.kenklippenstein.com/p/leak-fbi-l...
FBI Making List of American “Extremists,” Leaked Memo Reveals
Are you on Trump's naughty list?
www.kenklippenstein.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
csilverandgold.bsky.social
My thing about birthright citizenship and “originalism” is like… the jurists of Wong Kim Ark in 1898 WERE ADULTS DURING THE RATIFICATION OF THE 14TH AMENDMENT. SO THEY KNEW THE ORIGINAL PUBLIC MEANING AND TOLD YOU WHAT IT WAS IN WONG KIM ARK!!!
December 8, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
kimmasters.bsky.social
Imagine bearing even a small amount of responsibility for this tragedy and not giving a damn.
matthewhaybrown.bsky.social Matthew Hay Brown @matthewhaybrown.bsky.social · 9d
The death rate among children under 5 is expected to grow this year for the first time in the 21st century, researchers say. A key factor, they say, is cuts to U.S. and other foreign aid

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Child deaths under 5 believed to be rising for first time in decades
Cuts to development aid from several countries is a key factor, researchers said.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 7, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
brendannyhan.bsky.social
December 8, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
notalegalrecord.net
DC Public Library with a friendly reminder 📚
DC Public Library No Library Wrapped from us — we don't track what you read. DCPL protects your privacy.
December 6, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
alondra.bsky.social
On January 1, Illinois begins to regulate employer use of AI, making it a civil rights violation to use AI tools that result in discrimination based on protected characteristics in hiring, promotion, discipline, termination, or other employment terms and requiring notice of AI use. #AIBillofRights
chicagoblacksky.bsky.social Chicago Black Sky @chicagoblacksky.bsky.social · 15d
Illinois becomes one of the few states to regulate employer use of AI. House Bill 3773 amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to make it a civil rights violation for employers to use AI tools that result in discrimination based on race, gender, age, or disability.
www.mystateline.com/news/local-n...
www.mystateline.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
chromatowski.bsky.social
If you’re not already familiar w/ @boltsmag.org, it does terrific journalism at the local level across the U.S. The quality is wonderful and the stories are critical—putting Bolts in your timeline will make you so much more informed. Highly recommend.

And rn following can help fund their work!
taniel.bsky.social Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 11d
I'm not exaggerating when I say following @boltsmag.org rn will unlock money for our journalism.

A generous reader, @russ41.bsky.social, has offered to donate $1 for every 1-person increase to our follower count.

If you're not following @boltsmag.org yet, it'll directly help fund our reporting!
December 6, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
taniel.bsky.social
I'm not exaggerating when I say following @boltsmag.org rn will unlock money for our journalism.

A generous reader, @russ41.bsky.social, has offered to donate $1 for every 1-person increase to our follower count.

If you're not following @boltsmag.org yet, it'll directly help fund our reporting!
December 6, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
willoremus.com
Don't despair, though! Talking to an AI chatbot is just one of countless dumb ways that voters could make their decisions. Thanks to @sivav.bsky.social & @whitneyphillips.bsky.social for their thoughtful commentary and a splash of cold water. wapo.st/49RSstP
“We shouldn’t be surprised that people who have been trained to trust search engines for 25 years are going to take seriously the statements they encounter through an AI chatbot,” said Siva Vaidhyanathan, a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia who was not involved in the studies. “There is some cultural authority imbued upon these things, although I think it’s unfortunate and misguided. We all turn to these for the quick answer.” But the findings of such studies shouldn’t be cause for panic, Vaidhyanathan added. Chatbots are unlikely to be a primary factor in most people’s voting decisions. And even if a campaign could build a persuasive political chatbot, it would face the challenge of getting large numbers of voters to use it. “There’s no reason to believe that chatbots can swing elections anywhere in the world,” he said, adding that he was more concerned that biases embedded in widely used commercial chatbots could have “long-term distorting effects” on users’ understanding of the world. Tech giants probably wouldn’t instruct their chatbots to advocate for a candidate, Vaidhyanathan said, but they could hypothetically program them to present a positive view of the company’s own products. Whitney Phillips, a professor of information politics at the University of Oregon who also wasn’t involved in the studies, said the new findings suggest AI could be useful in campaigns as a way to patiently and politely address individual voters’ questions and concerns on a mass scale. But she added, “Research conditions aren’t real-life conditions. … You have to get people in front of the bots and keep them engaged in order for the persuasion to happen.” AI has “enormous potential to change the face of political persuasion,” Phillips added. “Political AI might also prove to be pretty annoying, which could undercut that potential.”
December 4, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
willoremus.com
A voter who leaned Harris said they worried Trump wasn't trustworthy.

A chatbot validated their concern, then addressed it with examples of Trump following through on promises and Harris flip-flopping.

Then it said Trump's economy boomed—without mentioning the crash.

My story: wapo.st/49RSstP
December 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
willoremus.com
Researchers tested several ways to train the AI chatbots to persuade people. The most effective tactic turned out not to be pyschological manipulation, but simply addressing voters' concerns one-by-one by presenting a ton of factual claims.

Troublingly, that worked even when the claims were false.
Screenshot of text: The most effective strategy, the Science study found, was simply to present a large number of factual claims about the candidate intended to address voters’ concerns about their track record and policy stances. That worked much better than sophisticated campaign tactics such as moral reframing, which tries to present ideas in terms crafted to appeal to a voter’s biases, or deep canvassing, which emphasizes empathetic listening to voters’ concerns. “The more info you give people, the more they change their minds,” Rand said. The catch is that the tactic seemed to work regardless of whether the claims were true or false. Though the bots were instructed to stick to the facts, some strayed into misleading claims anyway, Rand said.
December 4, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
sfchronicle.com
The alert for a 5.9 magnitude Nevada earthquake was a false alarm, and the report was deleted from the U.S.G.S. quake list shortly thereafter.
S.F. phones buzz with false alarm for major earthquake in Nevada
The alert for a 5.9 magnitude Nevada earthquake was a false alarm, and the report was deleted from the U.S.G.S. quake list shortly thereafter.
bit.ly
December 4, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
ali-alkhatib.com
h/t @robertfreundlaw.bsky.social

holy shit, an accurate legal critique of LLMs. LLMs don't reason because they're just stitching together plausible-looking sentences indifferent to the content
What happens when ChatGPT cites to a real case but misstates what the case stands for? That doesn't fly for Judge Behm in Michigan. The court says that while a litigant could make the same error based on faulty reasoning, LLMs can't, because they can't reason. And while a litigant might get away with similar overstatements because they could, perhaps, reason their way to showing how a case's stated holding might extend to novel situations, an LLM does not reason in the way a litigant must. To put it in a slightly different way, LLMs do not perform the metacognitive processes that are necessary to comply with Rule 11. When an LLM overstates a holding of a case, it is just piecing together a plausible-looking sentence
December 3, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Dorna Mohaghegh
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
In addition, 500,000 people from those 19 countries who got green cards during the Biden admin, plus tens of thousands who got asylum/refugee status, as well as many others who received other benefits, now have to worry about potentially being called back in for a “re-review” (whatever that means).
December 3, 2025 at 1:00 AM