February 27, 2026
WASHINGTON — The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Media/Telecommunications Task Force released the following statement from Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, Vice President of The Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology, in reaction to the Department of Defense’s continued campaign to pressure Anthropic to lift critical restrictions regarding the use of its AI:
“As civil rights advocates, we have and will always stand against mass domestic surveillance and technology weaponized against our communities, especially those historically overpoliced and wrongfully targeted by the government. No administration should strong-arm private companies into supplying it with surveillance and weapons technology that disregard the company’s own safety and democratic guardrails for how and when these technologies can be used. Our allies in Congress must exercise their oversight authority to rein in a rogue executive branch. Tech companies also have a duty to ensure that their products and services uphold our democracy and that they serve people, not power. That should also include making sure their tech cannot be used to spy on and harm our communities.
“The threat of mass domestic government surveillance is not theoretical. We’re watching as the Department of Homeland Security arms itself with AI-driven technologies to carry out violent immigration enforcement and violate civil rights, including targeting those who dissent. The administration is expanding a tech-fueled domestic surveillance state at an alarming speed and scale. Congress, along with the entire private sector, must ensure the Department of Defense is not next. As history and the increasing militarization of domestic law enforcement shows, once this type of infrastructure is built it’s near impossible to claw back. The time to act is now. No matter who we are or where we’re from, we all should be able to move freely across our nation without fear of being spied on by our own government.”
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.
