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Protesters gather at the Wisconsin State Capitol, holding signs.

Trump's Water Policies Put America's Drinking Water at Risk

America at 250: A Country in Distress

America at 250: A Country in Distress

Bruce Springsteen In Concert, facing his audience.

Springsteen’s October D.C. Festival Pushes Music Into Democracy Fight

6 US Cities that Show America What Independent Leadership Looks Like

6 US Cities that Show America What Independent Leadership Looks Like

Happy teacher asking girl with hand raised sitting in classroom at elementary school

When It Comes to Our Children’s Education, Trump Gets An ‘F’

Podcast: Misinformation, hate and accountability

Podcast: Misinformation, hate and accountability
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumApr 12, 2022
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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The Anti-Defamation League has a long history of countering hate, bias, and harmful misinformation, which is to say the organization has some strong opinions about what happens on social media. Continuing our exploration of digital disinformation and free speech, Civic Genius chatted with Lauren Krapf, Technology Policy & Advocacy Counsel at the Anti-Defamation League, about how the ADL thinks tech companies can do better and what misinformation looks like in the real world – both online and off.

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Energy Costs Decide Power — Voters Demand Relief
Environment

Energy Costs Decide Power — Voters Demand Relief

Composer uses music to connect Latino heritage and environmental justice
Environment

Composer uses music to connect Latino heritage and environmental justice

Sen. Lindsey Graham Dies at 71, Leaving a Complex Political Legacy
Ethics & Leadership

Sen. Lindsey Graham Dies at 71, Leaving a Complex Political Legacy

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America's New and Dangerous Gilded Age

A NASA logo is displayed at the entrance to the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building on May 30, 2026, in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

America's New and Dangerous Gilded Age

As part of a collaboration between The Fulcrum's NextGen initiative and Made By Us, The Fulcrum is publishing Letters to America, a series created through the Youth250 project that invites Gen Z to reflect on the nation’s past, present, and future as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary.

On June 4, 1876, on the eve of our Nation’s centennial, the Transcontinental Express completed its inaugural voyage across America’s newly constructed coast-to-coast railroad, traveling from the Atlantic to the Pacific in just 83 hours. This milestone marked the end of the Railroad Race and the beginning of the Gilded Age, epitomized by its rail barons and drastic wealth disparity.

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ICE agents wearing gear that reads, "POLICE ICE." Their faces are covered, they are wearing helmets, and one of them is holding a weapon.

ICE agents stand guard in front of protesters outside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall in Newark, where ICE is housing detained immigrants on May 26, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey.

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Your Face Is in a Federal Database and ICE Put It There

Last week, while the world watched JD Vance fly to Switzerland to negotiate an Iran deal, a quieter document surfaced from inside the Department of Homeland Security that may matter more to the daily lives of Americans than anything that happened at Lake Lucerne. A DHS Privacy Threshold Analysis, obtained and reported by NPR, outlines plans to give approximately 1,300 local police forces access to the same facial recognition technology that federal ICE agents currently use in the field. The app is called the ICE Task Force Module. It allows an officer to photograph any person they stop, run the image against federal databases, and receive an identity match in seconds. Every photograph taken is stored in a DHS system for fifteen years. The document states plainly that this surveillance will sweep up American citizens. The DHS knows this. It is proceeding anyway.

This is not an immigration story. It is a surveillance infrastructure story, and the distinction is the most important thing to understand about what is being built.

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America’s Data Crisis: Restoring Trust in the Facts That Unite Us
a close up of a window with a building in the background
Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

America’s Data Crisis: Restoring Trust in the Facts That Unite Us

At a moment when Americans can’t even agree on the basic facts that mold our public life, the nation faces a deeper crisis than polarization alone. We are living through a collapse of shared reality. When people lose confidence in the numbers, surveys, and official information that once anchored civic debate, democracy itself begins to drift. Trustworthy government data isn’t a technical issue — it is core infrastructure that holds a self‑governing society together. And right now, that infrastructure is under strain.

The public has lost trust in government information on many levels and across the political spectrum. To restore that trust, we need to address the challenges facing government data — including low survey response rates, data protection concerns, and outdated or flawed statistical methods.

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Keeping Kids Safe Online?: Understanding the Debate Over AI Age Verification
boy in gray shirt using black laptop computer
Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash

Keeping Kids Safe Online?: Understanding the Debate Over AI Age Verification

This nonpartisan policy brief, written by an ACE fellow, is republished by The Fulcrum as part of our partnership with the Alliance for Civic Engagement and our NextGen initiative — elevating student voices, strengthening civic education, and helping readers better understand democracy and public policy.

Key Takeaways

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