"They've said they'd do that" is crucial. The most important lesson of the last ten years is: when these people tell you who they are, believe them. Anyone saying "surely even Reform wouldn't go that far" just hasn't been paying attention.

One for the BBC’s crack pronunciation unit here, I think.

Post now deleted, more or less confirming it was a DM. Great opsec!

I’ve been working my way through The Studio. The party episode is like a modern day Fawlty Towers. ‘Old school Hollywood buffet!’

I can confirm there's chaos at Berlin Brandenburg! Everyone has to be checked in by hand (taking 10-15 mins per passenger). Rumours of hand written boarding passes. We need a cyber security expert to comment on the interreliance and vulnerability of these check in systems!

Excited for the first defamation lawsuit against a major conservative influencer quoting this interpretation of the law

NEW: The Pentagon told journalists it will require them to pledge they won’t gather any information — even unclassified — that hasn’t been expressly authorized for release, and will revoke the press credentials of those who do not obey. @washingtonpost.com

I cannot emphasize enough how unhelpful it is to make the joke or comment — I’ve been guilty of making it at times myself — that this is conservative “cancel culture,” it’s not. It’s an authoritarian, cultish, censorship project run by the most powerful people in the federal government…

hahahahahahahahahahaha [gasps for breath] hahahahahahahahahahaha

Many bus depots are on strike for the next four days across Greater Manchester. The city centre feels empty without a sea of yellow double deckers and the people they bring with them.

we wrote about this WH tactic recently. they’re asking journalists for expert source names and then using them to look up political donations in FEC records to try to discredit those sources as biased. www.npr.org/2025/08/18/n...

I had this exact same experience this morning. Same reporter as Heidi. This is *not* normal. I have spoken to the press on these issues for two decades. No government official has ever demanded to know my identity in order to give a comment on a story.

At this rate, coming up next week: Disney orders Marvel to retcon Black Panther as a white dude from Rhodesia who fights for the rights of Afrikaner farmers.

What to know about quantum tech... when you don’t understand quantum physics. I've written a primer for you, as the field picks up pace...

I've had this thought for a while, sort of as a joke, that the Trumposphere will froth themselves into declaring BlueSky a terrorist org and you're all going to have to go back to Twitter. But it sounds more possible by the day.

Mini-scoop: After resisting pressure to strip Elon Musk of his fellowship for months, the Royal Society is meeting on 1 October to discuss his removal – following his decision to address Tommy Robinson's far-right rally on Saturday. www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-r...

One side of this not really discussed is that TikTok users around the world presumably won’t see American creators in their feeds anymore, and American TikTok will be an island of Americans. Unless there’s some content cross-posting between the two apps, but that seems… even more complex.

somehow the quality of small clusters of LLM-generated words is this disintegration. words that ought to be working together are instead not even fighting each other (fighting is interesting) but coming apart in your hands like a cheaply-made toy.

Letting members vote for your party’s name screams ‘lack of comms and marketing expertise’. Have a coherent vision and take people with you!

People keep saying ‘Party McPartyface’ but surely Votey McVoteface is miles catchier.

[me, a journalist who spends all day every day on a social media app where the discovery algorithm is personally controlled by its owner, captain birdseye] you know, a lot of people are talking about fish fingers, we should probably cover that

Musk accuses the LibDem leader of "cowardice" for opposing Musk's advocacy of pre-emptive violence (interethnic conflict, anti-migrant violence & partisan violence) to kick off a British civil war. This shows that Musk just has no idea of the gravity of advocating political violence & civil war

It really does feel like Americans who can leave should have a plan to do so when the time feels right. And that might be sooner than some think.

This sounds very like Russia. Any critic can be labeled a terrorist, then poof, they're gone.

congrats to all the media outlets carrying on charlie's work of silencing speech www.404media.co/behind-the-b...

I… think I agree with Trump about something…? At the very least, companies shouldn’t have to become so focused on the next quarter as soon as they go public. Donald Trump calls on US companies to ditch quarterly reporting

First night this year I’ve had that proper mild autumnal glumness

Also shows the power the prime ministers office has! One statement and the narrative of BBC website completed changed. Earlier today it was far right rally turn out and more questions about Mandelson. One statement and the government has a chance to be on the front foot.

I can understand them not wanting to upset Musk and give him more reason to support violent thugs, but you HAVE to stand up to bullies. It's as true in politics as it is in the school playground.

If you can’t comment on a foreign billionaire calling for your government to be brought down, what is the point of you?

How many Teslas does Elon think he’ll sell in a country where thugs have overthrown democracy and deported huge numbers of potential customers? Really proving he’s with $1 trillion with this joined-up thinking

Do you think unbending Clippy until he was a long piece of metal would be painful for him. Or do you think it would cause him to feel a great sense of relief

Would be nice to have a govt that even just does the bare minimum of saying these people are bad instead of pandering to them

Musk can keep his ignorant, hateful mouth out of UK politics, thank you very much.

Esp given assassination of Kirk in US i find Musk's intervention here, calling for dissolution of parliament and a new govt, really scary . Also UK govt bodies should get the fuck off X.

Absolutely !!!insane!!! to me that the UK government, lobby and newspapers litigate at length every minor infraction by the BBC, rival newspapers, or what some random columnist has posted. But all of them just carry on not even commenting about this media owner. He’s not hiding, he’s telling you!

Expect more silence from the Royal Society in the face of their most notorious fellow advocating for the overthrow of the democratically elected government of a country he is neither a citizen nor a resident of (yet he is a fellow of their most prestigious learned society).

Sudden urge to launch a business called ‘Vampire Van Hire’ for no reason other than it’s a fun name and we could have pictures of vampires on the vans.

Y'know that Guardian article which cited an anonymous friend of Tyler Robinson claiming he was the only "leftist" in his family? It just got updated after the "verified source" decided he couldn't remember his "relationship" with the accused shooter well enough to be quoted

The reporting on Charlie Kirk’s killer in the UK & US highlights again how fundamentally ill equipped mainstream media is to report on political violence in the digital age. They do not know anything about online far right meme culture & it’s starting to do real harm. #r4today

I wonder just how wrong this article will turn out to be. A lot of thin argunents here, relying on precise comparisons to Hitler Example quote: “This is Trump’s fifth year in government. I can assure you, this was not how German lawcourts worked in 1938.” 🙃 www.thetimes.com/article/cfca...

did a little media criticism www.theverge.com/politics/777...

Just watched a #totp from 1988 on BBC Four. Sadly not the 12 May edition, which is the first I ever watched. I know that because I remember thinking this performance was amazing 😳

Booorrrrinngggg. Have fun while you're young, kidz.

A 195-year-old embargo on this track! 🙃 (Love me some metadata)

“Over the course of the meeting, the mood becomes more relaxed. People with different views find some common ground.” Maybe… talking with people is better than attacking the hotels they’ve been placed in.

A threat to authoritarianism anywhere is a threat to authoritarianism everywhere

Grateful @davidgilbert.bsky.social covered this. I NEVER celebrated anyone’s murder. I said I was terrified the far-right would use this as an excuse to retaliate, and they’re proving me right with every post. These guys are out for blood. They don’t care whose. This is really bad.

The replies on X to the FBI's call for help IDing the Charlie Kirk shooting suspect is made up mainly of people either blaming trans people or doing shitty internet detective work. Also lots of terrible attempts to use LLMs to enhance the images.

Breaking: Irish broadcaster RTE says that Ireland will not participate in Eurovision next year if Israel does. "RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza." about.rte.ie/2025/09/11/r...