"We are trading 50 years of Gold Standard reputation for a single week of political quiet" is the tradeoff of this era.

“Cobots” are framed as collaborators—but in practice, automation reorganizes workers around machines. This is augmentation-washing: empowerment language concealing less agency and more labor. Sarah Fox and Samantha Shorey for @techpolicypress.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/how-augmenta...

PAINFUL to watch. There’s a clear Trump judicial nominee loyalty test. They must forever deny, deny, deny that he lost the 2020 presidential election. Fragile.

I hope that kid whose name was smeared all over X tonight sues the shit out of the clout-chasing hacks who profited off putting him in very real danger. It’s time for more defamation lawsuits. This isn’t “free speech” and there should be accountability. Funders should step up.

ICE PEPPER SPRAYED A ONE-YEAR-OLD because her mother was filming them.

ICE sprayed a one-year-old in the face with pepper spray. The child and parents are US citizens, but that doesn't even matter. These monsters pepper-sprayed a baby. We cannot allow ICE to continue this behavior, and they aren't going to reform themselves. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

*American Greatness Intensifies*

Earlier today I posted that Mike Benz was a loser who couldn't even get a job in the second Trump administration. I regret the error, he's been hired and apparently he already hates it! www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Still early with more to unfold, but one thing is clear: this is what the rule of law looks like in a democratic system. A breach occurred (deception, ad opacity, blocked access),the public interest was affected, the enforcement mechanism established by democratic mandate is functioning as intended.

🧵 of reporting and perspective on @techpolicypress.bsky.social today on the EU's enforcement action against Elon Musk’s X, with items from @ramshajahangir.bsky.social, @dwj88.bsky.social, @viacristiano.bsky.social, and @daphnek.bsky.social.

I have a new paper coming out in Inquiry called ‘The Perils of Epistemic Idealism': philpapers.org/rec/SHITPO-40. I argue that especially in applied, political work, philosophers have a tendency to assume that political harms are primarily a product of false beliefs and misguided concepts.

It's almost five so naturally the dogs are circling me like sharks, waiting to see if I die so they can scavenge my body

Lots of news on the bullshit-industrial complex this week. 1. the EU does not have a censorship crisis 2. X was not fined for anything to do with content 3. Other countries get to make and enforce laws too 4. The Trump admin wants to make Europe "great" again www.techpolicy.press/white-house-...

If you include the earlier Reuters deal, then 50% of the sourcing of U.S. news-related AI answers for Meta chatbots will come from outlets ostensibly trying to serve a broad, diverse national audience...and the other 50% come from explicitly, self-defining conservative outlets. Good times.

Don't let anyone tell you that the Commission's DSA enforcement against X is about speech or censorship. That would, indeed, be interesting. But this is just the EU enforcing some normal, boring laws that would get bipartisan support in the U.S. (I bet similar bills *have* had that support.) 1/

The 🇺🇸/🇪🇺 conflict over "free speech" isn't really about 🇪🇺's sometimes illiberal limits on speech. It's about preserving "European" identity—literally, whiteness— and exporting the MAGA revolution, as the new 🇺🇸 National Security Strategy makes clear. "Free speech" just makes it sound a tad less racist

A reminder about the type of content JD Vance wants to protect from "censorship" The fact that so many of the media personalities complaining about censorship in 2020 - 2024 were multimillionaires should've been a tip off that maybe they weren't so oppressed. It's all bullshit.

“Censorship” is a thought-terminating cliché. These people want you to believe that: - labeling is censorship - fact-checking is censorship - transparency is censorship - research is censorship What they’re doing is redefining anything that might inconvenience a hard-right populist as censorship.

More nonsense. X faces liability under the 🇪🇺 Digital Services Act for (1) deceiving users by selling blue ✔️ for "verified" users (2) inadequate ad transparency, and (3) researcher access to data. The Commission has not moved past investigating how X handles unlawful content or Community Notes... 🧵

american reporters, you've got to call bullshit on this. vance, purveyor of hate/propaganda, wants the public to believe rules on, for instance, transparency in advertising and forms of deception on X are censorship. don't fall for it.

Holy shit. Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

This is what government censorship actually looks like: defunding entire fields, deporting researchers, and quite effectively chilling speech that helps people understand how our information systems are being exploited and calls out powerful people and platforms for their bullshit.

A podcast in which @daniellecitron.bsky.social, @ariezra.bsky.social, @jeffallen.bsky.social and I discuss the state of online trust and safety. For @techpolicypress.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/considering-...

The UW Center for an Informed Public is looking for postdocs (for 2026-2028) from across diverse disciplines whose research sheds light on the challenges of our modern information environment, promotes civic health, and/or helps people/communities navigate online spaces: apply.interfolio.com/177901

Never forget that just a week ago, Ross Douthat and the NYTimes were asking if women ruined the workplace.

Re-upping this as I update the thread with more entries. Check them out! They're good! I'm not biased!

Wrote a little bit about our slide into trolling-as-governance and its connection to the now-bonkers concentration of authority amongst autocratic techlords www.techpolicy.press/authoritaria...

Reading for researchers: The original post in this thread features a perspective piece encouraging researchers to look at the role of emotion in the spread of disinformation. The one directly below is an empirical study showing how outrage fuels the spread of misinformation online.

I'm excited to announce a series of short essays in @techpolicypress.bsky.social, published in conjunction with CTRL at the University of Pittsburgh, on "Threats to knowledge and US Democracy" All the pieces will be made available here: www.techpolicy.press/category/pro...

Nice piece, and consistent with our findings that misinformation exploits outrage to spread online www.science.org/doi/full/10....

I'm excited to announce a series of short essays in @techpolicypress.bsky.social, published in conjunction with CTRL at the University of Pittsburgh, on "Threats to knowledge and US Democracy" All the pieces will be made available here: www.techpolicy.press/category/pro...

I have something called "Sample?" on my calendar at noon tomorrow and if anyone knows what that's about, call me.

Going to do my one trick and blame this on media asymmetry. Easier to complain about "RINOs" and run an insurgent campaign when you have a partisan echo chamber. Hard to imagine a campaign against "DINOs" on behalf of the Working Families Party having the same impact as the Tea Party.

What will happen if we replace journalism with dopamine-chasing gambling sites? Let's find out! maxread.substack.com/p/prediction...

Remember Rev. David Black, the Chicago pastor who was shot in the head with pepper balls? If you haven't heard him speak yet, listen to this. To ICE: "You can repent"

Very cool, very chill, very sound policy basis for not letting federal cyber experts talk to state officials about election threats

Farewell sweet Prince

The long-term threats AI poses to democracy Check out our newest episode with @dwj88.bsky.social and Samuel Woolley

Hello, My name is Ozymandias, and I am King of Kings. Please look upon my works! All best, - O

"50 percent chance of rain for 24 hours" is the weather forecast equivalent of ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Car worship and the suburbs it made are responsible for so, so much of what's wrong in American life

I lost track. Which sign of the apocalypse is "man-eating plague monkeys?"

Cool cool good to know

Donate here: support.greaterclevelandfoodbank.org/site/Donation2

Again, I can't stress this enough: Democratic elected officials are not constantly talking about climate change and trans rights. They are constantly talking about "kitchen table issues." Centrist pundits: Do a single fucking content analysis of their campaign speeches and materials, I beg you!

Food relief orgs can do a LOT with a little. $50 to the Atlanta Food Bank provides 150 meals. $100 to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank provides 250 meals. Anything you can share will go a long way. Never feel like your efforts are too small to make a difference.

"AI can save you time." You miserable fool. You stupid baby. Technology can't save you time. The mechanical clock and the Google Calendar have chopped your life into small pieces to be sold, and you think adding more technology will let you keep some of those pieces for yourself?

Man it's almost like Yochai Benkler was onto something in "Network Propaganda"

"the flood" of course being a race of zombie aliens. Super neat to see dehumanizing speech from armed, masked men

I'm still mad it's not called "random penguin house."