“Given the severity of the threats social media companies pose to democracy and fundamental rights, policy responses cannot merely tinker around the edges,” writes Christine Galvagna. The EU must act now—fund decentralized, public service social media to protect democracy and digital rights.

Digital politics

Did you know a former White House climate advisor flipped a GOP stronghold in Virginia by running entirely on putting a stop to more AI data centers? For @heatmap.news I profiled John McAuliff and a campaign that will be a roadmap for all future anti-AI politicians moving forward.

This.

And all those consultants…

The haters said they couldn't do it. And they were right. Honestly, great call from the haters.

😂😂😂

WOW. 81% of women 18-29 voted for Mamdani, 80% for Sherril, and 78% for Spanberger. Gen Z women aren't playing around.

A reminder the wealthy love to threaten to leave if left-wing politicians are elected. 10,000 media pieces alone before Labour were elected for example Evidence shows almost 0% of them actually move. They have families, communities and home links. They just don’t move taxjustice.net/press/millio...

I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day. certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.

Russia’s success in poisoning LLMs with lies, and the effects it has on both AI and politics, reflects Russia’s much deeper understanding of how societies operates than much of Silicon Valley - and how important social sciences are in understanding and waging information warfare

How Google won friends and influenced people - while slowly gobbling up a quarter of all ad revenue on the internet. Here's my look at two decades of Google’s ruthless tactics to secure its dominance. www.ftm.eu/articles/goo...

If only every single critical "AI" researcher had warned about the likelihood of this danger for machine learning-based systems for the past decade or so and if only an acronym like "GIGO" had existed for decades Prior. Oh If Only 😐 "Too much social media gives AI chatbots ‘brain rot’"

Important new story from @jenafifield.bsky.social

As India–US relations shift amid geopolitical tensions, calls for “digital sovereignty” are growing louder, writes Tech Policy Press Fellow Prateek Waghre. Yet, India’s push to build homegrown platforms raises new questions about control, dependence, and democracy in a volatile global tech order.

📣 Registration is open for our event Reimagining Digital ID @mediacomgold.bsky.social @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social w/ findings from our www.redid.net project and talks by colleagues working on implications of Digital ID in Global South, migrant & refugee contexts explore.gold/digital-id All welcome! ⬇️

As governments worldwide invest in digital public infrastructure, one question looms large: how can these systems be governed for the common good? Pleased to share this work-in-progress on the value and practice of multi-stakeholder governance

This really is Total Recall - the Temu edition

This version of Total Recall sucks.

Don't forget to reserve your free space at this event, happening online this Thursday lunch time. Hear from three expert speakers about how we go from better government service delivery to better democratic participation: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-digit...

We tested out Zenni's anti-facial recognition glasses coating. It actually (kinda, technically) works? "ID Guard" adds a pink sheen to the surface of the glasses that reflects the infrared light used by some facial recognition cameras. So, only threats like that www.404media.co/zennis-anti-...

Welcome to Decoherence Media, an independent nonprofit founded by @jennefer.bsky.social and @tristanl.ee that investigates authoritarian and anti-democratic movements using open-source and data-driven methods.

😎

Quite the burn

Welp The dead internet theory is feeling pretty smug right now

A small Lofoten tourism group announces they're shutting down their guides and possibly going bankrupt thanks to the loss in revenue from chatbots that steal and rephrase their content None of this shit is inevitable. Fuck the slimy tech bros. www.instagram.com/p/DPyRB-tDBf...

And no mention of the EuroStack initiative either

“The likelihood that Trump will weaponise the US cloud services may not be huge, but the costs if he does are potentially catastrophic. If the EU wants to Trump-proof its economy and become a strategic power, it needs to act more like one.”

BREAKING: The ICJ says Israel, 'as an occupying power' must facilitate UN aid efforts in Gaza, including UNRWA’s, and must ensure “basic needs” of Palestinians in Gaza. 🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/3htm6o

WELL HOW ABOUT THAT "A millionaire levy in Massachusetts has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing significant high-profile departures from the state." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

BREAKING: ChatGPT could soon fall under the DSA rules after OpenAI revealed its search feature has over 120M monthly users in the EU, far above the “systemic risk” threshold. Formal designation and calculation of the supervisory fee could take a few weeks. www.mlex.com/mlex/technol...

“There is nothing inherently liberatory in the imagination, but it must be made so. It is necessary to pay attention to what is being written, to what we’re writing, and to what we are reading.”

Bricked bed:

😂

Sick of living in an obscenely wealthy country utterly incapable of strategically investing its capital for pro-social gains. blog.erlend.sh/saving-democ... ..in which I argue that Norway should invest in the AT protocol and network, by whichever means necessary.

#digitalsovereignty #superapp

🤔🫣🤯 US army taps private equity groups to help fund $150bn revamp