NEW: Meet the folks at AccessNow's Digital Security Helpline, who have been investigating government spyware for more than a decade, helping journalists and dissidents all over the world. I spoke to Hassen Selmi, who heads the incident response team, to learn how his team fights spyware abuses.

NEW: Apple, Google, and WhatsApp now regularly notify their users if they suspect they have been targeted or hacked with government spyware, such as that made by NSO Group or Paragon. We spoke to experts and wrote a guide on what to do, and where to go, if you receive one of those notifications.

If US investors maintain a client base with the infamous NSO Group, the country becomes complicit in its abuses, turning a blind eye to authoritarian surveillance while losing moral authority to condemn it, David Hatami argues

So the word drop is getting close to having two opposite meanings, like sanction and cleave do.

can someone with a genAI account please make me: a burly lumberjack type man daintily sipping espresso out of a Yeti-branded European sized cup with pastel flower designs.

Someone needs to tell the AI note takers that no one is going to show up to these optional meetings in December

I dont speak french but this seems a bit harsh

I know there's a lot of news tonight @wajali.bsky.social but I got our 8 month old to sleep by 730pm by myself, so

Alaa Abdel Fattah: Egypt's president pardons prominent activist Amazing news!!

#freeAlaa yesss!

UNGA80

Trump admin doesn’t want anyone to hear what Jimmy Kimmel said: “The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...

Blue sky in Beacon

Fun one.

“If confirmed, the strike would constitute a clear violation of the right to life under international human rights law and set a dangerous precedent. The use of lethal force in this context has absolutely no justification."

Say what you want about NYC, but I've lost my wallet twice in 15 years. Both times, strangers found my wallet and returned it to me within 24 hours. Both times they refused (but ultimately accepted) a reward. Good folks here.

In June, Russia carried out more than 650 internet shutdowns. From throttling WhatsApp to disabling emergency alerts during drone strikes, the Kremlin is increasingly tightening its control over the online space. Learn more: www.accessnow.org/russias-reco...

Filling out a Missing Receipt form while the world burns around me

Thinking of subscribing to Salon and starting a weblog. Who's with me?

The best coffee shop in my wife's hometown is run out of the basement of a church. It's called Holy Grounds. No notes.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City's comptroller, mayoral candidate Brad Lander, has been arrested while visiting an immigration court.

In case folks are wondering when World Press Freedom Day is scheduled for the year 2103, the UN has you covered: www.un.org/en/observanc...

Happy almost Juneteenth

This could have been Skype's big moment. #googleMeetdown

An #Internet outage in #Syria is reportedly affecting ADSL networks across multiple provinces. We observed a drop in traffic at 8:15 UTC. A concurrent drop in annc. IPv4 space, combined with an observed increase in DNS resolver requests, has also been seen in the past during intentional shutdowns.

Awaiting tariff announcement on wildfire smoke

The ICC’s chief prosecutor has lost access to his email, and his bank accounts have been frozen. American staffers at the court have been told that if they travel to the U.S. they risk arrest. NGOs have stopped working with the ICC, the leader of one won’t even reply to ICC emails.

The Catholic Church played a major role in supporting and bringing down several authoritarian regimes. I doubt this is a coincidence.

Yup. Enjoy the Peru Pope content

Putting my money on Villanova for March Madness next year eh @wajali.bsky.social

@wajali.bsky.social feels so good to win without Curry. But I'm worried he's overworked. You think we stand a chance in the series without him ?

Curry's ball was silent last quarter, and now he's out hurt. If we can win this one too, it's a new dynamic. Maybe a new dynasty!

Well done Perkins Coie. Thank you for standing up to the bully in Chief. Regrettably, Paul Weiss, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Washington Post, Columbia University, the Supreme Court, Susan Collins, ABC News, and so many others lack your courage and principles. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/u...

Heavy NYPD presence in crown heights right now ahead of a planned protest. Barriers went up on Eastern Parkway this morning.

Glad my daughter was born under Pope Francis. Just about the only leader I could respect at the moment. He took the preferential option for the poor and oppressed to heart. I wish I had seen him on his US tour, but was glad to hear he visited East Harlem, where I lived. Rest in Power Pope Frank.

I’m not Catholic, but I hope the next Pope is as wise and compassionate as Pope Francis.

I like to think that a modern-day temperance movement would engage in counter-terroirism activities and campaigns.

Global warming indicator of the week: the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club has officially cancelled its winter 2025 ice racing season.

Lest you think we haven't made progress on digital security, take heart: The Park Slope Parents group, a massive community network, uses Signal by default. They force thousands of prospective and current parents onto Signal, and distinguish it from WhatsApp. Fyi @signal.org Onward!

Our online dialogue session today at #RightsCon25 will feature distinguished speakers @alenaaaaaa.bsky.social, @danyork.bsky.social, @lawyerpants.bsky.social, and @kuleszaj.bsky.social. We will discuss the evolving role of satellite connectivity in conflict zones.

2024 was the worst year for internet shutdowns, with governments imposing at least 296 outages in 54 countries. Ramsha Jahangir (@ramshajahangir.bsky.social) at Tech Policy Press on the key findings from Access Now's new report launched at #RightsCon:

Just a reminder that at @accessnow.org we just published a brief on satellite internet connectivity warning about... well, this. We will discuss this topic further at an upcoming session at @rightscon.org CC @lawyerpants.bsky.social www.accessnow.org/wp-content/u...

A critical resource for anyone writing about Starlink — great work from @accessnow.org: www.accessnow.org/wp-content/u...

What are y'all doing with your anger? I wrote it on the board in class the other night. That felt somewhat productive.

My local TJ's is out of eggs.

Biden: we'll cancel student debt! Trump/Musk: we'll violate your privacy by giving your student debt financial info to kids who should be filling out student aid forms, not looking at yours.