"Google, Microsoft, and Meta Have Stopped Publishing Workforce Diversity Data. Other big tech companies including Amazon, Apple, and Nvidia have continued their annual disclosures this year even as the Trump administration cracks down on DEI." www.wired.com/story/google...

Algorithmic audits have become a fashionable remedy in academic and policy debates, but this overlooks a fundamental point: like domestic pets 🐕, every algorithm has an owner. Accountability lies not with the code, but with those who design, deploy, and profit from it.

If Hungary want to be another Belarus so badly, the EU should let them. "Orbán to visit US to try to broker another Putin summit, but questions raised over motives. Hungarian PM also seeking exemption on US sanctions on Russian oil ..." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Lol ... "His first divine act." You have to give credit to the scammers; they know their victims well.

If we were running a sandwich shop, we’d be rolling out a brand-new Hero sandwich tomorrow called “The Aquital” because once you taste it, you’re forgiven for every fast-food crime you’ve ever committed. #sandwichguy

Like the gun debate in America, where money and identity override reason, the tech industry’s fixation on profit and polarization will make their stated goal of fostering healthy online conversation the Silicon Valley version of “thoughts and prayers.” #emptymantra

"Why American-style polarisation is spreading across the West" Two words: algorithms and incentives. Mostly incentives. Until we modify or eliminate incentives, all we can do is watch as the fabric of society is pulled apart, strand by strand. www.ft.com/content/5060...

As researchers, we have been trying to flag the harm of these scammy ads for years. socialmedialab.ca/2025/04/21/t... We made an app to enable others to expose these types of scammy ads. socialmedialab.ca/2025/03/31/p... But nothing ever changes, see other ex. here: polidashboard.org/how-to-use-p...

A fantastic piece of data journalism. #JournalismMatters💪 "How Elon Musk is Boosting the British Right. For nine months, Sky News' Data and Forensics team has been investigating whether X's algorithm amplifies right-wing and extreme content. It does." news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

We seem to value migration only when it fits our story. Real fairness means judging everyone by the same human rights standards and treating survival as the right it is, not a crime. "Trump caps refugee admissions at record low - with most to be white South Africans" www.bbc.com/news/article...

It’s hard not to notice the double standard. Refugees who fled the Cold War are remembered as heroes (and rightly so), but those escaping today’s wars and famines are treated like threats. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

We can’t say you didn’t know. “Never again” is happening again. What's being described in this thread 🧵 is a concentration camp right on American soil, with all the horror and injustice that name carries.

Here’s an example of a scam ad we discovered this summer that targeted seniors and featured a video of Trump. bsky.app/profile/soci...

When deception’s more profitable than honesty, users lose. Internal documents suggest that Meta earns $3.5B(!) every 6 mo. from scam ads, revealing a deeper systemic problem: the economic incentive to tolerate “higher legal risk” content still outweighs any penalty. www.reuters.com/investigatio...

🎄Too early? We're expecting snow this weekend in Toronto. It's never too early!

When fines are treated as a cost of doing business, the regulatory model itself has failed. #regulatorycapture Bravo to @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social for putting a spotlight on how Meta’s ad machine keeps profiting from scam content, even when the legal and ethical costs are crystal clear.

When deception’s more profitable than honesty, users lose. Internal documents reviewed by suggest that Meta earns $3.5 billion every six months from scam ads, revealing a deeper systemic problem: the economic incentive to tolerate “higher legal risk” content still outweighs any penalty.

1 in 8 Americans rely on SNAP for food each month. "Without SNAP benefits paying for groceries to feed my children I have to now choose between paying a bill or go without food." — SNAP recipient Here's how you can help... www.propel.app/shutdown-fun...

Juries remain one of America’s final safeguards against the encroachment of authoritarianism and fascism. 👏 "Jury acquits D.C. 'sandwich guy' charged with chucking a sub at a federal agent" www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

Proper content moderation requires nuance. When content moderators get it right, people might not always agree with the decision, but they’ll understand how and why it was made.

We've heard that empathy is now considered a sin. www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

Trump needs to stop trying to turn the people's house into a Russian palace. "‘Temu level shit’: Why Trump’s White House makeover has outraged historians and experts" english.elpais.com/usa/2025-10-...

BlueSky shoutout on Abbot Elementary!

I’ll keep pushing this line of analysis because I’m increasingly convinced the clearest path out of this mess is for Dems to adopt a relentless anti-corruption, anti-inequality, anti-oligarchy, pro-democracy platform. The Dem leadership hasn’t realized it yet, but they’re now a reform party.

Proper content moderation upholds the rule of law, values transparency, and applies nuance. Censorship dispenses with all three; it thrives only on submission to power.

For @techpolicypress.bsky.social I laid out a tech agenda for Mayor-elect zohrankmamdani.bsky.social that resists surveillance and extraction while advancing his goals for affordability, dignity, and justice.

"Bird flu surges among poultry amid a scaled back federal response" www.npr.org/sections/sho...

“KM Compass is more than a tool,” said @PhilipMai.com, Co-Director of the Social Media Lab. “It’s a recognition that we need new approaches to mobilizing knowledge and building trust with the public, and ensuring that research continues to play a meaningful role in shaping society.”

It's not clear if the job cuts are a result of old-fashioned cost-cutting or were really caused by AI. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Sometimes losing is winning. I love the quirky idea and energy behind this innovative initiative aimed at increasing voter turnout.

This will weed out the posers: "New bipartisan bill would require companies to report AI job losses." www.cnbc.com/2025/11/05/a...

Somebody order these people a 🥪 platter.

This is precisely what they once pilloried Biden for, yet now they’re quietly bowing. The truth is, tech fears Republicans more than Democrats. Tech’s learned the hard way: Republican resentment isn't rhetorical, it’s retaliatory. They, unlike Democrats, turn their grudges & grievances into policy.

Content moderation is out, but outright censorship is in: "YouTube quietly erased more than 700 videos documenting Israrli human rights violations... in response to a US government campaign to stifle accountability for alleged Israeli war crimes." theintercept.com/2025/11/04/y...

With 💕 from ??? "Dozens of flights at Belgium's main international airport were cancelled early on Wednesday after drone sightings overnight forced it to close temporarily, prompting Prime Minister Bart De Wever to convene a meeting with senior ministers..." www.euronews.com/2025/11/05/l...

Abby Spanberger will now be governor of Virginia, Mikie Sherrill governor of NJ. I wrote about both of them, and their friend group, last year www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

In every election, campaigns focus on turning out their voters, but the darker, often more effective strategy is to keep the other side’s voters from showing up at all.

This is the reality America now faces as political divisions deepen: bad actors are exploiting the safety & security systems to undermine democracy itself. "Bomb threats close some N.J. polling locations" —

🫧 "Michael Burry, the investor who famously predicted the subprime-mortgage bubble bursting two decades ago, is betting that two stocks (Palantir and Nvidia) at the heart of the artificial-intelligence trade are set for a fall." www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

Yikes ... UPS Plane bound for Hawaii Crash in Louisville www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2...

NEW: The notorious 287(g) task force program has finally reached the Texas Department of Public Safety, raising fears of widespread racial profiling. In other words: Texas is deputizing some of its state officers to act as roving ICE agents. www.texasobserver.org/texas-dps-28...

"Carney's 1st budget calls for billions in new spending to prop up tariff-hit economy. Federal budget includes $141B in new spending — offset by cuts and savings as Ottawa slashes the bureaucracy." It reads like a #StephenHarperBudget if Harper were still in power. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Dick Cheney lived long enough to see his children reap the fruits of his labor. A press release supporting a progressive candidate at the end will not paper over the cancer he introduced into the body politic: #unitarypresidentialtheory.

For Canadians and Mexicans, here's a preview of next year's #CUSMA negotiation. By all indications, it's going to be a bare-knuckle brawl on a moving roller coaster. #cdnpoli

It took nine months, but the changing of the guards is now complete: "Laura Loomer is now credentialed to cover the Pentagon." www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

As the world pivots towards China, this is a vivid reminder that China comes with its own set of challenges. "UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China" www.theguardian.com/education/20...

[New Paper Alert] Who’s Telling the Story of the Russia-Ukraine War on Telegram? “Shaping Western Perceptions: The Role of English-language Verified Telegram Channels in Framing the Narratives Around the Russia-Ukraine War” by @gruzd.ca, Yisheng Li & @philipmai.com socialmedialab.ca/2025/10/27/n...

Caught it just in time before it slipped into the clouds. 🌅 #Sunrise #Toronto