A core use case for bots’ emotional resonance with the user is psychological addiction. Human interaction is often messy and emotionally painful. Bot interaction, if coded properly, can feel less painful—even soothing—to the user, making it addictive. Addiction is profitable.

If anyone is curious about the current list of search terms being used by right wing activist organizations to harass university professors, here's a public records request I received today from Mike Howell of the Heritage Foundation. Not intimidating or meant to curtail by my speech at all, right?

An Afghan man who worked as a translator for the U.S. military during the war was detained by ICE after showing up for a hearing inside of a federal courthouse in San Diego, his attorney says. He fears that if he returns to Afghanistan, he would be tortured or even killed, @nbcsandiego.com reports.

watch @celinegounder.com 's fantastic and inspiring HSPH commencement speech here (1:12:24): youtu.be/RtyLHjoQGUY?... some great bits captured in @kakape.bsky.social 's thread below too

Responding to the mass cancellation of NSF grants, Fazio (@lkfazio.bsky.social), a researcher who studies misinformation: “What can US researchers do in this situation? One thing is clear: do not surrender to political pressure or abandon crucial research questions.”

Welp. 2 California NWS offices--covering entire Sacramento/ San Joaquin Valley region & adjacent foothills/mountains--are no longer operating 24/7 due to extreme understaffing & expanding cuts to NOAA/NWS. This is a very big problem! #CAwx #CAfire #CAwater www.washingtonpost.c...

I just created a quick map depicting which portions of the United States are now (as of today) or will imminently be (by early June) without 24/7 local National Weather Service coverage (per Washington Post reporting). #CAwx #CAfire #CAwater #ORwx #AKwx #WYwx #KSwx

Oh this absolutely sucks. Carla Hayden was an amazing Librarian of Congress, and a *massive* improvement over her predecessor who was there forever and was terrible.

Nooooooo!!!!! She's the best!!!!

VANCE: We'll have visitors from close to 100 countries. We want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the games. But when the time is up, they'll have to go home, otherwise they'll have to talk to Secretary Noem AUDIENCE: 🦗😳🦗😳

Most of the recordings from the 2025 University of Cambridge Disinformation Summit have been posted on the YouTube page. www.youtube.com/@cambridgedi...

www.centraloregondaily.com/news/local/1... @codaily.bsky.social

A third of Americans surveyed believe at least one false claim spread by Russian media outlets. Why is this a serious problem, & why does it underscore the urgent need for news literacy? Video: www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjBbL7BV/ #Disinformation #NewsLiteracy

Remarkable exchange, such good work by interview.

This exchange is so very telling. Trump repeatedly claims the photoshopped MS-13 on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's knuckles is real, Terry Moran keeps telling him it isn't, prompting Trump to say this: "I never heard of you. I picked you. You’re not being very nice. He had MS-13 tattooed... Just say yes!"

Groups Trump has targeted the most, as of now.

100 days, more than 100 targets for retribution. www.npr.org/2025/04/29/n...

"In a particularly dark moment, a propaganda-style video of deportees being taken into an El Salvador mega prison and having their heads shaved before being locked up, drew chants of 'USA! USA!' from the crowd." www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

29 April 1913 | A Polish man, Ryszard Klimek, was born in Krakow. A university student. In #Auschwitz from 24 April 1942. No. 32520 Shot in the camp on 27 May 1942.

Pritzker: The reckoning is here. And now that this culture of timidity is on display, these same do-nothing Democrats want to blame our losses on the defense of Black people, trans kids, and immigrants, instead of on their own lack of guts and gumption.

Hey Paul Weiss associates—meet your new pro bono clients. It’s ok, the Skadden associates are getting the coal companies.

"Even if Wikipedia’s content was biased (it isn’t), even if every editor was actively trying to push an anti-Israel narrative (they aren’t), that would still be protected by the First Amendment." www.techdirt.com/2025/04/28/g...

ICE Agents Wait At Edge Of Delivery Table To Deport Newborn

I spoke with @semaforben.bsky.social about his big @semafor.com piece on Silicon Valley's group chats for the Techmeme Ride Home podcast today. Episode dropping around noon eastern. youtu.be/Stn7MnUlZQE

Fascinating @semaforben.bsky.social piece on the Silicon Valley-led group chats that have shaped a lot of tech and political discourse over the past few years - and continue to. www.semafor.com/article/04/2...

Just posted to my blog for the first time in a little over 2 years 😅 rambo.codes/posts/2025-0...

Bellingcat CEO excellent recent presentation at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit 2025 youtu.be/D-FVjonlGOY?...

UCSF psychiatrist Dr @psychunseen.bsky.social has a new book out. We hosted him in our webinar series about why people develop conspiratorial beliefs. m.youtube.com/watch?v=0v_v...

How some disinformation campaigns attempt to undermine trust in democratic institutions. youtu.be/yEjtLikxQGs?...

“Some artifacts and exhibits are being removed from the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It comes a month after Trump’s executive order to remove ‘improper ideology’ from Smithsonian museums.” www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-n...

Yet again Andreessen conflates being censored with being called an asshole.

And now, a note on Bill Owens who, until this past week, was the executive producer of 60 Minutes. We’ll be back next week with another edition of 60 Minutes.

Q: Stupid or cruel? A: Yes

Harvard’s putting up a fight from the academic sector. Where are our business leaders?? The silence is deafening. The latest No Mercy / No Malice: www.profgalloway.com/breaking-the...

Democrats need to be the adults in the room. @pivotpod.bsky.social @karaswisher.bsky.social

From Prof G Markets, talking with Ryan Petersen, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flexport, the platform for global logistics. #profgmarkets #podcast #ryanpetersen #tariffs #china

What a timely quote to read after a week of coverage in Washington marked by Trump’s tariffs war, the latest example of the power politics era blowing up the existing -eroding?- order. A walk through the memorials is always mandatory when visiting DC

Note how much of what Trump is trying to destroy, from Radio Free Europe to transatlantic trade, is precisely what the Russians most want him to destroy www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/u...

You have been watching the greatest economic disaster strategy from an American President in history.

The Naval Academy cancelled a freakin' Ken Burns documentary showing, not because of the content, but because Burns had been critical of Trump www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/u...

Are we still pretending this is about free speech?

The humility, courage and selflessness of Zelenskyy meets the hubris, cowardice and corruption of Trump.

In their silence against Trump, business leaders are saying their fear and idolatry of the dollar trumps all. Their silence is cowardice. www.profgalloway.com/breaking-the...

Carl warned us 30 years ago:

New in PN: Lisa Murkowski reveals the ugly nature of Trump's rule "Trump is not a normal president who governs through persuasion and political savvy. He constantly resorts to coercive threats. A system where that becomes normal isn’t a democracy. It’s a reign of terror."

Wikipedia hosts over 64 million articles that are seen more than 15 billion times a month, all while operating on only a fraction of the resources that other websites have. Discover what it takes to run Wikipedia in #AWikiMinute

I've just come back from the Cambridge Disinformation Summit where I gave the opening keynote, titled "Demanufacturing Consent - How Disordered Discourse is Destroying Democracy", featuring everything from Fake Hooves to Jackson Hinkle being the worst. www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-FV...

A two year old baby forced onto a plane by her government—our government. That’s what Ilan Wurman and Kurt Lash and their academic collaborators and defenders have been paving the way for with their bullshit articles. www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

We have now arrived at the "arresting judges" level of fascism.