Europe needs independent social infrastructure, not just an app. This is what we're building. eurosky.tech/build/

Well, at least I can use @eurosky.social!

Meet our keynote speaker for The Next Socials track: Erin Kissane /@[email protected]! A writer and researcher, focused on the way the social internet shapes what we know and how we live together. Her talk digs into the opportunity for builders on the decentralised web, and the damaged cultural sub...

Excited to announce that I will be giving the opening keynote for @newpublic.org + @publicspaces.net Open Social Award Show in Amsterdam next month! My keynote will discuss how we do community governance at @blackskyweb.xyz Best of luck to all applicants and hope to see you there!

The full programme overview for the PublicSpaces Conference 2026 is live! Three days in Amsterdam: the Pre-Conference (June 4), the Conference (June 5), and Hyperlink (June 6). Find the programme here: https:// conference.publicspaces.net/da te/2026-06-05 ( https://conference.publicspaces.net/da...

AI hype has now arrived at the heart of European lawmaking. "Through substantial influence over the production of regulatory knowledge, Big Tech seeks to achieve epistemic capture of the EU regulation process, showing how hype can dismantle public expertise." www.techpolicy.press/ai-hype-and-...

Rewilding the Web will take place @schoolofppls.bsky.social on the 28/29th May! With @philosodave.bsky.social, @anil.recoil.org + Jon Crowcroft, Elena Rovenskaya, Orit Halpern, @georgien.bsky.social, @r-emrys.bsky.social, @blaine.bsky.social + others Register: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rewilding-...

"The digital sphere is still in its early days. It may currently suffer under an authoritarian private government, but that need not be its adult form. We stand at the doorstep of democratic renewal that can take us out of the 18th century and into our better future."

More on Blacksky here 🖤☁️ newpublic.substack.com/p/how-blacks...

We're thrilled to announce our opening keynote speaker for the PublicSpaces Conference 2026 on June 5: @ robin ( https://mastodon.social/@robin ) ! Robin Berjon is a technologist specialised in strategy and governance, whose work focuses on digital sovereignty, issues of power in the digital sph...

When I saw Tim Cook was leaving the CEO job, I knew exactly who I wanted to talk to. Very happy to have @bcmerchant.bsky.social back on the show this week. It’s been far too long since he graced the podcast with his presence!

May Day May Day May Day (in both senses).

Time for the next #diday the first Sunday of every month. See the German events here: https://events.diday.org/ (Mobilizon) Meanwhile you can check the switch recipes: https://di.day/en/digital-switch-recipes and find yourself a decent challenge for the coming month. If you help people to join […]

Regaining power issue chut.media/magazine/chu...

RightsCon was delayed by Zambia's Ministry of Information for "thematic issues" and problems with speakers.

⏮️ Public Value of Art: Connecting value creation and culture Catch up on IIPP's 2022 panel featuring Prof @mazzucatom.bsky.social in conversation with Frances Morris, George The Poet & Alvaro Barrington on how value is created collectively. 📺 Watch it here: buff.ly/6fBTL9i

Today is the last day to apply for the Open Social Awards! Are you building on the open social web using ATProtocol or ActivityPub? Apply now for a chance to win €10,000. Winners will be announced at the PublicSpaces Conference 2026 on June 5th. Organised with New_ Public and @ waag ( https://wa...

In the real world, we resist letting outsiders define values or make meaning for local communities. Why accept it from AI? Sujata Mukherjee and Sasha Maria Mathew make the case for semantic ownership.

France plans to ditch all fossil fuels by 2050. “France announced a ‘first of its kind’ plan to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 & gas by 2050…The roadmap was published as dozens of nations gather for the first-ever international talks on how to transition away from planet-heating fossil fuels.”

After France, Denmark is moving too: its Digitalisation Ministry plans to phase out Microsoft, switching to Linux and LibreOffice in the coming months. The goal is clear—reduce dependence on a handful of global tech giants and strengthen digital sovereignty.

The UK government has blanked the risks of US tech dependency for too long. Our digital infrastructure is a strategic asset. But that understanding is absent in how we hand out public sector contracts and allow UK tech sector sell-offs to foreign companies. We must shift the dial. Read more ⬇️

Unconditional openness doesn't protect the commons when AI companies extract value from public collections at scale. It enables privatization. Analysis by @paul.eurosky.social responds to critiques of our proposed conditional access framework for cultural heritage data: openfuture.eu/blog/beyond-...

Our sixth and final brief in our Policy Building Blocks for Digital Commons series focuses on the DC-EDIC—the institutional anchor the EU needs to turn sovereignty ambitions into lasting public digital infrastructure. Read more: openfuture.eu/publication/...

🚀 How can states build the capacity to govern for the common good? Join us at the fourth annual UCL IIPP FORUM 2026, 16–17 June in London. 🔗 Learn more and register here: buff.ly/fZlA7M2

✍️ From Digital Feudalism to Digital Sovereignty Catch up on our 2025 IIPP #RethinkingTheState Forum panel chaired by Prof @rainerkattel.bsky.social & featuring @mazzucatom.bsky.social, @francescabria.bsky.social, @ceciliarikap.bsky.social & Mike Bracken 🔗 Watch the recording: buff.ly/aQlecaa

«The billionaire tech-bros’ insistence on telling us exactly what they aim to do … is designed to indoctrinate you. But if it doesn’t, they don’t care. They’re going to proceed anyway, and if recent history is any indication, no one with regulatory power is going to stop them.»

Europe has the ideas and the talent — but not the capital, argue Elif Memet, Erik Dalaker, Julian von Moltke & Adrien Joly. Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, could anchor a dedicated European venture vehicle and change that.

Open licensing promised democratization, but access alone doesn't guarantee equitable outcomes. That's the Paradox of Open. The NOODL license is one of the most concrete responses to it yet, examined in a new report by @alek.eurosky.social. Read more: openfuture.eu/publication/...

A great conversation on @Revolution.social podcast with host @rabble.nz Henshaw-Plath. We discussed the power of network protocols, the dynamics of commoning in digital spaces, and Big Tech failures to understand their dependence on trust and sharing. Refreshing! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5nZ...

So refreshing to talk with hacktivist and computer science professor Benj. Mako Hill, @mako.cc, about the distinctive dynamics of online collaboration. Many insights into corporate & political enclosures of digital commons, too. More on my 'Frontiers of Commoning' podcast: tinyurl.com/c56v62np

#DXC26 starts today! Canada’s 7th annual Democracy Summit brings together bold voices and big ideas to strengthen and protect our democracy—at a moment that demands both. 3 days. 90+ speakers. Sold out. Let’s get to work. Read the full release at: www.democracyxchange.org/news/democra...

Digital memory is not a given (someone has to fight for it). 🏛️ Brewster Kahle from Internet Archive Europe joined the Facebook Museum opening to discuss public infrastructure and protocols that enable users to own their data. www.internetarchive.eu/2026/04/16/d... #DWeb #DigitalPreservation

What a day to officially launch our @eurosky.social Portal!

Silicon Valley’s empty moral posturing over AI and the future may create an opening to have a good fight about the values most people share—autonomy, fairness, humanity—and how to make sure our tech serves those righteous aims from now on, writes Daniel Dobrygowski.

Next year, France votes for its President and National Assembly. I'd like to start raising funds for JD Vance to come campaign.

Even better: stop treating tech monopolies as if they're an immovable part of the landscape which we can only accept, ban, or regulate. We have the means to replace toxic social apps with better ones, including youth-designed and youth-governed alternatives.

Digital public spaces need more than regulation; they need public infrastructure. Our new policy brief (authored by @aditya.myatproto.social and Zuzanna Warso) proposes public investment in interoperable, commons-based communication infrastructure. openfuture.eu/publication/...

Social media engagement overall has stalled, even decreased. It's not a single platform issue. In digital marketing, our metric is now "engagement." Not traffic, users, or views. About 30% of social profiles are fake, and 30-40% of web traffic is just bot traffic. www.noemamag.com/the-last-day...

Our latest brief, authored by @paul.eurosky.social and @aditya.myatproto.social, proposes dedicated public storage infrastructure, governed as a commons, as the missing layer in Europe's data sovereignty agenda. openfuture.eu/publication/...

@ngicommons.bsky.social Digital Commons Task Force (DCTF) brings together independent researchers, policy & tech experts to analyse NGI’s impact on digital & internet commons. 💡Latest debate: can digital commons counter AI-driven misinformation? 🫵What do you think? commons.ngi.eu/2026/03/24/d...

🗓️ Die re:publica 26 findet vom 18.-20.05.2026 statt. 📍STATION Berlin 🎟️ Tickets auf re-publica.com/de #NeverGonnaGiveYouUp #festival #berlin

From Palantir in police forces to Anduril drones:US tech firms are embedding themselves in European critical infrastructure. At #rp26 Innovation economist Francesca Bria (@francescabria.bsky.social) asks: What will it take to further contain their influence? ➡️ re-publica.com/en/news/rp26...

🆕 The Authoritarian Stack IIPP Honorary Professor @francescabria.bsky.social's latest research project maps the "Authoritarian Stack"— a network of tech firms, funds, & political actors turning core state functions into private platforms. 🔗 Learn more about the project here: buff.ly/lLhM9k6

🤖 🌍 #AI is transforming the nature of global power, reshaping #Sovereignty in the digital age The need for a new multilateral digital order has never been more urgent & Europe has a real opportunity to shape it Read the 🆕 policy brief written by @francescabria.bsky.social 📕 bit.ly/DigitalSover...

My essay on socialism after AI has triggered quite a debate - so much so that I wrote a much longer second essay. That same issue of The Ideas Letter also contains two lengthy responses to my original piece www.theideasletter.org/essay/the-so...

Bernie had a chat with Claude on AI and implications of the lack of privacy, and what needs to be done about it. Listen to the whole conversation here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3At...

Speaking at India’s AI Impact Summit, a professor envisioned AI agents serving as personal proxies for every Indian, but this raises questions about whether embedding hallucinatory, probabilistic systems into everyday life strengthens democratic participation, Anuradha Sajjanhar writes.

New blogpost about atproto It's not federation, it's not a p2p mesh. It's a secret third thing: practical. www.pfrazee.com/blog/practic...

📣 SPECIAL ISSUE: Stop Surveillance Copaganda 📣 Anti-surveillance stories, analysis, and incitement built by privacy activists + human rights experts. The toolkit is for creators who want to write dynamic stories that challenge fascist repression via surveillance tech. stopcopaganda.compost.digital