I was on @news.rte.ie at lunchtime talking about - for once! - some good news; new transparency on political spending that you can see for yourself, right now - I will link to the party's pages I mention below. I also give a big shout out to @electionlit.bsky.social www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

We need the content too! They need to be able upload a picture or pdf of the thing!

I’ll be discussing this on the lunchtime news on @news.rte.ie

Still hurt by Bertie Ahern singling out Congolese people, loss of a community member opened a fresh wound, they say. Read more here www.dublininquirer.com/still-hurt-b...

I‘ve an opinion piece in the paper about the TTPA - new EU political transparency rules that *could* transform our election coverage & protect democracy But we need really simple solutions put in place to make it workable for parties & journalists www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

I‘ve an opinion piece in the paper about the TTPA - new EU political transparency rules that *could* transform our election coverage & protect democracy But we need really simple solutions put in place to make it workable for parties & journalists www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

This is going to hit a lot of already weakened news sites very hard. The big ones will survive and the strategy will flip from clicks to mentions/citations in summaries. Individual newsletters aren’t really reliant on it for traffic. But that middle tier of sites will collapse even more

Please subscribe to your newspaper of choice or you’ll never see us again.

The most corrupt act by a president in American history. From this day forward Trump can sue his administration and order his government to pay up

The Internet is disappearing before our very eyes and it’s why we should all support that absolutely critical work of @archive.org

« Ils semblent chercher une certaine Sarah Connor »

New piece in Science: Sudden elimination of USAID grants triggered waves of violence in affected regions in Africa, undermining civic governance and fueling civic unrest. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

As a rule, I’ll read anything @patrickfreyne.bsky.social writes. The audiobook of “Your stupid idea” made me spit out my coffee with laughter. Just pre-ordered this in paperback via Easons www.easons.com/experts-in-a...

An excellent updated MSc programme over in UCD in Digital & AI Policy - grounded in evidence but really tapped into the rapid changes happening in *the* policy area of our time

I know it is not the point, but this kind of sentence structure "were we need x, we have y" is not the soaring rhetoric politicians think it is. In 2026 it just sounds AI generated. And anyway, it leaves the populists as the only ones who actually sound like humans when they talk.

Political parties had declared €225k on spending on political ads for the by-election, 10 days out from polling day. 99.7% of this spend was non-digital ads, in our first vote post-EU ban {Post from yday, updated with link to Aontu's newly published archive) www.thebriefing.ie/parties-are-...

Training data for AI models matter for what you get. A lot. And states can benefit. Good primer by @justinhendrix.bsky.social and @techpolicypress.bsky.social on @hwaight.bsky.social and team’s important piece in @nature.com www.techpolicy.press/language-mod...

A fantastic film out this Friday. Read my review if you have the time.

What happens when you take a transparency law designed for Meta’s ad architecture and apply it to posters and canvass cards on the western edge of Ireland? We’re finding out in real time Plus: how much have parties spent so far? New Briefing in inboxes www.thebriefing.ie/parties-are-...

Effect of the EU's political ad rules (analysis by @lizcarolan.com): - We can now see non-digital ad spend - The regulation didn't make digital ads transparent, it killed them - Irish parties aren't switching to influencers, they're sticking with print www.thebriefing.ie/parties-are-...

Here is what the parties are spending on advertising (posters, leaflets, car wraps, bus shelter ads, canvassing jackets) for the by-election Comes to over €225k - so far (data scraped May 12th; 10 days out from polling day)

Revealed: Ireland approved €20m in dual-use exports to IDF and Israeli Defence Ministry at height of Gaza war thecurrency.news/articles/226...

This gives a really interesting indication of which contest(s) each party is targeting. Government parties hedging their bets; Soc Dems investing 2:1 in Daniel Ennis over Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich.

What happens when you take a transparency law designed for Meta’s ad architecture and apply it to posters and canvass cards on the western edge of Ireland? We’re finding out in real time Plus: how much have parties spent so far? New Briefing in inboxes www.thebriefing.ie/parties-are-...

This is scheduled for 7:30am - last chance to sign up at thebriefing.ie

OK #SpeirGorm - I'm compiling live ad spending data from the 8 political parties (FF,FG, SF, Lab, SD, Gr, PBP, II) for next week's by elections; something the EU now obliges them to publish What do you want to know? & signup at thebriefing.ie for the findings (& the data if you want it)

Significant change at the top of Ireland's online safety regulator, with Commissioner Niamh Hodnett stepping down after three years in the role. Given she's been running the public sector equivalent of a high-octane start-up, that's a good innings. www.gov.ie/en/departmen...

1. The Iran war continues to demonstrate the interconnectedness of the world in all sorts of ways 2. These black and white packets look very cool and maybe one day will be collectibles 3. I quite fancy a pack of crisps www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Would people rather the money be flung from the deck of an open top bus? 3.3c of every Euro - to ensure things like: basic due diligence & fraud prevention, assessing where the money can have greatest impact, making sure it’s spent well - feels pretty light TBH

Would people rather the money be flung from the deck of an open top bus? 3.3c of every Euro - to ensure things like: basic due diligence & fraud prevention, assessing where the money can have greatest impact, making sure it’s spent well - feels pretty light TBH

RTÉ’s boycott of this year’s Eurovision goes beyond simply not sending a contestant to Vienna, as the broadcaster will not be showing any of this week’s shows. Instead, RTÉ2 will broadcast the classic Father Ted episode A Song for Europe during the usual Eurovision timeslot.

Liz Carolan: Social media was once the future for big tech. Now it’s a liability

A fascinating piece by @lizcarolan.com Social media was once the future for big tech. Now it’s a liability www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

An anecdote I considered adding to this piece, on dark patterns or deceptive / manipulative design, is the time I signed what I was told was an anti-Iraq war petition outside the UCD Restaurant & a week later got a membership card to (I think) the Social Workers Party

I’ve watched / listened to a lot of UK election coverage. NOT ONCE have I heard anyone suggest that the reason people feel poor & miserable & angry is because they LEFT THE EUROPEAN UNION And that there may even be a hint of irony in then voting for Farage (I am capable of OUTRAGE too)

This piece by @lizcarolan.com for @techpolicypress.bsky.social is also well worth a look. www.techpolicy.press/metas-worker... And yes, I am getting through a backlog of open tabs to read right now. And also yes, I am a big fan of Liz.

Latest tally Hackney Greens 25 Tory 5 Labour 6 Labour had 43. Total seats in council 57. 29 needed for control

Is there anything more comforting than the gentle patter of election coverage while working on your on little election data graphs?

This combined with Labour regulars staying at home (esp areas with under 50% turnout) and previous non-voters turning out for TeamNigel. Very challenging to analyse & figure out.

Crucial point by John Curtis on BBC - Councils flipping from Labour to Reform are because Labour are losing **to the left**, & Cons to Reform Chasing Reform failed Labour; they lost the base & didn’t convince many on the right (Failed Tories too) Watch everyone learn the wrong lesson anyway

Nope no official exit polls tonight once voting ends!

Does anyone know if there’ll be an exit poll for the British local elections this evening?

Very informative – and topical given two upcoming 22 May by-elections – article on Irish by-elections by UCD’s Stefan Müller @stefanmueller.bsky.social on RTÉ Brainstorm: rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2026/0426/1569745-bye-elections-through-the-years-analysis/

In which I have the audacity to compare surveilled Facebook employees to artists who’ve had their work stolen… … at least in terms of their work being exploited to create tools that will undermine the value of their - and everyone else’s - labour

New from me over on @techpolicypress.bsky.social

New Gist: Sunshine and Lollipops “We should begin with the best possible piece of good news. When you go out of your house and look at the people you encounter all around Ireland the vast majority of them are sounders.” www.thegist.ie/the-gist-sun...

Are you a speaker of Irish English? If so, would you share your thoughts on “only” with me for academic research? umfragen.tu-dortmund.de/index.php/42... Thank you very much!!!!🙏🙏🙏

Based on some fantastical techno-Utopian future that definitely isn't here yet, corporations and governments are literally encouraging people to phone it in. It's self-sabotage.

This is a brilliant piece. Well worth the time to read it. Thanks Liz!