Hey #sociologists and #sts scholars! We've been teaching Merton's norms of science wrong for decades!! They're not lofty misstaken descriptions, but a prescription for state funded science to avoid Nazism! More relevant than ever today. My latest with @nataliebaviles.bsky.social #academicsky

Dan Hirschman@asociologist.bsky.social · 3w ago

"Reading Merton’s writing on norms in science as a prescriptive text, not a descriptive one, makes visible his desire to counter the active dismantlement of prestigious and powerful scientific institutions in Nazi Germany." @nataliebaviles.bsky.social & @cyberlyra.bsky.social

I can just see Nolan hooked by @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social 's inspired choice for #Odyssey's first line: "a complicated man." That's his type! Deep, intelligent, misunderstood, civilization on his shoulders! Bat-Oppen-dysseus! Incredible film, but I missed the clever, wiley, many-faced trickster.

So sick of people calling them #CanadianWildfires. The #Arctic is burning because the US has led ignorance and resistance to meaningful #climatechange regulation. Now the only people who can make this stop are busy blaming their neighbors for the inconvenience caused by picking up their trash.

At #facct2026 ? Catch my 🔥🔥🔥 talk about The Political Economy of #AI at 10:45 on Level A (Musset), first up in a fantastic lineup of papers on AI #governance, rules and recourse. Paper here: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/... Looking forward to the conversation! #AcademicSky

Remember how the US fought a war to illegalize owning humans for forced labor, and a whole bunch of the losers decided NOT TO TELL said humans so they could continue extracting from them for YEARS? A #Juneteenth lesson: the US has a long history of not letting human rights get in the way of profit.

My new piece in @issuesinst.bsky.social with @cyberlyra.bsky.social comes at an urgent moment in science policy. New OMB rules and EOs threaten to politicize science and strip it of the democratic norms, autonomy, and pluralism meant to protect science as and for democracy issues.org/merton-redux...

Merton Redux: Re-Confronting the Norms of Science in Democracy

The decimation of democratic processes that undergird state-sponsored research may be ultimately more consequential than funding cuts.

issues.org

!!!NOW #HIRING!!! - Postdoc: design for societal impact apply.interfolio.com/187187 - Codesign specialist apply.interfolio.com/187163 - Lecturer in design apply.interfolio.com/187186 Join the Keller Center at @princeton.edu & keep #tech #design centered in societal responsibility! #academicsky

This debate was absolutely 🔥 and brought the house down at Take Back Tech! Join in for this rebroadcast, make your case and maybe even change your mind when it comes to #AI: Do we RESIST or RECLAIM?

MediaJustice@mediajustice.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We want YOUR voice in our debate! 🥊 Enter the ring TODAY at 7PM ET | 4PM PT for “The AI Question: A Movement Debate” to test what you think you know about #AI! Come ready to share your thoughts, push back, and maybe even shift your own perspective! streamyard.com/watch/SKsxNh...

We want YOUR voice in our debate! 🥊 Enter the ring TODAY at 7PM ET | 4PM PT for “The AI Question: A Movement Debate” to test what you think you know about #AI! Come ready to share your thoughts, push back, and maybe even shift your own perspective! streamyard.com/watch/SKsxNh...

The AI Question: A Movement Debate

It's clear that how we respond to the way AI is reshaping our world can define the coming decade of organizing. So tune in to Part 2 of our Take Back Tech 2026 Live Rebroadcast! We'll be debating the ...

streamyard.com

MediaJustice@mediajustice.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🥊 8 movement debaters. ⁉️ 1 question that may push your perspective to the limit: is AI the enemy or are we asking the wrong question? 🤔 Our #TakeBackTech III rebroadcast series continues TOMORROW @ 7PM ET | 4PM PT streamyard.com/watch/SKsxNh...

If you 👍 the Pope's recent Encyclical, you'll 😍 our new paper, shifting the conversation about "ethics" to one about political economy. Catch it here in pre-print before its release next month! #academicsky

danah boyd@zephoria.bsky.social · 2mo ago

In "Reckoning with the Political Economy of AI," @cyberlyra.bsky.social, Ben Shestakofsky, Alex Taylor, and I are particularly keen to understand how the project of AI involves numerous "decoys" that misdirect critics' attention, undermining efforts to hold AI to account. arxiv.org/abs/2604.16106

One thing AI LLMs are very good at: convincing their victims that mediocrity is greatness, and that the ability to generate high volumes of mediocre content is a substitute for skill, talent, or work. This is the distinct impression I get every time I look at LinkedIn.

Very Important Words the Tech Industry Ruined: - Friend - Like - Engagement - Smart - Experience - Connect - Contact - Intelligence - Search - Insights - Chat - Mention - Reaction - Stories - Social - Viral - Community - Authentic - Generative - Content - Experience - Companion - Learn - Privacy

I wrote a piece with @cyberlyra.bsky.social for @issuesinst.bsky.social on why reading Merton’s writings from the 1930s and 40s helps us better understand our current moment. Look for it in June, or DM me for a copy! (2/2)

Gonna conduct a Tech Reclaimers public Teach-In at the Summer of Ludd in NYC! Mark your calendars #nyc for June 29 at 4pm or June 30 at noon ... More info coming soon! This whole event is gonna be EPIC! #summerofludd #techreclaimers #optout #bigtech #digitalresistance

Next was an amazing talk by @cyberlyra.bsky.social on confronting the political economy of modern AI at @princetoncitp.bsky.social. An absolute banger. Highly recommend www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ju... (4/6)

CITP Seminar:Janet Vertesi - Where Fairness Fails: How to Confront Material Political Economy of AI

YouTube video by CITP Princeton

youtube.com

Check our new work on OpenCourier — an open protocol for interoperable, worker-owned delivery platforms. By: Yuhan Liu, Varun Rao, @s0hw.bsky.social @cyberlyra.bsky.social and @andresmh.hci.social.ap.brid.gy Thanks to @pcc-global.bsky.social for amplifying it! platform.coop/blog/toward-...

Toward Worker-owned Delivery Platforms with the OpenCourier Protocol | Platform Cooperativism Consortium

The OpenCourier protocol opens up opportunities for delivery workers to own the platforms that manage their livelihoods. We introduce the protocol, welcoming contributors and comments.

platform.coop

🔥🔥 talk at @princetoncitp.bsky.social on the #politicaleconomy of #AI, turning #safety and #regulation into decoys, and how to see the new market-making strategies of monopoly. Joint work with @zephoria.bsky.social, Alex Taylor and Ben Shestakovsky. #academicsky www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ju...

CITP Seminar:Janet Vertesi - Where Fairness Fails: How to Confront Material Political Economy of AI

YouTube video by CITP Princeton

youtube.com

I'm so excited to join this exciting conference in the fall! Wonderful to see this kind of conversation re-emerge at a time of need. Thanks, @markhurst.bsky.social for this opportunity.

Mark Hurst@markhurst.bsky.social · 3mo ago

1/ I have a huge announcement. After a 10-year hiatus, I'm bringing back my Gel conference. gelconference.com

All the more reason to do my #cybercleanse and #optout Free and open source tools are actually FREE and make your hardware last longer. Small companies in the EU dedicated to privacy-first are not taking money from VC to enshittify. Get off their boat, it's sinking fast.

Philippe de Grosbois@metronomephil.bsky.social · 3mo ago

« Sommer predicts that many companies “won’t be able to sustain their burn rate,” and says market consolidation is virtually inevitable (...) the era where nearly every service has a fairly generous unpaid tier probably isn’t going to last. » www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

Statement from @cantwell.senate.gov on the unprecedented firing of the members of the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation.

An entire #press corps already on location. An event unfolding in a room full of experts who professionally and personally process social experience by --- wait for it -- reporting about it! One could not ask for better or more extensive coverage. #optout #starvethebeast #gasprices

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Tech Policy Press is a nonprofit media and community venture intended to provoke new ideas, debate and discussion at the intersection of technology and democracy. We publish opinion and analysis.

techpolicy.press

You don't read the news, the news reads you. Editors run stories for clicks, likes, and scrolls. Manipulators "game" the news with events that claim all the space above the fold. Withhold your clicks. Don't feed the Beast, starve it. Your attention is needed elsewhere. #digitalresistance #optout

Well, they've finally struck home. #ICE has detained my former #umich student, Yousif Azizi, a PhD student in public policy at Virginia Tech w/a valid visa. He was arrested while taking his children to school in Maryland. After multiple transfers, he is in a detention center in Arizona.

#RFK does percentages like #copilot adds in #excel.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4mo ago

RFK Jr: "President Trump has a different way of calculating percentages. If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to $10, that's a 600% reduction."

We are very happy that today Apple issued a patch and a security advisory. This comes following 404 Media reporting that the FBI accessed Signal message notification content via iOS despite the app being deleted.

What an incredible weekend at #TakeBackTech !! Thanks to @mediajustice.bsky.social and friends for this extraordinary opportunity to envision and live a better future together.

So excited for #TakeBackTech this weekend, and grateful to the incredible folks at @mediajustice.bsky.social for the amazing program. Join us Saturday for a 🔥 AI Debate panel with so many luminaries, and Sunday for my @reclaimtech.bsky.social GOODBYE GOOGLE workshop on #optout techniques in action!

I share @anildash.com 's rage. I was teaching about these trends back in 2011; and by the time GamerGate hit in 2014 the writing was on the wall. Many people spoke up--nothing happened.

Anil Dash@anildash.com · 4mo ago

It's hard to articulate the level of anger & rage I have about watching this happen. I first saw weev doxx people I love *TWENTY* years ago. I spoke to founders of multiple social networks about the risk of these people over 15 years ago. I wrote about it all a dozen+ years ago. They let it happen.

"This is the least transparent #NASA budget request I've ever seen — and I've literally looked through every single one since 1960." -- @caseydreier.bsky.social Love that slush fund line for "Mars Technologies" underwriting more Elon promises he can't keep. #space www.space.com/astronomy/na...

NASA science faces 'very serious threat' from new White House budget, experts say

"This is the least transparent NASA budget request I've ever seen — and I've literally looked through every single one since 1960."

space.com