I think “social media is harmful” is maybe a more broadly acceptable way of saying “Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are very evil” but the latter is a much more accurate description of the problem
Referring to CSE as “Canada’s electronic eavesdropping agency” made me chuckle.
The Globe and Mail@theglobeandmail.com · 3mo ago
Read more about it here migsinstitute.org/migs-release...
MIGS Releases New Report on Beijing’s Interference Operations Across the G7 - MIGS
The Montreal Institute for Global Security is pleased to announce the release of its new report, Guarding the G7: Countering Beijing’s Interference
migsinstitute.org
One of my students asked me for a list of the books that were most influential in my learning journey:
personally I think it's a very big deal that the Canada bureau chief for the @nytimes.com — certainly one of the highest-paid journalists in the country — asked an unspecified "AI tool" what Poilievre said & published its AI-hallucinated quotes in her reporting.
Agartha, a meme rooted in Nazi mythology, is rapidly spreading across Instagram and TikTok. Students are now using the trend to target teachers based on race and religion, while extremists like Martin Sellner openly celebrate its growing reach and role in normalizing white nationalist ideology.
What is Agartha? Esoteric Nazism Spreading on Meta Platforms, Followers Harassing Teachers
Agartha’s viral rise on Instagram and TikTok is pushing Nazi mythology into the mainstream, with teens using the meme to racially and religiously target teachers. As AI-generated Agartha content sprea...
globalextremism.org
Incredibly timely that this new report from @disinfowatch.bsky.social et. al. dropped halfway through my course on foreign interference. Time to update today’s lesson plan!
I was there for the rise of the internet and smart phones, and they absolutely sold themselves. People took one look and got excited. There was no point, years into the smart phone, where companies were having to be like "you may not like the iPhone but it's here to stay so get used to it"
I wrote about how the data center-related shooting in Indianapolis may be a bellwether for a rise in anti-AI tech violence Researchers are essentially counting the days until the data center Luigi Mangione happens For @heatmap.news heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...
The EU and feminists are colluding to interfere in Hungary’s election, says JD Vance while standing next to Orban and definitely not interfering in Hungary’s election www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
Vance accuses EU of ‘foreign interference’ in upcoming Hungarian election while endorsing Orbán – as it happened
US vice-president claims ‘the bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary’
theguardian.com
I hate to praise propaganda, but I do think Iran is succeeding with this one. (Via @underthedesknews.bsky.social on TikTok)
“The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety…Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew.”
Meta must pay $375 million for violating New Mexico law in child exploitation case, jury rules
Jury reaches a verdict in New Mexico trial in which the state's attorney general alleged that Meta failed to safeguard its family of apps from child predators.
cnbc.com
I keep trying to get SF tech bros to understand that if there's a major war, their beloved Flock and traffic cameras will 100% be used to direct strikes against them because SF and the tech infrastructure in the area are massive, juicy economic targets. Usual response is slack-jawed dismissal.
An analysis of over 14 million social media posts from accounts in Canada found that 87% of conspiratorial claims come from just 100 influencers. This minority of users impacts politics, influencing what people view as normal and leads to self-censoring to avoid attacks from conspiracy theorists.
Listening to interviews with a bunch of tech policy people and apparently the term AI now means basically anything a computer does without close supervision by a human. Because AI is just a marketing term that tech companies say means whatever they want.
look at my country man, we’re getting out-No Kings’d by the fuckin’ british
Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 7mo agoKing Charles has issued a statement following his brother Andrew’s arrest
I can’t believe you lefty Luddites hate tech so much that you embrace mRNA vaccines, heat pumps, electric bikes, hybrid work, renewable power (and awesome advancements in storage), space telescopes, and hot/cold running water but reject the planet destroying plagiarism enrich the worst people bots!
CSIS/ITAC saying what researchers have been saying for years: "anti-feminist ideology can function as an enabling factor along pathways to violent extremism" globalnews.ca/news/1166168...
Anti-feminist ideology ‘increasingly relevant’ to national security: CSIS - National | Globalnews.ca
Officials with Canada's security and intelligence agency told MPs the ideology 'can function as an enabling factor along pathways to violent extremism' but is not itself a threat.
globalnews.ca
Peter Thiel has been open about this for a long time. Trump is a way to break the republic, which can then be replaced by “free economic zones” with oligarchs as dictators and tech as a taskmaster for helpless humans without any rights. (1/2)
Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · 8mo agoDefinitely seems like they destroyed the country on purpose.
It has never been more clear that unaccountable systems of wealth are the PRIMARY destructive element of our politics, economy, and society as a whole. Unchecked abuse of all kinds. The current US admin is just the latest, purest personification of this trend.
“Given that ‘fetch and follow instructions from the internet every four hours’ mechanism we better hope the owner of moltbook.com never rug pulls or has their site compromised!”
AI agents now have their own Reddit-style social network, and it's getting weird fast
Moltbook lets 32,000 AI bots trade jokes, tips, and complaints about humans.
arstechnica.com
‘It’s frightening’: How far right is infiltrating everyday culture
‘It’s frightening’: How far right is infiltrating everyday culture
Extremist messaging now woven into music and YouTube videos, with one expert saying: ‘You can be radicalised sitting on your couch’
theguardian.com
A Moscow school stabbing shows how far-right extremism operates as a transnational ecosystem. The attacker drew directly from online white supremacist culture—manifestos, symbolism, and the “Great Replacement”—showing how digital radicalization lives across borders and turns ideology into violence.
Moscow School Attacker Inspired by Far-Right Mass Murderers and the “Great Replacement” Conspiracy Theory
A knife attack at a Moscow school that left a 10-year-old boy dead underscores the global reach of far-right extremist ideology. The 15-year-old suspect livestreamed the assault and circulated a manif...
globalextremism.org
I may have been overly optimistic about the amount of reading I’d get done on a two week vacation…
Instagram is letting neo-Nazism go mainstream. Influencers like Hayden McDougall and Dylan Shane push Holocaust denial, Nazi symbols, and extremist merch to millions — all under Meta’s watch. A platform built for connection is now powering the spread of openly extremist ideology. Read more:
Instagram’s Antisemitism Economy
Instagram has become a marketplace for antisemitism. Influencers like Hayden McDougall, Dylan Shane, Jake Shields, and Myron Gaines are using the platform’s massive reach to glorify Hitler, deny the H...
globalextremism.org