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Ethan Zuckerman

@ethanz.bsky.social

UMass Amherst, Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure, Global Voices, Berkman Klein Center. Formerly Center for Civic Media, MIT Media Lab.

589 Posts26811 Follower347 Folgt
J. Nathan Matias@natematias.bsky.social · 4w ago

Losing Google Search is not the loss of a public good - it’s the loss of a rent seeking extractor that enclosed our information & sold the story that it was providing a public good. But rebooting real public goods Google ate will not be easy.

J. Nathan Matias@natematias.bsky.social · 4w ago

I have been thinking about writing about the end of Vannevar Bush’s postwar vision in “As We May Think” where science and technology serve the common good of humanity. The NSF & the Open Web are under deep risk, it’s not coincidental that it’s happening at the same time, & it’s not too late

Global Voices@globalvoices.org · last mo.

“Haiti remains gripped by armed violence [...] and a profound humanitarian crisis [and] the Supreme Court has given a green light to treat hundreds of thousands of Haitian families as disposable.” globalvoices.org/2026/07/04/w...

What the ending of the U.S.’ Temporary Protection Status could mean for Haiti

“Haiti remains gripped by armed violence [...] and a profound humanitarian crisis [and] the Supreme Court has given a green light to treat hundreds of thousands of Haitian families as disposable.”

globalvoices.org

J. Nathan Matias@natematias.bsky.social · last mo.

What's the story? The EU Digital Services Act requires very large platforms to submit transparency reports & provide privacy-protecting data access to independent researchers studying digital risks. digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/...

How the Digital Services Act enhances transparency online

The Digital Services Act (DSA) details a range of actions to promote transparency and accountability of online services, without hindering innovation and competitiveness.

digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu

J. Nathan Matias@natematias.bsky.social · last mo.

Tech leaders, scientists, policymakers, & advocates often call transparency a foundation of public trust and fair, effective regulation. Yesterday, @thecoalition.bsky.social took an important step to ensure that transparency laws actually work #FAccT2026 independenttechresearch.org/citr-members...

CITR Members Intervene in DSA Court Case to uphold Data Access for Public Interest Research - Coalition for Independent Technology Research

Members of the Coalition for Independent Technology Research today requested leave to intervene in X v. European Commission. X’s Digital Services Act violations have prevented researchers from using p...

independenttechresearch.org

Ethan Zuckerman@ethanz.bsky.social · 2mo ago

So proud of Dr. Ifat Gazia, my student and dear friend, who received a standing ovation for her keynote this morning at DiGRA 2026 (the Digital Games Research Association annual conference) in Ireland. Ifat's dissertation (defended late last year) is about digital erasure -

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Dominique Baker@bakerdphd.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Well that's a thorough summary. One of the best articulations of university governance for a public audience that I've seen in a while.

Screenshot of article which reads: This is how you end up with an elite university where the president can drive his car into a group of students and be lauded by the board. The president and the trustees are on the same team. The students are on the other team. The trustees know Kotlikoff will reliably enforce their agenda, including cracking down on protests that might be bad for cashflow. It almost doesn’t matter what he does; if there’s any conceivable defense, they’ll keep him in place. (If not, they’ll replace him with someone else who can talk about loving free speech while moving to crush it in practice.) Kotlikoff, after all, has already proved his worth: It was on his watch that Cornell agreed to pay $60 million to the U.S. government to get Trump to unfreeze its research grants.
Brian Phillips@brianphillips.lol · 3mo ago

The president of Cornell hit two students with his car, lied about what happened, and got away with it. The story illustrates an under-reported crisis in higher education: administrators and the trustees they answer to are increasingly hostile to the idea of college itself. I wrote about it here:

Wendy Kloiber@wendykloiber.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Dear god it’s good to see someone demonstrate how to come for Reagan. It’s not hard! But there’s been no will.

Skye@simplyskye.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Mamdani: I cannot help but think of the words of our 40th president, Ronald Reagan. He famously said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the govt & I'm here to help'" I think nine more terrifying words are actually, "I worked all day and can't feed my family"

Doctora Malka Older@older.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Did not know until I read this that there's a protected nature area in Tobago as old as the United States, in case you would like a different 250th anniversary to celebrate globalvoices.org/2026/05/19/t...

Two-and-a-half centuries of rainforest protection in Tobago

Protecting this rainforest was a matter of survival for Tobago, but setting the forest aside for conservation also left an indelible mark on global environmental history.

globalvoices.org

Ethan Zuckerman@ethanz.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"The loyal client" is a concept that's been important to our lab over the past five years as we've tried to make social media better: it's the idea that the tools you use to access social media should meet your needs, not those of the platform owner. Spencer Lane wrote a great paper on this as part

J. Nathan Matias@natematias.bsky.social · 3mo ago

@ethanz.bsky.social interviewed me on the social media lawsuits. My answer: “lawsuits can make products safer... [but] I worry that that we will jump out of Big Tech’s frying pan into the fire of untested, so-called safety products that enrich the same VCs" www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...

The social network in the dock

Lawsuits and bans threaten social media’s future. But the case that these platforms cause addiction and harm is far from proven

prospectmagazine.co.uk

Peter Williams@petermwilliams.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New Prospect out now! With @ethanz.bsky.social on the US court judgments threatening the future of social media; @isabelh.bsky.social on the new star wars; @duncanweldon.bsky.social on price shocks and the Iran war; and @mrhenrymorris.substack.com joins Reform on the Welsh campaign trail

Prospect Magazine@prospectmagazine.co.uk · 3mo ago

Our latest issue is out now! Here’s a peek at what’s inside (all of which you can READ FOR FREE until 11th May) 🧵 For our cover story, @ethanz.bsky.social argues that it has not been proven that social media causes harm—or that banning it is the answer: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...

Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy@mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Register for free to hear from leading voices including: @abridgman.bsky.social, Sally Guy, Helen A. Hayes, Emily Laidlaw, @petermacleod.bsky.social, @taylorowen.bsky.social, Ava Smithing, Tracy Vaillancourt and @ethanz.bsky.social. tinyurl.com/4hs6ywh2

Securing Canada’s Digital Sovereignty: A New Playbook - Youth Online Safety

Youth online safety is at a turning point. Learn from experts about AI, platforms, and the state of Canada’s online safety policy.

tinyurl.com