Liz Carolan
@lizcarolan.com
I publish thebriefing.ie, & founded organisations working on tech & democracy. Tech Policy Press fellow. Political scientist, advocate, writer, knitter. DMs open
If you were confused about what happened in Ceuta last week read this piece by @lizcarolan.com who's looking at how it blew up online and who's behind it... www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Liz Carolan: Migrants pay a deadly price in Ceuta disinformation disaster
All the layers of neglected dysfunction in our information environment have come together into one deadly, toxic mess for Moroccans in Ceuta, writes Liz Carolan
irishexaminer.com
We too easily skipped over the part of the Ceuta story where thousands of young people were manipulated into risking or losing their lives for a lie; to orchestrate images that then led the news agenda for the weekend, and kneejerk reactions from EU Govs And the Irish failures that let this happen
Deirdre O'Shaughnessy@deshocks.bsky.social · 8h agoIf you were confused about what happened in Ceuta last week read this piece by @lizcarolan.com who's looking at how it blew up online and who's behind it... www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Ireland’s notorious mother and baby institutions operated until the late 1990s. Zoei Bonny was the last baby to die under the care of Bessborough, in Cork, in 1994. Her mother Cindi shared her story with me a few days ago. Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/t...
Bessborough survivor Cindi Bonny on the death of her baby Zoei in 1994
Podcast Episode · The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast · 31 July · 36min
podcasts.apple.com
Using the recently updated collisiontracker.ie - which now includes RSA data and a tool to analyse by time period - I had a look at this transport corridor, in an article that unexpectedly veered into the debate on judicial reviews. There's a cool visualisation by Brian Rogers too.
Dublin Inquirer@dublininquirer.com · 5d agoYears on, danger spots for cyclists along the Rathmines to city centre corridor persist. There's a plan to reduce motor vehicle traffic along the route, and install kerb-segregated cycle lanes along most of it – but moving very, very slowly.
Cindi Bonny was just 16 but she had already experienced homelessness, drug addiction and an abusive relationship when she first entered Bessborough in 1993, pregnant with her son Kevin. Her second baby Zoie was the last one to die there. www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlig...
The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast: Bessborough survivor Cindi Bonny on the death of her baby Zoei in 1994
Cindi Bonny was just 16 but she had already experienced homelessness, drug addiction and an abusive relationship when she first entered Bessborough in 1993, pregnant with her son Kevin
irishexaminer.com
the guts it takes to do something like this. props to the goat @davephilipps.bsky.social, who always tells these stories of vets and their families with such care. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...
This is an important role - National Data Guardian. Advises the health and care system so people’s information is kept safe and confidential, and is shared when appropriate to achieve better outcomes for patients. £63k for 3.5 days a week apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/9039
Appointment details – National Data Guardian – Apply for a public appointment – GOV.UK
apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk
There seems to be a very good (and increasing) chance that the US approach to AI has been the wrong one.
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 3w agoGlobal stocks tumbled on Friday after a sell-off in technology shares amid growing investor unease around the eye-popping spending on artificial intelligence.
They will do literally anything except hold tech companies responsible for their products and what they publish
The Journal@thejournal.ie · 3w agoThe European Union will move to limit children’s access to social media later this year. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was speaking in Brussels as an expert panel commissioned to advise on the matter presented their report. jrnl.ie/7100118
Major platforms sold political ads in Cyprus despite saying they had banned the practice, according to new research. Tech Policy Press fellow Liz Carolan on the gaps in EU rules ahead of major European elections.
EU Political Ad Rules Leave Elections Open to Foreign Manipulation
Cyprus election study exposes major gaps in Meta, TikTok and Google’s enforcement of the EU's political ad rules, writes Liz Carolan.
buff.ly
A decade later, we’re all bored to bloody tears talking about online political ads BUT NOTHING HAS CHANGED Exhibit 7000: Meta, TikTok and Google repeatedly sold political ads in Cyprus - thousands of them in a tiny place - despite bans, despite laws, despite risks of malign foreign influence
European Digital Media Observatory@edmo-eu.bsky.social · 3w ago🗞️ "According to research by @meddmohub.bsky.social major technology companies, including #Meta & #TikTok, repeatedly sold political advertisements to election candidates and anonymous third parties in the #EU despite saying they had banned the practice." @lizcarolan.com @techpolicypress.bsky.social
The push towards ubiquitous police-accessible facial recognition video surveillance of our public spaces is just starting here, with the passage of Jim O’Callaghan’s EU-Law busting Bill. Elsewhere, they already tried it and even *the LAPD* has dropped it because of its privacy implications.
Pam Spaulding@pamspaulding.bsky.social · 4w ago🔥 "This [Flock Safety] contract is not being renewed because of serious concerns around civil liberties and civil rights issues, particularly around privacy and the data that is being collected from these cameras." — Dean Gialamas, LAPD's chief information officer 🧾 abc7.com/post/lapd-en...
Coming out of hibernation to plug this piece I wrote for @techpolicypress.bsky.social on why we need to pay attention to the steady expansion of surveillance infrastructure in India. www.techpolicy.press/india-is-bui...
India is Building Surveillance Infrastructure on Broken Data and Bad Policing
Each layer of the stack amplifies the errors of the layer beneath it, writes Dr. Asvatha Babu.
techpolicy.press
The next six months is just going to be Irish Ministers enthusiastically signing the worst set of EU legislation in history.
Luis Alberto Montezuma 路易斯·阿尔贝托·蒙特祖玛@montezumachavez.bsky.social · 4w agoThe Digital Omnibus on AI was signed into law. Credits: Thomas Byrne
I don’t want to know who made Taylor’s wedding cake, I want to know who her lawyers are I’ve a piece in @irishexaminer.bsky.social on privacy in the age of brand deals and monetised attention, with side quests on Posh & Becks, Wu-Tang Clan and countersuits www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Privacy is the ultimate luxury for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Not a photo, and hardly a whisper of a leak from the closest thing America has ever had to a royal wedding. There must be a lot of legal firepower involved, writes Liz Carolan
irishexaminer.com
Great piece from @lizcarolan.com - privacy is the ultimate luxury for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Privacy is the ultimate luxury for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Not a photo, and hardly a whisper of a leak from the closest thing America has ever had to a royal wedding. There must be a lot of legal firepower involved, writes Liz Carolan
irishexaminer.com
I don’t want to know who made Taylor’s wedding cake, I want to know who her lawyers are I’ve a piece in @irishexaminer.bsky.social on privacy in the age of brand deals and monetised attention, with side quests on Posh & Becks, Wu-Tang Clan and countersuits www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Privacy is the ultimate luxury for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Not a photo, and hardly a whisper of a leak from the closest thing America has ever had to a royal wedding. There must be a lot of legal firepower involved, writes Liz Carolan
irishexaminer.com
Just walked past open dealing in the blazing sunshine a few steps from Camden st, so this resonates! @garygannontd.bsky.social
The Journal@thejournal.ie · 4w agoGary Gannon: Dublin looks like a city in chaos; the system has failed our capital city... www.thejournal.ie/readme/dubli...
🤯 Just as Europe experienced a deadly heatwave, the Commission is poised to give in to Big Tech's lobbying to greenwash dirty data centres. 🚫 Member states should today revise the Commission's terrible proposal.
EU weighs weaker data centre climate rules in win for Big Tech
Past proposals for strict rules on renewable energy certificates have been dropped after heavy lobbying, draft shows
ft.com
I found it; the only positive use case for ChatGPT's unearned confidence Plus: just how much of those big flashy fines is Ireland collecting on? And at what cost? Insights from the DPC's annual report; if you'd signed up you'd have it already (for free!) www.thebriefing.ie/what-happene...
What happened to those €4billion in Irish GDPR fines?
And what does it cost our regulators and courts?
thebriefing.ie
But the same question of independence of oversight arises with UK ICO since the ICO is now a reporting line into a Secretary of State with a stated role of promoting economic activity. It is going to be a messy autumn.
Ohkaaay then. Trump v Slaughter in the US Supreme Court just kicked the remaining fig leaf off the Transatlantic Data Transfers framework just in time for Ireland’s EU Presidency. Even Schrems is teasing the inevitable #SchremsIII.
I wonder how much this fella had to donate to get his name on the library? That’s how it’s always worked, right?
I’ll be doing the Sunday papers later this morning on @rteone.rte.ie with Brendan OConnor; excited to meet my fellow panelists @brigidlaffan.bsky.social, @mickcliff.bsky.social & David Higgins
My childcare this morning is paddling pool - welcome to summer ☀️ Camps kick in next week, and I have thoughts on this I shared them in the paper last year - securing my one and only invite onto the air with Oliver Callan - listen back here - or play spot the sun hat www.rte.ie/radio/podcas...
