Reports that Tucker Carlson is leaving the GOP are greatly exaggerated. He isn't really hiding that the goal is to take it over. Worse, he wants to make it even more radical than it is. An analysis. www.salon.com/2026/06/26/t...

Tucker Carlson is not leaving the GOP. He wants to take it over

The podcast host envisions a more radical Republican Party

salon.com

The EU is taking welcome steps to promote European tech infrastructure but it is still beholden to Silicon Valley's vision of the future, in which AI deployment is an end in itself that trumps all other societal objectives. My latest @theguardian.com piece. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Europe is starting to break up with US big tech. But it’s still abiding by the Silicon Valley rulebook | Max von Thun

The European Commission has unveiled its plans for digital sovereignty. Its proposals betray a disappointing lack of vision, says Max von Thun of the Open Markets Institute Europe

theguardian.com

Wacky story in @ftm.eu this morning – apparently Musk's xAI has listed a random office block in Estonia as its Europe-wide contact address, and even the building owners hadn't heard a thing about it. www.ftm.eu/articles/elo...

Elon Musk’s AI firm directs complaints to dodgy address in Estonia

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

ftm.eu

This story is WILD. Juan Orlando Hernandez, the Honduran ex-president pardoned by Trump for narcotrafficking, seemingly caught on tape in dozens of conversations (if true), discussing plans with GOP and other figures to attack left-wing governments, and saying Israel paid for his pardon from Trump.

‘Hondurasgate,’ the alleged US and Israeli interference plot to destabilize Mexico and other progressive governments

A leaked audio recording points to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, Javier Milei, and Donald Trump as attempting to create a platform to spread fake news about the administrations of ...

english.elpais.com

Because I'm a cutting-edge next-generation political analyst I can tell you: if you keep repeating far right talking points, it actually promotes the far right. Of course, no political leadership would be dumb enough not to know that.

No one expected Keir Starmer to solve our pressing problems overnight. But what we did expect – and had every right to expect – was that he would lay out a clear vision and roadmap for doing so. Instead, we’ve had drift, appeasement and a startling absence of ideas, values and ambition. 🧵1/6

Awful news, but I’m wondering why Zambia would destroy its ability to host an international event ever again. Foreign coercion seems most likely explanation - Zambia just signed a development deal with China and is negotiating with the US over minerals, and neither is a big fan of digital rights…

404 Media@404media.co · 3mo ago

RightsCon was delayed by Zambia's Ministry of Information for "thematic issues" and problems with speakers.

Fellas, did you think naming the company after the evil all-seeing orb was ironic?

Palantir Employees Are Starting to Wonder if They’re the Bad Guys

Interviews with current and former Palantir employees, along with internal Slack messages obtained by WIRED, suggest a workforce in turmoil.

wired.com

The Trump administration used tariff threats to pressure countries into gutting their own tech regulations. From Indonesia to Brazil, Big Tech's wish list became US trade policy, according to an investigation led by Agência Pública as part of the series The Invisible Hand of Big Tech.

How the United States Used Tariff Deals to Weaken Tech Regulation Around the World

At least ten countries signed off on deals or frameworks that benefit American tech companies in 2025, according to an investigation led by Agência Pública.

buff.ly

That's $10 billion of missiles. For absolutely no benefit whatsoever.

Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Really pretty kooky the amount of firepower the US has expended so far during the Iran campaign. A quarter of Jassm missiles gone. A third of its Tomahawks. Half of the Pac-3 Patriot missiles. And for what? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Stanford AI Index Report: "The U.S.-China AI model performance gap has effectively closed." hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/202...

“Years of garnering bad will from the public has left social media companies searching for a persuasive argument around why they are not liable for societal harms, and the trial in California at least initially shows they have yet to find it.”

How Meta’s victim-blaming failed to sway jurors in landmark social media addiction trial

Aggressive strategy and loss in the trial highlight a problem for tech firms: a widespread distrust of social media companies

theguardian.com

As an avid film watcher/cinema goer I found this piece on the inability of today’s FILM STUDENTS to watch an entire film very depressing. Yet another casualty of social media’s war on our attention spans, and a worrying harbinger for the future of serious cinema. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

The Film Students Who Can No Longer Sit Through Films

The attention-span crisis goes to the movies.

theatlantic.com

This photo.

We're all going to be using our devices for longer than we planned so my advice to you: settings > battery > charging > set limit to 80% [on iOS or macOS]. Making sure your computer or phone never goes above 80% will *quadruple* its life compared to charging it to 100% every evening.

Almost two-thirds of Europeans polled believe that replacing American tech services with European alternatives is a good idea, but those surveyed are divided if that shift is realistic, according to YouGov research shared with Tech Policy Press. Contributing editor Mark Scott details key findings.

Almost Two-Thirds of Europeans Back Replacing US Tech, Poll Finds

EU leaders are pursuing digital sovereignty plans to reduce the 27-country bloc’s dependence on the United States, writes Mark Scott.

techpolicy.press

Imagine threatening to invade and annex NATO allies, then getting pissy when they won't help you in a mad war you started against someone else, which has nothing to do with NATO anyway

Larry the Cat@number10cat.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Confused old man yells at military alliance

Heckuva job Rutte

Max Bergmann@maxbergmann.bsky.social · 4mo ago

“the Pentagon notified Congress… that it intended to divert about $750 million in funding provided by NATO countries through the PURL program to restock the U.S. military’s own inventories, rather than to send additional assistance to Ukraine.” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Picking up newspaper to see VW will likely transition its Osnabrück factory from making cars to making missiles for Israel's Iron Dome, putting down newspaper.

These are the new Philip Morris guys except they’re also assisting in the destruction of democracies all over the world. Even if you don’t ruin your life becoming addicted to their product, their actions will still make your life/community/society worse.

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 4mo ago

A jury determined that Meta and Google were negligent and failed to warn users of the dangers associated with using YouTube, Instagram in a landmark social media addiction trial

“The Twitter madness is feeding back into the newspapers because these columnists are terminally online. They are obsessed with things that most people outside of Twitter don’t really care about and it’s a doom loop, isn’t it? And then it sets the agenda for what everybody else is talking about.”

James O’Brien says the press have gone mad – and it’s worse than you think

The LBC host on how Brexit logic is making papers defend Trump on Iran – because ‘they’d rather look ridiculous than admit they’re wrong’

thenewworld.co.uk

The new Venezuelan defence minister ran Maduro's secret police, torturing and killing people, and was sanctioned by the EU, US and UK. Good to see the liberation of the Venezuelan people is going so well. www.ft.com/content/c526...

Venezuela’s ‘chief torturer’ takes over the military

Longtime spy chief promoted to defence minister as interim president Delcy Rodríguez consolidates power

ft.com

finland was planning to move its election platform to amazon web services. after all the threats from the US and concern about how it will use tech dependence against europe, that plan is on ice.

Finland Shelves Plan to Move Election Platform to Amazon Servers

Finland put on ice a plan to move its election platform to Amazon Web Services Inc., the latest development in Europe’s drive towards digital autonomy as trust in the US frays.

bloomberg.com

Le Pen arriving in Budapest, Trump endorsing Orbán, Vance on his way, Netanyahu also calling for a pro-Orbán vote. I have never seen the European and wider (ironically) global far-right publicly uniting to swing behind a candidate in a national election in Europe so far:

I see ICE are really enhancing the airport experience already, this is going great

Thee NYC angry black latina mom! ♉️🇩🇴🗽 🐝💛@urbanmodernism.bsky.social · 5mo ago

It’s not even 1:00 pm.. …….. #Pinks #Momsky

Starting my US mission this morning on CNBC, with two issues at the centre of the global conversation: Big Tech and energy. Innovation drives progress, but it also requires responsibility. Open markets, fair conditions and shared prosperity must remain the guiding principles.

The Trump administration commissioned an internal study on alleged "censorship" by EU regulators. The study found "no evidence that Member States of the European Union are overreaching the DSA to censor and criminalize online content". Whoops. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Inside the Trump administration’s campaign to counter content bans in Europe

The president has expanded efforts to fight what he sees as censorship overseas, using the State Department to target European governments.

washingtonpost.com

The devil will be in the detail, but good to see Mistral acknowledging the need for AI developers to pay copyright holders for their content. Shows the role that a competitive market plays in challenging the extractive business models of incumbents. www.ft.com/content/d63d...

Mistral CEO: AI companies should pay a content levy in Europe

A revenue-based charge would protect the livelihoods of copyright holders and bring legal certainty

ft.com

Four years into a war launched by a 70 year old man worried about legacy and clinging to power, an 76 year old man worried about legacy and clinging to power convinced a 79 year old man worried about legacy and clinging to power that they needed to bomb Iran to take out an 86 year old man wo...