'If we don’t fight back, we don’t have a future' - Gil Durán argues they have all but abandoned democracy and found the perfect government to enable them This isn't a hyperbole. Might not be the extreme of a fascist regime, but if the current course remains, most will be beholden to a wealthy few.

‘If we don’t fight back, we don’t have a future’: the journalist taking on the ‘tech fascists’ of Silicon Valley

As Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and their peers have grown richer and more influential, Gil Durán argues they have all but abandoned democracy – and found the perfect government to enable them

theguardian.com

REPORT🚨: Ex-60 Minutes boss wants to create rival broadcast with fired staffers A new current affairs program is being pitched to streaming giants involving talent dismissed by controversial CBS News chief Bari Weiss I hope this happens... high-quality journalism is becoming increasingly rare

Ex-60 Minutes boss wants to create rival broadcast with fired staffers: report

A new current affairs program is reportedly being pitched to streaming giants and could involve talent frozen out or dismissed by controversial CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss

the-independent.com

Countries to gain $500bn more tax a year under UN proposed ‘pay-where-you-play’ plan - without increasing taxes The impact of this change would be a major uplift to the working class, as multi-billion-dollar corporations are forced to pay their fair share.

Countries to gain $500bn more tax a year under UN ‘pay-where-you-play’ plan - Tax Justice Network

UN tax convention commitment to scrap 100-year-old corporate tax approach will unleash new economic era without increasing taxes, experts say Countries can collect US$500 billion more in corporate tax...

taxjustice.net

Flock, Ring and Atlanta’s network of more than 28,000 integrated cameras haven’t improved city’s crime clearance rates The question is why local governments continue to spend tax dollars on surveillance that hasn’t produced meaningful outcomes.

28,000 cameras and counting, but Atlanta's clearance rates aren't rising

Despite the eight-fold growth of surveillance cameras directly accessible by Atlanta PD officers, crime clearance rates haven't increased.

atlpresscollective.com

An excellent summary of the issues with the data center boom, and how communities end up footing the bill. Source: @moreperfectunion.bsky.social

⚠️ Michigan residents sue AI data center emitting noise 24/7. Hyperscale Data told residents that if they were so bothered by it, they'd buy their homes. The city confirmed the noise violations and fined them, but it is unlikely the company will do anything about it.

'It sounds like someone set up a vacuum, like in your living room': Michigan residents sue AI data center emitting noise 24/7 — company fined for industrial noise ordinance violations, offers to buy h...

Some residents have been there for almost 100 years

tomshardware.com

Another global retailer launches Wero payment in opposition to Mastercard & Visa. Decathlon isn't just including it on its German checkout page, but will also extend it to its physical stores. Expect more regions and businesses to follow soon.

Decathlon Germany launches Wero payment on its website

Decathlon Germany is the first market in its group to offer the Wero payment system, with store rollout and a customer campaign planned for 2026.

sgieurope.com

LIDL introduces the European payment system WERO in Germany, with more regions in the coming months An important step in moving away from Mastercard & Visa. And the best part is that WERO comes with no transaction fees

Lidl selects Wero for online payments in Germany | The Paypers

Lidl has chosen Wero, the European Payments Initiative's account-to-account payment method, for online purchases on Lidl.de in Germany.

thepaypers.com

Oracle signs 10-year software contract with Pentagon worth up to $7 billion Not the first time taxpayers' money is being funnelled to companies that show their loyalty. Up to us to voice our dissent with our wallets.

Oracle signs 10-year software contract with Pentagon worth up to $7 billion

Oracle will supply on-premises software to the U.S. Department of Defense.

cnbc.com

JUST IN 🚨: EU Commission fines Google €890 million for breaches of the Digital Markets Act For self-preferencing its own services and for putting in place restrictions on businesses to direct consumers to alternatives. This is a start. These fines need to escalate for continued inaction.

Commission fines Google €890 million for breaches of the Digital Markets Act

Today, the European Commission took two decisions finding non-compliance by Google with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for self-preferencing its own services on Google Search, and for putting in place ...

ec.europa.eu

Streams required to earn US monthly minimum wage An interesting visualisation of the data shared by royaltyexchange.com/blog/how-muc... Qobuz remains the best streaming service to support independent artists. Outside of buying their songs directly.

Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion copyright settlement to authors, publishers - the start of a precedent Now do it for other industries, other countries, and other AI companies.

Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion copyright settlement to authors, publishers

A federal judge granted final approval for the large settlement, including over $100 million in attorney fees.

courthousenews.com

As the US hits Canada with a fresh wave of tariffs, a reminder that the best response is to boycott their goods. I put together a guide to help people do that for tech, while also hopefully putting the spotlight on some excellent Canadian alternatives. Specific shoutout to: 1Password and Sync!

Airbus is migrating 70 critical apps from AWS to France's Scaleway amid a digital sovereignty push This is just the start. It exemplifies a broader pattern across the trading bloc: become more self-sufficient and less reliant on US big tech.

Airbus migrating 70 critical apps from AWS to France's Scaleway amid digital sovereignty push

Total of 900 applications including ERP, CRM, and manufacturing systems going to be kept 'under European control'

theregister.com

🚨France has just ordered internet providers to block access to Polymarket prediction site These prediction sites that skirt regulations need to be blocked in more countries.

France orders internet providers to block access to Polymarket prediction site

France's ​main ​gambling sector regulator said ⁠on Friday it had ‌instructed the ‌country's ​internet service providers to ​block access ​to ​the Polymarket ​website, one of a number of online predict...

france24.com

🇪🇺 The digital euro could be a major boost for European integration It would significantly reduce dependence on Visa & Mastercard and lower payment fees, as they currently get a portion of every digital transaction. Talks are in their final stage in the EU's institutions.

The digital euro could be a major boost for European integration

The digital euro could reduce dependence on US companies and lower fees, but it will be vital to use effective communication to address public concerns.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

A hack reveals Suno AI music generator scraped YouTube, Deezer, and Genius AI companies no longer deny training on copyrighted material and instead argue that they are allowed to scrape artists’ work under fair use. A precedent needs to be set.

Hack Reveals Suno AI Music Generator Scraped YouTube, Deezer, and Genius

Hacked source code reveals how Suno scraped decades worth of music and podcasts from the internet to train its AI tool.

404media.co

🚨EU forces Google to share search data and open Android to rival companies Part of their latest attempts to rein in tech behemoths' deep control over the digital economy and foster competition.

EU forces Google to share search data and open Android to rival AI companies

The European Union has issued new rules for Google, requiring it to share search data and open its Android system to rival AI companies

independent.co.uk

US government looks at joining Donald Trump's lawsuit against BBC He is seeking $10bn in damages for their documentary on January 6. Yet another example of Trump using the state to bully and silence the press.

US government looks at joining Donald Trump lawsuit against BBC

Move raises clear conflict of interest concerns between president and state, says broadcaster

ft.com

🚨Book publishers sue Google for copyright infringement over Gemini AI training They are accusing the tech giant of 'one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history' And claims Google itself flagged internally that it could face "$10Bs-$100Bs in potential fines"

Book publishers sue Google for copyright infringement over Gemini AI training

Group of major publishers accuses the tech giant of ‘one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history’

theguardian.com

Data centers have already hiked electricity prices on the public by $23 billion. This is not unique to the US. 22% of Ireland's electricity is used by data centres, and as a result, citizens pay one of the highest rates in the world. Yet another case of the working class subsidising big business

Data centers have already hiked electricity prices on the public by $23 billion. Good luck clawing that back | Fortune

A PJM market watchdog calls the shift a "massive wealth transfer" to tech companies, but there's a peak-demand loophole.

fortune.com

S&P downgrades Oracle to BBB-. Only one notch above junk level Attributed to Oracle's rapidly growing AI infrastructure business, with $95 billion in investments and an expected $42 billion deficit They are in an incredibly risky position should the AI bubble course correct.

S&P downgrades Oracle to BBB- – only one notch above junk level

S&P Global has downgraded Oracle's rating due to massive AI investments. The company is now only one notch away from the speculative territory.

heise.de

AI companies want to water down Australia’s copyright laws. Artists are outraged, fearing that the government might support it. Even for people against IP laws, it is worrying that, through lobbying, these companies get to operate under a different set of rules.

AI companies want to water down Australia’s copyright laws. Artists are outraged, Labor is split

Anthony Albanese will deliver a landmark speech on AI this week as MPs are torn between attracting datacentre investment and protecting the rights of creatives

theguardian.com

A long watch, but a very insightful perspective on the current monopolistic landscape we find ourselves in. The topics I found most interesting were: - why Google made their search worse - we were here before... why there is still hope

Why Google, Apple & Big Tech Keep Making Everything Worse | Cory Doctorow and Trevor Noah

YouTube video by Trevor Noah

youtube.com

Opera upgrades its built-in Ad Blocker by integrating uBlock Origin They join a growing list of browsers doing the same. These include: Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo and Brave (own ad blocker)

Opera One gets a new and faster native ad blocker

We're introducing a major update to the native ad blocker in Opera One: a new and rebuilt engine that makes it our fastest ad blocker.

blogs.opera.com

JUST IN🚨: Big tech must deal with scam ads under Ofcom proposals. Firms which fail to comply could pay the higher of £18m or 10% of global turnover. We would never allow other services to enable rampant exploitation - they should not get a pass either.

YouTube, Facebook and X among platforms forced to tackle UK scam ads

Ofcom says more than half of UK adults have encountered potentially fraudulent ads online.

bbc.co.uk

Once Unimaginable, publishers are preparing to opt out of Google Search The nuclear option is gaining traction as web traffic collapses, and Google refuses to negotiate with content creators

Publishers Are Preparing to Opt Out of Google Search

The nuclear option is gaining traction as web traffic collapses and Google refuses to negotiate with content creators

adweek.com

DuckDuckGo's browser blocks YouTube ads by default This comes a month after YouTube Premium's price hike and the increase in adverts for free users. You might want to switch browsers or use uBlock Origin.

DuckDuckGo just picked a fight with Google over YouTube ads

DuckDuckGo's browser blocks YouTube ads automatically, using open-source uBlock Origin lists. Google is unlikely to let this slide.

pcworld.com

"It never trickles down": Bernie Sanders hits out at Microsoft over mass layoffs and console price rises Citing the fact that Microsoft made $101 billion in profits, got a $12.5 billion tax break from Trump & paid its CEO $96 million. Don’t tell me corporate tax breaks create jobs

'It Never Trickles Down' — Bernie Sanders Hits Out at Microsoft Over Xbox Layoffs and Console Price Rises, Says They Prove Corporate Tax Breaks Do Not Create Jobs

Sen. Bernie Sanders has hit out at Microsoft over the recent layoffs at Xbox as well as console price rises, insisting they’re evidence that corporate tax breaks do not create jobs.

ign.com

⚠️UK has just granted data centres "national importance" rights, allowing them to bypass local approval processes The government wants to avoid protests from communities over high electricity costs and the noise/water pollution they cause Even more concessions for these companies over its people...

UK gives data centers option to apply for 'national importance' status that overrides local regulations, cuts timeline by a year — eligible projects to bypass local councils, save more than a billion ...

Local opposition has caused massive delays for data centers in the U.S.

tomshardware.com