Tune in to: How Do Social Media Feeds Actually Work? a panel discussion w/ Knight Institute Sr. Policy Fellow @oliviersylvain.bsky.social, and C4D's Laura Edelson (@whiskeyocelot.bsky.social) and @yaeleisenstat.bsky.social. Thurs. Feb. 26, 1-2 pm. Streaming: www.youtube.com/@Cybersecuri...

Cybersecurity for Democracy

youtube.com

In-home data center phase 3: buying chassis, compute, and storage. The ‘compute’ part is expensive but not complicated: low volume) availability of GPUs and CPUs is good right now. Storage is also $$$, but there are a lot of choices that require really thinking about your use cases.

And now the student has become the master.

In-home data center phase 2: tool and supply organization. The pain of not being able to find the punch down because it’s mixed in with the saws( or is it with the cabling) quickly was intolerable. All the hobby stuff got organized along the way because there’s too much of a continuum of what’s what

In-home data center phase 2: tool and supply organization. The pain of not being able to find the punch down because it’s mixed in with the saws( or is it with the cabling) quickly was intolerable. All the hobby stuff got organized along the way because there’s too much of a continuum of what’s what

Phase 1 of the in-home data center is complete.

This article about the property of 'stickiness' that content feed algorithms can have is absolutely fascinating. I'm thinking about how to study this in a larger way. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...

TikTok’s mental health ‘rabbit hole’? It’s not in your head.

It’s not just you: Data shows the app’s algorithm makes some topics ‘stickier’ than others

washingtonpost.com

Many thanks to Cornell CALS for a grant to support early organizing, and to our collaborators Marie Bragg, @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, @sarahagilbert.bsky.social, Ashley Maxie-Moreman, Damon McCoy, Amrit Purba, Jenny Radesky, & Pamela Wisniewski. Thanks also to co-authors Avriel Epps & Daniel Susser

Cardi B, Yann LeCunn, Banksy, and I have written a open letter calling for a ban on unicorn breeding. Geneticists say that unicorns will only bring benefits to humanity, but their reckless attempts to cross a rhino with a miniature pony could, in fact, doom us all.

It’s the world championships so #fightrobotsfight

Backblaze unwrapped: you’re a data trillionaire!

Leaked docs on “Expedition Cloud” show the Chinese military-industrial complex building a digital shooting range for cyber ops. Not that anyone was in doubt about the importance cyber operations, but it's fascinating to look inside the machine. netaskari.substack.com/p/train-to-k...

Critical strike: China's hacking training grounds (PART 1)

Exclusive internal design documents reveal details of China's digital training grounds, set up to attack critical infrastructure of its "major adversaries".

netaskari.substack.com

Also, this complaint is 🔥🔥🔥

Kyle Cheney@kyledcheney.bsky.social · 10mo ago

A man was arrested for playing Darth Vader's theme music, "The Imperial March," behind National Guard troops walking through Logan Circle. Now the ACLU is suing on his behalf. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

tangentially related: @erie.bsky.social and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social suggest that people with technical chops punch way above their weight in policy circles: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...

On Lawfare Daily, @jshermcyber.bsky.social spoke to @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @erie.bsky.social about how state enforcers and regulators can better work with technologists, what technologists are suited to help with, and what roles technologists can play. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...

Great news! JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month www.jstor.org/action/showL...

The folks who manage our building put a flyer in the elevator every week. Along with the weekly weather and notes about building rules being broken, they often add a quote. This is one I snapshotted a few weeks ago:

I spoke with @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and @chinafile.bsky.social's Jessica Batke about their recent Locknet report, which provides a brilliant, concise, detailed but accessible overview of China's online censorship system.

China Digital Times@chinadigitaltimes.net · 11mo ago

Interview: Jessica Batke and Laura Edelson on China’s “Locknet” "Just because there are gaps, that doesn't mean the system as a whole is not effective. The human psychological component to this is that for most people, most of the time, as long as it's inconvenient, that's enough."

I talked to @cbsmornings.bsky.social this morning about the rising tide of extreme content on social media in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination: www.cbsnews.com/video/what-c...

What can be done to slow misinformation in the digital age

The killing of political activist Charlie Kirk was followed almost immediately by a flood of misinformation and graphic content online. Northeastern University professor Laura Edelson about whether th...

cbsnews.com

NEW X helped spread ill-informed conclusions about the motivations of the Minneapolis school shooter based on cherry-picked words or phrases to millions. with comment from @ninajankowicz.com @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social @rothschildmd.bsky.social @maargentino.com www.wired.com/story/disinf...

How Disinformation About the Minnesota Shooting Spread Like Wildfire on X

Under Elon Musk’s leadership, X has become the perfect platform to supercharge the spread of dangerous disinformation during breaking news events.

wired.com

I'm one of the 37 targeted below by DNI Tulsi Gabbard. I haven't had a clearance nor worked in government since 2013. This is political theater & a dangerous example of government abusing its powers to punish private citizens for openly exercising their 1st Amendment rights. My full statement:

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 12mo ago

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revoked the security clearances of 37 people, the latest strike against national security officials whom President Trump deems political enemies.

One of the things I was most excited that we got to do for the Locknet report was to produce these explainers of how the internet actually works. It’s not magic!

Asia Society @asiasociety.org · last yr.

How do the components of the Internet work together? @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social and Jessica Batke discuss what they learned over the course of their investigation into China's online censorship system. Read the full report on @chinafile.bsky.social. locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...

@chinafile.bsky.social’s Jessica Batke and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, authors of a new report that reshapes our understanding of Chinese censorship, spoke to the @washingtonpost.com about how the “Locknet” works. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

I talked to @washingtonpost.com for this piece on China's digital ID system. It's a great example of two key features of the Locknet: 1) different aspects of the censorship system reinforce each other, and 2) pushing the policeman into citizens heads. wapo.st/4kBkkEc

Big Brother gets new powers in China with digital ID system

China is launching a digital ID system, giving Beijing greater control over online activity and further raising concerns about surveillance and censorship.

wapo.st

Can anyone help me identity this mushroom? It grew up in just a few days in my garden, and it’s currently over a foot wide. I’m definitely not going to eat it, I’m just curious!

NEW: @lancierifilippo.bsky.social (@georgetownlaw.bsky.social), @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, Stefan Bechtold (@ethz.ch) explore how the political economy of artificial intelligence regulation is shaped by the strategic behavior of governments, technology companies, and other agents.

The Politics of Fragmentation and Capture in AI Regulation - ProMarket

In new research, Filippo Lancieri, Laura Edelson, and Stefan Bechtold explore how the political economy of artificial intelligence regulation is shaped by the strategic behavior of governments, technology companies, and other agents.

promarket.org

NEW: A ChinaFile investigation into China's powerful, but leaky, internet censorship system at locknet.chinafile.com 1/21

EPIC collaborated w/ @commonsensemedia.bsky.social, Cybersecurity for Democracy (@yaeleisenstat.bsky.social @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social) & Tech Justice Law Project on a brief telling the Ninth Circuit to deny Meta Section 230 protections for its allegedly addictive design. 11 legal scholars joined!

EPIC@epic.org · last yr.

EPIC led a coalition of legal scholars including @commonsensemedia.bsky.social, Cybersecurity for Democracy, and Tech Justice Law Project to file a Ninth Circuit amicus brief arguing against Meta’s use of Section 230 to shield itself from lawsuits. 🧵 #Meta #SocialMedia #Section230

Thanks to @epic.org for leading the way, to @comminsense.bsky.social and TJLP for this collaboration, and the below legal scholars, who signed on in support. What a team! cc: @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social & @meganiorio.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/mega...

Megan Iorio@meganiorio.bsky.social · last yr.

The 11 legal scholars are experts on Section 230, platform governance, & digital rights, including @oliviersylvain.bsky.social, @daniellecitron.bsky.social, @brettfrischmann.bsky.social, @FrankPasquale.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy, @gaiabernstein.bsky.social, & @ariezra.bsky.social. Thank you all!