Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
@bloggeronpole.bsky.social
📱Digital criminologist & social media governance researcher 💃🏻 #poledance performer 🍑 Blogger, award-winning activist 🇮🇹 LDNer (she/her) 🧛🏻♀️ Thinking about Buffy like it’s the Roman Empire. https://bloggeronpole.com/all-my-links/
Reposted by Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
The value of public R&D
www.gov.uk
October 30, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
Coverage of Badenoch's speech was one of the worst examples ever of Westminster Brain and Lobbythink. A litany of nonsense applauded by a policy elite that can't even think three moves ahead. (1/3)
October 9, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Coverage of Badenoch's speech was one of the worst examples ever of Westminster Brain and Lobbythink. A litany of nonsense applauded by a policy elite that can't even think three moves ahead. (1/3)
What’s wrong with the UK govt #digitalidentity plans? *eyerolls*
the utter disregard for previous research & lived experience showing how technosolutionist & overly risk-focused approaches to #onlinesafety affect civil liberties & the safety of marginalised people.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
the utter disregard for previous research & lived experience showing how technosolutionist & overly risk-focused approaches to #onlinesafety affect civil liberties & the safety of marginalised people.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Keir Starmer to announce plans for digital ID scheme - BBC News
The prime minister believes a new scheme would help crack down on illegal working in the UK.
www.bbc.com
September 25, 2025 at 7:18 PM
What’s wrong with the UK govt #digitalidentity plans? *eyerolls*
the utter disregard for previous research & lived experience showing how technosolutionist & overly risk-focused approaches to #onlinesafety affect civil liberties & the safety of marginalised people.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
the utter disregard for previous research & lived experience showing how technosolutionist & overly risk-focused approaches to #onlinesafety affect civil liberties & the safety of marginalised people.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
I am having a hard time reconciling "Charlie Kirk was a fierce advocate of open dialogue and free expression" with "we must identify and persecute everyone who is insufficiently mournful"
After Charlie Kirk's death, teachers and professors nationwide fired or disciplined over social media posts
At least a dozen faculty and staff have faced fallout over insensitive comments online.
www.nbcnews.com
September 13, 2025 at 12:08 PM
I am having a hard time reconciling "Charlie Kirk was a fierce advocate of open dialogue and free expression" with "we must identify and persecute everyone who is insufficiently mournful"
Now that the @aoir.bsky.social 2025 Timetable is live, catch our panel: "PLATFORM GOVERNANCE AT THE MARGINS: RULES, RELATIONS AND RESISTANCE" on 17 Oct at 2pm! Loved putting it together w/ Samuel Cabbuag, Crystal Abidin, Ruepert Cao, @zaritaylor.bsky.social, Kiara Child & @cjpersaud.bsky.social 🤟
September 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Now that the @aoir.bsky.social 2025 Timetable is live, catch our panel: "PLATFORM GOVERNANCE AT THE MARGINS: RULES, RELATIONS AND RESISTANCE" on 17 Oct at 2pm! Loved putting it together w/ Samuel Cabbuag, Crystal Abidin, Ruepert Cao, @zaritaylor.bsky.social, Kiara Child & @cjpersaud.bsky.social 🤟
Most mainstream media platforming Farage as if his win was inevitable, with little fact-checking or evidence of his lies’ effects on the UK, shows a carelessness or worse, negligence over how his baseless claims are re-packaged as social media clips fed to algorithms on loop.
September 8, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Most mainstream media platforming Farage as if his win was inevitable, with little fact-checking or evidence of his lies’ effects on the UK, shows a carelessness or worse, negligence over how his baseless claims are re-packaged as social media clips fed to algorithms on loop.
Ngl not loving the idea of coming back to the UK after a while away today to painted roundabouts, Farage hype & pensioners under arrest for peaceful protests. Hating this entirely spin-stoked xenophobic vibes & forgetfulness of Brexit lies. This isn’t the country I moved to in 2011 🥲
September 8, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Ngl not loving the idea of coming back to the UK after a while away today to painted roundabouts, Farage hype & pensioners under arrest for peaceful protests. Hating this entirely spin-stoked xenophobic vibes & forgetfulness of Brexit lies. This isn’t the country I moved to in 2011 🥲
Just in time before I take a break: my paper with @pamogranite.bsky.social and Richard Brown focusing on content creators’ hopes and fears about #artificialintelligence is out, open access, in Convergence: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
August 30, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Just in time before I take a break: my paper with @pamogranite.bsky.social and Richard Brown focusing on content creators’ hopes and fears about #artificialintelligence is out, open access, in Convergence: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Today is my last day at @northumbriauni.bsky.social's Centre for Digital Citizens, where I’ve been an innovation fellow for 3 and a half years. So here's a goodbye post feat. thank yous, learnings and fave things :)
August 29, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Today is my last day at @northumbriauni.bsky.social's Centre for Digital Citizens, where I’ve been an innovation fellow for 3 and a half years. So here's a goodbye post feat. thank yous, learnings and fave things :)
I was on the BBC World Service's Tech Life programme yesterday, discussing what happens to users when they lose their social media account and what needs to change to prevent the increasingly unaccountable and AI-driven cases of mismoderation on Meta platforms. open.spotify.com/episode/3LXl...
What happens when you lose your social media?
open.spotify.com
August 27, 2025 at 6:13 AM
I was on the BBC World Service's Tech Life programme yesterday, discussing what happens to users when they lose their social media account and what needs to change to prevent the increasingly unaccountable and AI-driven cases of mismoderation on Meta platforms. open.spotify.com/episode/3LXl...
Spoke w/ @jonbrady.bsky.social for this @dailymail.co.uk piece about #AI #influencers, discussing the precarity of (human) creator work. I argue that bypassing creators via sanitised & unattainable AI influencers dismisses the efforts & creativity of their labour www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Why beautiful people who don't exist are invading your social media
Their creators stand to make money from their use, even as psychologists and experts sound the alarm over the effects these flawless sirens stand to have on real people.
www.dailymail.co.uk
August 25, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Spoke w/ @jonbrady.bsky.social for this @dailymail.co.uk piece about #AI #influencers, discussing the precarity of (human) creator work. I argue that bypassing creators via sanitised & unattainable AI influencers dismisses the efforts & creativity of their labour www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Back from leave with this interview with with The Independent, in the fabulous company of @cindygallop.bsky.social, SheSpot and many more of those who do fantastic work in this area. www.independent.co.uk/health-and-f...
How censorship is harming your relationship with your sexual health
Entrepreneurs in the sexual wellness space face a daily battle as their social media and bank accounts are deactivated says sexologist Georgia Rose
www.independent.co.uk
August 11, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Back from leave with this interview with with The Independent, in the fabulous company of @cindygallop.bsky.social, SheSpot and many more of those who do fantastic work in this area. www.independent.co.uk/health-and-f...
Reposted by Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
Because I am angry I will share this again. One of the reasons that Israel is able to target individuals so precisely is that it collects every phone call in Gaza and stores the recordings in Microsoft Azure, then uses AI to analyze and pick targets.
‘A million calls an hour’: Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians
Revealed: The Israeli military undertook an ambitious project to store a giant trove of Palestinians’ phone calls on Microsoft’s servers in Europe
www.theguardian.com
August 10, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Because I am angry I will share this again. One of the reasons that Israel is able to target individuals so precisely is that it collects every phone call in Gaza and stores the recordings in Microsoft Azure, then uses AI to analyze and pick targets.
Reposted by Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
UK regulation of the internet continues to be mind-numbing stupid.
Ministers have spent years passing laws giving the power to fine tech companies billions if they don’t moderate legal content that could harm certain audiences. Now they’re threatening fines of billions if they moderate it ‘wrong’.
Ministers have spent years passing laws giving the power to fine tech companies billions if they don’t moderate legal content that could harm certain audiences. Now they’re threatening fines of billions if they moderate it ‘wrong’.
August 9, 2025 at 10:51 PM
UK regulation of the internet continues to be mind-numbing stupid.
Ministers have spent years passing laws giving the power to fine tech companies billions if they don’t moderate legal content that could harm certain audiences. Now they’re threatening fines of billions if they moderate it ‘wrong’.
Ministers have spent years passing laws giving the power to fine tech companies billions if they don’t moderate legal content that could harm certain audiences. Now they’re threatening fines of billions if they moderate it ‘wrong’.
Reposted by Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
No, UK’s Online Safety Act Doesn’t Make Children Safer Online - www.techdirt.com/2025/08/06/n... "must lead the way in introducing policies that actually protect all users—including children—rather than pushing the enforcement of legislation that harms the very people it was meant to protec" #osa
No, The UK’s Online Safety Act Doesn’t Make Children Safer Online
Young people should be able to access information, speak to each other and to the world, play games, and express themselves online without the government making decisions about what speech is permi…
www.techdirt.com
August 7, 2025 at 8:03 AM
No, UK’s Online Safety Act Doesn’t Make Children Safer Online - www.techdirt.com/2025/08/06/n... "must lead the way in introducing policies that actually protect all users—including children—rather than pushing the enforcement of legislation that harms the very people it was meant to protec" #osa
Reposted by Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
Thread with more good articles and research on content moderation, freedom of speech and erotic expression, and payment processor censorship from @bloggeronpole.bsky.social.
She's done such good work investigating how platforms and corporate interests stifle sex workers and NSFW expression online!
She's done such good work investigating how platforms and corporate interests stifle sex workers and NSFW expression online!
Back from leave today & starting my work posts with this interview I did last week with @theobserveruk.bsky.social's Sensemaker podcast about payment processors' role in content moderation on social media and in the gaming world - thank you for thinking of me, @chefboibex.bsky.social!
I unpacked another niche internet story for @theobserveruk.bsky.social Sensemaker this week: why Mastercard is censoring video games observer.co.uk/listen/daily...
August 5, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Thread with more good articles and research on content moderation, freedom of speech and erotic expression, and payment processor censorship from @bloggeronpole.bsky.social.
She's done such good work investigating how platforms and corporate interests stifle sex workers and NSFW expression online!
She's done such good work investigating how platforms and corporate interests stifle sex workers and NSFW expression online!
Back from leave today & starting my work posts with this interview I did last week with @theobserveruk.bsky.social's Sensemaker podcast about payment processors' role in content moderation on social media and in the gaming world - thank you for thinking of me, @chefboibex.bsky.social!
I unpacked another niche internet story for @theobserveruk.bsky.social Sensemaker this week: why Mastercard is censoring video games observer.co.uk/listen/daily...
Are credit card companies the biggest force in online con...
<p>Hundreds of thousands of games have disappeared from platforms in a crackdown, raising questions about who should be making decisions about content mo...
observer.co.uk
August 5, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Back from leave today & starting my work posts with this interview I did last week with @theobserveruk.bsky.social's Sensemaker podcast about payment processors' role in content moderation on social media and in the gaming world - thank you for thinking of me, @chefboibex.bsky.social!
Another nice bit of press showing how social media censorship of SW tends to lead to censorship of educational content. Gave my 2 cents connecting s*x ed, censorship & the broligarchy, showing how difficult a space this is to navigate for content creators. fullerproject.org/story/these-...
July 29, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Another nice bit of press showing how social media censorship of SW tends to lead to censorship of educational content. Gave my 2 cents connecting s*x ed, censorship & the broligarchy, showing how difficult a space this is to navigate for content creators. fullerproject.org/story/these-...
I'm back from leave, a few days after the #ageID requirements came into force in the UK. I spoke with @stokel.bsky.social about my ID verification concerns in a world where so much of our lives are already affected by unaccountable, private, techbro led companies www.fastcompany.com/91370158/int...
Internet regulation is entering its hall pass era
Sweeping new age verification laws in the U.K. and U.S. aim to protect children—but critics warn they could undermine privacy, harm vulnerable users, and end the last remnants of online anonymity.
www.fastcompany.com
July 28, 2025 at 12:32 PM
I'm back from leave, a few days after the #ageID requirements came into force in the UK. I spoke with @stokel.bsky.social about my ID verification concerns in a world where so much of our lives are already affected by unaccountable, private, techbro led companies www.fastcompany.com/91370158/int...
Reposted by Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
It's apt that corporations/governments divided the internet into SFW and NSFW & are now making it all Safe For Work, because that is the defining frame they want to place on the world--everywhere you go is for Work, not pleasure or art or love or culture. You must always Work for Them, or die.
July 24, 2025 at 3:01 PM
It's apt that corporations/governments divided the internet into SFW and NSFW & are now making it all Safe For Work, because that is the defining frame they want to place on the world--everywhere you go is for Work, not pleasure or art or love or culture. You must always Work for Them, or die.
Reposted by Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
Happy Age Verification Day! I'm quoted in this vg Wired piece on why it's all sort of a hot mess. www.wired.com/story/the-ag...
The Age-Checked Internet Has Arrived
Starting today, UK adults will have to prove their age to access porn online. Experts warn that a global wave of age-check laws threatens to chill speech and ultimately harm children and adults alike.
www.wired.com
July 25, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Happy Age Verification Day! I'm quoted in this vg Wired piece on why it's all sort of a hot mess. www.wired.com/story/the-ag...
This is not directed at anyone in my network, just at Big Tech and at anyone who thinks more AI and less humans will improve online safety and content moderation: I am SO TIRED.
July 23, 2025 at 3:41 PM
This is not directed at anyone in my network, just at Big Tech and at anyone who thinks more AI and less humans will improve online safety and content moderation: I am SO TIRED.
Reposted by Dr Carolina Are / Blogger On Pole
What are powerful AI CEOs, people like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk really after?
Are they ACTUALLY propelled by christianity and "transhumanism", or is theirs a much more banal quest for money and power?
I ask @nsrnicek.bsky.social, author of Silicon Empires 👇🏻🧵... (link in thread)
Are they ACTUALLY propelled by christianity and "transhumanism", or is theirs a much more banal quest for money and power?
I ask @nsrnicek.bsky.social, author of Silicon Empires 👇🏻🧵... (link in thread)
July 23, 2025 at 8:22 AM
What are powerful AI CEOs, people like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk really after?
Are they ACTUALLY propelled by christianity and "transhumanism", or is theirs a much more banal quest for money and power?
I ask @nsrnicek.bsky.social, author of Silicon Empires 👇🏻🧵... (link in thread)
Are they ACTUALLY propelled by christianity and "transhumanism", or is theirs a much more banal quest for money and power?
I ask @nsrnicek.bsky.social, author of Silicon Empires 👇🏻🧵... (link in thread)
Got a new interview up on the blog, with one of the most accomplished pole performers, trans activists and event organisers I know - and she's only 19! Read my interview with the founder of the Italian pole competition Erotic Hell here: bloggeronpole.com/2025/07/elvi...
bloggeronpole.com
July 19, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Got a new interview up on the blog, with one of the most accomplished pole performers, trans activists and event organisers I know - and she's only 19! Read my interview with the founder of the Italian pole competition Erotic Hell here: bloggeronpole.com/2025/07/elvi...
Thanks @stokel.bsky.social for speaking to me about my worries regarding age ID - in great company too, with @mattnavarra.com & Myles Jackman 💪🏼
Between the Online Safety Act in the UK and porn laws in the US, it feels like a rift is going on. For @fastcompany.com, I wrote how the internet is entering its hall pass era www.fastcompany.com/91370158/int...
Internet regulation is entering its hall pass era
Sweeping new age verification laws in the U.K. and U.S. aim to protect children—but critics warn they could undermine privacy, harm vulnerable users, and end the last remnants of online anonymity.
www.fastcompany.com
July 18, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Thanks @stokel.bsky.social for speaking to me about my worries regarding age ID - in great company too, with @mattnavarra.com & Myles Jackman 💪🏼