Heather Burns
@heatherburnstech.bsky.social
freelance UK tech policy x human rights / midlife MPhil student @ Strathclyde Law School, researching US tech policy x Christian Nationalism / IANAL / https://heatherburns.tech / 💬 on Signal / open to work, hire me pls / "bad ass Glaswegian" apparently
Pinned
PSA: If anyone is looking for a smart, solid, experienced tech policy analyst w a global perspective and UK/EU-specialization, @heatherburnstech.bsky.social is great!
Over the past years she's been an invaluable help at Signal, and across the ecosystem more broadly.
Over the past years she's been an invaluable help at Signal, and across the ecosystem more broadly.
What she said
Reposted by Heather Burns
‼️OHCHR working on a report on the protection of human rights defenders in the digital age. Please send your inputs! www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for...
OHCHR | Call for Inputs – Protection of human rights defenders in the digital age
BackgroundDigital technologies have transformed both the work of human rights defenders (HRDs) and the nature of the threats and attacks they face. HRDs operate at the forefront of public engagement, ...
www.ohchr.org
February 18, 2026 at 8:48 AM
‼️OHCHR working on a report on the protection of human rights defenders in the digital age. Please send your inputs! www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for...
Reposted by Heather Burns
I said this to a colleague a few weeks ago. He did not seem to be as concerned but even if it is unlikely, even very unlikely, it feels like a daft risk to take unless you have a really good reason to visit e.g. family commitments
Friendly reminder that if you are biologically capable of conceiving and therefore of having a natural miscarriage, even if you were not aware of either, you would be completely out of your mind to set foot in the United States, for any reason, for the foreseeable future.
New in Abortion, Every Day: Why are pregnancy remains being investigated by South Carolina law enforcement at all? How can 14-week fetal remains be ruled a “stillborn death”? And why are state authorities trying to determine the race of the pregnancy remains?
February 17, 2026 at 9:51 PM
I said this to a colleague a few weeks ago. He did not seem to be as concerned but even if it is unlikely, even very unlikely, it feels like a daft risk to take unless you have a really good reason to visit e.g. family commitments
Wondering if @mariafarrell.bsky.social should write a sequel to her iconic Prodigal Techbro essay, on the way that the fights against Big Tech and for a better web were effectively hijacked from civil society, who had put in the hard work for years, by the affluent PR-driven white saviour set.
February 18, 2026 at 5:47 AM
Wondering if @mariafarrell.bsky.social should write a sequel to her iconic Prodigal Techbro essay, on the way that the fights against Big Tech and for a better web were effectively hijacked from civil society, who had put in the hard work for years, by the affluent PR-driven white saviour set.
Reposted by Heather Burns
> Half of tech is just running around praying to a sky god that lives on an nvidia chip
> a bunch of people who have no idea about tech, but are pretending to have an idea about tech … and a bunch of septuagenarian CEOs are taking their word for it — it’s almost an elder abuse issue going on
> a bunch of people who have no idea about tech, but are pretending to have an idea about tech … and a bunch of septuagenarian CEOs are taking their word for it — it’s almost an elder abuse issue going on
Reframing “Open Source AI” with Meredith Whittaker: AI Impact Summit 2026
YouTube video by The Maybe
youtu.be
February 16, 2026 at 1:15 PM
> Half of tech is just running around praying to a sky god that lives on an nvidia chip
> a bunch of people who have no idea about tech, but are pretending to have an idea about tech … and a bunch of septuagenarian CEOs are taking their word for it — it’s almost an elder abuse issue going on
> a bunch of people who have no idea about tech, but are pretending to have an idea about tech … and a bunch of septuagenarian CEOs are taking their word for it — it’s almost an elder abuse issue going on
Friendly reminder that if you are biologically capable of conceiving and therefore of having a natural miscarriage, even if you were not aware of either, you would be completely out of your mind to set foot in the United States, for any reason, for the foreseeable future.
New in Abortion, Every Day: Why are pregnancy remains being investigated by South Carolina law enforcement at all? How can 14-week fetal remains be ruled a “stillborn death”? And why are state authorities trying to determine the race of the pregnancy remains?
South Carolina Is Investigating a 13-Week Miscarriage
2.16.26
substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Friendly reminder that if you are biologically capable of conceiving and therefore of having a natural miscarriage, even if you were not aware of either, you would be completely out of your mind to set foot in the United States, for any reason, for the foreseeable future.
My master's dissertation just fell off the shelf onto my head, which is obviously the universe decreeing that you must suffer with this footnote as much as I did.
You're laughing, but this is an actual footnote I had to include in my master's dissertation.
![Kristen Kobes du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and
Fractured a Nation (W.W. Norton & Co 2022) 270 tells how pro-Trump evangelical scholars wrote a
hagiography called “Trump: A Spiritual Biography” which noted how “Trump’s ancestors included an
incredible soldier who fought the English at the Battle of Bannockburn (depicted as the final scene of
Mel Gibson’s Braveheart)” and how his “Scotch [sic] ancestry, too, linked to the land of John Knox, a
man of God” was “evidence of Trump’s Scottish virility”.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5ifz3soyxgoapvdef74tulbx/bafkreihqh6isaswhpvec5aszqvsyaljkwqsj5cno2wzzdyxu27hacew4rm@jpeg)
February 17, 2026 at 11:19 AM
My master's dissertation just fell off the shelf onto my head, which is obviously the universe decreeing that you must suffer with this footnote as much as I did.
Reposted by Heather Burns
When during the UN meetings the Iranian gov affiliates were challenged over censorship, they’d say UK does it too. every time we mentioned the problems, people told us but we are democratic, we smell better. Well here, read this incredible piece by Burns: internet.exchangepoint.tech/the-dog-that...
The Dog that Caught the Car: Britain's 'World-Leading' Internet
Billed as a “world-leading” child-protection law, the UK’s Online Safety Act has instead normalized surveillance and ID checks. “Tech policy wonk" Heather Burns writes that the model is spreading acro...
internet.exchangepoint.tech
September 12, 2025 at 1:04 PM
When during the UN meetings the Iranian gov affiliates were challenged over censorship, they’d say UK does it too. every time we mentioned the problems, people told us but we are democratic, we smell better. Well here, read this incredible piece by Burns: internet.exchangepoint.tech/the-dog-that...
These two places were my backyard when I lived in DC, so this hits where it should.
February 17, 2026 at 6:37 AM
These two places were my backyard when I lived in DC, so this hits where it should.
A lovely piece of web design launched today which should have been a celebration and not a warning, but that is why it is here: happy 100th birthday, Margot Frank.
margot100.annefrank.org
margot100.annefrank.org
100th birthday of Margot Frank, Anne's sister. Discover her story.
The year 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of Margot Frank's birthday. The Anne Frank House would like to commemorate this occasion, to give Margot the spotlight she
deserves.
margot100.annefrank.org
February 16, 2026 at 7:00 PM
A lovely piece of web design launched today which should have been a celebration and not a warning, but that is why it is here: happy 100th birthday, Margot Frank.
margot100.annefrank.org
margot100.annefrank.org
Reposted by Heather Burns
If children were more politically active they would be quite pissed to be told that their screen time is “the most urgent public health issue” while the largest measles outbreak since the vaccine sweeps their schools because of conspiracies that the adults in their life believed from social media.
‘It’s the most urgent public health issue’: Dr Rangan Chatterjee on screen time, mental health – and banning social media until 18
‘It’s the most urgent public health issue’: Dr Rangan Chatterjee on screen time, mental health – and banning social media until 18
The hit podcaster, author and former GP says a failure to regulate big tech is ‘failing a generation of children’. He explains why he quit the NHS and why he wants a ban on screen-based homework
www.theguardian.com
February 16, 2026 at 7:52 AM
If children were more politically active they would be quite pissed to be told that their screen time is “the most urgent public health issue” while the largest measles outbreak since the vaccine sweeps their schools because of conspiracies that the adults in their life believed from social media.
Reposted by Heather Burns
And it is for threads like this that you too should follow @heatherburnstech.bsky.social.
I’ve picked up on an interesting vibe lately that pro-OSA and child safety groups are sussing that spending five years trying to rewrite the global internet (≠ platforms), whilst labelling anyone who criticised them pro-child abuse shills for Big Tech, achieved nothing.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Starmer pledges crackdown on 'addictive elements' of social media
The government's new plans will mean no online platform will get a
www.bbc.co.uk
February 16, 2026 at 8:59 AM
And it is for threads like this that you too should follow @heatherburnstech.bsky.social.
Reposted by Heather Burns
Is this the beginning of a theory of stakeholder excess? Intoxication with the righteousness of one’s cause, arousing from entitlement, leading to over-acceleration of campaigns. Some climate and gender campaigners perhaps?
February 16, 2026 at 8:08 AM
Is this the beginning of a theory of stakeholder excess? Intoxication with the righteousness of one’s cause, arousing from entitlement, leading to over-acceleration of campaigns. Some climate and gender campaigners perhaps?
I’ve picked up on an interesting vibe lately that pro-OSA and child safety groups are sussing that spending five years trying to rewrite the global internet (≠ platforms), whilst labelling anyone who criticised them pro-child abuse shills for Big Tech, achieved nothing.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Starmer pledges crackdown on 'addictive elements' of social media
The government's new plans will mean no online platform will get a
www.bbc.co.uk
February 16, 2026 at 6:37 AM
I’ve picked up on an interesting vibe lately that pro-OSA and child safety groups are sussing that spending five years trying to rewrite the global internet (≠ platforms), whilst labelling anyone who criticised them pro-child abuse shills for Big Tech, achieved nothing.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Heather Burns
We built Jikipedia, a new wiki that compiles Jmail data into exhaustive reports on key figures in the Epstein scandal.
It lists all recorded visits to Epstein's estates, each person's possible knowledge of Epstein's crimes and laws that they may have violated.
It lists all recorded visits to Epstein's estates, each person's possible knowledge of Epstein's crimes and laws that they may have violated.
February 15, 2026 at 7:14 AM
We built Jikipedia, a new wiki that compiles Jmail data into exhaustive reports on key figures in the Epstein scandal.
It lists all recorded visits to Epstein's estates, each person's possible knowledge of Epstein's crimes and laws that they may have violated.
It lists all recorded visits to Epstein's estates, each person's possible knowledge of Epstein's crimes and laws that they may have violated.
Reposted by Heather Burns
NEW: We alongside 20+ civil society organisations are calling on Keir Starmer to publish documents relating to major UK-US technology and trade agreements negotiated while Lord Mandelson served as UK Ambassador to US.
www.globaljustice.org.uk/news/public-...
www.globaljustice.org.uk/news/public-...
Public interest groups call for disclosure of Mandelson-era big tech deals - Global Justice Now
Politico first reported on this story (13th Feb) Groups seek documents to establish whether Mandelson’s involvement in US tech negotiations served the national interest Organisations and experts – inc...
www.globaljustice.org.uk
February 13, 2026 at 9:55 AM
NEW: We alongside 20+ civil society organisations are calling on Keir Starmer to publish documents relating to major UK-US technology and trade agreements negotiated while Lord Mandelson served as UK Ambassador to US.
www.globaljustice.org.uk/news/public-...
www.globaljustice.org.uk/news/public-...
TIL the specific term for ICE etc putting infiltrators into resistance group chats is called "masked engagement" - I recently had to explain this to an MP in the context of those chats being secure e2ee, meaning the fash have to social engineer their way in.
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/exclusive-...
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/exclusive-...
February 14, 2026 at 2:18 PM
TIL the specific term for ICE etc putting infiltrators into resistance group chats is called "masked engagement" - I recently had to explain this to an MP in the context of those chats being secure e2ee, meaning the fash have to social engineer their way in.
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/exclusive-...
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/exclusive-...
Reposted by Heather Burns
Might try using this in my thesis
February 13, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Might try using this in my thesis
Reposted by Heather Burns
"A review of the published documents reveals a pronounced double standard: tech platform employees’ names are systematically redacted, while civil society participants and commission officials remain fully identified"
February 14, 2026 at 7:37 AM
"A review of the published documents reveals a pronounced double standard: tech platform employees’ names are systematically redacted, while civil society participants and commission officials remain fully identified"
Reposted by Heather Burns
New story up on the Homeland Security Department’s new tactic: flood social media companies with subpoenas to unmask anonymous accounts that criticize ICE or monitor the movements of ICE agents.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 11:23 PM
New story up on the Homeland Security Department’s new tactic: flood social media companies with subpoenas to unmask anonymous accounts that criticize ICE or monitor the movements of ICE agents.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
In my exit interview at a certain organisation, I explained to them that their operating model of putting people on 12 month fixed contracts with junior secretarial salaries up against Big Tech sharks had not gone unnoticed by Big Tech. More fool me for saying so, because they didn't get it.
In an internal memo in May, Meta laid out its plans to release facial recognition in its smart glasses, to the blind first, & then to the general public.
“Civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
“Civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:15 PM
In my exit interview at a certain organisation, I explained to them that their operating model of putting people on 12 month fixed contracts with junior secretarial salaries up against Big Tech sharks had not gone unnoticed by Big Tech. More fool me for saying so, because they didn't get it.
Reposted by Heather Burns
Wow!
Palestine Action win judicial review - Guardian report.
This is a *big* legal win.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Palestine Action win judicial review - Guardian report.
This is a *big* legal win.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule
Protest group’s co-founder wins legal challenge against decision to proscribe it under anti-terrorism laws
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Wow!
Palestine Action win judicial review - Guardian report.
This is a *big* legal win.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Palestine Action win judicial review - Guardian report.
This is a *big* legal win.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
🔥 this is fine ☕️
February 13, 2026 at 8:15 AM
🔥 this is fine ☕️
Reposted by Heather Burns
You see, they're sending them to a camp in TX, where abortion is illegal, because "pro-life."
"Some were as young as 13, and at least half of those taken in so far became pregnant as a result of rape... Their pregnancies are considered high risk by definition, particularly for the youngest girls."
"Some were as young as 13, and at least half of those taken in so far became pregnant as a result of rape... Their pregnancies are considered high risk by definition, particularly for the youngest girls."
The Trump administration is incarcerating migrant girls in, essentially, a forced pregnancy camp.
Trump administration is sending pregnant migrant girls to South Texas shelter flagged as medically inadequate
Government sources and advocates for the children worry the goal is to concentrate them in Texas, where abortion is banned.
www.kut.org
February 12, 2026 at 4:33 PM
You see, they're sending them to a camp in TX, where abortion is illegal, because "pro-life."
"Some were as young as 13, and at least half of those taken in so far became pregnant as a result of rape... Their pregnancies are considered high risk by definition, particularly for the youngest girls."
"Some were as young as 13, and at least half of those taken in so far became pregnant as a result of rape... Their pregnancies are considered high risk by definition, particularly for the youngest girls."
This was due to it being state policy at the time to punish unmarried young mothers with the same drug which was used to chemically castrate Alan Turing. It is scary how few people know about this. heatherburns.tech/2026/02/02/t...
February 12, 2026 at 7:57 AM
This was due to it being state policy at the time to punish unmarried young mothers with the same drug which was used to chemically castrate Alan Turing. It is scary how few people know about this. heatherburns.tech/2026/02/02/t...
Reposted by Heather Burns
Fascinating case study here for anyone interested in open justice and data protection.
UK's Ministry of Justice orders deletion of court reporting database founded by Irish journalist share.google/pnHyYQ5L4h0C...
UK's Ministry of Justice orders deletion of court reporting database founded by Irish journalist
The Labour Party has been accused of ‘wanting to make it harder for journalists to report the truth’.
share.google
February 11, 2026 at 9:51 PM
Fascinating case study here for anyone interested in open justice and data protection.