Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 15h

They are not planning "a violent crackdown" on 10.18. What they are doing is sending a signal to their shock troops to try to cause havoc. But those shock troops will be vastly outnumbered. Go out and protest freely. Do not be cowed.

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Rianamator 🦇🎃👻 @riana.bsky.social · 7h

"Stanford's Pfefferkorn warns that while US tech companies are not state-controlled, they have in her view become 'happy handmaidens' when it comes to 'repressing free speech and dissent.'"

www.wired.com/story/apple-...

Apple Took Down These ICE-Tracking Apps. The Developers Aren't Giving Up

“We are going to do everything in our power to fight this,” says ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron after Apple removed his app from the App Store.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Woodrow Hartzog @hartzog.bsky.social · 16h

This was, of course, always where the IoT and facial recognition were headed. They will not stop unless lawmakers make them.

Analysis | Amazon’s Ring plans to scan everyone’s face at the door

For the first time, the company is putting facial recognition into its home security doorbells and video cameras.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 17h

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 20h

“The problem with billionaires isn’t that they’re hoarding money that would otherwise pay for a Scandinavian social utopia. It’s that their money has become a source of wildly distorted political power that allows a few men with extremist views to wreak havoc on the rest of us.”

Billionaires Are Hoarding Power, Not Money

Billionaire money has become a source of wildly distorted political power that allows a few men with extremist views to wreak havoc on the rest of us.

www.liberalcurrents.com

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 1d

Our plane to Spain is in the air!

🙌🙌

Thank you so much to the countless people supporting us in every way and in particular all of the Rutgers students and faculty who have supported us every step of the way.

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Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 1d

Friends and comrades made a crowdfunding page for my family.

It’s really hard to post this. I know that there are a lot of other important issues asking for money but things have gotten to the point where we need to open ourselves up to your support.

Thank you for your consideration.

"Help us leave safely" on FreeFunder

Click here to support "Help us leave safely" by Dara on FreeFunder!

www.freefunder.com

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David Brody @dbrody.bsky.social · 1d

Comey and James will get their charges dismissed, but others may not be so lucky.

These charges are about intimidating the *next* state AG or FBI official who thinks about investigating Trump. Not everyone will have a squeaky clean past. Anyone with a blemish could be scared of enforcing the law.

Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 1d

Indicting political opponents & critics because they are political opponents & critics is terrifying.

It's completely inconsistent with the rule of law & democracy.

It should scare everyone - and (hopefully) will get people to realize that we all need to stand against this.

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Juris Doctor Dredd Esq. @optimusviktor.bsky.social · 1d

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Nathalie Maréchal, PhD @nathaliemarechal.net · 1d

Thank you for your work!

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Nathalie Maréchal, PhD @nathaliemarechal.net · 1d

Prof. Zimmer is one of the most astute observers and analysts of the US’s descent into authoritarianism. Strongly recommend following him and his work.

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 1d

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly

Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy.

Some thoughts from my new piece:

🧵

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly

Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy

steady.page

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 2d

Virginia State Senate Dems just brought down fire and fury regarding the “Compact,” notifying the President and Rector that UVA would lose ALL STATE APPROPRIATIONS if it signs and cedes the University to “federal political control.” Notably, their letter directly restates points made here by @siva.

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 2d

The “compact” for higher ed is an unserious document written by unserious people from a position of spectacular ignorance. No one should take it seriously. Sadly, my bosses are taking it seriously.

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 2d

substack.com/inbox/post/1...

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Zach Dorfman @zachsdorfman.bsky.social · 2d

Wow, tell me more about Weimar Germany and what came after?

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 2d

"Antifa has been around in various iterations for almost 100 years in some instances, going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany."

- Jack Posobiec at Trump's roundtable on antifa

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 2d

lately i've been thinking of this as platform logic.

replacing unpredictable human connections with fully controlled, fully visible (to the platform) transactions **is the point of this approach**

Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 13d

You don't have a delivery guy from the pizza place, you have an app

You don't talk to customer service you open a ticket on zendesk

platform logic works by replacing direct human relationships with mediated transactions

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 2d

CDT Senior Technologist @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy currently chairs the Privacy Working Group at the W3C, where GPC is being standardized – more on why that process is so important and continues to be a focus of CDT’s work:

It’s Time to Standardize the Global Privacy Control

CDT Policy Fellow Cami Goray also contributed to this post. Think of the number of times your website browsing experience has been interrupted by a cookie banner request for your consent to tracking. If you’ve felt frustrated by the need to jump through hoops before the chance to even access a website, you are not […]

cdt.org

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 2d

CDT’s @nathaliemarechal.net: “This should send a signal to the technical community, which is currently working through the W3C to standardize the Global Privacy Control [GPC], that policymakers are eager to integrate universal opt-out mechanisms into their jurisdictions’ privacy protections.”

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 2d

CDT’s @nathaliemarechal.net: “It’s important that we continue to expand these rules to tools beyond browsers, but California’s move is a common-sense step in the right direction.”

Meaningful Opt-Out Rights Require Companies to Do Their Part. State Governments Might Have to Make Them.

Update: CDT submitted a letter on March 7, 2025 to the California State Assembly’s Committee on Consumer Protection in support of AB 566, which requires vendors of web browsers and mobile operating systems to include a setting that enables users to send an automated signal to businesses with which they interact through their browser or […]

cdt.org

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 2d

CDT’s @nathaliemarechal.net: “Ensuring that your privacy preferences are known should not be a difficult or confusing task, and this bill ensures that the ability to universally opt-out of unwanted data sales is accessible and understandable."

Meaningful Opt-Out Rights Require Companies to Do Their Part. State Governments Might Have to Make Them.

Update: CDT submitted a letter on March 7, 2025 to the California State Assembly’s Committee on Consumer Protection in support of AB 566, which requires vendors of web browsers and mobile operating systems to include a setting that enables users to send an automated signal to businesses with which they interact through their browser or […]

cdt.org

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 2d

CDT applauds the signing today of AB 566 into law, which empowers Californians to exercise their existing privacy rights through their browsers.

Governor Newsom signs data privacy bills to protect tech users | Governor of California

State of California

www.gov.ca.gov

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 2d

"It is not hyperbole to say that the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject it. If any schools capitulate, the pressure will be enormous on all to fold. The only solution is solidarity and collective action against this effort at federal control over higher" ed.

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 7d

Chemerinsky: The Trump extortion demands are unconstitutional as well as odious (gift link). Me: Any school that signs must be shunned, faculty affected must walk. No room for this.

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Branden McEuen but he’s spooky @bmceuen.bsky.social · 2d

I really feel like millennials especially resent the copyright theft part of these AI data centers because of this.

Strange Days at Blake Hol(e)sey High 👻 🍑 @reactionordinary.bsky.social · 2d

The RIAA was suing teenagers. We had to sit through ⬇️ this shit anytime we wanted to watch a DVD. A whole generation shamed for using Limewire and torrents. Only for these silicone valley assholes to now find copyright infringement a necessary evil they shouldn’t have to answer for

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Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 2d

if you work for a publication that does this and have any idea how much $$$ your outlet makes from affiliate sale commissions on prime day, DM or signal me: jason.404

also interested if you are a journalist who is asked to do these deal roundups as part of your job

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 2d

twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross

photo of Google News search results for Amazon Prime Day (the second this year)

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Nathalie Maréchal, PhD @nathaliemarechal.net · 2d

So you like child deductions ?

Reposted by Nathalie Maréchal, PhD

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 2d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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