Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · 4d

www.wired.com/story/ice-so...

ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team

Documents show that ICE plans to hire dozens of contractors to scan X, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms to target people for deportation.

www.wired.com

Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · 7d

www.propublica.org/article/tom-...

Trading on Tom Homan: Inside the Push to Cash in on the Trump Administration’s Deportation Campaign

A Pennsylvania businessman who had Tom Homan on his payroll led companies to believe his connections to the future border czar could help advance their bids for government work, industry executives sa...

www.propublica.org

Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · 14d

Denounce the betrayal of academic freedom by UC President Milliken
rootsaction.org/remove-uc-pr...

Remove UC’s President from Office. Stop the Violation of Academic Freedom and Free Speech Principles.

We urge the University of California Board of Regents to remove the current UC president and replace him with a leader willing to defend academic freedom instead of betraying it.

rootsaction.org

Reposted by Brian Hofer

Rattling the Bars @rattlingthebars.bsky.social · 16d

Woods Ervin of Critical Resistance notes the Legislative Analyst’s Office found California could close five more prisons—saving $1.5B a year. That money could fund Medi-Cal, food aid, housing, and other vital programs.

Check out my latest @therealnews.com

therealnews.com/prisons-clos...

‘We've got four public prisons and one private prison closed’: CA abolitionist coalition takes on the prison-industrial complex

“We are pushing for the state to not only close prisons permanently and not reopen or sell them, but then to try and transform the conditions of the prison… detoxify the land, give it back to the loca...

therealnews.com

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Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · 18d

www.berkeleyside.org/2025/09/12/u...

UC Berkeley shares 160 names of students, staff with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ move

The feds are investigating alleged antisemitism on college campuses. Judith Butler, a well-known Jewish professor whose name was given, called it a ‘McCarthy era’ move.

www.berkeleyside.org

Reposted by Brian Hofer

Shawn Musgrave @shawnmusgrave.bsky.social · 20d

Scoop: DHS is trying to unmask Instagram accounts that named and shamed federal agents. One activist just filed a motion to quash the subpoena which was sent to Meta in early Sept. theintercept.com/2025/09/18/d...

The Feds Want to Unmask Instagram Accounts That Identified Immigration Agents

StopICE.net filed a motion to quash a subpoena about an Instagram video that identified a Border Patrol agent.

theintercept.com

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Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · 20d

theintercept.com/2025/09/16/g...

Google Secretly Handed ICE Data About Pro-Palestine Student Activist

Google handed over Gmail account information to ICE before notifying the student or giving him an opportunity to challenge the subpoena.

theintercept.com

Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · 21d

www.wired.com/story/a-dhs-...

A DHS Data Hub Exposed Sensitive Intel to Thousands of Unauthorized Users

A misconfigured platform used by the Department of Homeland Security left national security information—including some related to the surveillance of Americans—accessible to thousands of people.

www.wired.com

Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · Sep 9

www.berkeleyside.org/2025/09/05/o...

Opinion: Flock can't be trusted not to share Berkeley's surveillance camera data with Trump and ICE

Contracting with Flock is incredibly risky for the safety and security of Berkeley’s residents and completely goes against its commitments as a sanctuary city.

www.berkeleyside.org

Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · Sep 8

sfstandard.com/2025/09/08/s...

SFPD let outside cops cops search city surveillance data for ICE

Out-of-state cops made over 1.6 million illegal searches of San Francisco's license-plate reader data.

sfstandard.com

1

Reposted by Brian Hofer

Annette Yoshiko Reed @annetteyreed.bsky.social · Sep 6

If human and Humanities work is not worthwhile, why steal it...? (Ugh, a search for my name yielded *73* entries...)

Ryan Estrada @ryanestrada.com · Sep 6

Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.

OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI

Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

www.theatlantic.com

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Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · Sep 6

www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...

Billionaire Tom Siebel's C3 AI Was Supposed To Speed Up Policing. It’s Not Going Well.

San Mateo County pumped $12 million into a grand AI surveillance system that was supposed to level up its police work. Three years later, it still hasn’t seen the benefits.

www.forbes.com

Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · Sep 4

theintercept.com/2025/09/02/a...

“Duped”: How One Atlanta Cop Secretly Shilled for Police Tech

NYC, Seattle, and more paid millions for Axon Fusus software after speaking to an Atlanta officer — who sat on Fusus’s board.

theintercept.com

Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · Aug 29

California Privacy Protection Agency @calprivacy.bsky.social · Aug 29

CPPA is seeking a part-time Student Assistant to support our Enforcement Division. You’ll help track consumer complaints, manage emails, compile reports, & support investigations. Great opportunity for students interested in public service. Apply secure10.saashr.com/ta/6158859.c...

Image of student holding books. Join our team apply by 9/17 Student Assistant Enforcement Division

Brian Hofer @brianhofer.bsky.social · Aug 25

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Reposted by Brian Hofer

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · Aug 23

"Twenty-three Democratic attorneys general now gather on near-daily Zoom calls at 8 AM Pacific, which means the East Coast officials are already on their third coffee. They divide responsibilities and share templates for lawsuits they’ve been drafting since last spring."

It’s Time for Americans to Start Talking About “Soft Secession”

Blue states are finally learning what red states have known all along: you don’t need federal permission to govern.

cmarmitage.substack.com

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Reposted by Brian Hofer

LeapingOtter @leapingotter.bsky.social · Aug 22

Good turnout, strong vibes #PurgePalantir

We Support Federal Workers - SF @fedworkers-sf.bsky.social · Aug 22

San Francisco joined the fight against Peter Thiel and Palantir!

Protest today at Thiel’s venture capital firm, Founders Fund.

#PurgePalantir
#PeopleOverBillionaires

@planetoverprofit.org
@purgepalantir.bsky.social
@bayresistance.bsky.social

Thiel gets rich. We get watched.

They get rich. We get Surveillance, abduction, and genocide

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Reposted by Brian Hofer

More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · Jul 29

Amazon pulled an application for a 7.2 million sqft data center in Virginia after massive local opposition.

“We’re letting or even entertaining the idea of a billion dollar corporation coming around and messing with our drinking water. I think it’s pretty humiliating,” Brittany Carroll said.