Maria Farrell
@mariafarrell.eurosky.social
Irish writer and speaker: let's rewild the internet!
Dog lady. Forest bather. She/her
http://www.mariafarrell.com
Rep: https://greeneheaton.co.uk/agents/antony-topping/
No DMs
Dog lady. Forest bather. She/her
http://www.mariafarrell.com
Rep: https://greeneheaton.co.uk/agents/antony-topping/
No DMs
Reposted by Maria Farrell
Earlier this month I had the privilege of MCing the @protocolsforpublishers.com event in London, bringing together people from publishers and the open protocols that might help them secure their futures. I wrote up my experiences: werd.io/building-tru...
Building trust in the open
How Protocols for Publishers points to the future of journalism – and the web
werd.io
February 17, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Earlier this month I had the privilege of MCing the @protocolsforpublishers.com event in London, bringing together people from publishers and the open protocols that might help them secure their futures. I wrote up my experiences: werd.io/building-tru...
rtft
the EU turn away from US infrastructure is on.
the EU turn away from US infrastructure is on.
9/In Munich, I heard many calls for technical fixes/practical solutions/a few nice words. But ultimately, they do not address the core problem -- a fundamental and deep psychological rupture in trust, which will take generations to reclaim.
www.nbcnews.com/world/europe...
www.nbcnews.com/world/europe...
Warmer words but relations remain frosty between the U.S. and its old friends in Europe
Secretary of State Marco Rubio proclaimed a “golden age” Monday in U.S. relations — not with Germany or France, but with Hungary, as he met with strongman Viktor Orbán.
www.nbcnews.com
February 17, 2026 at 12:10 PM
rtft
the EU turn away from US infrastructure is on.
the EU turn away from US infrastructure is on.
I'm giving up bsky for Lent. bloody hell. worst thing since ditching chocolate for 40 days as a schoolgirl.
Hopefully these mucky pups will enjoy fewer requests to Stop Right Now So I Can Photo You
Horrifying to think it'll be just me and my thoughts for the duration. and books, I suppose. fuck.
Hopefully these mucky pups will enjoy fewer requests to Stop Right Now So I Can Photo You
Horrifying to think it'll be just me and my thoughts for the duration. and books, I suppose. fuck.
February 17, 2026 at 12:05 PM
I'm giving up bsky for Lent. bloody hell. worst thing since ditching chocolate for 40 days as a schoolgirl.
Hopefully these mucky pups will enjoy fewer requests to Stop Right Now So I Can Photo You
Horrifying to think it'll be just me and my thoughts for the duration. and books, I suppose. fuck.
Hopefully these mucky pups will enjoy fewer requests to Stop Right Now So I Can Photo You
Horrifying to think it'll be just me and my thoughts for the duration. and books, I suppose. fuck.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
Art doing its beautiful job
February 17, 2026 at 10:05 AM
Art doing its beautiful job
Reposted by Maria Farrell
So The Hard Way is out in paperback in April, for anyone who is interested in women and walking and nature - and some unsung heroines, but also hillforts, old roads and much else besides.
Even better, you can get it at a 25% discount from Waterstones this week, so go on, you know you want to.
Even better, you can get it at a 25% discount from Waterstones this week, so go on, you know you want to.
February 17, 2026 at 10:08 AM
So The Hard Way is out in paperback in April, for anyone who is interested in women and walking and nature - and some unsung heroines, but also hillforts, old roads and much else besides.
Even better, you can get it at a 25% discount from Waterstones this week, so go on, you know you want to.
Even better, you can get it at a 25% discount from Waterstones this week, so go on, you know you want to.
rtft
ugh
ugh
Lobbyists for the Tony Blair Institute privately urged the EU to support and join Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, an initiative which started life as a council to oversee Gaza & sprawled since into a rival to the UN
February 16, 2026 at 12:12 PM
rtft
ugh
ugh
well, Monday and all that, but in happier news Milo found his platonically ideal Stick in the park this weekend and chewed it to a tiny stub.
February 16, 2026 at 8:01 AM
well, Monday and all that, but in happier news Milo found his platonically ideal Stick in the park this weekend and chewed it to a tiny stub.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
Among the reasons I’m burned out and inimical to tech now is in my last job I watched social media companies fund meaningful outside research into halting the use of their platforms by terrorists and violent extremists at a platform design level and then ignore it all or do the exact opposite.
for all this social media research we have we sure don't actually use it to inform the social media we build
February 16, 2026 at 7:23 AM
Among the reasons I’m burned out and inimical to tech now is in my last job I watched social media companies fund meaningful outside research into halting the use of their platforms by terrorists and violent extremists at a platform design level and then ignore it all or do the exact opposite.
'Hearing someone (Carney) so clearly name the truth was cathartic, and I could draw so many parallels with how this collective story can inform our personal relationships to AI, Big Tech, and impulses of surveillance capitalism towards an all-pervasive, AI Big Brother.'
I was drawing some of the exact same parallels when I listened to it. I wrote up a bit of an essay and op-ed podcast breaking it down, especially as more and more folks turn to non-US / open source alternatives to US tech that's headed towards an AI Big Brother: voicesofvr.com/1710-when-in...
#1710: When Integration Becomes Subordination: Big Tech Parallels in Carney’s Davos Speech & Untethering from the AI Big Brother – Voices of VR Podcast
voicesofvr.com
February 16, 2026 at 7:45 AM
'Hearing someone (Carney) so clearly name the truth was cathartic, and I could draw so many parallels with how this collective story can inform our personal relationships to AI, Big Tech, and impulses of surveillance capitalism towards an all-pervasive, AI Big Brother.'
that bit in episode 2 Small Prophets where the oil stain on the cul de sac turns out to be the shape of a rabbit, the song Bright Eyes swells, and I thought oh my God this is the very estate they built on what had been Watership Down
February 14, 2026 at 8:29 PM
that bit in episode 2 Small Prophets where the oil stain on the cul de sac turns out to be the shape of a rabbit, the song Bright Eyes swells, and I thought oh my God this is the very estate they built on what had been Watership Down
Reposted by Maria Farrell
Loads more #GetKeshed posts today, with thanks to all of you for supporting it. Wonder who's gonna be brave and be the first person to say they found it funny......? There's a lot of humour in there.....😱
Exciting book post today! KESHED by @stuhennigan.bsky.social, beautifully published by @ortacpress.bsky.social: www.ortacpress.com/product-page...
February 14, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Loads more #GetKeshed posts today, with thanks to all of you for supporting it. Wonder who's gonna be brave and be the first person to say they found it funny......? There's a lot of humour in there.....😱
Makes sense that the same people who tone-police those who call what we're living through by its actual name - and think themselves sophisticates and realists for so doing - are "reassured" by the mere <tone> of a speech that advertises its ill intent toward our multicultural European democracy.
Rubio's #Munich speech was met with a 'sigh of relief' in Europe: grateful for reassurance of partnership. THIS IS BAFFLING when you examine the white Christian nationalist undertones of his speech
See here for the full speech: www.state.gov/releases/202...
See here for the full speech: www.state.gov/releases/202...
Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference - United States Department of State
SECRETARY RUBIO: Thank you very much. We gather here today as members of a historic alliance, an alliance that saved and changed the world. When this conference began in 1963, it was in a nation – ...
www.state.gov
February 14, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Makes sense that the same people who tone-police those who call what we're living through by its actual name - and think themselves sophisticates and realists for so doing - are "reassured" by the mere <tone> of a speech that advertises its ill intent toward our multicultural European democracy.
RTFT @fgenovese.bsky.social on TBI "climate realist" report saying UK must ditch clean energy for cheap energy, i.e. re-embrace fossil fuels
Feels like every time an unmotivated subject expert analyses the outputs of that haunted 'think tank', aka policy launderer, its work turns out to be garbage.
Feels like every time an unmotivated subject expert analyses the outputs of that haunted 'think tank', aka policy launderer, its work turns out to be garbage.
This is a really informative and insightful thread. I learned a lot. Thank you Federica. A MUST READ!
TBI argues the UK should reset its energy strategy away from hitting clean-energy targets quickly.
It should focus on making electricity cheaper and abundant [👋 Ezra Klein] b/c affordability determines if decarbonisation succeeds.
No quibbles until here. We see the geopol situation. Q is: how?
2/
It should focus on making electricity cheaper and abundant [👋 Ezra Klein] b/c affordability determines if decarbonisation succeeds.
No quibbles until here. We see the geopol situation. Q is: how?
2/
February 13, 2026 at 10:50 AM
RTFT @fgenovese.bsky.social on TBI "climate realist" report saying UK must ditch clean energy for cheap energy, i.e. re-embrace fossil fuels
Feels like every time an unmotivated subject expert analyses the outputs of that haunted 'think tank', aka policy launderer, its work turns out to be garbage.
Feels like every time an unmotivated subject expert analyses the outputs of that haunted 'think tank', aka policy launderer, its work turns out to be garbage.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
Big Tech spent €151 million lobbying the EU last year.
That’s 890 lobbyists — more than elected MEPs.
Now key digital rights like GDPR and the AI Act are being quietly rolled back.
We looked at who’s really influencing EU tech rules — and what’s happening behind closed doors. 👇
That’s 890 lobbyists — more than elected MEPs.
Now key digital rights like GDPR and the AI Act are being quietly rolled back.
We looked at who’s really influencing EU tech rules — and what’s happening behind closed doors. 👇
February 10, 2026 at 9:07 AM
Big Tech spent €151 million lobbying the EU last year.
That’s 890 lobbyists — more than elected MEPs.
Now key digital rights like GDPR and the AI Act are being quietly rolled back.
We looked at who’s really influencing EU tech rules — and what’s happening behind closed doors. 👇
That’s 890 lobbyists — more than elected MEPs.
Now key digital rights like GDPR and the AI Act are being quietly rolled back.
We looked at who’s really influencing EU tech rules — and what’s happening behind closed doors. 👇
RTFT
‼️ New publication: Taming the Hyperscalers ‼️
In our latest policy brief, @georgecolville.bsky.social and I lay out a blueprint for how Europe can rein in the “hyperscalers” that dominate its cloud market using existing competition and digital laws.
www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications...
In our latest policy brief, @georgecolville.bsky.social and I lay out a blueprint for how Europe can rein in the “hyperscalers” that dominate its cloud market using existing competition and digital laws.
www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications...
Report - Taming the Hyperscalers — Open Markets Institute
The Open Markets Institute published a blueprint for Europe’s transition towards an open, competitive, and sovereign cloud market, co-authored by Europe director Max von Thun and EU tech policy fell...
www.openmarketsinstitute.org
February 11, 2026 at 1:37 PM
RTFT
Reposted by Maria Farrell
I was awake most of the night with a sick toddler and this just went around and around in my brain for the whole night.
How have we let this evil go unchecked.
How have we let this evil go unchecked.
“Four of my children just evaporated,” Badran said, holding back tears. “I looked for them a million times. Not a piece was left. Where did they go?”
There are no words to adequately describe the evil here.
There are no words to adequately describe the evil here.
Israel used weapons in Gaza that made thousands of Palestinians evaporate
US-made thermal weapons burning at 3,500C caused 2,842 people to "evaporate" in Gaza, Al Jazeera investigation finds.
www.aljazeera.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:16 AM
I was awake most of the night with a sick toddler and this just went around and around in my brain for the whole night.
How have we let this evil go unchecked.
How have we let this evil go unchecked.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
I still think about this article, but reading Simone Weil on duties and rights brought it back to mind
The Gaza family torn apart by IDF snipers from Chicago and Munich
Five-month investigation reveals how four members of one family were shot and killed in a single day and highlights a pattern in which Israeli troops target unarmed civilians
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:17 AM
I still think about this article, but reading Simone Weil on duties and rights brought it back to mind
Well I can't say responding to the UK government's sociopathic, impenetrable and frankly depraved consultation on how to punish immigrants and refugees even MORE has improved my morning
But it's important to push back every way we can.
Abolish the Home Office. Salt the earth of their foul ministry
But it's important to push back every way we can.
Abolish the Home Office. Salt the earth of their foul ministry
I urge you to fill in this consultation if you can - with this very helpful support from Amnesty International - although AND because ! it is heart-breaking that this country has sunk so low that Amnesty suggest in a number of cases to provide no answer as the terms of the question are so evil
The UK government is proposing radical and punitive changes to settlement rules. This is settlement, not citizenship. The consultation is open until 12 February; please respond to it and oppose these evil proposals. Amnesty have a good guide: www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/gu...
February 11, 2026 at 9:21 AM
Well I can't say responding to the UK government's sociopathic, impenetrable and frankly depraved consultation on how to punish immigrants and refugees even MORE has improved my morning
But it's important to push back every way we can.
Abolish the Home Office. Salt the earth of their foul ministry
But it's important to push back every way we can.
Abolish the Home Office. Salt the earth of their foul ministry
Reposted by Maria Farrell
Check out our new op-ed! With @taniaduarte.bsky.social @markwong.bsky.social, @suoman.bsky.social, & @timdavies.org.uk.
We argue that these collabs normalize close relationships w/Big-Tech, setting them up to be key actors in governance who provide tech solutions to important social ‘problems’.
We argue that these collabs normalize close relationships w/Big-Tech, setting them up to be key actors in governance who provide tech solutions to important social ‘problems’.
The UK's "free AI training for all" program may offer free courses, but there is a cost to society for the government's approach. Elinor Carmi, Tania Duarte, Mark Wong, Susan Oman & Tim Davies argue it deepens Big Tech dependency while sidelining critical AI literacy and community organizations.
The Real Cost of the UK’s ‘Free AI Training for All’ is Democracy
Researchers argue the UK's 'AI Skills Hub' should be re-thought with input from civil society groups and public interest organizations.
buff.ly
February 11, 2026 at 7:41 AM
Check out our new op-ed! With @taniaduarte.bsky.social @markwong.bsky.social, @suoman.bsky.social, & @timdavies.org.uk.
We argue that these collabs normalize close relationships w/Big-Tech, setting them up to be key actors in governance who provide tech solutions to important social ‘problems’.
We argue that these collabs normalize close relationships w/Big-Tech, setting them up to be key actors in governance who provide tech solutions to important social ‘problems’.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
Absolute kudos to @weratedogs.com to use their platform to surface this vital issue.
They could stay silent but haven't
They could stay silent but haven't
February 11, 2026 at 7:46 AM
Absolute kudos to @weratedogs.com to use their platform to surface this vital issue.
They could stay silent but haven't
They could stay silent but haven't
Reposted by Maria Farrell
I urge you to fill in this consultation if you can - with this very helpful support from Amnesty International - although AND because ! it is heart-breaking that this country has sunk so low that Amnesty suggest in a number of cases to provide no answer as the terms of the question are so evil
The UK government is proposing radical and punitive changes to settlement rules. This is settlement, not citizenship. The consultation is open until 12 February; please respond to it and oppose these evil proposals. Amnesty have a good guide: www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/gu...
Guidance for responding to 'A Fairer Pathway to Settlement' consultation
We are Amnesty International UK. We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights.
www.amnesty.org.uk
February 10, 2026 at 5:43 PM
I urge you to fill in this consultation if you can - with this very helpful support from Amnesty International - although AND because ! it is heart-breaking that this country has sunk so low that Amnesty suggest in a number of cases to provide no answer as the terms of the question are so evil
Reposted by Maria Farrell
I love this book, which takes seriously both the past and future as wildly different countries.
Wonderfully and inexplicably, The Actual Star is STILL only $3.00 on ebook: www.amazon.com/Actual-Star-...
February 10, 2026 at 6:04 PM
I love this book, which takes seriously both the past and future as wildly different countries.
Reposted by Maria Farrell
If you want to give feedback to the government on their proposed changes to the immigration system - like a decade wait for settled status - do it here.
Earned settlement
The government is consulting on how the current settlement system should be reformed and how those reforms should be implemented.
www.gov.uk
February 9, 2026 at 4:11 PM
If you want to give feedback to the government on their proposed changes to the immigration system - like a decade wait for settled status - do it here.
I re-read all three last year and feel I will always in their world.
"They had all wanted a closer look at the Tract. Some of them had steered whole planets into position, then wandered off or died out. Some of them had steered whole solar systems into position, then lost them.
Even without all that stuff, the halo would have been a hard place to navigate."
Even without all that stuff, the halo would have been a hard place to navigate."
February 9, 2026 at 4:59 PM
I re-read all three last year and feel I will always in their world.
For a guy who spent 98% of his life in a shed Chip really knows his angles and how to work a camera
February 9, 2026 at 3:47 PM
For a guy who spent 98% of his life in a shed Chip really knows his angles and how to work a camera