iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

We made companies legally liable for the products they advertise and sell 50 years ago. If Amazon has become “too big” to effectively regulate the goods and services it markets and sells, it needs to be broken up.

reuters.com

German court rules Meta liable for fake ads on Instagram, Facebook

A German court has ruled that Meta is liable for fake advertisements posted by third parties on its Instagram and Facebook platforms, and ordered the ‌U.S. tech giant to remove such content and pay d...

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C-REX @crexuio.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

CALL FOR PAPERS: Nordic Conference on Violent Extremism, 13-14 May 2027, University of Helsinki. Paper abstracts and panel suggestions: 9 October 2026. www.helsinki.fi/en/conferenc...

helsinki.fi

Nordic Conference on Violent Extremism | University of Helsinki

13–14 May 2027, Helsinki, Finland

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C-REX @crexuio.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Do you research online extremism at a university in Australia, NZ, UK, US, Canada or Ireland? Consider taking this survey which compare ethics review boards' and researcher perception and understanding of the risk of online extremism research. For more info: soton.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

soton.eu.qualtrics.com

Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management

The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

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J.M. Berger PRE-ORDER THE POPE'S HITMAN @jmberger.com · 30/09/2026

I resigned from the GIFCT Independent Advisory Committee in 2022, before it was cool. The only difference now is that they're not even bothering to pretend badly that GIFCT is independent or that it does anything meaningful. www.wired.com/story/indepe...

wired.com

Meta-Led Anti-Terrorism Group Faces Mass Resignation of Expert Advisers

Meta and other tech giants are pushing through structural changes at the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism that outside researchers allege will weaken oversight of an already embattled consor...

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Daniel Kimmage @dkimmage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Congress should investigate the purge that shut down my former office at the State Department, which fought information manipulation by Russia, China, and terrorist organizations. thehill.com/opinion/nati...

thehill.com

We need accountability for federal employee purges made on false pretenses

I was grilling chicken on a sweltering summer night in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, when I peeked at my phone and saw that a senior official in the administration had just accused me of lying to C…

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Maura Conway @galwaygrrl.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Hah, yes, I just said to somebody that it’s the equivalent of an ordinary person donating less than a cent to some charity.

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It’s going to be pretty fucked up when this baby yeti starts telling people to kill themselves.

Subway display ad for meta’s muse ai product billed as “ai that gets it done.” The mascot is a little smiling fuzzy white puppet guy.

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TJ McIntyre @tjmcintyre.com · 28/09/2026

Irish plans to exempt processing of your data for AI from the GDPR are "not in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights"; they amount to an "illegal change of primary law"; they "exempt AI from the guarantees in the Treaties and render them largely meaningless". Damning, from the leading expert.

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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Again, this proposal- accurately denounced here as incompatible with the EU Chart of Fundemental Rights- is the product of our Government. One of our Ministers has proposed it. Amongst other changes, it proposes that the rights of AI companies to harvest data should stand above humans’ data rights.

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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

If the last 15 years of work on things like MH17 and chemical weapon use tells me anything is you'll need a lot more than mere evidence to change the mind of any denialist.

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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

And now for some good news: "Visits to public libraries around Ireland have increased by two million in the last two years. New figures show that almost 16 million visits were made to Ireland's libraries in 2025, compared with nearly 14 million in 2023." www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

rte.ie

Public library visits increased by two million nationwide

Visits to public libraries around Ireland have increased by two million in the last two years, new figures show as National Public Libraries Open Day takes place nationwide.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Google event in Brussels this evening “to celebrate Ireland’s Presidency” of the EU Council. “Google is delighted to bring together Irish policymakers…” rsvp.withgoogle.com/events/irish... (they have wisely now removed some of this text)

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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

While listening to council meetings in Montreal, local mayor Sue Montgomery decided to knit in red when men spoke and in green when women spoke, when similar numbers of both attended. Day 1 results.... #WomensArt

Photo of uneven knitting with much larger amounts of red yarn than green

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Jared Holt @jaredlholt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

As legal consequences for distributing nonconsensual deepfake porn have grown, users on 4chan's Technology board are taking interest in homebrewing their own, often by using tweaked AI models on their personal devices. w/ @benmshultz.net of @americansunlight.org openmeasures.io/4chan-ai-dee...

openmeasures.io

4chan Users Are Sharing Tools and Tips for Homebrewing AI Deepfake Porn - Open Measures

Open Measures builds accessible and transparent products to contextualize the spread of harmful online content that impacts public discourse and global events.

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TW @twesq.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

this is fantastic and I learned something new

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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 21/09/2026

"In a leaked document, the Irish Presidency proposes to EU Member States that the interest of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta and SpaceX to make profits should take precedence over the fundamental right to data protection" noyb.eu/en/ai-eu-mem...

noyb.eu

AI: EU Member States plan “digital expropriation” of Europeans in the interest of AI companies

In a leaked document, the Irish Presidency proposes to EU Member States that the interest of AI companies to make profits should take precedence over the fundamental rights of Europeans.

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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

BAD ANSWER

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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 10/09/2026

An analysis found that people are speaking roughly 300 fewer words a day with each passing year, raising questions about the influence of smartphones, texting, remote work and other technologies that allow us to conduct life without opening our mouths. wapo.st/4gyhlh4

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Nick Pettigrew @nick-pettigrew.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I just think that risking your life at a moment's notice to save people you've never met in exchange for no money is a better expression of patriotism than dressing up like a Poundshop paramilitary and intimidating families with kids trying to get onto a ferry.

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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

honestly didn't expect the new fascist militia to make the Daily Mail their first media target.

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

We already knew Egyptian intelligence warned Israel ahead of Oct. 7 and the Netanyahu govt dismissed it. Now we learn UAE leader MBZ warned Bibi directly that Hamas was about to try something big. He dismissed that too. One of the worst security failures in history. And followed by so much awful.

haaretz.com

Netanyahu got an explicit warning before Oct. 7. He didn't brief security chiefs

In September '23, UAE President bin Zayed called Netanyahu to deliver a harsh warning. Netanyahu did nothing. An extensive investigation, conducted for a new book, reveals the PM's failures surroundin...

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Scott Fitzgerald Gray @scottfgray.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The number of people still seemingly unaware that Substack has a Nazi problem means it’s apparently worth mentioning yet again that Substack has a fucking Nazi problem.

theguardian.com

Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters

Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism

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David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

EXCLUSIVE We are entering the Slop Jihad era where gen AI tools are being used to create memes, anime, fan cams and more to promote islamic terror ideologies and radicalize young people on TikTok www.wired.com/story/gen-ai...

wired.com

Gen AI Tools Are Now Being Used to Push ‘Slop Jihad’

A new generation of Islamic terror supporters are using AI to spread ‘Slop Jihad’ to new audiences on TikTok.

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Amber Seaward @amberseaward.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

⚠️ Resources available for researcher safety and wellbeing ⚠️ Research in the extremism, security, and defence space can be dangerous, sensitive, and emotionally demanding. NABS+ have developed some guides to help researchers in these spaces: crestresearch.ac.uk/resources/re...

crestresearch.ac.uk

Researcher Safety and Wellbeing Advice

The NABS+ ECR Steering Group have developed some helpful guides on researcher safety and wellbeing, synthesising advice from researchers in the fields, and direct researchers to existing resources and...

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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Have seen this Nature piece about the effects of X's algorithm mentioned again and it bears repeating; exposure to a right wing algorithm makes you - measurably and predictably - more right wing, even after you stop using it. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

The political effects of X’s feed algorithm - Nature

Among users initially on a chronological feed, 7 weeks of exposure to X’s algorithmic feed in 2023 shifted political attitudes and account-following behaviour in a more conservative direction compared...

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Alex Hern @hern.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

It's finally happened: the improved quality of machine transcription and the greater ability to extract value from unlabelled data means "your tech is eavesdropping on you for marketing purposes" has crossed from "false conspiracy theory" to "true and concerning" www.theverge.com/tech/991190/...

theverge.com

LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby

Gamers Nexus comes for LG again.

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Techmeme @techmeme.com · 08/09/2026

Australia proposes a "My Feed, My Way" initiative requiring social platforms to send users a notification asking them to opt in or out of algorithmic content (Clare Armstrong/ABC) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

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VOX-Pol @vox-pol.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

And finally, to end our countdown, our most read post of the year is "Use of Coded Language by Far-Right Extremists Online: Emojis, Numbers, and Symbols Reinforce In-Group Identity" by Francesca G. and Isabella Gomez-O'Keefe. Read it in full here: voxpol.eu/coded-langua...

voxpol.eu

Use of Coded Language by Far-Right Extremists Online: Emojis, Numbers, and Symbols Reinforce In-Group Identity - VOX - Pol

How the far right on TikTok uses coded language to evade moderation and spread hate and disinformation.

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VOX-Pol @vox-pol.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The VOX-Pol blog is back! This week, Dr Sören Henrich, Jeremiah P., Sean Looney, and Brigitte Naderer reflect on how we understand the current generation of young people in a shifting socio-digital landscape and what this means for preventing harm. voxpol.eu/navigating-y...

voxpol.eu

Navigating Youth Fragmentation, Uncertainty, and Meaning: Insights from TASM 2026 - VOX - Pol

If there is one thread that runs through all these conversations, it is this: young people are not disengaged; they are navigating a world that often fails to make sense. The challenge is not to impos...

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Maura Conway @galwaygrrl.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The campaign was “built around a website containing copied and misattributed academic work, a ‘sovereignty’ index that cast Russia in a favourable light, and efforts to disguise the operators’ Russian origins.” www.cnbc.com/2026/08/25/o...

cnbc.com

OpenAI bans Russian ChatGPT accounts used in covert misinformation campaign

The AI company said the incident "illustrates how influence actors can use AI as a supporting tool within a broader effort to manufacture authority."

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Louise Matsakis @lmatsakis.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Amazon is officially shutting down Mechanical Turk next month. It feels like the end of an era. I've written about the platform on and off for close to a decade. We wouldn't have the AI tools we do now if it weren't for the low-paid, largely invisible labor of MTurkers

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Social media discourse is driven by false #polarization We find that: 1) ideologues post opinions more than moderates 2) extreme attitudes are posted more than moderate one 3) This replicates in 40 countries 4) Opinions that users post are more hostile than the beliefs they keep to themselves

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Prof John O Brennan @jobmaynooth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

A superb distillation of the ideas in this book about how phenomenally dangerous some tech titans (and their political supplicants) are for democracy. Chilling stuff. “The Nerd Reich": Author Gil Durán on Big Tech Fascism, Peter Thiel, JD ... youtu.be/sg7YNUbaV-8?si…

youtu.be

"The Nerd Reich": Author Gil Durán on Big Tech Fascism, Peter Thiel, JD Vance & the War on Democracy

YouTube video by Democracy Now!

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

If you run social media for a university, department or scholarly association and you’re still patronizing Twitter, you’re actively helping the reactionaries working for your destruction.

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Ali Winston @awinston.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I reviewed Gil Duràn’s new book on tech-fascism and Silicon Valley’ panoply of hard-right ideology so vividly on display here since 2022. Give it a read -“ The Nerd Reich” is a unique book that steers readers through the obscure and, frankly, insane ideologies of SV’s oligarchs

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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

(AI actually has been used in science and medicine for decades and is incredibly good at doing things like finding cancer that can’t be seen with the human eye but that is a completely different type of AI then we’re all angry about it and we shouldn’t discuss them in the same conversations TBH)

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Maura Conway @galwaygrrl.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

"Internet provided him with unlimited access to his victims, allowing him to pursue and inflict harm on young girls without ever meeting them in person," prosecutors wrote. FBI has 450+ cases open tied to nihilistic violent extremism; nearly twice the number of last year. abcnews.com/US/prolific-...

abcnews.com

'Most prolific' member of online extremist network 764 sentenced to 77 years in prison

A judge has sentenced a 27-year-old Tennessee man to 77 years in prison for his targeting of young girls online as part of the extremist network 764.

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LSE Press @lsepress.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

➡️ Doing Open Social Science is free to read and download #OpenAccess from the LSE Press website: doi.org/10.31389/lse...

Photo of the book Doing Open Social Science.

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Maura Conway @galwaygrrl.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

It's somethin,' I guess --> "The chatbot will limit high-risk conversations that involve self-harm, violence, eating disorders, and explicit sexual and graphic content. In some cases, ChatGPT will alert adults who have opted in to parental controls & notifications." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/t...

nytimes.com

OpenAI Introduces ‘ChatGPT for Teens’ as Safety Concerns Grow

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Liz Carolan @lizcarolan.com · 21/08/2026

10 years into building the EU’s tech regulation infrastructure and we still can’t actually hold companies accountable for harms Maybe American litigiousness will beat us to me Me in the @irishtimes.com today www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

irishtimes.com

M9 crash exposes limits of rules on social media giants when it comes to online harms

Deaths of five teenagers linked to popularity of high risk-taking for ‘likes’ and affirmation

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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Context: I never thought the creation of Commisuin na Mean from the BAI was a good idea in the first place, specifically because it lacked online regulatory capacity. (Clip from 2019) www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

rte.ie

BAI wants to combat harmful content on social media

Simon McGarr, Solicitor and Director of Data Compliance Europe, on the proposals by the BAI to regulate online videos and harmful online content

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Judith Beyer @judithbeyer.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

This means, that fellow anthropologists in the US will also no longer be able to apply for grants (along with sociologists, economists and political scientists). You can’t criticise a state / government you know nothing about. You can’t coordinate if you don’t know about each other. That’s the plan.

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Maura Conway @galwaygrrl.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

🤯 --> "The weapon...resembled a Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun, which is widely used by military and police special forces...However, the firearm was a replica of this gun and capable of only firing in semi-automatic mode." www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20...

irishtimes.com

Gardaí confiscated gun from Michael Healy-Rae after he fired it in TV documentary

Weapon was subsequently returned to Kerry TD, who has said ‘gun ownership is important’ to him

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Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

This is currently the number one story on the WaPo’s most read list

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