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Jan Rydzak

@janrydzak.bsky.social
442 followers 592 following 50 posts

Rewilding tech accountability at Ranking Digital Rights. Past perambulations: World Benchmarking Alliance, Stanford GDPi, GNI, and PhD-ing on internet shutdowns in the Grand Canyon State.

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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Another horrific example of how the casual use of generative AI combined with outsized corporate power leads to exponential harm and the collapse of trust. Public-interest journalism requires independence from forces with the power to pollute newsrooms with synthetic spam.
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Getting a lot of mileage out of the principle "Block every account that posts even a single AI-generated video without disclosing its synthetic nature."
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Starting today, @prospect.org has removed all programmatic ads, because we believe that respecting you as readers rather than monetizing your attention will earn trust. This is what the site looks like, with all space reserved for stories about ideas, politics and power. prospect.org/2026/04/06/w...
Prospect.org homepage, now programmatic ad-free.
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AP Stylebook @apstylebook.com · 23/09/2026
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics.
apnews.com
https://apnews.com/article/openai-safety-ai-framework-089e75b95bc935af092da7b79d92706d
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Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 24/09/2026
Rogue in the way a roomba goes rogue when you leave a door open.
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Parents of kindergarteners who are rightfully bringing fire and brimstone to their kids' overexposure to screens in the classroom should rest easy. Your kids' ability to read is the kind of "fine intellectual dexterity" that's worth sacrificing to mold them into mythical "systems thinkers."
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Great piece, @kkomaitis.bsky.social . It reminded me of C. Thi Nguyen's concept of value capture (overreliance on metrics codified as values in well-meaning orgs). Good for us to tackle it directly amid all the polycrisis-bred rethinking. @rankingdigitalrights.org has a MozFest session about it.
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A culture shock I did not expect when I first came to the US was that russet apples were nowhere to be found. Completely unappealing potatoes on the outside, entirely different story on the inside.
Russet apples (Reinette du Canada). Source: https://pepiniereplume.com/products/pommier-canada-gris
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404 Media @404media.co · 21/09/2026
With the backlash to Flock, cities are moving to Axon cameras. But what exactly are they doing with them? 404 Media is filing public records requests around the country to find out how cops are using Axon's ALPRs, @josephcox.bsky.social explains. You can too: www.404media.co/is-your-city...
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Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Important story from @jeansovon.bsky.social at @globalvoices.org on the repressive moves by the Togolese government and how protestors are finding ways to make their voices heard:
globalvoices.org
How Togolese people are reinventing political protest amid civil society crackdown
As in-person gatherings have become difficult to organize or too risky for citizens, online protest has become an increasingly common form of political dissent in Togo.
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Global Voices @globalvoices.org · 17/09/2026
Where others overlook, we listen. Where others erase, we translate. Support Global Voices’ mission to center the Global South. Support our #GVSpotlight thematic coverage with a donation: globalvoices.org/2026/08/24...
globalvoices.org
Protest in democracy · Global Voices
With this spotlight, we seek to explore the many forms of protest, the tactics states use to delegitimize and suppress them, and the complex relationship between protest and democracy. 
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 17/09/2026
New Yorkers should know whether the apartment they’re looking at is real. That’s why we’re working to require apartment listings to clearly disclose when images and videos have been generated by AI. Finding a home in New York is hard enough without artificially generating more problems.
nytimes.com
Is That Fireplace Real or A.I.?
Listing sites are littered with homes with fake fireplaces, improved views and virtual landscaping, raising false advertising concerns.
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 15/09/2026
Colleges could subsidize books for students rather than paying for premium versions of ChatGPT
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Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
going to keep exhorting this
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Superbloom @superbloom.design · 28/08/2026
Ranking Digital Rights is developing a new methodology to assess VPN providers through a human rights lens, with support from OTF. They’re looking for input from those working on VPNs, privacy, circumvention and digital rights. Share your experience below👇 forms.superbloom.design/s/ynli8xjs2o...
forms.superbloom.design
VPN Assessment Survey - Co-designing a new methodology
Please complete this survey.
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 06/09/2026
We know how to teach books in the age of AI: small classes, close reading, research-engaged learning (which is how you ’let students see you struggle’). The issue is nobody will hire and pay the requisite # of faculty to offer this.
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Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Here's my editorial at the end of the month trying to summarize what the spotlight meant to me, as someone who was aware of the issue but had a lot still to learn!
globalvoices.org
The invisible crisis that strips people of citizenship
This issue fascinates me because of its near-invisibility: As many of our Spotlight articles observe, citizenship is easy to take for granted when you receive it automatically and never have to defend...
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 23/08/2026
The potential downside of the focus on Flock is that people don’t recognize it as a singular entity within an entire landscape of companies creating the surveillance state.
npr.org
As Flock battles public scrutiny, other police surveillance companies see an opening
Dozens of cities have canceled their contracts with Flock. Some are switching to other companies, but privacy experts say they're no better than Flock.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 17/08/2026
5. I can’t do this if I am getting a couple of these emails a day — and there’s no reason I should spend my time reading someone’s paper and writing back if they couldn’t be bothered to spend their own time writing the email they sent to me in the first place.
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
This is one reason why I have a disclaimer in my email signature that says "I do not use generative AI to draft original text." The slopification of sincere outreach and the removal of personal effort from the equation breaks an important social code and makes things worse for everyone.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Food companies wanted deregulation. Now there are dozens of recalls across the country. Mining companies wanted deregulation. Now the black lung rate is at a 45-year high. Financial companies wanted deregulation. Now financial losses to fraud are the highest on record. Noticing a pattern?
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 21/08/2026
Nothing new in this piece, but somewhat noteworthy that a site like realtor dot com is featuring “should you be concerned about flock cameras” content.
realtor.com
A Complete Guide to Flock Safety Cameras
What are Flock's Automated License Plate Readers, and should you be concerned about the use of these cameras in your community?
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Great to bear witness to the evolution of culinary health hazards from Pop Tarts to slop tarts www.foodandwine.com/ai-slop-menu...
foodandwine.com
Restaurants, Please Stop Using AI-Generated Photos of Your Food
AI-generated food photos and menus are creeping into restaurants, but the uncanny images, mangled descriptions, and synthetic polish come at a cost: diners’ trust. When it comes to selling food, even ...
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 19/08/2026
i don’t want “accelerated”, “increased-speed” or “fast-paced” research. in fact, am not interested in any shortcuts to mindful, intentional, and slow science
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Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
At @globalvoices.org we're trying to make sure we can keep our newsroom going in this very difficult time for independent news and non-profits! You can help us bring you more wonderful articles, interviews, and essays from around the world: globalvoices.org/donate/
globalvoices.org
Donate · Global Voices
Support freedom of expression for everyone, everywhere, by donating to Global Voices.
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Pé 🍺🧿 @forevernever.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Access isn't transparency, though. You see to be conflating the two.
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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
AI's benefits are concentrated in a few companies and countries, but its footprint is distributed, argue Jamila Venturini and Marina Meira from Derechos Digitales. They call for a global infrastructure to hold the AI supply chain accountable.
buff.ly
From the AI Accountability Gap to a Global Accountability Infrastructure
The first UN Global Dialogue recognized the problem. The next step is building an architecture capable of addressing it, write Jamila Venturini & Marina Meira.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 26/07/2026
“The vast majority of the talent and agents at our events felt that these were a violation of their privacy and were damaging and spoiling the interactions at the tables. Several expressed concerns that they might not continue to attend in-person events if they were being recorded in secret.”
bbc.com
Meta glasses banned by Comic-Con promoter after 'secret filming'
A number of guests said they would be reluctant to appear at conventions again after cases of recordings taking place without their knowledge.
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Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
rising.globalvoices.org/blog/2026/07...
rising.globalvoices.org
Who decides if and how AI is used? Self-determination should be the priority, say Mayan activists from Chiapas
As part of the Mayan Languages Digital Activism Summit in Chiapas, Maya activists reflected on artificial intelligence and Indigenous self-determination, questioning the urgency to adopt it and defend...
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Privacy International @privacyinternational.org · 24/07/2026
From surveillance systems embedded in Syria's machinery of repression, commercial spyware in Saudi Arabia, and mass communications monitoring in Egypt, the @SMEX report shows how 'innovative' technology can become a tool of control 👇
smex.org
New report on the militarization of tech in the SWANA: Produced, tested, deployed - SMEX
Human testing. Those two words evoke mental images of inhumane experiments and feelings of disquiet, as they should. Yet human testing of militarized technology is happening in the Southwest…
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Tom Hearden @followtheh.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Two weeks ago today, after Nasdaq willingly rigged the rules, somewhere btw $7-10 bil of passive money was forced to buy SpaceX at $160.42 Today, 10 trading days later, it closed at $119.85 It’s an unprecedented forced loss (at least $2b) for passive investors and our financial media is 🦗
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Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
As always, if you appreciate our work, *please* consider donating. We're struggling in the current funding & media environment to keep our paywall-free, ad-free newsroom going and we need your help to do it: globalvoices.org/donate/
globalvoices.org
Donate · Global Voices
Support freedom of expression for everyone, everywhere, by donating to Global Voices.
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Rebeccah with an H @bexbassell.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
So what can you do if you enjoy games from Bethesda, ID, Zenimax Online, Obsidian, and other studios under Microsoft? You make your voice heard: “treating developers as line items in an expense sheet and not people is unacceptable. People make the games I love, and they deserve better than this.”
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 19/06/2026
“We can’t live a full dignified life — with the ability to question authority, have different relationships with people, test ideas [and] blow off steam — if we don’t have private communication.”
bloomberg.com
Signal's Meredith Whittaker: The Push for Online Safety Risks Mass Surveillance
The president of the encrypted messaging app says autonomous AI agents, device scanning and digital advertising are converging into a new architecture of surveillance.
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Another shoutout to @add-hawk.bsky.social 's new book and the idea of value capture. Flawed quant proxies for "impact" have also really warped the incentives for non-profits, especially to put scale over connection. I feel there's a whole anthology to be written about that (and ways to escape it).
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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
things that currently exist that i am enjoying because they exist and are real and real companies are producing these things - data centers in space - full self driving - robotaxis - computer chips in your brains - mars colonies - moon catapults - fully autonomous robots (billions of them)
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evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
No matter who you are, if you are running a platform or a making a product that collects user data, you need to have a plan for what happens when the government shows up and asks for it, you need to share that policy with that users, and publish a transparency report.
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SirKidStarverIsGone @sirkidstarversucks.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
@mayor.nyc.gov: “I have thought often of the "Margeret Thatcher quote: ‘the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.’ If anything, my friends, it seems that you eventually need a socialist to clean up the mess."
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Nathalie Maréchal, PhD @nathaliemarechal.net · 20/05/2026
The louder we get about resisting the AI industry's mass immiseration project, the more industry mouthpieces like the Chamber of "Progress" will try to convince the Democratic party to avoid aligning itself with voter sentiment. Case in point: this drivel from the "Blue Horizon Project"
Screenshot of substack post by Dave Vorland
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Nathalie Maréchal, PhD @nathaliemarechal.net · 21/05/2026
Abolishing dual-class share structures should be at the top of the post-Trump Reconstruction agenda. This 2021 article, written with @hackylawyer.bsky.social & @janrydzak.bsky.social, touches on why.
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Where's the bill that adds AI oversight to the curriculum? How about classes on valuable civic skills such as community pushback against corporate wrongdoings?
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Radical idea: What if we profiled people based on consistent positions and demonstrably high moral standards rather than chronic opportunistic duplicity?
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Palantir's manifesto reminds me of a lesson I picked up from a founder I deeply admire: We must resist personality cults with every fiber of our being.
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Covie @covie93.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Seems like the Strait of Hormuz is only open when the stock market is.
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More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
BREAKING: Maryland is about to become the first state in the nation to ban the use of surveillance data and dynamic pricing at grocery stores. The Maryland House has just passed the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act. Governor Wes Moore plans to sign the bill.
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Jan Rydzak @janrydzak.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Amen.
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 28/03/2026
We need to know how much energy data centers use – and if YOU are subsidizing the costs of Big Tech companies. Making this data public is the bare minimum.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
These people have a funny way of saying "Environmentalists have been proved right yet again."
"The oil crisis is exactly what the net zero brigade wants"
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Dr. Stephanie @punkrockscience.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
It is *fascinating* to me how quickly some people have gone completely from “we all must work in the office! human collaboration is vital and only happens in person!” to “I can replace all these pesky people with chatbots!” Definitely some commentary there about our society and who gets to choose.
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