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Margarida Silva

@margaridasilva.bsky.social
965 followers 379 following 79 posts

I research Big Tech's power and campaign to limit it at @somoamsterdam.bsky.social

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Reposted by Margarida Silva
AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 02/10/2026
People rally against the US tech company Palantir outside its office in London, urging the UK government to use a break clause to prevent a contract between the AI giant and the National Health Service (NHS) being renewed beyond March 2027 📸 Henry Nicholls
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SOMO - Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations @somoamsterdam.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Alert: Palantir is getting its dirty hands on public data across Europe⚠️ That's the same company providing tools to Israeli military and helping ICE track migrants in the US. Together with other civil society organisations, we urgently call on our governments and the European Commission to: (1/2)
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 24/09/2026
Buried at the end of NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's NYT interview: the single most terrible yet somehow confusingly appropriate metaphor for fossil-fuelled AI I have ever seen ketanjoshi.co/2026/09/16/n...
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Polly Pallister-Wilkins @pollypw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The film Meta removed from Instagram… bsky.app/profile/roel...
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Polly Pallister-Wilkins @pollypw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
For the non Dutch speakers Roel Maalderink made an excellent satirical video about Meta’s pervert glasses and Meta has removed the film from Instagram (film in following skeet) www.ad.nl/tech/meta-ha...
ad.nl
Meta haalt satirische video offline waarin Roel Maalderink kritiek uit op de videobrillen van het techbedrijf
Meta heeft een video offline gehaald van Roel Maalderink en Bits of Freedom, waarin zij op satirische wijze kritiek uiten op de videobrillen van Meta. Maalderink filmt erin Meta-personeel met een vide...
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Oil Change International @oilchange.org · 24/09/2026
NEW REPORT: TotalEnergies’ LNG into Europe risks European security, affordability, and climate goals.
Cover of the report titled "Total Insecurity: How TotalEnergies LNG Trade Puts France and Europe at Risk", showing an LNG tanker
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European Trade Unions @etuc-ces.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Imagine trying to live in Belgium while being paid the minimum wage in Bulgaria. The sums just wouldn’t add up Yet this scenario could become a reality under the EU Commission’s loophole-ridden ‘EU Inc' proposal - ✍️ @estherlynch.bsky.social www.brusselstimes.com/opinion/2329...
brusselstimes.com
Brussels proposal risks race to the bottom on workers’ rights
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Cori Crider @coricrider.com · 23/09/2026
So what was the latest wave of 'will AI kill us all' coverage really about? I went on @aljazeera.com to discuss the recent wave of AI doomsday press. TL;DR: the companies warning us lobbied hard this year to block AI safety laws. Link here jumps to the lobby discn: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw3F...
youtube.com
What’s really motivating these AI apocalypse stories? | The Listening Post
YouTube video by Al Jazeera English
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Nicholas Beuret @nicholasbeuret.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Wild. Not only did Osborne personally reduce Britain's GDP by 2% and cost theUK half a trillion pounds of public spending since 2010, his program of austerity caused at least 190,000 deaths between 2010 and 2019. But yeah, lets build data centres
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CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
NEW: The Trump administration has made an extraordinary public intervention in Australia's digital of care debate It responded to a draft of the law saying it could lead to "extraterritorial censorship of protected speech” and demanded Australia exclude US tech companies www.abc.net.au/news/...
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Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) @corporateeurope.org · 21/09/2026
Today, EU Commission published its sustainability rating scheme for data centres. Remember how the Commission copy-pasted a Microsoft amendment to keep crucial information on data centres energy use+environmental impacts hidden? Well, Big Tech’s ‘confidentiality’ clause remains 😡 - just reworded ⬇️
corporateeurope.org
Copy, paste, govern | Corporate Europe Observatory
The EU Commission’s policy on data centres keeps information on individual centres' energy and water use under wraps. Research now reveals the Commission copied and pasted an amendment suggested by Mi...
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Alberto Alemanno @alemanno.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
More evidence of the Irish Presidency being captured by Big Tech
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
On CNN's Amanpour Astra answered the question that’s on lots of people’s minds this week: How should we understand all of the Silicon Valley executives and engineers warning that AI might destroy humanity? Her advice: watch what they do more than what they say. @astra.bsky.social
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 17/09/2026
As I warned you: the superstar media darling AI quitter is explicitly agreeing with Trump and claiming climate threats are "overplayed". Effective altruism / rationalism is a cult of broken priorities that denies the threat of fossil fuels. This is why Anthropic loves burning gas for power.
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Beyond Fossil Fuels @beyondfossilfuels.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
🚨BREAKING: New report by @ketanjoshi.co finds NVIDIA’s indirect emissions have risen 725% since 2020. Reminder, there is no evidence to say AI is a net benefit for climate, and Europe can't lock itself into more fossil gas to power data centres for Big Tech profits. ketanjoshi.co/2026/09/16/n...
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Evan Greer @evangreer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I really want people to think more like organizers. I'm seeing endless debate, and more than a little conspiracy theorizing, about the motivations behind the big companies' warnings about the danger of AI. And almost no discussion about how we seize this moment to demand the policies we want.
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nitasha tiku @nitasha.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Why are AI firms w/big legal teams worried about antitrust liability when there's 100 yrs of jurisprudence in their favor? "They want a blank check. They don’t like product liability, they don’t like copyright, and now they don’t like antitrust.” @sladebond.bsky.social gift link t.co/iRJa0pocyE
Slade Bond, a former Biden Justice Department official, said courts for a century have allowed companies to cooperate for the purpose of public safety. Companies can’t invoke safety as pretext for suppressing competition for other, illegal reasons. But a deal between AI companies to prevent a cataclysmal event, such as a financial crisis induced by a bot swarm, would be viewed as pro-competitive under the Sherman Antitrust Act, an 1890 statute that undergirds U.S. competition policy. 

Asking the government for a waiver suggests the companies are extremely risk-averse when it comes to potential liability, despite having massive market caps, legal teams and litigation budgets, said Bond, who was a lead counsel on the House antitrust investigation into the tech industry in 2019 and 2020.“They want a blank check,” he said. “They don’t like product liability, they don’t like copyright, and now they don’t like antitrust.”
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D3 – Defesa dos Direitos Digitais @direitosdigitais.pt · 10/09/2026
Oh, btw, we sued Facebook, Instagram, TikTok & YouTube. Reuters: Portuguese group D3 sues Meta, TikTok and YouTube over addictive design www.reuters.com/business/por...
reuters.com
Portuguese group D3 sues Meta, TikTok and YouTube over addictive design
Portuguese digital rights group D3 has filed lawsuits against Facebook , Instagram, TikTok and YouTube , accusing them of designing features ​in their platforms that keep users hooked, it said on Thur...
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SOMO - Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations @somoamsterdam.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Von der Leyen dreams of European AI. Her actions say: US tech control ⚠️ EU wants to: → Fast-track data centres across Europe → Bypass environmental regulation → Override public participation rights All to build infrastructure that will mostly belong to and serve... US financial giants & Big Tech
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Robin Berjon @robin.berjon.com · 27/08/2026
The US State Department has designated A/I, a small Italian provider of open source infrastructure for political activists, as a global terrorist group. They will reach into our very homes to grab us — if we let them. www.state.gov/releases/off...
state.gov
Designation of Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist - United States Department of State
Today, the Department of State, in partnership with the Department of the Treasury, is announcing the designation of Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Autistici/Inventati...
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Fabio Chiusi @fabiochiusi.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
"OpenAI nearly doubled its federal lobbying expenditure to a record $2.22mn in the first half of 2026, compared to last year, while Anthropic nearly tripled its spending to $3.53mn" www.ft.com/content/d8a5...
ft.com
AI companies spend record sums on Washington lobbying
Rising expenditure from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Microsoft reflects growing battle over federal policy
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Follow the Money EU @ftm.eu · 23/07/2026
How did Shell make $6.2 billion through an office with just 37 employees? Leaked financial reports and research by SOMO reveal how the oil giant shifted profits through the Bahamas and other tax havens, potentially depriving countries of billions in tax revenue.
ftm.eu
Shell shifted billions in profits to tax havens, leaked files reveal
Leaked financial reports show how Shell moved profits through tax havens such as the Bahamas and Switzerland – potentially depriving developing nations of hundreds of millions of euros. While some of ...
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Hacker News 20 @betterhn20.e-work.xyz · 22/07/2026
Microsoft strikes 'multibillion-dollar' deal with French AI firm Mistral www.france24.com/en/france/20260721… (news.ycombinator.com/item?id=490038…)
france24.com
Microsoft strikes 'multibillion-dollar' deal with French AI firm Mistral
Microsoft and French startup Mistral said Tuesday they had signed a "multibillion-dollar" deal for the US tech giant to use the AI developer's computing infrastructure in Europe.
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Margarida Silva @margaridasilva.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Mistral and Microsoft have just announced a "new multibillion-dollar agreement focused on expanding AI infrastructure in Europe". A reminder that firms like Mistral are pitched as national champions with then potential to challenge Big Tech. Yet, they depend on them 👉 www.somo.nl/the-real-win...
somo.nl
The real winners of the AI Race : Amazon, Google, Microsoft - SOMO
Who really profits from the 'AI race'? Amazon, Google, and Microsoft own the AI infrastructure, and startups are dependent on Big Tech firms.
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Olivier Bénis @olivierbenis.net · 21/07/2026
"Il faut à tout prix préserver notre autonomie et notre souveraineté sur l'IA, Mistral est le champion européen parfait pour ça." Mistral dès que Microsoft sort le carnet de chèques :
IA: Microsoft signe un accord de "plusieurs milliards" de dollars avec Mistral pour utiliser ses infrastructures en Europe (communiqué)
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Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 21/07/2026
As we describe in our book, Musk’s model of state symbiosis assumes that, in the end, you need to be backed up by Uncle Sam.
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Margarida Silva @margaridasilva.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Estupendo ver la investigación de @somoamsterdam.bsky.social en El Día. España es uno de los países de la UE atrayendo el desarrollo de grandes centros de datos. Hay que preguntar a qué intereses sirven estos proyectos... y quién tiene el control? www.eldia.es/internaciona...
eldia.es
La Unión Europea tiene un plan para dejar de depender de la tecnología de Estados Unidos: los expertos no lo tienen tan claro
Economistas e informáticos cuestionan la estrategia de la Comisión Europea para soberanía digital en IA y nube, que propone acelerar la creación de centros de datos en el continente y aumentar las exi...
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LobbyControl @lobbycontrol.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Wird die EU jetzt noch abhängiger von Big Tech? Die EU will die Leistung von Rechenzentren in Europa verdreifachen. Dadurch soll Europa unabhängiger werden. Doch am Ende könnten vor allem Google und Amazon, Microsoft profitieren. 👇 /1
Neue Analyse von SOMO: Vom Ausbau von Rechenzentren in Europa könnte vor allem Big Tech profitieren.
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Margarida Silva @margaridasilva.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The EU wants to triple its data centres but who will actually build and run them? @somoamsterdam.bsky.social's research shows it will likely be Big Tech + a few data centre operators that rent them space. Most of these firms are US based or owned by the likes of Blackrock. Is this sovereignty? 👇
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SOMO - Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations @somoamsterdam.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The EU wants to fast-track data centre "acceleration zones" across all Member States. ⚠️ But our analysis shows that those data centres will remain largely owned by and serving US companies, while draining European resources and escaping public scrutiny. Read more: www.somo.nl/eus-data-cen...
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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 07/07/2026
Today’s free newsletter has a very simple message: The AI industry can not (and will not) be bailed out - AI is not too big to fail, OpenAI is not AIG, this is not 2008, and all of this is nothing like the Dot Com Bubble. And when it fails, we must let AI burn. www.wheresyoured.at/let-ai-burn/
wheresyoured.at
Let AI Burn
If you liked this piece, you should subscribe to my premium newsletter. It’s $70 a year, or $7 a month, and in return you get a weekly newsletter that’s usually anywhere from 5,000 to 18,000 words, in...
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SOMO - Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations @somoamsterdam.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
In 2025, our work got harder. The external environment for our agenda, never friendly, is now openly hostile. But last year also fundamentally strengthened our commitment to combatting corporate power. Take a look at some of the core issues we tackled in our annual report: somo2025.jaarverslag.org
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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 19/06/2026
Premium Newsletter: Part 2 of my Silicon Valley Bubble series - how AI inflated a hype bubble in the tech media, how it's a symptom of the death of growth in software, and how the GPU bubble threatens global markets and retirement funds. www.wheresyoured.at/premium-the-silicon-valley-bubble-part-2/
wheresyoured.at
Premium: The Silicon Valley Bubble (Part 2)
So it’s been a big week for me after I published an exclusive covering OpenAI’s audited financials from 2024 and 2025, with reactions ranging from “oh my god, OpenAI spent $34 billion to make $13.07 b...
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 19/06/2026
I guarantee you have no idea how bad America's data centre fossil fuel boom is
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People Vs Big Tech @peoplevsbigtech.eurosky.social · 18/06/2026
🚨 BREAKING: Overnight in Brussels We sent a clear message to EU leaders: 📣”Fight for us, not for Trump's billionaires.”
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SOMO - Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations @somoamsterdam.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
EU policymakers can't keep ignoring Nvidia's massive power on AI infrastructure.🚨 The EU won't achieve digital sovereignty if its AI systems are controlled by a single US big tech company. Full analysis: www.somo.nl/nvidias-inve...
somo.nl
Nvidia's Investment Boom - SOMO
Europe’s AI future in the hands of a US company Nvidia has become one of the biggest winners of the AI boom. Yet its influence extends far beyond the chips that power ChatGPT and other AI systems. Thr...
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Andrea Basso @a4xrbj1.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Tesla presented self-published and inflated “Full Self-Driving” safety statistics directly to government regulators in Sweden and the Netherlands as it lobbied for European approval, according to correspondence obtained by Reuters through public records requests. /1
electrek.co
Tesla presented misleading 'Full Self-Driving' safety data to European regulators
Tesla presented inflated 'Full Self-Driving' safety statistics to regulators in Sweden and the Netherlands, claiming FSD could save 32,000 lives based on flawed data comparisons.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 16/06/2026
The era of trillionaires will be dire for democracy. Here is how we can fight back | Gabriel Zucman
theguardian.com
The era of trillionaires will be dire for democracy. Here is how we can fight back | Gabriel Zucman
There is a fundamental tension between extreme wealth and the very possibility of democracy. That’s because extreme wealth is always an extreme power
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Frederike Kaltheuner @frederike.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
From using Europeans' pensions to build frontier models, to allowing hyperscalers to build all the data centers in exchange for frontier model access - I've heard mad takes these past few days 😱 Read our AI Sovereignty in a Captured Ecosystem series ! www.techpolicy.press/europes-ai-s...
techpolicy.press
Europe’s AI Sovereignty Problem Runs Far Deeper Than Frontier Access
The series, in partnership with the AI Now Institute, highlights how Europe’s AI market is deeply entangled with the ecosystems of dominant US players.
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Margarida Silva @margaridasilva.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
This story is ridiculous & a perfect illustration of the flaws of the EU's tech sovereignty approach. The EU Commission is implementing a US model running on Amazon cloud to rank job candidates. Ignoring potential algorithmic biases, black box decision-making, privacy risks and more dependency.
euractiv.com
EU turns to US-powered AI to rank job candidates | Euractiv
With its ever-growing list of candidates, the European Commission is preparing to deploy an AI tool powered by Anthropic's model to shortlist them
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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Across countries and platforms, AI’s outsourcing maze depends on data workers under surveillance-heavy conditions, with accountability fragmented across multiple firms, reports Marché Arends.
buff.ly
How AI’s Labor Supply Chains Fail Workers
Kenyan data workers describe surveillance-heavy shifts and sudden layoffs, exposing the hidden supply chain behind AI development, reports Marché Arends.
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Margarida Silva @margaridasilva.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
🔥🔥🔥
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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 05/06/2026
plagiarizing the plagiarism machine for a nearly two trillion dollar valuation
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SOMO - Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations @somoamsterdam.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Next week @ec.europa.eu will publish its tech sovereignty package. But the parallel drive to embed AI everywhere risks creating significant impacts for the environment, public budgets, and workers. New op-ed by @margaridasilva.bsky.social: www.techpolicy.press/why-made-in-...
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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
When it comes to AI, the EU simply has to stop buying into self-interested corporate narratives around the AI Race – whether they come from the US or the EU – as synonymous with the public interest, writes Margarida Silva.
buff.ly
Why “Made in Europe” Won’t Fix AI’s Deeper Problems
The EU's drive to embed AI everywhere, all of the time, risks significant costs for the environment, public budgets, and workers, writes Margarida Ramos.
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Margarida Silva @margaridasilva.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Dutch media reported that Microsoft shared the names of civil servants with the US Senate Committee prodding into the EU's platform rules. Another reminder that Microsoft and co. have no qualms about complying with the Trump administration. It is time to dump Big Tech. nos.nl/artikel/2615...
nos.nl
Techbedrijven deelden namen Nederlandse ambtenaren met VS: 'Ontzettend zorgelijk'
Het gaat om ambtenaren die betrokken zijn bij de handhaving van Europese regels om techplatforms te reguleren. De Amerikaanse overheid ziet die regels als censuur.
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CAAD_Coalition @caadcoalition.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
🚨 A new report from @greenpeaceap.bsky.social and @ketanjoshi.co explores how AI data centres are quietly locking Australia into higher emissions, while fossil fuel corporations join data centre lobby groups, sponsor tech conferences, and reinforce each other’s PR spin on “clean” AI.
greenpeace.org.au
Energy Vampires: the AI data centres draining Australia - Greenpeace Australia Pacific
The frenzied rollout of AI data centres in Australia is rushing through massive new projects, which will derail Australia’s energy transition unless the government urgently intervenes.
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Margarida Silva @margaridasilva.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
As a non-believer it feels odd to discuss a religious doc. But the Pope's encyclical gets many things right about AI: - it surfaces the role of data workers - warns against AI monopolies, built on excessive political & economic power - makes a plea to disarm AI, a counter to the corporate AI race.
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Margarida Silva @margaridasilva.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
As the Pope says "Nothing in the world of AI is immaterial or magical". In fact, AI is built by millions of workers hidden from view. This isn't an accident - Big Tech actively hides these workers. To peek behind the AI curtains, check out @techequity.bsky.social's Data Work Landscape. 👇
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Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
The Pope has weighed in: AI isn't magic. It's currently produced by a deeply exploitative, extractive supply chain. It challenges human dignity; could fuel a new colonialism. And among the greatest challenges of our time will be to redirect its path of development. www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...
Breaking the chains of new forms of slavery
173. This distorted view of the human person is reflected today in various forms of servitude directly linked to the digital economy. Nothing in the world of AI is immaterial or magical. Every seemingly immediate and flawless response is the result of a long chain of mediation, involving vast networks of natural resources, energy infrastructure and, above all, people. A significant part of the digital economy’s functioning relies on the silent work of millions of people engaged in essential yet largely unseen activities, such as data labeling, model training and content moderation, often involving disturbing material. In many cases, these workers are young people, predominantly women, working under demanding conditions for minimal wages. Added to this invisible labor is the even harsher work of extracting the resources required for the production of the devices and microprocessors on which AI depends. In some regions of the world, children and adolescents work in dangerous conditions, crushing the materials from which rare earth elements are extracted. The bodies of these people are scarred, injured and worn down so that computational flow may continue uninterruptedly. Furthermore, criminal networks use online platforms, messaging systems, anonymous payment methods and profiling techniques in order to recruit, control and transport victims of trafficking — very often minors — reducing men and women to “data” to be tracked and “packages” to be moved around within the same digital circuits that support much of the global economy. This reality deeply challenges the moral conscience of our time. It is not enough to invoke efficiency, nor to celebrate the benefits of innovation, if they are built on a chain of exploitation that remains deliberately hidden. If technology promises emancipation, yet produces new forms of global subordination, it stands in contradiction to the fundamental principle of human dignity.178. Even today, colonialism assumes new forms. It no longer dominates only bodies, but appropriates data, transforming personal lives into exploitable information. Entire regions, especially those marked by structural fragility and limited geopolitical relevance, are currently subjected to a new mindset of extraction: that of health data, epidemiological profiles, genetic maps and demographic information. These have become the new “rare earths” of power: vital data which, once aggregated and analyzed, can be used to train predictive models, guide investment strategies, anticipate crises and, above all, determine who and what is deemed to matter. Those who control the health data of entire peoples — often collected under the pretext of aid, research or innovation — possess a structural leverage over the future, for they can shape needs and markets. They can also decide, before others, to whom medicines, investments and protections will be allocated. Here lies one of the most urgent moral challenges of our time: to ensure that shared knowledge becomes a true common good rather than an instrument of dominance. This requires restoring to individuals not only the data that describes them, but also the ability to decide how it is used, by whom and for whose benefit. Otherwise, the digital age will not be post-colonial, but colonial in another form.
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