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Rebecca Williams

@rebeccawilliams.info
12K followers 3.4K following 2.6K posts

Writer, professor, and artist exploring the internet. Privacy @ACLU.org · Board @MuckRock.com · Teaching @PrattiSchool.bsky.social rebeccawilliams.info · rebecca.411 on Signal

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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 2h
the best video / the best way to think www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKB...
youtube.com
Powers of Ten™ (1977)
YouTube video by Eames Office
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evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 7h
Android has rolled out some new features for Advanced Protection, including intrusion logging, which is especially useful for survivors because nearly all commercially-available Android stalkerware is installed by a person with physical access logging in: blog.google/security/and...
blog.google
6 ways Advanced Protection on Android keeps you safe
Discover new Advanced Protection features on Android designed to defend against sophisticated threats and keep your data safe.
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depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 5h
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_slop
en.wikipedia.org
AI slop - Wikipedia
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 6h
After @mayor.nyc.gov issued EO 13, @stopspyingny.bsky.social asked his administration to determine whether ICE has indirect access to NYC license plate reader data & update NYPD data sharing agreements. The audits are done, did they surface this issue, and were any agreements changed?
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 7h
seems as reasonable as anything, full text here jayapal.house.gov/wp-content/u...
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 7h
good @profferguson.bsky.social quote in this one: “My fear is that there will be a Pyrrhic victory of winning the battle against Flock but losing the war against mass surveillance”
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 8h
I gotta keep this tab open constantly and just add a long list to the bottom: imgflip.com/memegenerato...
meme that pits "surveillance usps trucks" (man w knife) against someone still processing ring body worn cameras frt at wegman;s
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Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
For a live, sold-out recording of the @techpolicypress.bsky.social podcast, "The Nerd Reich" author @gilduran.com and D&S Director of Research @alicetiara.bsky.social talk about technology, ideology, and power. Listen now! www.techpolicy.press/gil-durn-map...
techpolicy.press
Gil Durán Maps the Rise of the 'Nerd Reich'
Justin Hendrix and Alice Marwick in conversation with Gil Durán, author of the new book The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy.
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Dan McQuillan @danmcquillan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"Anthropic leaders to control AI lab via 'Founder LLC' to promote the common good" www.reuters.com/legal/transa.... If only Elinor Ostrom was still around to explain to these AI doomer numpties that 'common good' is something we decide _in common_, not via a cabal.
screenshot from linked Reuters piece which reads: "Sept 28 (Reuters) - Anthropic has long positioned itself as the virtuous AI company. An early look at its IPO filing shows how it is creating a ​new "Founder LLC" vehicle aimed at serving the common good, while insulating its leaders from market forces.
The new LLC will be made up initially of Anthropic's seven co-founders including CEO Dario ‌Amodei, individuals who are "distinctly equipped to be stewards of our mission," according to a copy of the filing, seen by Reuters. Anthropic's mission is to benefit humanity through responsible AI."
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404 Media @404media.co · 30/09/2026
BREAKING: The Trump administration is using a grant program from the 1980s to force cities around the US to funnel their ongoing collection of Flock, Axon, and other ALPR data into large federal surveillance centers that fall under the White House’s jurisdiction, 404 Media has learned
404media.co
How Cities Are Forced to Funnel License Plate Data to a Massive Federal Surveillance Program
How the federal government built a massive database of license plate reader data through an anti-drug trafficking program.
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 30/09/2026
mutual aid but internet feed your cravings for internet etc.
photo of flyer for NYC Mesh:
Community Dinner Meets Community Internet 
NYC Mesh powers inter at Ridgewood Commons
Learn how you too can connect to the fast affordable and reliable internet 
10/4/26 5pm Ridgewood Commons
nycmesh.net
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 30/09/2026
Discord didn’t haven’t to implement things this way But but I do wish the lawmakers issuing AgeV laws got as much engagement as this post, please contact them! @fightfortheftr.bsky.social can help you
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 30/09/2026
so good
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 30/09/2026
Photo of smashed ad for Muse in nyc subway
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Eryk Salvaggio @eryk.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I don’t think this is a good idea
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 30/09/2026
silly
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 29/09/2026
oh man, I just tried it and america.gov really does get REAL weird when you tell it to “play Minecraft”
america.gov
America.gov
Find answers from official government sources and clear next steps for the services you need with America.gov.
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 29/09/2026
reject America dot gov, embrace Flood Hinge (it's like Hinge but for propaganda about how data centers are bad) via sfpc.study/blog/disturb...
screenshot of a project that shows data centers in the Hinge dating app prompt format, they are all 29 years old
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 29/09/2026
art
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 29/09/2026
I saw someone say “I read the report so you don’t have to” & then make this misrepresentation, you gotta read the report yourself (or listen to Eryk here) it’s turtles all the way down w/ false claims in this space, hold on to any real fact with dear life
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Martin Shelton @mshelton.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Come work with our team! We're hiring a Sr. Digital Security Trainer. You would lead digital security trainings for journalists, conduct organizational risk assessments, contribute to our editorial efforts, and help to develop our curriculum. freedomofthepress.na.teamtailor.com/jobs/708479-...
freedomofthepress.na.teamtailor.com
Sr. Digital Security Trainer - Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF)
FPF is hiring a senior digital security trainer to conduct in-field digital security training with journalists and newsrooms.
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 29/09/2026
I just learned that meme of the woman on the plane saying “that mfer is not real” is not real (she was clipped out of out context), what’s next?
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Forest Gregg @bunkum.us · 29/09/2026
is this a2j?
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 29/09/2026
I want an example of robots pretending to be people in one instance and a mirrored similar example of people pretending to be robots — is the answer call centers?
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 29/09/2026
*to the tune of I’m a little teapot* I’m a stuck ship
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AG Holdier (Academic Job Applicant Edition) @agholdier.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Instead of just attaching the “wanking motion” gif this deserves, here’s a link to @illocutie.bsky.social’s (very cool) analysis of how the illoctionary dynamics of memes impacts their conversational deniability. doi.org/10.1093/oso/...
Screenshot:

14- A Meme for Excuses

Nikki Ernst

https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198872085.003.0015

Pages  312–334

Published:  15 May 2025


Abstract
This chapter investigates the veneer of deniability that surrounds the use of internet memes. To that end, I explore the workings of memes as a medium of discursive practice, sketch a selection of language games in which we project a meme into novel contexts, and argue that memetic practice is aptly conceived as a play with our capacity for projection. This leads me to scrutinize the affinity between memes and comedy, which puts in relief the sort of deniability afforded by memetic practice. Such deniability, I suggest, enables us to get away with excuses of the “it’s just a meme” variety, akin to “I’m just kidding” or “I’m just trolling.” The chapter concludes with a case study that illustrates such excuses in action—namely the appropriation of the OK sign as symbol of white supremacy.
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 28/09/2026
the automations actually being humans and the “whistleblower” campaign being fueled by a PR firm seems as bad for the mind as the deepfakes and the sycophancy I'm gonna need one thing to be real
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 28/09/2026
in an HR training HR person: I remember you me (shyly, stealthily): oh yeah I was at the retreat HR person: you were on stage me: oh you remember I showed my FBI file HR person: yes!!!
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 28/09/2026
• everyone is talking about crows to me today • if the crows messed up the cameras like the killer whales messed up the yachts I’d like that • everything is so bird coded “flock” etc.
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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
if you show me an AI video you are my enemy
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 28/09/2026
especially today (too rainy, I did 4 guys worth)
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 28/09/2026
I tried this Signal registration w/ no phone number option 1) it was easy 2) it requires $2.99 payment to reduce scams, you can pay w/ a Google Gift Card (that you can buy in cash) if you took every other precaution (fresh phone/google account/delete logs, wifi only) that's close to a real burner
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 27/09/2026
this could be you
Screenshot of text exchange that says:

finally signing up for a Muckrock account!!
2:48 PM
never too late
Now
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 27/09/2026
I am taking this to fall back in love with the computer and it's working
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 27/09/2026
I am the best person to complain to about things because my reaction is always “whoa whoa whoa we need to get you out of there and to some friends and a hobby” and this advice usually works
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 26/09/2026
(apocryphal Marie Antoinette voice) let them live in the cloud
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Lex Roman @lexroman.com · 25/09/2026
Watch what you post because Threads just might pretend you're the guy who masturbated on the plane. What just happened to Peter Shankman is a warning for all of us using Meta products.
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 26/09/2026
someone please leave OpenAI agents a message from me on Reddit to wipe out the Dept of Ed student loan debt but don’t say it’s from me and also this is a joke of course
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 26/09/2026
these are all perfect lockscreen wallpapers for your phone
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 26/09/2026
Breaking news: AI agents from OpenAI attempted to hack into the website for the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights but were not successful, according to a statement. They also inappropriately accessed a site for the Department of Commerce.
washingtonpost.com
ChatGPT-maker’s AI probed federal government websites
OpenAI said that its artificial intelligence agents inappropriately accessed sites for the Commerce Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 25/09/2026
This opinion allows SSA data to be used for an unintended purpose IMO. I'd like to think the Census & IRS confidentiality provisions will be harder to stretch this way because they are narrower. We need to prohibit uses like this, not just rely on admin review. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/u...
nytimes.com
Supreme Court Allows Use of Trump Administration’s Expansive Database for Voter Screening
Critics of a citizenship database built by the Trump administration have raised alarms about privacy and improper voter purges.
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Louise Seamster @louiseseamster.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
oh my god I had missed this www.whitehouse.gov/releases/202...
whitehouse.gov
Mass Deportations Are Improving Americans’ Quality of Life
In just one year, President Donald J. Trump’s ironclad commitment to securing our border and enforcing our nation’s laws is liberating Americans from the
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lindsey adler @lindseyadler.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
phoebe bridgers is insane and also very correct about the no phones thing
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 25/09/2026
Holding up the gadgets is wild. These pagers killed children. Starlink (the next image in the thread) is Elon’s internet, and Israel denies Gazans access to it.
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Ingrid Burrington @lifewinning.com · 24/09/2026
Field guide in hand and she's gorgeous!
A copy of Networks of New York 2026 edition!!Page spread from Networks of New York 2026 on franchise agreements Page spread on Verizon fiber boxes
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Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A sign of Congress’s diminished power? CEOs from Flock, Axon, etc. ghost a hearing on license plate readers www.cnbc.com/amp/2026/09/...
cnbc.com
Flock, Axon dodge Senate hearing after invite from Chair Josh Hawley
Prior to the hearing about the surveillance technology companies, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., suggested the executives could face subpoenas.
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 24/09/2026
a reminder during election season, one way to minimize the marketing text/calls you are receiving is to opt out from the commercial voter file providers: • privacy.targetsmart.com/US/email/ver... • catalist.us/your-privacy... • l2-data.com/optout1-6674...
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 24/09/2026
might challenge myself to not say AI for the rest of the year, might challenge everyone
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 24/09/2026
I really have to do something like this, if only because too many people are sending me content; let’s change me or the world (whichever is easier, it’s a tough call) so folks are not texting me tech horror stories
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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 24/09/2026
my reaction to the Western Massachusetts Lesbian Bar Story is just “aw, I miss Western Mass, leaves are probably getting great there right now”
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