Notable links: April 17, 2026
How AI is affecting thinking and distribution – and why relationships are still at the heart of great teams.
Latest
Google Broke Its Promise to Me. Now ICE Has My Data.
"Google had already disclosed my data without telling me. There was no opportunity to contest it."
You Own Your Role, We Own The Outcome
"A mantra to clarify ownership while reinforcing shared responsibility." I agree with every word.
FBI Extracts Suspect’s Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
An innocuous iPhone notifications setting could put your Signal contacts at risk.
Stop Flock
Flock is building a national surveillance network. A protest movement is forming to tear it down.
One size fits none: let communities build for themselves
How open protocols and agentic development could lead to a whole new generation of social applications.
The bottleneck shifts to distribution
"There is a fixed amount of scarce attention to go around, and too many people want it. The metagame becomes: secure attention by any means necessary."
When the President threatens to commit a genocide
This cannot continue.
"Cognitive surrender" leads AI users to abandon logical thinking, research finds
"Experiments show large majorities uncritically accepting “faulty” AI answers." Increasingly, incentive structures are asking them to.
Notable links: April 3, 2026
A dystopian week, with a glimmer of hope: alternatives are available.
The open web isn't dying. We're killing it
Julien Genestoux thinks the open web needs netizens. I agree – and in 2026, that's indistinguishable from citizenry.
An AI company set out to fix news deserts. Instead, it copied local journalists’ work
"Nota shut down its news sites after Axios and Poynter found dozens of plagiarized quotes, phrases and photos."
Technology
LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer
LinkedIn is using invasive techniques to fingerprint your browser. Together with its understanding of your identity and professional history, it has the ingredients for an incredibly detailed profile.
Future of News
Surf demonstrates the power of the open social web
Flipboard's browser for the open social web is out for web users today.
Democracy
What Digital Isolation and Censorship Evasion Look Like In Wartime Iran
"Four weeks into the war, Iran is plummeting toward total digital isolation with its internet blocked and communications heavily restricted and monitored." And it's part of a bigger trend.
AI
The Right Is Using AI Content Scanners to Try to Supercharge Book Banning
"Groups that challenge books have begun using Gemini, ChatGPT, xAI, and other AI tools to try to get books banned." The point is to create a chilling effect.
Technology
An alternate history of social media
I joined Rabble on the Revolution.Social podcast.
Technology
Building trust in the open at ONA 2026
A new white paper about building open communities for news.
Technology
Bluesky leans into AI with Attie, an app for building custom feeds
Bluesky's new service isn't about AI; it's about accessibility.
Democracy
The DOJ thinks news is contraband
By treating source materials as contraband, the DOJ is putting both journalism and democracy at risk.
Democracy
The White House has an app now, and Trump wants you to report people to ICE on it
Want to report your friends and neighbors for extrajudicial kidnapping? The new White House app wants you to get in touch.
Notable links
Notable links: March 27, 2026
Progress on the open social web; not so much in the world.
Media
Why Knight Foundation Invested in Bluesky
Newsrooms have been slow to care about the open social web - but one of their most important support organizations is paying attention.
Business
Make Space for Every Voice
"If you want stronger decisions, make space for every voice." This is a simple technique to do this in your meetings that really works.