Axelle Van Wynsberghe

Come find my stall at the Halles de Schaerbeek this Sunday International #WomensDay from 10h-12h30, where I’ll be joining the art market.

There will also be a DJ set & sign making workshop for the best pre-protest vibes before the get together at Mont des Arts at 13h. ✊

Ex-Meta lobbyist put in charge of EU's digital rules: 'Tech oligarchy writing its own rulebook' Pressure is growing to drop the appointment of a former Meta lobbyist, elected as an MEP in 2024, from a file which could rewrite the EU's regulation of US tech giants.

A former Meta chief lobbyist was appointed by the EPP as ITRE rapporteur of the #DigitalOmnibus. EU citizens' data protection shouldn't be in the hands of big tech!

But now, @greens-efa.eu MEP Sara Mathieu calls for Aura Salla to step down. ✊

Donald Trump’s AI push fuels revolt in Maga heartlands Republicans fear backlash against White House agenda could undermine support in this year’s midterm elections

Opposition to #AI is rising in states like #Missouri that are overrun by large data centres. Residents are concerned about air and water quality, jobs, scams and surveillance.

Now, they're protesting construction and even proposing a permanent data centre ban (now a year-long ban).

Artificial Insecurity: access and availability in the age of AI - Access Now In the third part of our blog series, we look at how the availability of systems is impacted by the proliferation of large language models.

@accessnow.org rightly warn against the 'quasi-religious' frame adopted around AI and its capabilities, which is dragging us into a world of mass surveillance and AI slop.

"We can treat LLMs as a sometimes useful, sometimes not, normal technology, rather than a step toward superintelligence."

Amazon's #Superbowl commercial advertised the ability for AI to scan #Ring feeds to 'find lost dogs'.

But this kind of technology can easily be weaponised in the age of ubiquitous surveillance. Already, Amazon is fueling mass deportations through Amazon Web Services’ contracts with ICE and DHS.

Opinion | The Democrats Again Risk Losing Voters They Take for Granted

"A small number of corporate executives are building technologies that will shape the economy for decades. No one elected these people."

@anthropic.com is one of the few places pushing for a precautionary approach to AI regulation, and a cohesive social & economic plan for working people.

How ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are

In #Minneapolis, ICE has deployed tech like biometric trackers, cell location databases & drones. They are doing so not only to identify and surveil undocumented immigrants but also protestors.

“The conglomeration of all these technologies together is giving the government unprecedented abilities.”

ELITE, the tool created by Palantir, allows ICE to find the closest person to arrest and disappear.

"It makes a mockery of the idea that ICE is trying to make our country safer. Rather, agents are reportedly picking people to deport from our country the same way you'd choose a nearby coffee shop.”

What the US TikTok takeover is already revealing about new forms of censorship | Paolo Gerbaudo It’s not what we can or cannot say that matters – rather, it’s whether what we say can get any visibility at all under the US-specific algorithm, says academic Paolo Gerbaudo

TikTok is completely cooked.

Since the takeover, a group of mainly American investors approved by Trump took control of #TikTokUS. And recently, the app reportedly suppressed videos about Epstein, criticising ICE & mentioning the shooting of Alex Pretti.

Welcome to the American Winter In the frozen streets of Minneapolis, something profound is happening.

Great piece from @theatlantic.com on the #Minnesota resistance. More than just a group of activists, it represents a a much larger struggle against #ICE and ultimately autocracy.

"I heard people say they were not protesters but protectors—of their communities, of their values, of the Constitution."

The Americas come together to deepen dialogue, expand alliances, oppose profiteering from coercion & war, and promote adherence to international law & peaceful coexistence.

"We (...) affirm the shared horizon of: a hemisphere that governs itself, defends its peoples, and speaks in its own voice."

How Much Worse Could the Internet Get? Cory Doctorow’s “Enshittification” is premised on the idea that we created a technological marvel and then corporate greed ruined it. But what if that is not the case?

In 2026, has the 'dream of connection' vanished with the decline of the internet, AI slop & endless ads?

"You are something more like a peasant, chained to a set of overlapping digital manors, paying monthly to a distant lord for your right to be an influencer, a dropseller, or a watcher of TV."

One year on, the EU is abandoning human rights A year into its new mandate and the European Commission is reversing course when it comes to safeguarding human rights in the EU.

@accessnow.org on the EU's latest deregulatory sweep; weakening GDPR, expanding surveillance & sidelining fundamental freedoms.

The #DigitalOmnibus proposes a dangerous watering-down of legislation including the #AI Act and GDPR, among other digital policies.

Zohran Mamdani and Rama Duwaji at the mayoral inauguration on 1 January 2026

New York belongs to all those who live in it! I started 2026 at Mamdani’s #inauguration, and had to sketch this out.

“Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed. But never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try.”

EU slaps €120M fine on Elon Musk’s X, straining ties with US US vice president says EU should not be ‘attacking American companies over garbage.’

The #DigitalServicesAct has finally been put to use. 👏

Yesterday, the European Commission imposed its first-ever penalty under the bloc’s content moderation law.

The EU must enforce digital rules, not dilute them or roll them back, in order to protect citizen rights and democracy.

AI chatbots used inaccurate information to change people's political opinions, study finds A paper published in the journal Science found that chatbots become more persuasive when they share large amounts of information.

To no surprise; research suggests AI chatbots are particularly good at seductive disinformation. 👀

“[This] could have malign consequences for public discourse and the information ecosystem”

Persuasiveness at the expense of accuracy and fact is the point where communication becomes manipulation.

@annpettifor.bsky.social touches on the hype and marketing behind the #AI bubble at the #FinanceForSociety Forum:

"The AGI bubble may just be a vast techno-dystopian power play to put tech bosses at the helm of political and economic control. This is class war at its most brutal."

Amazon is remaking the global economy in its own image — extractive, exploitative and authoritarian.

But we don’t have to let it get away with that: join the workers, activists and citizens from across the globe to Make Amazon Pay this Black Friday to Cyber Monday. ✊

makeamazonpay.com

Amazon Workers Issue Warning About Company’s ‘All-Costs-Justified’ Approach to AI Development Amazon Employees for Climate Justice says that over 1,000 workers have signed a petition raising “serious concerns” about the company’s “aggressive rollout” of artificial intelligence tools.

AI shouldn’t come at the cost of workers and the environment !

Over 1,000 Amazon employees have signed an open letter warning that the accelerated approach to AI development could cause a “staggering damage to democracy, to our jobs, and to the earth”. 🌎

Another reason to #MakeAmazonPay

The Ecological Cost of AI Is Much Higher Than You Think - Truthdig As the demands of AI grow, each generation of microchips requires more energy, minerals and water to produce, driving a ruinous cycle.

As it stands the AI inudstry is foresaking our planet and wellbeing for their computing power.

Left unchecked, OpenAI will need “almost exactly as much electricity as India’s 1.5 billion people, and “emit nearly twice as much carbon dioxide as ExxonMobil”

This report estimates that up to 435 million people work as data workers globally.

That’s a huge amount of people working so-called ‘gig jobs’ that offer little to no protection, with uncertain income streams and no clear career pathways.

🚨 Conditions remain dire at at Amazon India. A recent survey conducted by @uniglobalunion.org reveals 68% of workers suffer heat-related illness, and 42% fear retaliation for raising safety concerns.

We need to keep up the pressure and boycott Amazon this coming Black Friday to #MakeAmazonPay.

Organiser Grace Mausser from @socialists.nyc on @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social’s campaign being laser focused on affordability for New Yorkers, and how to win electoral campaigns.

“Socialism can beat fascism but we have to organise our communities on the ground.”

#Manifiesta2025

@parismarx.com and @arunkundnani.bsky.social on tech and its allyship with the far right, the resurgence of a Cold War with China, and MAGA’s vision of American capitalism.

“Capitalism is highly malleable. We have to rethink our reflexes.”

#Manifiesta2025

Technocrats as handmaidens to authoritarianism - Pt 1 Central bank technocrats are not ‘independent’

@annpettifor.bsky.social warns that when central bankers espouse economic policies that impose austerity and fuel despair, it can open the door to a rise in authoritarianism.

How US Officials Are Pressuring Europe Over Its Platform Regulations | TechPolicy.Press Republicans are using trade talks, immigration threats and diplomatic messaging to counter Europe's platform regulations.

Republicans & major US tech firms renew attacks on digital rules; mounting coordinated pressure on the EU’s #DigitalServicesAct by portraying it as a threat to free speech & #US interests.

The campaign backed by firms like X and Meta show growing US resistance to European digital rule-making.

How AI is already hurting European consumers in retail finance In retail finance, AI risks have become a reality. The sector is among the most active adopters of AI in the EU, these systems are already deciding who gets a loan, how much people pay for insurance, ...

@pnorwood.bsky.social and @max-kretschmer.bsky.social
warn that AI in retail finance is already excluding consumers - citing account closures, opaque credit scoring and unfair insurance pricing.

While the #AIAct will address some risks, major gaps remain and must be addressed by EU policymakers.

AI doomers are fascinating; attributing undue sentience to a technological tool.

If “the risk of extinction from AI” is "as serious as dangers posed by pandemics & nuclear warfare", it'll be likely due to its impact on critical resources or climate more than any risk of becoming a 'digital God'.

KI-Risiken im Alltag KI-Systeme richten heute schon Schaden im Finanzsektor an. Die Kolumne „Gastwirtschaft“ von Peter Norwood.

"AI systems help decide who gets a loan, how much someone pays for insurance, or whether a bank account is closed."

My @financewatch.bsky.social colleague @pnorwood.bsky.social warns that it's time for the EU to close regulatory gaps in the EU's #AIAct before innovation comes at consumers’ expense.

There is a quasi-religion in Silicon Valley that views AI as godlike. This faith has always been parallel to Evangelical Christianity: salvation (transhumanism), the rapture (the technological singularity), and demons (Roko's Basilisk)

Lately the AI faith has fully fused with Christian Nationalism.