David Murakami Wood

keep your electric eye on me

@ubisurv.net

4.1K followers 1.8K following 1.7K posts

David Murakami Wood (DMW)
Canada Research Chair in Critical Surveillance & Security Studies
Director, CSS/Lab, uOttawa
Co-editor-in-Chief, Surveillance & Society
Surveillance / Security / Cities / Technology / Human Rights / Environment
https://ubisurv.net .. more

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Political science 39%

Sociology 28%

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keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · Nov 24

For those just arriving here, I have 3 starter packs (bsky only allows 150 people/pack):
1. #Surveillance Studies Starter Pack (full): go.bsky.app/HYGu6oX
2. #Surveillance Studies Extension Pack (growing): go.bsky.app/HoDHyNe
3. Critical #SmartCities Starter Pack (growing): go.bsky.app/H1Xd6SL

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

vee.soy @vashetc.bsky.social · 13h

Just now seeing that this March event has been posted. I’m so excited for this and so grateful for this group of brilliant minds. I’ve been learning so much from them!

You can register here: www.disconetwork.org/disco-events...

A brown flyer titled: Against surveillance and spectacle: building global resistance to tech-mediated oppression
Tuesday March 10 2026 from 4-5:30 est
Weiser hall tenth floor and Zoom

The description: What does it mean to be in community? This panel brings together activists, scholars, and writers to explore connections between critical social issues—health justice, discrimination, technofascism, and surveillance—and the possibilities of grassroots response. Panelists will discuss tensions between collectivizing and collaborating: How do we negotiate care when our access to care hinges on being identified and enumerated by the state? What tactics for resistance might we use in digital communities that are subject to increased surveillance? How can we be there for and with each other?

All are welcome, and we strongly encourage undergraduate and graduate students to attend.

Refreshments will be provided to the first 100 in-person attendees.

Advance registration is recommended:

Register to attend in-person: https://myumi.ch/kPNb2
Register to attend on Zoom: https://myumi.ch/g3bqG What does it mean to be in community? This panel brings together activists, scholars, and writers to explore connections between critical social issues—health justice, discrimination, technofascism, and surveillance—and the possibilities of grassroots response. Panelists will discuss tensions between collectivizing and collaborating: How do we negotiate care when our access to care hinges on being identified and enumerated by the state? What tactics for resistance might we use in digital communities that are subject to increased surveillance? How can we be there for and with each other?

All are welcome, and we strongly encourage undergraduate and graduate students to attend.

Refreshments will be provided to the first 100 in-person attendees.

Advance registration is recommended:

Register to attend in-person: https://myumi.ch/kPNb2
Register to attend on Zoom: https://myumi.ch/g3bqG

Reposted by Brett Christophers, Rebecca Tushnet, Steve Carver , and 1 more Brett Christophers, Rebecca Tushnet, Steve Carver, David Murakami Wood

Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 14h

Yes, this is correct. And the reason is because our capitalist classes have decided that it is not sufficiently profitable, so they're not going to do it.

We must understand this reality. Capital *cannot* be relied upon to address the climate crisis.

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

The Intercept @theintercept.com · 1d

“YouTube is furthering the Trump administration’s agenda to remove evidence of human rights violations and war crimes.”

YouTube Quietly Erased More Than 700 Videos Documenting Israeli Human Rights Violations

The tech giant deleted the accounts of three prominent Palestinian human rights groups — a capitulation to Trump sanctions.

interc.pt

keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 1d

New American, Trump-ally, owners of notorious #spyware firm, #NSOGroup, say that they 'want to use NSO’s eavesdropping and surveillance technologies to “achieve a safer world.”' Sure, sure...

www.wsj.com/tech/israeli...

Israeli Spyware Maker NSO Gets New Owners, Leadership and Seeks to Mend Reputation

Investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds have taken a controlling stake in the company behind Pegasus, and former Trump official David Friedman has been named executive chairman.

www.wsj.com

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 1d

Demand for subsea cables is increasing as tech giants race to develop computation-intensive artificial intelligence models and connect their growing networks of data centers. - via @cnbc.com www.cnbc.com/2025/11/08/b...

Underwater cables are a vital piece of the AI buildout and internet — investment is booming

Over 95% of international data and voice traffic travels through subsea telecom cables. Tech giants Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft are investing for AI.

www.cnbc.com

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 1d

A 450-foot Prometheus. A 500-foot George Washington. Tech investors are racing to build colossal monuments celebrating Western power.

America’s Tech Right Is Obsessed With Building Giant Statues

With proposals for a 450-foot statue of Prometheus on Alcatraz and a 650-foot George Washington, MAGA adherents are racing to build America’s largest statue.

bloom.bg

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 1d

I have a feature essay for The Guardian today on the mirage of AI medicine, why care cannot be automated, and how overwhelming uptake of AI by American health capitalism threatens to undermine the very possibility of democracy.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

What we lose when we surrender care to algorithms | Eric Reinhart

A dangerous faith in AI is sweeping American healthcare – with consequences for the basis of society itself

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Graham Webster, David Murakami Wood

Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 1d

Bahahahahaha The New York Times just printed an opinion piece declaring "AI is intelligent, so long as we redefine what intelligence means to include it. And soon AI will be conscious, because we'll just redefine consciousness too!"

Nothing means anything! Yay!

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...

Opinion | A.I. Is on Its Way to Something Even More Remarkable Than Intelligence

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Giovanna Mascheroni, Margot C. Finn, David Murakami Wood

Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 1d

I appreciate the work of these authors to show that this problem not only is still here but has grown:

www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...

But it is also quite frustrating 🧵>>

AI's capabilities may be exaggerated by flawed tests, according to new study

A study from the Oxford Internet Institute analyzed 445 tests used to evaluate AI models.

www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 2d

Evil dude

gizmodo.com/palantir-ceo...

Palantir CEO Says a Surveillance State Is Preferable to China Winning the AI Race

He also had strong opinions about people's

gizmodo.com

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Will Jennings, Fabián Muniesa , and 2 more Joanna Bryson, Will Jennings, Fabián Muniesa, Beatriz Gallardo Paúls, David Murakami Wood

Francesca Bria @francescabria.bsky.social · 2d

The Authoritarian Stack: how tech billionaires are building a post-democratic America and why Europe is next.

My new project is an interactive investigation and open data platform to expose tech authoritarianism and mobilize collective power for democratic alternatives.
www.authoritarian-stack.info

The Authoritarian Stack

How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic America — And Why Europe Is Next

www.authoritarian-stack.info

keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d

#Türkiye charging #Netanyahu with #genocide is a more than a little hypocritical when the country is not currently a signatory to the Rome Statute (the International Criminal Court / #ICC) because it has been trying to avoid charges of crimes against humanity against its own leadership...

keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d

Okay, clearly not a serious person. See you.

Reposted by David H. Kaye, David Murakami Wood

John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 3d

YIKES: NSO floats Pegasus spyware used in hypothetical "time of domestic crisis" in 🇺🇸America.

I believe they won't stop lobbying until they get Pegasus into USA.

To hack Americans. 1/

Reposted by Marc Lynch, David Murakami Wood

The Continent @thecontinent.org · 3d

All Protocol Observed

Welcome to Issue 219 of The Continent

Protests, an internet blackout, and deadly force marked Tanzania’s Election Day. Once online again, 37 readers shared what they witnessed.

Read their stories: bit.ly/219_TC

The cover of The Continent, dated 8 November 2025 (Issue 219), bears the headline “Tanzania’s darkest week” and features a striking political cartoon by Gado that echoes Honoré Daumier’s 1831 caricature Gargantua.
At the top, the masthead appears in bold black letters on a beige background. Below it, the illustration dominates the page. It shows a woman seated on a throne-like chair, drawn to resemble Tanzania’s leader. Her mouth is open wide, and a long wooden ramp extends from her mouth, down which small, faceless figures carry large sacks labeled “Corruption,” “Incompetence,” “Fear,” and “Election Fraud.” They march upward to feed these vices into her mouth, while behind them, a long line of weary people stretches toward the horizon, waiting their turn.
To the left stands a sign reading “Abductions”, beside a huge pile of skulls — a chilling symbol of death and repression. Below, masked soldiers with rifles shoot civilians on a blood-spattered ground, surrounded by the bodies of the fallen. The entire scene conveys chaos, violence, and fear.
The image is a nod to Daumier’s Gargantua, which depicted France’s King Louis-Philippe as a grotesque giant devouring the people’s wealth while rewarding his cronies. Here, that 19th-century metaphor of gluttonous tyranny is adapted to Tanzania’s present moment — portraying a leader who consumes corruption, fear, and human lives themselves.

keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d

In Ken MacLeod's excellent SF novel, The Execution Channel, we find out somewhere along the line that Al Gore won that election, and... nothing much is very different as far as the war on terror goes. Remember that W's partner in crime was Tony Blair, a liberal-left leader not dissimilar to Gore...

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

404 Media @404media.co · 3d

CBP has publicly released an app that Sheriff Offices, police departments, and other local law enforcement can use to scan someone’s face as part of immigration enforcement. @evystadium.bsky.social has more.

Full scoop by @josephcox.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/cbp-quietly-...

Reposted by Charles W. Smith, Lindsay M. Tedds, David Murakami Wood , and 1 more Charles W. Smith, Lindsay M. Tedds, David Murakami Wood, Kate Starbird

Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 3d

Hi Bluesky 👋

Small life update: I’m at the centre of a multimillion dollar lawsuit in Alberta launched by a failed candidate for Jason Kenney’s UCP

It may be the longest and most expensive media trial in Canadian history

I’m ready to go public about it and I want to share more details with you 🧵

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

Larry Neufeld @larryneufeldsk.bsky.social · 3d

Coming climate inferno ignored in favour of war spending yvesengler.com/2025/11/06/c...

Coming climate inferno ignored in favour of war spending - Yves Engler

Mark Carney is fear mongering about faraway countries while downplaying a security threat driving an ever-greater number of Canadians from their homes. In the recently released federal budget “defence...

yvesengler.com

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

Meredith Broussard, PhD @merbroussard.bsky.social · 3d

“We should train novices based on the practices of disciplinary experts who have achieved AI fluency in their discipline. Unfortunately, there aren’t any such experts yet.” www.chronicle.com/article/stop...

Opinion | Stop Pretending You Know How to Teach AI

Colleges are racing to make students ‘fluent.’ One problem: No one knows what that means.

www.chronicle.com

keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d

As NEOM collapses under the weight of its own ridiculousness, I just wanted to remind folks of what I wrote 18 months ago... #smartcities #platformcities theconversation.com/the-scaling-...

Reposted by Juan Cole, Dominik Wiedenhofer, John Hogan , and 3 more Juan Cole, Dominik Wiedenhofer, John Hogan, Dana R. Fisher, David Murakami Wood, James Connelly

Nina Lakhani @ninalakhani.bsky.social · 3d

Exclusive by me: How thousands fossil fuel lobbyists got access to UN climate talks – and then oil and gas companies kept drilling
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

How thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists got access to UN climate talks – and then kept drilling

Exclusive: Research shows oil, gas and coal firms’ unprecedented access to Cop26-29, blocking urgent climate action

www.theguardian.com

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 3d

The US is the world's largest oil and gas producer. Yet, "China is now making more money from exporting green technology than America makes from exporting fossil fuels."

China’s clean-energy revolution will reshape markets and politics

The world’s biggest manufacturer now has an interest in the world decarbonising

www.economist.com

keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d

Almost every single aspect of these government job cuts is actually cutting important environmental programs, and replacing tasks with AI with simply assumed cost savings. This is the very definition of false economy. #Carney #Canada

Jeff Doctor @jeff.doctor · 4d

Nearly every cut is justified by "AI" magic beans, the Canadian government is a joke
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Here's what each federal department plans to cut under Budget 2025 | CBC News

Tuesday's federal budget offers a glimpse into how dozens of government departments plan to rein in spending following this summer's comprehensive expenditure review. Here's a department-by-departmen...

www.cbc.ca

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

Gales of November ReMar-mbered @histoftech.bsky.social · 3d

Google to build data centre on Christmas Island

www.afr.com/technology/g...

Google to build data centre on Christmas Island

The search engine giant signed a cloud deal with the Department of Defence this year to build the facility, whose details remain secret, on Christmas Island.

www.afr.com

keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 4d

I totally agree that Carney is most similar to Harper, and I've been saying so to anyone who will listen for a while...

Reposted by Melanie C. Green, Michelle L. Mazurek, Victor Galaz , and 6 more Melanie C. Green, Michelle L. Mazurek, Victor Galaz, Anne Norton, David Murakami Wood, Sam Kamin, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, David R. Shumway, David Lay Williams

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 4d

I fully believe in the corporate death penalty and believe we would be a better world if OpenAI lost its corporate charter and was forcibly dissolved.

www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...