Aidan O’Brien
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aidanobrien.bsky.social
Aidan O’Brien
@aidanobrien.bsky.social
3.9K followers 1.2K following 110 posts
Talks about: internet governance, counter-violent extremism, and counter-disinformation but (mostly) movies

(He/Him)
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
dieworkwear.bsky.social
crazy

IG em_clarkson
November 14, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
aidanobrien.bsky.social
Richie Kavanagh a middle aged overweight man wearing dungrees and white gloves, on the cover of his album "I love the smell of silage" featuring the hit song "my girlfriend has a mobile phone"
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
selkies.bsky.social
I'm told one of youse made that rapist cry is that right
Gleeful Colm Meaney wearing a t-shirt that says Fuck Ronaldo
November 13, 2025 at 10:07 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
Richie Kavanagh a middle aged overweight man wearing dungrees and white gloves, on the cover of his album "I love the smell of silage" featuring the hit song "my girlfriend has a mobile phone"
November 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
dwj88.bsky.social
@davekarpf.bsky.social meanwhile describes how the dynamic between advocates, tech companies, and the government has shifted dramatically over the past year--necessitating new strategies for change in an era of fewer cross-sector alliances.

www.techpolicy.press/the-dance-wi...
That is no longer the case. Platform companies are multi-vocal assemblages. The people who civil society groups and researchers partnered with in the past—the ‘allies’ within the firms – have been fired, quit, or been reassigned. They lost the internal arguments. This time, the companies will provide no check on authoritarian excess. Billions of dollars are flowing to Trump’s favored companies—and hundreds of millions have flowed from those companies to Trump’s inauguration, Presidential library, and White House ballroom. Platforms are eager to be part of this circular money-moving machine. This moment will not last forever. The generative AI financial bubble will burst. The ongoing fraud and corruption will take a toll on everyone. Authoritarian governments are not known for their prosperity or their long-term stability. But neither will it be brief. Stable, legitimate institutions are not hastily constructed or easily repaired. Those who advocate for change have fewer allies than last time, when we had some limited success in appealing to the better angels of big tech’s nature. Those angels are no more. If we are going to repair democratic institutions, we are going to have to do it ourselves.
November 13, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
dwj88.bsky.social
@brooklyne.bsky.social makes a compelling case that it's beyond time to focus on corporate accountability, not citizen education, in the fight for a healthier information ecosystem

www.techpolicy.press/its-time-to-...
This shift enables us to promote critical media literacy that fosters a profound understanding of history, politics, and culture, rather than just discrete skills. It forces us to stop appealing to the moral sensibilities of tech companies whose business models are often aligned with the spread of disinformation and whose political lobbying ensures they remain unregulated. We know that tech companies, like Facebook, have been implicated in electoral interference; yet, we accept their ineffective stopgap measures, such as labeling false information on social media. The solution is not to train users to better survive a broken system, but to reimagine and rebuild it.
November 13, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
broadwaybabyto.bsky.social
The soft pedaling language being used to describe the men in the Epstein files is enraging.

They didn’t “have sex with underage girls”.

They raped them.

Sex implies consent.

The survivors deserve better than this. Use the correct language. Say what these men did.
November 13, 2025 at 4:53 AM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
cethanleahy.com
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.
November 12, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
adamserwer.bsky.social
We gotta have a clear term for people so cynical they become gullible.
November 12, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
adamserwer.bsky.social
Gamer brained suggestion: Fontaineism.

“Rapture was a candy store for a guy like me. Guys who thought they knew it all. Dames who thought they'd seen it all. Give me a smart mark over a dumb one every time.”
November 12, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
chrisharvey.bsky.social
Holy shit
GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE | Teaser Trailer | February 13 - Only in Theaters
YouTube video by Briarcliff Entertainment
youtu.be
November 12, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
deshocks.bsky.social
Wore my new bright yellow raincoat to work.

"Good morning Captain Birdseye"
pftompkins.bsky.social Paul F. Tompkins @pftompkins.bsky.social · 2d
I am calling upon the people of Ireland to immediately begin construction of a thread on this site about how you or someone you know was roasted for a fashion choice. We need it.

All roasts must have come from Irish people *only*. Please respect this important rule, it makes a difference.

Tanks
November 12, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
soapachu.bsky.social
Your reminder that Brianna found comfort, community and support online, and was murdered by transphobes in a park. But it's phones which are the problem.
charlotte2153.bsky.social Charlotte Nichols MP @charlotte2153.bsky.social · 6d
On Brianna's 19th birthday, this morning I joined @cheshirepcc.bsky.social and the Brianna Ghey Legacy Project Phone Free Education campaign at the launch at Jodrell Bank of a new £150k initiative to make Cheshire the first county in the UK where ALL state high schools have lockable phone pouches.
With the Police and Crime Commissioner Dan Price, both holding the pouches Esther Ghey speaking with the press Pink sweets and flowers for Brianna's birthday The Jodrell Bank telescope
November 12, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
disabilitystor1.bsky.social
That is a good early morning giggle right there
November 12, 2025 at 1:54 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
@philipnolan1 “One my colleagues had an ankle-length dark green serge greatcoat, and when he burst through the office doors one day, another looked up and said: "What news of Stalingrad?" 19:58 • 16/08/2021
November 12, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
justinhendrix.bsky.social
"Europe is hurtling toward digital vassalage. Under Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, EU laws to tackle tech giants have been either not applied or delayed, for fear of offending Donald Trump." - @johnnyryan.bsky.social and Georg Riekeles
The EU has let US tech giants run riot. Diluting our data law will only entrench their power | Johnny Ryan and Georg Riekeles
The GDPR is Europe’s defence against digital oligarchy and child harm. Deregulation plans are misguided, say Johnny Ryan and Georg Riekeles
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
aidanobrien.bsky.social
Google Sheets is actually quite similar to “Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark”, because in both cases if you go near the dates you die.
November 4, 2025 at 5:23 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
Exciting to see whether Britain's slide into dystopian authoritarianism keeps pace with the plot of the TV show
comicsbeat.bsky.social Comicsbeat @comicsbeat.bsky.social · 3d
V FOR VENDETTA getting the WATCHMEN treatment with HBO series

V for Vendetta, the celebrated comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, is heading back to the screen. HBO has tapped Pete Jackson for a TV adaptation.
V FOR VENDETTA getting the WATCHMEN treatment with HBO series
V for Vendetta, the celebrated comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, is heading back to the screen. HBO has tapped Pete Jackson for a TV adaptation.
www.comicsbeat.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:04 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
The biggest suspension of disbelief in a Bond movie is in “A View to a Kill” when the audience is expected to believe that a geriatric Roger Moore has sex with Grace Jones without her snapping him like a twig.
willardfoxton.bsky.social Willard Foxton @willardfoxton.bsky.social · 2d
James Bond’s death in No Time to Die is causing a nightmare for the next film. Writers are stuck because Bond “was blown to pieces.”

Anthony Horowitz, author of three 007 novels, says:

“You can't have him wake up in shower and saying it was all a dream."

radaronline.com/p/james-bond...
November 11, 2025 at 1:10 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
OMG who cares…
Lucy Lawless in the Simpsons explaining every plot hole in Xena Warrior Princess with “a wizard did it”
November 11, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
musicologyduck.bsky.social
hi, can you do me a favor?

take a picture of your pet and then take a picture again while you sing to them

thank you, this is for science

here is my contribution
black and white cat looking sleepy black and white cat looking alarmed
November 10, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
niamhkirk.bsky.social
Ivan just gave a solid argument for an investigation into Irish media for conflicts of interest. He just threw himself and every other Irish journalist under the bus. The public should know who else is double dealing.

It's a question of the trustworthiness of Irish journalism
November 10, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
petergeoghegan.bsky.social
This is absolutely nuts

Trump did incite the January 6 riot. Splicing a video to make that point is shoddy editorial but hardly a resignation event

When BBC is needed more than ever, Telegraph/Boris Johnson running the show

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
BBC director general Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness resign over Trump documentary edit
Davie says
www.bbc.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by Aidan O’Brien
bencollins.bsky.social
“I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time.”

aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time. Every day my phone buzzes. It is a neighborhood group: four people were kidnapped at the corner drugstore. A friend a mile away sends a Slack message: she was at the scene when masked men assaulted and abducted two people on the street. A plumber working on my pipes is distraught, and I find out that two of his employees were kidnapped that morning. A week later it happens again. An email arrives. Agents with guns have chased a teacher into the school where she works. They did not have a warrant. They dragged her away, ignoring her and her colleagues’ pleas to show proof of her documentation. That evening I stand a few feet from the parents of Rayito de Sol and listen to them describe, with anguish, how good Ms. Diana was to their children. What it is like to have strangers with guns traumatize your kids. For a teacher to hide a three-year-old child for fear they might be killed. How their relatives will no longer leave the house. I hear the pain and fury in their voices, and I wonder who will be next. Understand what it is to pray in Chicago.
November 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM