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benwest.bsky.social
Ben West 🦋
@benwest.bsky.social
3K followers 3K following 1.5K posts
"Seasoned" campaigner & aspiring computer whisperer.

Anxious dog person.

Rewiring broken systems. https://BenWest.blog

Climate solutions, democratization, infosec and anti-surveillance advocate.

He/They

🍉

📍Huron-Wendat and Anishinaabek Territory
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benwest.bsky.social
Ben West 🦋 @benwest.bsky.social · Dec 22
This is more true than we realize.

#memes #power #funny #notFunny #ethics #politics #LateStageCapitalism
A meme illustration that shows a politician standing on the end of a plank over the side of a cliff. A crowd stands on the other side of the plank watching him and one person is walking away stepping off the plank. We realize if they all walked away the politicians would fall off the side of this cliff. Text at the top reads: The people don't know their true power.
benwest.bsky.social
This is mission critical.

I have already failed a bit in the last few days talking to people (probably bots).

Reminder to self: "you are not the jackass whisperer."

#mentalHealth #2026
evacide.bsky.social evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 1d
This year, for my mental health, I'm going to practice just letting people be wrong on the internet.
January 4, 2026 at 11:39 PM
benwest.bsky.social
My favourite video so far of 2026. Some great privacy gadgets.

Thanks @bennjordan.bsky.social

youtube.com/watch?v=W_F4...

Resistance is fertile.

#meshtastic #infosec #privacy #surveillance
Gadgets For People Who Don't Trust The Government
YouTube video by Benn Jordan
youtube.com
January 4, 2026 at 11:36 PM
benwest.bsky.social
Ok @meshtastic.org is pretty cool.

youtube.com/watch?v=nC0o...

#wifi #tech #meshNetwork #infosec #meshtastic
No WiFi? No Problem! Long-Range is Finally Easy?!
YouTube video by GreatScott!
youtube.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:48 PM
benwest.bsky.social
#HappyNewYear

Let's learn from the Orcas and fight back this year... However we can.
benwest.bsky.social Ben West 🦋 @benwest.bsky.social · 5d
Going into the new year like this:
A close up photo of an orca doll that was given to me as a holiday gift. Its bendy and has a funny face with bulgy eyeballs and teeth that look like an underbite. It looks menacinf from this angle and the folds in the plastic exterior are reflecting light in a way that resembles a scar or weathering of some kind. The orca looks determined and undettered. From the side or above it would be more clear that this is an ornately designed piece of interlocking plastic art sitting on a stool with a black and white ancient Greek pattern... Or something like that. Its propped up as if emerging on a granite coaster.
January 1, 2026 at 4:56 AM
benwest.bsky.social
Going into the new year like this:
A close up photo of an orca doll that was given to me as a holiday gift. Its bendy and has a funny face with bulgy eyeballs and teeth that look like an underbite. It looks menacinf from this angle and the folds in the plastic exterior are reflecting light in a way that resembles a scar or weathering of some kind. The orca looks determined and undettered. From the side or above it would be more clear that this is an ornately designed piece of interlocking plastic art sitting on a stool with a black and white ancient Greek pattern... Or something like that. Its propped up as if emerging on a granite coaster.
December 31, 2025 at 7:36 PM
benwest.bsky.social
Just because they aren't talking about it in public doesn't mean they don't know it's true.

End Times Facism is upon us. Let's make 2026 an inflection point.

nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

Thanks to @muckrock.com and everyone fighting for truth, justice and a livable world.

#climate #uspoli
Spying on Climate: Inside the Intelligence Community’s Environmental Legacy
Washington, D.C., June 30, 2025 – For over 20 years, the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) has viewed climate change as a serious national security threat that will create “new and compounded stresses ...
nsarchive.gwu.edu
December 31, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Ben West 🦋
matthewfacciani.bsky.social
Even with an available fact-check, Twitter/X failed to display it on 80% of the posts misidentifying the Bondi Beach hero.
indicator.media/p/how-the-cr...
How the Crabtree conspiracy played out on X’s Community Notes
A case study on crowdsourced fact-checking during breaking news events
indicator.media
December 22, 2025 at 3:43 PM
benwest.bsky.social
Dystopian news of the day.
December 30, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Reposted by Ben West 🦋
natashabertrand.bsky.social
Exclusive: The CIA carried out a drone strike earlier this month on a port facility in Venezuela, sources told CNN, marking the first known US attack on a target inside that country. This is the attack Trump has repeatedly alluded to in recent days. www.cnn.com/2025/12/29/p...
Exclusive: CIA carried out drone strike on port facility on Venezuelan coast | CNN Politics
The CIA carried out a drone strike earlier this month on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, marking the first known US attack on a target inside that...
www.cnn.com
December 30, 2025 at 1:37 AM
benwest.bsky.social
The New Look... Or the current reality?

Just started watching this show on a free trial of Apple TV. Watched Napolean last night. France is a wild place.

Viva la résistane.

#resist #Facism #Nazis #Authoritarianism
A photo of a scene from the pilot episode of the show The New Look. CoCo Chanel sits with Nazis in a restaurant discussing her business situation (she lost control of her business and her partner's were Jewish). The Nazi officer says to her "Are you aware of the Aryan Laws".
December 29, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Ben West 🦋
lorenzofb.bsky.social
NEW: Apple, Google, and WhatsApp now regularly notify their users if they suspect they have been targeted or hacked with government spyware, such as that made by NSO Group or Paragon.

We spoke to experts and wrote a guide on what to do, and where to go, if you receive one of those notifications.
You've been targeted by government spyware. Now what? | TechCrunch
Tech companies are increasingly warning their customers that they have been targeted by governments with advanced government spyware, such as NSO's Pegasus or Paragon's Graphite. What happens after re...
techcrunch.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:27 PM
benwest.bsky.social
End Time Facism should be something we are all talking about.

Thank you to @astra.bsky.social and @naomiaklein.bsky.social for this important perspective (and so much more).

And thank you @lauraflanders.org for epic interviews.

youtube.com/watch?v=8HAe...

#uspoli #fascism #cdnpoli #ethics
Naomi Klein & Astra Taylor: Are We Entering “End Times Fascism”?
YouTube video by Laura Flanders & Friends
youtube.com
December 28, 2025 at 8:38 PM
benwest.bsky.social
Good question:

youtube.com/watch?v=E4D5...

@garyseconomics.bsky.social on lessons learned from Charles Dickens and much more.

#economics #equity #ethics #uspoli #ukpoli #cdnpoli #Dickens
Are we living through a new Victorian era?
YouTube video by Garys Economics
youtube.com
December 28, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by Ben West 🦋
lisarokusek.bsky.social
“This, my dear, is the greatest challenge to being alive: to witness injustice in the world, cruelty, violence, and not allow it to consume our light.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
December 28, 2025 at 2:13 PM
benwest.bsky.social
The dystopian nightmare continues to expand:

"A leaked Justice Department memo directs federal prosecutors to press “domestic terrorism” charges against individuals who record immigration operations."

#infosec #privacy #uspoli #surveillance #trump #WTFisGoingOn
December 27, 2025 at 2:06 PM
benwest.bsky.social
Yikes
December 23, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Ben West 🦋
lorenzofb.bsky.social
As every year, 2025 was a dumpster fire of data breaches, disruptive cyberattacks, and damaging hacks.

Here's our annual look back at the worst cybersecurity incidents of the year.

techcrunch.com/2025/12/19/h...
Hacks, thefts and disruption: The worst data breaches of 2025 | TechCrunch
TechCrunch looks back at the biggest data breaches, disruptive cyberattacks, and damaging hacks of 2025, from the raiding of U.S. government databases to a hack every month in South Korea.
techcrunch.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Ben West 🦋
chadloder.bsky.social
ICE Accidentally Publishes A ‘Watch List’ Of Immigration Lawyers, Which Is Definitely A Normal Thing For The Government To Do
ICE Accidentally Publishes A 'Watch List' Of Immigration Lawyers, Which Is Definitely A Normal Thing For The Government To Do - Above the Law
This is... disturbing.
abovethelaw.com
December 16, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Reposted by Ben West 🦋
lorenzofb.bsky.social
NEW: Hacking group Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters says it's trying to extort Pornhub after stealing Premium users's data.

The data reportedly includes the registered email addresses and location; activity type, such as which videos and channels they watched, including the video name and web address.
Hacking group says it's extorting Pornhub after stealing users’ viewing data | TechCrunch
The Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters hacking collective stole Pornhub premium users’ data, including email addresses and viewing history.
techcrunch.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Ben West 🦋
raybeckerman.bsky.social
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s son harassed by ICE as Trump ramps up attacks www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s son harassed by ICE as Trump ramps up attacks
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a longtime critic of President Donald Trump, said her son was pulled over by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents operating in the state as part of a Trump-ordered .....
www.dailykos.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Ben West 🦋
lorenzofb.bsky.social
NEW: Google and Apple have fixed zero-days that the two companies said were being exploited in the wild.

There are no details about these attacks, but usually when this happens, there's a goverment using spyware behind it. Hopefully we will get the full story soon.

techcrunch.com/2025/12/12/g...
Google and Apple roll out emergency security updates after zero-day attacks | TechCrunch
Apple released patches for all of its flagship devices to fix security flaws under attack. Google also updated Chrome to remediate one vulnerabilty exploited in the attacks.
techcrunch.com
December 12, 2025 at 8:46 PM
benwest.bsky.social
Wow, what's next? Going after the @eff.org for teaching people how and why to wipe there phone before travelling? Or @wired.com for offering tips to avoid surveillance and reporting on it?

#surveillance #privacy #dystopian #infosec
josephcox.bsky.social Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 27d
New from 404 Media: a man has been charged for allegedly wiping a Google Pixel phone before CBP could search it. Search was by a CBP Tactical Terrorism Response Team, which ACLU says "interrogate innocent travelers." Man is described as an activist online

www.404media.co/man-charged-...
Man Charged for Wiping Phone Before CBP Could Search It
The exact circumstances around the search are not known. But activist Samuel Tunick is charged with deleting data from a Google Pixel before CBP’s Tactical Terrorism Response Team could search it.
www.404media.co
December 9, 2025 at 4:34 PM
benwest.bsky.social
Beautiful
hunterw.bsky.social Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · 27d
Some of the same churches that are part of the Undocumented Underground in New York played key roles in the fight against slavery.

They are springing back into action to defend migrants.
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/insi...
Inside the Secret Network Offering Sanctuary to Immigrants Amid Trump’s ICE Onslaught
They call them the “forgotten migrants.” Of the approximately 11 million undocumented...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:30 PM
benwest.bsky.social
👀

@abeba.bsky.social thank you for sharing this important work.

#infosec #privacy #surveillance
abeba.bsky.social Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · Jun 25
New paper hot off the press www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We analysed over 40,000 computer vision papers from CVPR (the longest standing CV conf) & associated patents tracing pathways from research to application. We found that 90% of papers & 86% of downstream patents power surveillance

1/
Computer-vision research powers surveillance technology - Nature
An analysis of research papers and citing patents indicates the extensive ties between computer-vision research and surveillance.
www.nature.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Ben West 🦋
attackerman.bsky.social
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:40 PM