Ethan Zuckerman
@ethanz.bsky.social
UMass Amherst, Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure, Global Voices, Berkman Klein Center. Formerly Center for Civic Media, MIT Media Lab.
Strong piece from Elizabeth Lopato on Epstein's "associates" and elite impunity: www.theverge.com/tech/874721/...
How the men in the Epstein files defeated #MeToo
The emails show the “anti-woke” crusaders are afraid of accountability.
www.theverge.com
February 9, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Strong piece from Elizabeth Lopato on Epstein's "associates" and elite impunity: www.theverge.com/tech/874721/...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
📝 Our new paper officially coming out at #chi2026: we hope to help people think about systems like #CommunityNotes, the design choices they make, and the normative implications of relying on them to moderate our information ecosystem. 📝
"Community Notes" are reshaping how millions encounter information on social media--but what makes them work (or not)? We term these "Crowdsourced Context Systems" (CCS) and introduce a framework for designing and evaluating them in a new #CHI26 paper 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 4:52 PM
📝 Our new paper officially coming out at #chi2026: we hope to help people think about systems like #CommunityNotes, the design choices they make, and the normative implications of relying on them to moderate our information ecosystem. 📝
"If, however, Trump is a fascist president, that does not mean that America is a fascist country." Excellent Jonathan Rausch essay, "Yes, It's Fascism" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Yes, It’s Fascism
Until recently, I thought it a term best avoided. But now, the resemblances are too many and too strong to deny.
www.theatlantic.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:16 PM
"If, however, Trump is a fascist president, that does not mean that America is a fascist country." Excellent Jonathan Rausch essay, "Yes, It's Fascism" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
The latest Prospect is out now! Our new editor Philip Collins leads on the collapse of two-party politics, plus @isabelh.bsky.social on Greenland, @jenstout.bsky.social on treason in Ukraine, @ethanz.bsky.social on servers in space, and Ralph Fiennes' operatic debut:
bsky.app/profile/pros...
bsky.app/profile/pros...
📰 Prospect’s latest issue hits newsstands today! Here’s a peek at what’s inside... 1/7
For the cover essay of his first issue as Prospect’s new editor, Philip Collins surveys the wreckage of the two party system: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/722...
For the cover essay of his first issue as Prospect’s new editor, Philip Collins surveys the wreckage of the two party system: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/722...
January 28, 2026 at 9:43 AM
The latest Prospect is out now! Our new editor Philip Collins leads on the collapse of two-party politics, plus @isabelh.bsky.social on Greenland, @jenstout.bsky.social on treason in Ukraine, @ethanz.bsky.social on servers in space, and Ralph Fiennes' operatic debut:
bsky.app/profile/pros...
bsky.app/profile/pros...
"Pravda Network" published 6.3 million pieces of pro-Russian disinfo in the past year... and experiments with AI chatbots demonstrate that disinfo in those stories is being echoed by AIs: www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/newsguards...
NewsGuard’s 2025 Disinformer of the Year: Yevgeny Shevchenko, Creator of the Pravda Network
Russian tech bro with a taste for “girls and cars” who managed to infect AI models with pro-Kremlin false claims succeeds American fugitive John Mark Dougan as the world’s top disinformer
www.newsguardrealitycheck.com
January 27, 2026 at 11:05 PM
"Pravda Network" published 6.3 million pieces of pro-Russian disinfo in the past year... and experiments with AI chatbots demonstrate that disinfo in those stories is being echoed by AIs: www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/newsguards...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
“If your state doesn’t help us we will be forced to murder its citizens” is an argument that only works on people who are already subnormal bootlickers.
Blanche: "Remember, what we all saw in that 10 or second video is not the full story. Every American should know that. The story goes way beyond that. It starts with the fact that literally for months we have received 0 assistance from the state of Minnesota."
January 26, 2026 at 4:15 PM
“If your state doesn’t help us we will be forced to murder its citizens” is an argument that only works on people who are already subnormal bootlickers.
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
This is a great paper. SCOTUS was not just wrong to uphold the TikTok ban but deeply, consequentially, historically wrong. Holmes and Brandeis are turning in their graves.
Apropos of the TikTok news last week, I have a piece coming out abt how the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the ban-or-sale law belongs in the First Amendment anticanon. It's not just wrong, but so wrong we should hold it up as an exceptional symbol of wrongness.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
TikTok v. Garland and the First Amendment Anticanon
<p><span>This essay argues that last term’s decision in <i>TikTok v. Garland</i>, which unanimously upheld the federal law that sought to ban TikTok in the Unit
papers.ssrn.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:39 PM
This is a great paper. SCOTUS was not just wrong to uphold the TikTok ban but deeply, consequentially, historically wrong. Holmes and Brandeis are turning in their graves.
When a Country Turns the Gun on Itself: morgangold.substack.com/p/when-a-cou...
The Narrative Machine vs. Your Own Eyes
For Alex Pretti, recording the government becomes a capital offense.
morgangold.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 8:07 PM
When a Country Turns the Gun on Itself: morgangold.substack.com/p/when-a-cou...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
You have lived long enough to see a French anti-fascist organisation (a traditionally very anti-US milieu) organise a ‘rally in solidarity with the American people’.
La Digue appelle à un rassemblement de solidarité avec le peuple palesti... ah, non, avec le peuple américain, ce mercredi devant le MEAE.
What a time to be alive...
What a time to be alive...
January 26, 2026 at 9:29 AM
You have lived long enough to see a French anti-fascist organisation (a traditionally very anti-US milieu) organise a ‘rally in solidarity with the American people’.
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
Huge thanks to everyone who has supported @globalvoices.org! You have helped to keep us going during this extremely difficult time for media organizations, human rights, & non-profits of any kind!
We are still trying to get back up to full capacity, so please help if you can.
We are still trying to get back up to full capacity, so please help if you can.
Donate · Global Voices
Support freedom of expression for everyone, everywhere, by donating to Global Voices.
globalvoices.org
January 26, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Huge thanks to everyone who has supported @globalvoices.org! You have helped to keep us going during this extremely difficult time for media organizations, human rights, & non-profits of any kind!
We are still trying to get back up to full capacity, so please help if you can.
We are still trying to get back up to full capacity, so please help if you can.
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA. We hired him to recruit for our trial. He became an ICU nurse- I lover working with him. He was a good kind person who lived to help and these fuckers executed him.
White. Hot. Rage.
White. Hot. Rage.
January 24, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA. We hired him to recruit for our trial. He became an ICU nurse- I lover working with him. He was a good kind person who lived to help and these fuckers executed him.
White. Hot. Rage.
White. Hot. Rage.
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
"We should understand billionaires’ imagined tech futures as projections of their hopes and fears," writes D&S advisor @ethanz.bsky.social. In "waxing lyrical about space," they are signaling their desire "to exit a world of connection and consequences.” www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Why tech billionaires dream of servers in the sky
Behind the hopes for artificial general intelligence is the desire for a world without obligations to governments, workers or fellow citizens
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
January 21, 2026 at 8:04 PM
"We should understand billionaires’ imagined tech futures as projections of their hopes and fears," writes D&S advisor @ethanz.bsky.social. In "waxing lyrical about space," they are signaling their desire "to exit a world of connection and consequences.” www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
New course, new blog post: "Where Should We Live?" - Will Climate Change Alter Where Americans Choose to Live? ethanzuckerman.com/2026/01/21/w...
"Where Should We Live" - a new class on cities, migration and climate change - Ethan Zuckerman
How is climate change going to alter where Americans choose to live? Can we predict a move back to the industrial midwest?
ethanzuckerman.com
January 21, 2026 at 5:10 PM
New course, new blog post: "Where Should We Live?" - Will Climate Change Alter Where Americans Choose to Live? ethanzuckerman.com/2026/01/21/w...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
"When you hear a billionaire waxing lyrical about space, they are telling you they are afraid of regulations and seek a world without obligations to governments, neighbours or fellow citizens. They want to exit a world of connection and consequences..." by @ethanz.bsky.social tinyurl.com/bdfu7f7n
Why tech billionaires dream of servers in the sky
Behind the hopes for artificial general intelligence is the desire for a world without obligations to governments, workers or fellow citizens
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
January 20, 2026 at 9:17 PM
"When you hear a billionaire waxing lyrical about space, they are telling you they are afraid of regulations and seek a world without obligations to governments, neighbours or fellow citizens. They want to exit a world of connection and consequences..." by @ethanz.bsky.social tinyurl.com/bdfu7f7n
Why do tech billionaires want server farms in orbit? So that they don't have to deal with communities trying to defend their energy grids, water supplies and well being: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Why tech billionaires dream of servers in the sky
Behind the hopes for artificial general intelligence is the desire for a world without obligations to governments, workers or fellow citizens
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
January 20, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Why do tech billionaires want server farms in orbit? So that they don't have to deal with communities trying to defend their energy grids, water supplies and well being: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
How does censorship of science fit into broader US censorship? Excellent year in review by @attorneynora.bsky.social:
"Acts of resistance have blunted the potency of Trump’s censorship campaign... Unquestionably, more and more Americans are rejecting his overreach."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...
"Acts of resistance have blunted the potency of Trump’s censorship campaign... Unquestionably, more and more Americans are rejecting his overreach."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...
Opinion | I Counted Trump’s Censorship Attempts. Here’s What I Found.
www.nytimes.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:53 PM
How does censorship of science fit into broader US censorship? Excellent year in review by @attorneynora.bsky.social:
"Acts of resistance have blunted the potency of Trump’s censorship campaign... Unquestionably, more and more Americans are rejecting his overreach."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...
"Acts of resistance have blunted the potency of Trump’s censorship campaign... Unquestionably, more and more Americans are rejecting his overreach."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
The lawmakers who enacted Art. 40.12 were in *no mood* to give platforms gatekeeper power over transparency. The whole point of 40.12 was to unleash what @ethanz.bsky.social calls "unpermissioned" research using public data.
Do not let platforms interpret the law to put them back in charge again .
Do not let platforms interpret the law to put them back in charge again .
December 15, 2025 at 3:42 PM
The lawmakers who enacted Art. 40.12 were in *no mood* to give platforms gatekeeper power over transparency. The whole point of 40.12 was to unleash what @ethanz.bsky.social calls "unpermissioned" research using public data.
Do not let platforms interpret the law to put them back in charge again .
Do not let platforms interpret the law to put them back in charge again .
My friend Isaac Brickman of @officehourspodcast.bsky.social and I have a new article out on middleware in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science: journals.sagepub.com/eprint/JMYZ3...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:54 PM
My friend Isaac Brickman of @officehourspodcast.bsky.social and I have a new article out on middleware in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science: journals.sagepub.com/eprint/JMYZ3...
Thank goodness we can finally rely on an AI that accurately cites academic texts and never makes shit up. (JK. Read the whole thread.)
In response to recent posts about fabricated citations, someone was telling me how awesome Gemini is, and implied that because it's Google there's some kind of secondary checking of sources happening.
Anyway I asked for recent books about AI published by academic presses. This was quite a ride. 🧵
Anyway I asked for recent books about AI published by academic presses. This was quite a ride. 🧵
December 12, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Thank goodness we can finally rely on an AI that accurately cites academic texts and never makes shit up. (JK. Read the whole thread.)
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
You can do this right now:
Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.
Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.
Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
December 11, 2025 at 10:08 PM
You can do this right now:
Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.
Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.
Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
great piece from @ethanz.bsky.social on grokipedia: "it promises a backward-looking dystopia where one conspiracy-minded individual can overturn established knowledge, and where all other individual voices eventually blur into one opaque voice."
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Elon Musk versus Wikipedia continues an age-old battle over truth
Musk’s Grokipedia wants to take us back to a time when established knowledge was controlled by one opaque voice
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM
great piece from @ethanz.bsky.social on grokipedia: "it promises a backward-looking dystopia where one conspiracy-minded individual can overturn established knowledge, and where all other individual voices eventually blur into one opaque voice."
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
Elon Musk loves to hate on “Wokepedia”. But on Grokipedia, his AI-powered rival, neutrality is whatever the X CEO says it is, writes @ethanz.bsky.social.
Elon Musk versus Wikipedia continues an age-old battle over truth
Musk’s Grokipedia wants to take us back to a time when established knowledge was controlled by one opaque voice
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
December 9, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Elon Musk loves to hate on “Wokepedia”. But on Grokipedia, his AI-powered rival, neutrality is whatever the X CEO says it is, writes @ethanz.bsky.social.
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
Sobre el paper de la IA (i els LLM) en l'hegemonia cultural, molt més enllà dels biaixos.
De Gramsci a Grok a les llengües minoritzades a Internet.
@ethanz.bsky.social : "Gramsci’s Nightmare: AI, Platform Power and the Automation of Cultural Hegemony"
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/12/05/g...
De Gramsci a Grok a les llengües minoritzades a Internet.
@ethanz.bsky.social : "Gramsci’s Nightmare: AI, Platform Power and the Automation of Cultural Hegemony"
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/12/05/g...
Gramsci's Nightmare: AI, Platform Power and the Automation of Cultural Hegemony - Ethan Zuckerman
Large language models lock values into place, making it hard to challenge the cultural hegemony of a particular form of western culture
ethanzuckerman.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Sobre el paper de la IA (i els LLM) en l'hegemonia cultural, molt més enllà dels biaixos.
De Gramsci a Grok a les llengües minoritzades a Internet.
@ethanz.bsky.social : "Gramsci’s Nightmare: AI, Platform Power and the Automation of Cultural Hegemony"
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/12/05/g...
De Gramsci a Grok a les llengües minoritzades a Internet.
@ethanz.bsky.social : "Gramsci’s Nightmare: AI, Platform Power and the Automation of Cultural Hegemony"
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/12/05/g...
I gave a new talk on AI, cultural hegemony and the importance of the digital survival of "small" languages online this past Tuesday at University of Copenhagen. Notes and partial slides now online: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/12/05/g...
Gramsci's Nightmare: AI, Platform Power and the Automation of Cultural Hegemony - Ethan Zuckerman
Large language models lock values into place, making it hard to challenge the cultural hegemony of a particular form of western culture
ethanzuckerman.com
December 5, 2025 at 11:51 PM
I gave a new talk on AI, cultural hegemony and the importance of the digital survival of "small" languages online this past Tuesday at University of Copenhagen. Notes and partial slides now online: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/12/05/g...
Giving a somewhat unusual talk for me tomorrow - it's on what Antonio Gramsci might have thought about large language models, leading off a new series at University of Copenhagen on AI and Democracy. On zoom at 9am Boston time: cpai.ku.dk/events/grams...
Gramsci's Nightmare – AI, Platform Power and the Automation of Cultural Hegemony
Online talk by Ethan Zuckerman.
cpai.ku.dk
December 1, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Giving a somewhat unusual talk for me tomorrow - it's on what Antonio Gramsci might have thought about large language models, leading off a new series at University of Copenhagen on AI and Democracy. On zoom at 9am Boston time: cpai.ku.dk/events/grams...