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.
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...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
Watch the full panel on building democratic tech, featuring @ivansigal.bsky.social, @ethanz.bsky.social, and Mark Surman here: youtu.be/2pAoDrr8-Mg?...
Panel: Building the Next Generation of Democratic Tech | Attention: Govern Or Be Governed
YouTube video by Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Watch the full panel on building democratic tech, featuring @ivansigal.bsky.social, @ethanz.bsky.social, and Mark Surman here: youtu.be/2pAoDrr8-Mg?...
45! 47!
Blue 42!
Blue 42!
Hike!
Blue 42!
Blue 42!
Hike!
November 15, 2025 at 9:34 PM
45! 47!
Blue 42!
Blue 42!
Hike!
Blue 42!
Blue 42!
Hike!
I'm co-leading a "teach in" with leaders of Surveillance Watch, a terrific project fighting against corporate and government surveillance, tomorrow at 1:30pm. It's online, and you're welcome to sign up here: umass-amherst.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: SURVEILLANCE AND RESISTANCE TEACH-IN. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
The session will explore the complex ways surveillance companies operate across borders, exploiting legal loopholes and regulatory gaps to evade accountability. Through practical methodologies, partic...
umass-amherst.zoom.us
November 11, 2025 at 9:28 PM
I'm co-leading a "teach in" with leaders of Surveillance Watch, a terrific project fighting against corporate and government surveillance, tomorrow at 1:30pm. It's online, and you're welcome to sign up here: umass-amherst.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Australia has so much solar generation capacity that it's offering customers free electricity for three hours in the middle of the day: electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 7, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Australia has so much solar generation capacity that it's offering customers free electricity for three hours in the middle of the day: electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
I'm here outside Speaker Johnson’s office because he is starving families and gutting health care to cover up the Epstein Files.
Change my mind.
Change my mind.
November 6, 2025 at 6:08 PM
I'm here outside Speaker Johnson’s office because he is starving families and gutting health care to cover up the Epstein Files.
Change my mind.
Change my mind.
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
This story in the Boston Globe that quotes @ethanz.bsky.social reminds me of the fascinating story over the last decade of how to moderate dopers who cheat their way onto the leaderboards of online sports platforms like Strava (1/n)
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/01/b...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/01/b...
Why Strava, Letterboxd, Beli, and other niche social media apps are having a moment - The Boston Globe
The apps serve as both a personal diary and a tight-knit social network that some users prefer over larger sites networks that they believe have grown toxic.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:01 AM
This story in the Boston Globe that quotes @ethanz.bsky.social reminds me of the fascinating story over the last decade of how to moderate dopers who cheat their way onto the leaderboards of online sports platforms like Strava (1/n)
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/01/b...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/01/b...
Liveblogging from BU MISI: Communicating Climate. Cass Sunstein believes we need to communicate about climate with emotion, but with less blame and shame: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/11/07/h...
How do we communicate about climate without shaming audiences? - Ethan Zuckerman
BU is hosting a summit on communicating climate. Cass Sunstein thinks we need to talk with emotion, but less shame or blame
ethanzuckerman.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Liveblogging from BU MISI: Communicating Climate. Cass Sunstein believes we need to communicate about climate with emotion, but with less blame and shame: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/11/07/h...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
Small social networks like Strava are having a moment, according to Aidan Ryan in the Boston Globe: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/01/b...
Why Strava, Letterboxd, Beli, and other niche social media apps are having a moment - The Boston Globe
The apps serve as both a personal diary and a tight-knit social network that some users prefer over larger sites networks that they believe have grown toxic.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Small social networks like Strava are having a moment, according to Aidan Ryan in the Boston Globe: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/01/b...
Friend and colleague Ryan McGrady has an excellent piece in Tech Policy Press on Grokipedia. Rather than excoriating the new project for Elon worship (true, but hardly interesting), he looks into how Grokipedia redefines sources for encyclopedic knowledge: www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
With Grokipedia, Top-Down Control of Knowledge Is New Again | TechPolicy.Press
Ryan McGrady asks, who is Grokipedia for, other than its owner?
techpolicy.press
November 3, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Friend and colleague Ryan McGrady has an excellent piece in Tech Policy Press on Grokipedia. Rather than excoriating the new project for Elon worship (true, but hardly interesting), he looks into how Grokipedia redefines sources for encyclopedic knowledge: www.techpolicy.press/with-grokipe...
Journalism has been facing existential threats from technological advances for a while now, but the rise of AI could be a knockout blow unless we're thoughtful and proactive: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Chatbots and deepfakes are eroding our shared reality
With Trump et al using AI slop for political gain, fact-checking and civic journalism are more vital than ever
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Journalism has been facing existential threats from technological advances for a while now, but the rise of AI could be a knockout blow unless we're thoughtful and proactive: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
"It feels less like incidental inclusion and more like large-scale extraction of intellectual property without consent.” www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/hund...
Hundreds of thousands of videos from news publishers like The New York Times and Vox were used to train AI models
YouTube channels from major news publishers and creators were in video data sets used by Microsoft, Meta, Snap, Runway AI, and Bytedance.
www.niemanlab.org
November 2, 2025 at 9:16 PM
"It feels less like incidental inclusion and more like large-scale extraction of intellectual property without consent.” www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/hund...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
Important note on journalism by @ethanz.bsky.social.
Generative AI and chatbots challenge democracy: But (public service) journalism and fact-checking, "tools for anchoring debate in a shared reality—must continue to be financially viable and available"
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Generative AI and chatbots challenge democracy: But (public service) journalism and fact-checking, "tools for anchoring debate in a shared reality—must continue to be financially viable and available"
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Chatbots and deepfakes are eroding our shared reality
With Trump et al using AI slop for political gain, fact-checking and civic journalism are more vital than ever
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
October 31, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Important note on journalism by @ethanz.bsky.social.
Generative AI and chatbots challenge democracy: But (public service) journalism and fact-checking, "tools for anchoring debate in a shared reality—must continue to be financially viable and available"
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Generative AI and chatbots challenge democracy: But (public service) journalism and fact-checking, "tools for anchoring debate in a shared reality—must continue to be financially viable and available"
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
My latest column in Prospect: Don't worry about AI video destroying democracy. AI's destruction of the journalism business is a much more serious threat: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Chatbots and deepfakes are eroding our shared reality
With Trump et al using AI slop for political gain, fact-checking and civic journalism are more vital than ever
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
October 31, 2025 at 4:25 PM
My latest column in Prospect: Don't worry about AI video destroying democracy. AI's destruction of the journalism business is a much more serious threat: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
As the #climatecrisis quickens, so does mis/disinformation. How to move forward? Join us at the (free!) @misibu.bsky.social Summit: Communicating Climate, Fri. 11/7 featuring @mikegrunwald.bsky.social, @casssunstein.bsky.social, @ethanz.bsky.social & so many more combeyond.bu.edu/offering/mis...
MISI Summit: Communicating Climate - Nov. 7, 2025
The inaugural Media Innovation and Social Impact Summit brings together leading voices from government, academia, journalism, and activism for a timely conversation on the theme “Communicating…
combeyond.bu.edu
October 28, 2025 at 2:56 PM
As the #climatecrisis quickens, so does mis/disinformation. How to move forward? Join us at the (free!) @misibu.bsky.social Summit: Communicating Climate, Fri. 11/7 featuring @mikegrunwald.bsky.social, @casssunstein.bsky.social, @ethanz.bsky.social & so many more combeyond.bu.edu/offering/mis...
From day two of Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal
Gary Marcus on why not just chatbots, but LLMs as an approach to AI, are likely overhyped.
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Gary Marcus on why not just chatbots, but LLMs as an approach to AI, are likely overhyped.
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
October 26, 2025 at 6:28 AM
From day two of Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal
Gary Marcus on why not just chatbots, but LLMs as an approach to AI, are likely overhyped.
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Gary Marcus on why not just chatbots, but LLMs as an approach to AI, are likely overhyped.
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...