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.
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...
Govern or Be Governed: Donald Trump will Seek an Unconstitutional Third Term: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Govern or Be Governed: Donald Trump Will Seek an Unconstitutional Third Term - Ethan Zuckerman
Justin Hendrix of Tech Policy Press asks Miles Taylor, former Chief of Staff of the US Department of Homeland Security, about President Trump’s attacks on him as part of his “revenge tour”. Taylor inv...
ethanzuckerman.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Govern or Be Governed: Donald Trump will Seek an Unconstitutional Third Term: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Govern or Be Governed: Donald Trump will Seek an Unconstitutional Third Term: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Govern or Be Governed: Donald Trump Will Seek an Unconstitutional Third Term - Ethan Zuckerman
Justin Hendrix of Tech Policy Press asks Miles Taylor, former Chief of Staff of the US Department of Homeland Security, about President Trump’s attacks on him as part of his “revenge tour”. Taylor inv...
ethanzuckerman.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Govern or Be Governed: Donald Trump will Seek an Unconstitutional Third Term: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Govern or Be Governed: Donald Trump will Seek an Unconstitutional Third Term: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Govern or Be Governed: Donald Trump Will Seek an Unconstitutional Third Term - Ethan Zuckerman
Justin Hendrix of Tech Policy Press asks Miles Taylor, former Chief of Staff of the US Department of Homeland Security, about President Trump’s attacks on him as part of his “revenge tour”. Taylor inv...
ethanzuckerman.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Govern or Be Governed: Donald Trump will Seek an Unconstitutional Third Term: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
From Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal, Day 2
Whistleblower Miles Taylor predicts that Trump will seek an unconstitutional third term in office
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Whistleblower Miles Taylor predicts that Trump will seek an unconstitutional third term in office
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Govern or Be Governed: Donald Trump Will Seek an Unconstitutional Third Term - Ethan Zuckerman
Justin Hendrix of Tech Policy Press asks Miles Taylor, former Chief of Staff of the US Department of Homeland Security, about President Trump’s attacks on him as part of his “revenge tour”. Taylor inv...
ethanzuckerman.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:49 PM
From Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal, Day 2
Whistleblower Miles Taylor predicts that Trump will seek an unconstitutional third term in office
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Whistleblower Miles Taylor predicts that Trump will seek an unconstitutional third term in office
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
From Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal, Day 2
Meetali Jain and Megan Garcia on the possible psychological harm of chatbots. (This was the best panel of the conference, IMHO)
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Meetali Jain and Megan Garcia on the possible psychological harm of chatbots. (This was the best panel of the conference, IMHO)
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Govern or Be Governed: Chatbots as the new threat to Children Online - Ethan Zuckerman
Megan Garcia is suing Google and Character.AI over her son's death, which she attributes to irresponsible behavior by the AI chatbot company
ethanzuckerman.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
From Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal, Day 2
Meetali Jain and Megan Garcia on the possible psychological harm of chatbots. (This was the best panel of the conference, IMHO)
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Meetali Jain and Megan Garcia on the possible psychological harm of chatbots. (This was the best panel of the conference, IMHO)
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
From Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal, Day 1
Jameel Jaffer, Imran Ahmed and Kate Klonick on threats to online speech
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/23/g...
Jameel Jaffer, Imran Ahmed and Kate Klonick on threats to online speech
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/23/g...
Govern or Be Governed: What are the Threats to Freedom of Speech? - Ethan Zuckerman
The afternoon at Govern or Be Governed starts with two of my heroes, Jameel Jaffer from the Knight First Amendment Institute, and Kate Klonick of St. John’s Law school as well as director of Center fo...
ethanzuckerman.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:46 PM
From Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal, Day 1
Jameel Jaffer, Imran Ahmed and Kate Klonick on threats to online speech
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/23/g...
Jameel Jaffer, Imran Ahmed and Kate Klonick on threats to online speech
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/23/g...
From Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal:
Gary Marcus believes that not only are chatbots overhyped, he's bearish on neural network approaches to AI as a whole
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Gary Marcus believes that not only are chatbots overhyped, he's bearish on neural network approaches to AI as a whole
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Govern or Be Governed: Gary Marcus on Shorting Neural Networks - Ethan Zuckerman
Gary Marcus, professor emeritus on psychology and neuroscience at NYU, closes the Govern or be Governed conference in conversation with Murad Hemmadi. Hemmadi begins by asking Marcus what characterist...
ethanzuckerman.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:42 PM
From Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal:
Gary Marcus believes that not only are chatbots overhyped, he's bearish on neural network approaches to AI as a whole
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
Gary Marcus believes that not only are chatbots overhyped, he's bearish on neural network approaches to AI as a whole
ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/g...
From Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal:
Cory Doctorow's strategy for a Canadian trade war on the United States: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/c...
Cory Doctorow's strategy for a Canadian trade war on the United States: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/c...
Cory Doctorow on the weird upside of the Trump presidency - Ethan Zuckerman
Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, blogger and activist, who is the very best form of troublemaker. He’s got a new book out on Enshitification, and I suspect everyone was expecting a talk on t...
ethanzuckerman.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:41 PM
From Attention: Govern or Be Governed in Montreal:
Cory Doctorow's strategy for a Canadian trade war on the United States: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/c...
Cory Doctorow's strategy for a Canadian trade war on the United States: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/24/c...
Protecting creativity is part of protecting democracy: Baroness Kidron on AI and copyright at Govern or Be Governed: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/23/g...
Govern or Be Governed: Protecting Creativity is Protecting Democracy - Ethan Zuckerman
UK filmmaker and member of the House of Lords argues that ensuring creators are paid for their work by AI companies is integral to democracy
ethanzuckerman.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Protecting creativity is part of protecting democracy: Baroness Kidron on AI and copyright at Govern or Be Governed: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/23/g...
Frank McCourt believes data is a human right and a property right. (I'm just transcribing here.) His talk at Govern or Be Governed Montreal: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/23/f...
Frank McCourt on the value of personal data at Govern or be Governed - Ethan Zuckerman
Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt argues that seeing personal data as a valuable asset could transform social media and AI
ethanzuckerman.com
October 23, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Frank McCourt believes data is a human right and a property right. (I'm just transcribing here.) His talk at Govern or Be Governed Montreal: ethanzuckerman.com/2025/10/23/f...
Reposted by Ethan Zuckerman
As usual, @stephenharrison.com has a great community-focused take on the #WikiConferenceNA incident this weekend (something I say even when I'm not quoted in the article). slate.com/technology/2... @slate.com
A Wikipedia Conference Took a Dark Turn. Unfortunately, It’s Not a Total Surprise.
An armed man at a gathering of the website’s volunteers is just the latest reminder: Editing the internet’s encyclopedia has never been riskier.
slate.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
As usual, @stephenharrison.com has a great community-focused take on the #WikiConferenceNA incident this weekend (something I say even when I'm not quoted in the article). slate.com/technology/2... @slate.com