Heather Burns
@heatherburnstech.bsky.social
freelance tech policy x digital rights / human rights / good trouble / midlife MPhil student @ Strathclyde Law School / IANAL / https://heatherburns.tech / 💬 on Signal / open to work / 🇺🇦 / "bad ass Glaswegian" apparently
Pinned
PSA: If anyone is looking for a smart, solid, experienced tech policy analyst w a global perspective and UK/EU-specialization, @heatherburnstech.bsky.social is great!
Over the past years she's been an invaluable help at Signal, and across the ecosystem more broadly.
Over the past years she's been an invaluable help at Signal, and across the ecosystem more broadly.
What she said
The year in Parliament starts as it means to go on.
January 5, 2026 at 7:38 AM
The year in Parliament starts as it means to go on.
This. People, your long term planning needs to consider how the next guy is going to be far, far worse.
I understand the moral argument for impeaching Trump (again), but what's the strategy for containing President JD Vance?
I can think of few things worse than Peter Thiel’s vicious intern ascending to the presidency, and likely inheriting the MAGA cult as Trump’s “avenger.”
He will do The Thing.
I can think of few things worse than Peter Thiel’s vicious intern ascending to the presidency, and likely inheriting the MAGA cult as Trump’s “avenger.”
He will do The Thing.
January 5, 2026 at 5:17 AM
This. People, your long term planning needs to consider how the next guy is going to be far, far worse.
Reposted by Heather Burns
Trump suggests US used cyberattacks to turn off lights in Venezuela during strikes
Trump suggests US used cyberattacks to turn off lights in Venezuela during strikes
U.S. Cyber Command was involved in setting the stage for the operation.
dlvr.it
January 4, 2026 at 12:22 AM
Trump suggests US used cyberattacks to turn off lights in Venezuela during strikes
Reposted by Heather Burns
In what Reuters called a "mass digital undressing spree,” Elon Musk is provoking outrage after his Grok chatbot answered user prompts to remove clothing from images of women and to create "sexualized images of children" to post on X. Justin Hendrix spoke to Stanford HAI's Riana Pfefferkorn about it:
The Policy Implications of Grok's 'Mass Digital Undressing Spree' | TechPolicy.Press
A conversation with Riana Pfefferkorn, a policy fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI.
www.techpolicy.press
January 4, 2026 at 3:12 PM
In what Reuters called a "mass digital undressing spree,” Elon Musk is provoking outrage after his Grok chatbot answered user prompts to remove clothing from images of women and to create "sexualized images of children" to post on X. Justin Hendrix spoke to Stanford HAI's Riana Pfefferkorn about it:
Some stalkerware salesman has convinced the Scottish Government that using a GPS smartphone app to surveil the whereabouts of domestic violence VICTIMS is a cracking idea, and I am not even surprised.
January 4, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Some stalkerware salesman has convinced the Scottish Government that using a GPS smartphone app to surveil the whereabouts of domestic violence VICTIMS is a cracking idea, and I am not even surprised.
I quoted a passage from this 2024 essay by @meredithmeredith.bsky.social in my dissertation, and reading it back today, in light of current US actions, is frightening.
lpeproject.org/blog/social-...
lpeproject.org/blog/social-...
Social Media, Authoritarianism, and the World As It Is
Before we move to further concentrate global surveillance and propaganda power in the hands of the United States, we should be clear-eyed about the threats to speech and privacy that emanate from…
lpeproject.org
January 4, 2026 at 10:26 AM
I quoted a passage from this 2024 essay by @meredithmeredith.bsky.social in my dissertation, and reading it back today, in light of current US actions, is frightening.
lpeproject.org/blog/social-...
lpeproject.org/blog/social-...
Reposted by Heather Burns
These freaks want territorial expansion and they know Trump will do everything he can to deliver.
This isn’t just a tweet from some random asshole either. This is Stephen Miller’s wife. Miller was in the room with Trump during the kidnapping of Maduro.
This isn’t just a tweet from some random asshole either. This is Stephen Miller’s wife. Miller was in the room with Trump during the kidnapping of Maduro.
January 3, 2026 at 9:22 PM
These freaks want territorial expansion and they know Trump will do everything he can to deliver.
This isn’t just a tweet from some random asshole either. This is Stephen Miller’s wife. Miller was in the room with Trump during the kidnapping of Maduro.
This isn’t just a tweet from some random asshole either. This is Stephen Miller’s wife. Miller was in the room with Trump during the kidnapping of Maduro.
Reposted by Heather Burns
I'm writing from Nuremberg, of all places to read today's news from, to tell you that the perpetrators of wars of aggression can and must be brought to justice.
But for that to happen, justice must still be standing. 🧵
But for that to happen, justice must still be standing. 🧵
January 3, 2026 at 5:15 PM
I'm writing from Nuremberg, of all places to read today's news from, to tell you that the perpetrators of wars of aggression can and must be brought to justice.
But for that to happen, justice must still be standing. 🧵
But for that to happen, justice must still be standing. 🧵
Looking at the News page on my local newspaper's web site, I can't help but reflect on how academics and parliamentary committees studying the collapse of participatory civic democracy have been so busy pointing fingers at Big Tech and algorithms that they forgot to look at the role played by SEO.
January 3, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Looking at the News page on my local newspaper's web site, I can't help but reflect on how academics and parliamentary committees studying the collapse of participatory civic democracy have been so busy pointing fingers at Big Tech and algorithms that they forgot to look at the role played by SEO.
Every now and then, for no particular reason, I feel a strong need to re-re-re-re-recommend that fantastic speculative fiction novel, written by a professor of military strategy, about how Donald Trump would easily start a nuclear war on social media.
www.amazon.co.uk/Commission-R...
www.amazon.co.uk/Commission-R...
The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against The United States
Buy The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against The United States by Lewis, Dr Jeffrey from Amazon's Fiction Books Store. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction.
www.amazon.co.uk
January 3, 2026 at 10:27 AM
Every now and then, for no particular reason, I feel a strong need to re-re-re-re-recommend that fantastic speculative fiction novel, written by a professor of military strategy, about how Donald Trump would easily start a nuclear war on social media.
www.amazon.co.uk/Commission-R...
www.amazon.co.uk/Commission-R...
Reposted by Heather Burns
This is quite an important point; if you are a UK citizen with Twitter on your phone, opening it up is like playing Russian roulette that the algorithm might commit a strict liability offence on your behalf.
Has everyone whose scroll the illegal image appeared on also committed an offence by downloading it? This is one of those AI worst case scenarios that ought to make everyone aware of the current direction of travel.
January 2, 2026 at 12:03 PM
This is quite an important point; if you are a UK citizen with Twitter on your phone, opening it up is like playing Russian roulette that the algorithm might commit a strict liability offence on your behalf.
Reposted by Heather Burns
Thats the way to do it.
Perhaps one day we will see a similar succinct but sweeping order from a new president.
Perhaps one day we will see a similar succinct but sweeping order from a new president.
Mayor Mamdani has nullified every executive order issued by Eric Adams after he struck his corrupt bargain with Trump to secure dismissal of the indictment against him.
January 2, 2026 at 7:50 AM
Thats the way to do it.
Perhaps one day we will see a similar succinct but sweeping order from a new president.
Perhaps one day we will see a similar succinct but sweeping order from a new president.
It’s not being published until September, but I may have already decided my book of 2026.
January 1, 2026 at 9:02 PM
It’s not being published until September, but I may have already decided my book of 2026.
I knew US journalism has gone to the dogs but I didn’t think it was this bad. 🏴
December 31, 2025 at 6:42 AM
I knew US journalism has gone to the dogs but I didn’t think it was this bad. 🏴
Reposted by Heather Burns
❤️
It's been a big year at Signal. Thanks to you, more & more people are speaking privately and freely. Thanks to you, we hit the top of app stores in multiple countries & served as critical global comms infrastructure. It's an honor to build Signal for you, with your support. 🩵
December 30, 2025 at 7:36 PM
❤️
Reposted by Heather Burns
Sorry... why would there need to be an emergency indoor inauguration on January 20, 2029 with bulletproof glass and protections against civilian monitoring tech?
Oh, that's right. Martial law is coming. I keep forgetting.
Oh, that's right. Martial law is coming. I keep forgetting.
Trump on the ballroom: "It's bigger than I told you. It's, you know -- after realizing we're gonna do the inauguration in that building, it's got all bulletproof glass, it's got all drone, they call it drone-free roof. It's dronessss -- won't touch it. It's a big beautiful safe building."
December 30, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Sorry... why would there need to be an emergency indoor inauguration on January 20, 2029 with bulletproof glass and protections against civilian monitoring tech?
Oh, that's right. Martial law is coming. I keep forgetting.
Oh, that's right. Martial law is coming. I keep forgetting.
Meandered into an Oxfam and meandered out with print copies of the sacred and endangered texts.
December 30, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Meandered into an Oxfam and meandered out with print copies of the sacred and endangered texts.
Reposted by Heather Burns
There is no general principle in conservatism beyond, I get to do what I want, and you get to shut the fuck up.
One week they're crying about people getting visits from the police because of tweets, the next week they're calling for inquiries into tweets.
December 30, 2025 at 8:54 AM
There is no general principle in conservatism beyond, I get to do what I want, and you get to shut the fuck up.
As for the power frameworks, everyone thinks we are living in a dystopian sci-fi novel. Truth is we haven’t even got there yet. We are still living in a Don DeLillo novel, where the structures of power, influence, and corruption are rooted in the 1980s. That will change, abruptly.
We’re living through a truly 21st-century technological revolution, but we’re still relying on legal frameworks rooted in the 18th century and repeatedly stretched to fit 19th- and 20th-century media.
December 30, 2025 at 9:08 AM
As for the power frameworks, everyone thinks we are living in a dystopian sci-fi novel. Truth is we haven’t even got there yet. We are still living in a Don DeLillo novel, where the structures of power, influence, and corruption are rooted in the 1980s. That will change, abruptly.
Short and sweet this year, due to my master's dissertation: my roundup of 2025's best reads.
heatherburns.tech/2025/12/29/2...
heatherburns.tech/2025/12/29/2...
2025’s best reads – Hi, I'm Heather Burns
heatherburns.tech
December 29, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Short and sweet this year, due to my master's dissertation: my roundup of 2025's best reads.
heatherburns.tech/2025/12/29/2...
heatherburns.tech/2025/12/29/2...
Reposted by Heather Burns
Peter Thiel’s Christmas party had an odd theme this year: “all things Britain.” (per NYT)
As Trump sunsets and backlash builds, expect a focus shift to the UK—where some see brighter possibilities for fascism,network states, and monarchies.
As Trump sunsets and backlash builds, expect a focus shift to the UK—where some see brighter possibilities for fascism,network states, and monarchies.
December 29, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Peter Thiel’s Christmas party had an odd theme this year: “all things Britain.” (per NYT)
As Trump sunsets and backlash builds, expect a focus shift to the UK—where some see brighter possibilities for fascism,network states, and monarchies.
As Trump sunsets and backlash builds, expect a focus shift to the UK—where some see brighter possibilities for fascism,network states, and monarchies.
Reposted by Heather Burns
I should know better than to read the weekly newsletter from X’s country cousin Gab but the amount of work these people do to maintain their worldview is exhausting.
“We introduced as the only explicitly right wing Christian AI model, grounded in truth rather than ideological conditioning.”
“We introduced as the only explicitly right wing Christian AI model, grounded in truth rather than ideological conditioning.”
December 28, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I should know better than to read the weekly newsletter from X’s country cousin Gab but the amount of work these people do to maintain their worldview is exhausting.
“We introduced as the only explicitly right wing Christian AI model, grounded in truth rather than ideological conditioning.”
“We introduced as the only explicitly right wing Christian AI model, grounded in truth rather than ideological conditioning.”
Reposted by Heather Burns
I'm quoted in the Irish Times on the risks of travelling to the US once it starts demanding 5 years of social media data for visa waivers. TL;DR - if you must travel to the US and don't want to risk ending up in an airport cell, preclearance is your best option.
Is Trump’s plan to seek five years of social media history for a visitor visa workable?
AI will enable officials to get quick answers from large amounts of data, which could be bad news for Trump critics
www.irishtimes.com
December 27, 2025 at 11:53 PM
I'm quoted in the Irish Times on the risks of travelling to the US once it starts demanding 5 years of social media data for visa waivers. TL;DR - if you must travel to the US and don't want to risk ending up in an airport cell, preclearance is your best option.
Christmas present to self: a trio of freshly typeset and footnoted editions from the master of the 1920s and the 2020s, from the delightful almabooks.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Christmas present to self: a trio of freshly typeset and footnoted editions from the master of the 1920s and the 2020s, from the delightful almabooks.com
