Jasper Jackson
@jasperjackson.bsky.social
Managing editor at Transformer. Ex-tech editor at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, also previously Guardian and New Statesman. Sometime media columnist. Signal: jasperjackson.01
Pinned
Welcome to Transformer 2.0
We're now a team of reporters and editors dedicated to covering the power and politics of AI
www.transformernews.ai
Delighted to unveil Transformer 2.0! Building on @shakeelhashim.com's amazing newsletter, we're taking our coverage of the power and politics of AI up a level. We'll be publishing throughout each week with work from a star list of contributors and our own team: www.transformernews.ai/p/welcome-to...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
gotta love online business models like this from CityMapper - we will serve you fake news ads, or you can pay to remove them
December 29, 2025 at 1:31 PM
gotta love online business models like this from CityMapper - we will serve you fake news ads, or you can pay to remove them
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 29, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
No one in government seems to want to invest in a comprehensive programme to understand the prevalence and impact of notionally bad content online. Until they do that, so much policy is vibes.
December 29, 2025 at 10:40 AM
No one in government seems to want to invest in a comprehensive programme to understand the prevalence and impact of notionally bad content online. Until they do that, so much policy is vibes.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
December 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
And guess what?
The FCC immediately changed the website to state that the agency is not independent right after Carr's comments!
The FCC immediately changed the website to state that the agency is not independent right after Carr's comments!
December 17, 2025 at 5:21 PM
And guess what?
The FCC immediately changed the website to state that the agency is not independent right after Carr's comments!
The FCC immediately changed the website to state that the agency is not independent right after Carr's comments!
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Ars Technica is hiring a Tech Reporter
We're seeking an expert in one or more of these fields: software development, DIY tech, cybersecurity, free and open-source software (FOSS). Come join the team!
condenast.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CondeC...
We're seeking an expert in one or more of these fields: software development, DIY tech, cybersecurity, free and open-source software (FOSS). Come join the team!
condenast.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CondeC...
December 17, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Ars Technica is hiring a Tech Reporter
We're seeking an expert in one or more of these fields: software development, DIY tech, cybersecurity, free and open-source software (FOSS). Come join the team!
condenast.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CondeC...
We're seeking an expert in one or more of these fields: software development, DIY tech, cybersecurity, free and open-source software (FOSS). Come join the team!
condenast.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CondeC...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
This week on the newsletter, it's the long-awaited HS2 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
The HS2 Christmas Special
Some Christmas song lyrics that hit differently when imagined in the trailer for a film about a stalker. But first, I’m off to Buckinghamshire to find out how you build a new railway.
jonn.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 3:02 PM
This week on the newsletter, it's the long-awaited HS2 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
In late 2020 a Chinese man called Guan Heng travelled to Xinjiang with our BuzzFeed map of detention facilities to provide ground truth for our work - he provided the first corroborating evidence for many sites.
He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
ICE Holding Chinese Man Who Documented Uyghur Camps
Heng Guan is awaiting an immigration hearing on Monday that could lead to his removal from the U.S. and ultimately land him back in China, according to his lawyer and a New York-based activist group.
www.wsj.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:17 PM
In late 2020 a Chinese man called Guan Heng travelled to Xinjiang with our BuzzFeed map of detention facilities to provide ground truth for our work - he provided the first corroborating evidence for many sites.
He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
It only took a year but we did it, thanks Bluesky people! www.yorkmix.com/pictures-yor...
I now know more about the UK artificial tree market than I'd ever expected.
I now know more about the UK artificial tree market than I'd ever expected.
OK, fairly deranged question really, but does anyone know how you’d go about getting a giant indoor artificial tree like this built in a primary school library as a reading hub? I’ve raised some funds for this and don’t know if you go off the shelf, get a set designer (do you know one?) or whatever.
December 14, 2025 at 8:57 AM
It only took a year but we did it, thanks Bluesky people! www.yorkmix.com/pictures-yor...
I now know more about the UK artificial tree market than I'd ever expected.
I now know more about the UK artificial tree market than I'd ever expected.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
apart from the sheer inconceivable horror of the El Fasher massacre and its attendant horrors itself, the thing I'm feeling depressed about is that it probably won't matter.
these were people already on the utmost margins of the global system, who the world has already decided it doesn't care about
these were people already on the utmost margins of the global system, who the world has already decided it doesn't care about
60,000 is the *low end* estimate.
So, El Fasher looks like one of the worst single event atrocities to happen this century so far, but the evidence has come in such a trickle it seems to only now be getting verified
December 13, 2025 at 6:34 AM
apart from the sheer inconceivable horror of the El Fasher massacre and its attendant horrors itself, the thing I'm feeling depressed about is that it probably won't matter.
these were people already on the utmost margins of the global system, who the world has already decided it doesn't care about
these were people already on the utmost margins of the global system, who the world has already decided it doesn't care about
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
I've been investigating digital deception for ~15yrs and 2025 was the worst year.
VC-backed bot farms, endless AI slop, industrial level scams, abusive AI nudifiers, Meta paying $ for hoaxes... Deception was legitimized, monetized & shoved down the public’s throat:
indicator.media/p/2025-the-y...
VC-backed bot farms, endless AI slop, industrial level scams, abusive AI nudifiers, Meta paying $ for hoaxes... Deception was legitimized, monetized & shoved down the public’s throat:
indicator.media/p/2025-the-y...
2025: The year tech embraced fakeness
This year, powerful people, companies, and institutions welcomed digital deception like never before. The rest of us faced the consequences.
indicator.media
December 9, 2025 at 3:01 PM
I've been investigating digital deception for ~15yrs and 2025 was the worst year.
VC-backed bot farms, endless AI slop, industrial level scams, abusive AI nudifiers, Meta paying $ for hoaxes... Deception was legitimized, monetized & shoved down the public’s throat:
indicator.media/p/2025-the-y...
VC-backed bot farms, endless AI slop, industrial level scams, abusive AI nudifiers, Meta paying $ for hoaxes... Deception was legitimized, monetized & shoved down the public’s throat:
indicator.media/p/2025-the-y...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
It would be sad, if almost amusingly ironic, if the ways we express our fears about AI were the very thing that ended up making them come true.
Why AI reading science fiction could be a problem
The theory that we’re accidentally teaching AI to turn against us
www.transformernews.ai
December 9, 2025 at 6:26 PM
It would be sad, if almost amusingly ironic, if the ways we express our fears about AI were the very thing that ended up making them come true.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Probably the most shocking example of early 1980s racist bullying by Nigel Farage so far.
As a 17-year-old, Farage routinely used to wait by the Dulwich College gates for 9-year-old Yinka Bankole to arrive. Farage would then point into the distance and tell Bankole ”that’s the way back to Africa”.
As a 17-year-old, Farage routinely used to wait by the Dulwich College gates for 9-year-old Yinka Bankole to arrive. Farage would then point into the distance and tell Bankole ”that’s the way back to Africa”.
Yinke Bankola says he was 9 when the sixth form Dulwich school prefect Nigel Farage, aged 17, asked him where he was from, then told him "that's the way back to Africa".
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Former Dulwich pupil says Farage told him: ‘That’s the way back to Africa’
Exclusive: Yinka Bankole says he felt compelled to speak out after Reform leader’s attempts to ‘dismiss’ hurt of alleged targets
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Probably the most shocking example of early 1980s racist bullying by Nigel Farage so far.
As a 17-year-old, Farage routinely used to wait by the Dulwich College gates for 9-year-old Yinka Bankole to arrive. Farage would then point into the distance and tell Bankole ”that’s the way back to Africa”.
As a 17-year-old, Farage routinely used to wait by the Dulwich College gates for 9-year-old Yinka Bankole to arrive. Farage would then point into the distance and tell Bankole ”that’s the way back to Africa”.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Have dug into what’s going on with whistleblowers and AI companies for @transformernews.ai.
Featuring: some crackdowns, some transparency, some new laws, and one deeply bizarre cease-and-desist notice.
www.transformernews.ai/p/can-ai-emb...
Featuring: some crackdowns, some transparency, some new laws, and one deeply bizarre cease-and-desist notice.
www.transformernews.ai/p/can-ai-emb...
Can AI embrace whistleblowing?
As Anthropic prepares to publish its whistleblowing policy, can the industry make the most of protecting those who speak out?
www.transformernews.ai
December 2, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Have dug into what’s going on with whistleblowers and AI companies for @transformernews.ai.
Featuring: some crackdowns, some transparency, some new laws, and one deeply bizarre cease-and-desist notice.
www.transformernews.ai/p/can-ai-emb...
Featuring: some crackdowns, some transparency, some new laws, and one deeply bizarre cease-and-desist notice.
www.transformernews.ai/p/can-ai-emb...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Anthropic is set to publish its whistleblowing policy for employees imminently — likely as soon as this week — making it the second major AI company to publicly reveal how it will handle internal whistleblowing. www.transformernews.ai/can-ai-embra...
Can AI embrace whistleblowing?
As Anthropic prepares to publish its whistleblowing policy, can the industry make the most of protecting those who speak out?
www.transformernews.ai
December 2, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Anthropic is set to publish its whistleblowing policy for employees imminently — likely as soon as this week — making it the second major AI company to publicly reveal how it will handle internal whistleblowing. www.transformernews.ai/can-ai-embra...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
This is somewhat nerdy/technical but reveals utterly woeful practices at the OBR – where they relied on free Wordpress plugins to protect some of the most sensitive economic data the UK publishes.
Absolutely dismal stuff, and not just one junior staffer screwing up.
Absolutely dismal stuff, and not just one junior staffer screwing up.
OBR PDFgate investigation is out. obr.uk/docs/dlm_upl...
obr.uk
December 1, 2025 at 2:49 PM
This is somewhat nerdy/technical but reveals utterly woeful practices at the OBR – where they relied on free Wordpress plugins to protect some of the most sensitive economic data the UK publishes.
Absolutely dismal stuff, and not just one junior staffer screwing up.
Absolutely dismal stuff, and not just one junior staffer screwing up.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
we've fetishised "authenticity" in response to rampant dishonesty but in the public sphere it's mostly a performance and therefore just dishonesty in a new disguise
November 29, 2025 at 8:14 PM
we've fetishised "authenticity" in response to rampant dishonesty but in the public sphere it's mostly a performance and therefore just dishonesty in a new disguise
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Headline on The World at One just now:
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
"Sir Keir Starmer has denied putting the Labour Party before the country by ending the two-child benefit cap".
Can we please go back to reporting the actual news, not someone's partisan take on it?
November 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It's such a bizarre framing. Labour MPs think taking 450k kids out of poverty is putting the country first! That's why they wanted it to happen! It's not because they personally benefit.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
A reminder that almost all of the "migration crisis" of the last 18 months is a manufactured one – and probably says more about how much X has poisoned our politics than anything about realities on the ground.
NEW: Net migration falls sharply to 204,000 in the year to June.
That’s a fall from 649,000 in the year to June 2024. It is a drop of nearly 80% from its 2023 peak.
That’s a fall from 649,000 in the year to June 2024. It is a drop of nearly 80% from its 2023 peak.
November 27, 2025 at 11:48 AM
A reminder that almost all of the "migration crisis" of the last 18 months is a manufactured one – and probably says more about how much X has poisoned our politics than anything about realities on the ground.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
NEW: BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
Journalists not allowed to repeat Rutger Bregman’s corruption claims against US president in coverage of edit
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:36 PM
NEW: BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
If anybody has any idea why my Twitter account is Japanese, let me know!!
"The X account of Hank Green, a popular YouTuber, says his account is based in Japan; Green told me Sunday that he’d never been to Japan"
A little reminder that all of you trust Elon Musk's website way too much.
A little reminder that all of you trust Elon Musk's website way too much.
Elon Musk’s Worthless, Poisoned Hall of Mirrors
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:52 PM
If anybody has any idea why my Twitter account is Japanese, let me know!!
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Ukraine is on the brink of an historic betrayal by Trump to Putin.
Keir Starmer must bring our European allies together to back Zelensky, starting by seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
Keir Starmer must bring our European allies together to back Zelensky, starting by seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
November 21, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Ukraine is on the brink of an historic betrayal by Trump to Putin.
Keir Starmer must bring our European allies together to back Zelensky, starting by seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
Keir Starmer must bring our European allies together to back Zelensky, starting by seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Two of the top bosses of the BBC resigned this week, after allegations in a dossier claimed Panorama had altered a Trump quote.
One problem: that dossier altered the Trump quote, too
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
One problem: that dossier altered the Trump quote, too
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
Exclusive: the error at the heart of Trump’s BBC attack
A report alleging Panorama broadcast misleading Trump quotes contains misleading quotes itself
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Two of the top bosses of the BBC resigned this week, after allegations in a dossier claimed Panorama had altered a Trump quote.
One problem: that dossier altered the Trump quote, too
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
One problem: that dossier altered the Trump quote, too
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
NEW: Global fossil fuel use will peak before 2030 – unless 'stated policies' are abandoned
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
November 12, 2025 at 9:02 AM
NEW: Global fossil fuel use will peak before 2030 – unless 'stated policies' are abandoned
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
Contra some terrible news coverage, IEA World Energy Outlook shows coal near peak, oil peaking by 2030 & gas by 2035 (see chart)
What's going on? 🧵 + cool charts
www.carbonbrief.org/iea-fossil-f...
Reposted by Jasper Jackson
Once again, I am asking the powers that be to have a basic grasp of how the Internet and actual online safety works. It isn't VPNs which are putting people at risk...
Signed, a journalist who has been covering cybersecurity for well over a decade.
Signed, a journalist who has been covering cybersecurity for well over a decade.
The British government admits it is now monitoring VPNs use by UK residents. Regulator Ofcom has contracted with an AI-powered surveillance service to detect the number of citizens using VPNs to evade the Online Safety Act.
The UK tech minister has said a VPN ban is on the table.
The UK tech minister has said a VPN ban is on the table.
Exclusive: Ofcom is monitoring VPNs following Online Safety Act. Here's how
Ignoring VPNs risks creating ineffective laws, but tracking them threatens people's privacy
www.techradar.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Once again, I am asking the powers that be to have a basic grasp of how the Internet and actual online safety works. It isn't VPNs which are putting people at risk...
Signed, a journalist who has been covering cybersecurity for well over a decade.
Signed, a journalist who has been covering cybersecurity for well over a decade.