Liz Carolan
@lizcarolan.com
I publish thebriefing.ie, & founded organisations working on tech & democracy. Political scientist, advocate, writer, knitter. DMs open
Reposted by Liz Carolan
As an Irish person who lived through the Great Financial Crisis, I have an instinctive antipathy towards banks. But on the subject of online financial scams - for which banks are subject to duties to compensate customers - I feel genuine sympathy. They're effectively carrying the can for Big Tech.
So we learnt this week that 1 in 10 ads we’re shown on social media are scams; and tech companies are banking billions from the criminals behind them
An inevitable end point for a bloated industry eating itself as it attempts to squeeze every last penny out of advertisers
An inevitable end point for a bloated industry eating itself as it attempts to squeeze every last penny out of advertisers
Liz Carolan: Big tech is profiting from deepfake videos of celebrities selling face cream and Bitcoin
February 13, 2026 at 9:54 AM
As an Irish person who lived through the Great Financial Crisis, I have an instinctive antipathy towards banks. But on the subject of online financial scams - for which banks are subject to duties to compensate customers - I feel genuine sympathy. They're effectively carrying the can for Big Tech.
So we learnt this week that 1 in 10 ads we’re shown on social media are scams; and tech companies are banking billions from the criminals behind them
An inevitable end point for a bloated industry eating itself as it attempts to squeeze every last penny out of advertisers
An inevitable end point for a bloated industry eating itself as it attempts to squeeze every last penny out of advertisers
Liz Carolan: Big tech is profiting from deepfake videos of celebrities selling face cream and Bitcoin
Liz Carolan: Big tech is profiting from deepfake videos of celebrities selling face cream and Bitcoin
Almost all of Meta’s revenue comes from ad sales, while ads still make up about three-quarters of Google's revenue
www.irishtimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 9:40 AM
So we learnt this week that 1 in 10 ads we’re shown on social media are scams; and tech companies are banking billions from the criminals behind them
An inevitable end point for a bloated industry eating itself as it attempts to squeeze every last penny out of advertisers
An inevitable end point for a bloated industry eating itself as it attempts to squeeze every last penny out of advertisers
How any more days of this can we withstand before we just vanish into the sea?
February 6, 2026 at 10:41 AM
How any more days of this can we withstand before we just vanish into the sea?
But can I focus long enough to read any of it?
February 4, 2026 at 8:20 PM
But can I focus long enough to read any of it?
Reposted by Liz Carolan
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
The Black & Tan hodgepodge uniforms are a little on the nose
Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
January 15, 2026 at 10:52 PM
The Black & Tan hodgepodge uniforms are a little on the nose
Reposted by Liz Carolan
The FT got is architecture critic Edwin Heathcote to write about data centres and it's wonderful. www.ft.com/content/7692...
January 14, 2026 at 7:09 AM
The FT got is architecture critic Edwin Heathcote to write about data centres and it's wonderful. www.ft.com/content/7692...
Reposted by Liz Carolan
I write in today's @irishexaminer.bsky.social about the laws that are broken when online AI platforms facilitate the production of child sex abuse material. No new laws are needed. Companies (and their executives) are accountable as well as users.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Ireland could prosecute Twitter/X for AI 'child porn' deepfakes
The horrific child sex abuse material produced every day by Grok is already banned under Irish law. The real test is if we are ready to enforce that law against large tech companies
www.irishexaminer.com
January 9, 2026 at 7:48 AM
I write in today's @irishexaminer.bsky.social about the laws that are broken when online AI platforms facilitate the production of child sex abuse material. No new laws are needed. Companies (and their executives) are accountable as well as users.
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
This headline should read:
"World's richest man decides to start charging for his CSAM factory"
He did NOT turn it off, he realised it is profitable
"World's richest man decides to start charging for his CSAM factory"
He did NOT turn it off, he realised it is profitable
Now only paying subscribers can make violent non-consenual sexual imagery of women and children -
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery
X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory action
www.theguardian.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:02 AM
This headline should read:
"World's richest man decides to start charging for his CSAM factory"
He did NOT turn it off, he realised it is profitable
"World's richest man decides to start charging for his CSAM factory"
He did NOT turn it off, he realised it is profitable
Reposted by Liz Carolan
I would have thought condemning an company producing child abuse material on an industrial scale for profit would be an easy one. But here were are.
January 8, 2026 at 4:21 PM
I would have thought condemning an company producing child abuse material on an industrial scale for profit would be an easy one. But here were are.
This insistence on appeasement - this cowardice - is debasing, embarrassing - & - IT WILL NOT WORK
Look at Maria Machado, she bent over backwards to praise and appease these guys, and what did she get? Passed over
They got what they wanted from her & saw no obligation to return the favour
Look at Maria Machado, she bent over backwards to praise and appease these guys, and what did she get? Passed over
They got what they wanted from her & saw no obligation to return the favour
My word.
The Taoiseach, in China, says "platforms can be misused and abused or they can be used for positive reasons as well..." and says that should be considered carefully "before jumping to conclusions" on whether it's appropriate for the Government to be on X.
The Taoiseach, in China, says "platforms can be misused and abused or they can be used for positive reasons as well..." and says that should be considered carefully "before jumping to conclusions" on whether it's appropriate for the Government to be on X.
January 8, 2026 at 11:49 AM
This insistence on appeasement - this cowardice - is debasing, embarrassing - & - IT WILL NOT WORK
Look at Maria Machado, she bent over backwards to praise and appease these guys, and what did she get? Passed over
They got what they wanted from her & saw no obligation to return the favour
Look at Maria Machado, she bent over backwards to praise and appease these guys, and what did she get? Passed over
They got what they wanted from her & saw no obligation to return the favour
Real subtle, Jeff.
Real subtle
Real subtle
January 6, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Real subtle, Jeff.
Real subtle
Real subtle
“It’s not an ideal situation for international law”
Irish Minister right now 🫠
Irish Minister right now 🫠
January 5, 2026 at 5:11 PM
“It’s not an ideal situation for international law”
Irish Minister right now 🫠
Irish Minister right now 🫠
"in our hemisphere" 😐
This does have real "explaining, losing" vibes to it, doesn't it?
January 5, 2026 at 9:40 AM
"in our hemisphere" 😐
Reposted by Liz Carolan
US disclosed that Cyber Command conducted cyber operations to suppress Venezuelan defenses during th strike on Caracas. Non-kinetic cyber effects from US Cyber Command were deployed before kinetic strikes began, playing a major role in neutralizing air defense systems. No details
January 3, 2026 at 9:07 PM
US disclosed that Cyber Command conducted cyber operations to suppress Venezuelan defenses during th strike on Caracas. Non-kinetic cyber effects from US Cyber Command were deployed before kinetic strikes began, playing a major role in neutralizing air defense systems. No details
Reposted by Liz Carolan
Wrote a thing:
The carnage associated with fossil fuel is why speeding the transition to renewables is good for international stability as well as everything else. Fossil fuel is inseparable from violence, and dependence on it it has created a brutal world order....
The carnage associated with fossil fuel is why speeding the transition to renewables is good for international stability as well as everything else. Fossil fuel is inseparable from violence, and dependence on it it has created a brutal world order....
Five Facets of the Attack on Venezuela by the Rogue Nation the US Has Become
1
They are saying it baldly: this is an oil grab. There is a history of oil grabs going back to British imperialism in the middle east in the late nineteenth century and murders of Osage Nation triba...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Wrote a thing:
The carnage associated with fossil fuel is why speeding the transition to renewables is good for international stability as well as everything else. Fossil fuel is inseparable from violence, and dependence on it it has created a brutal world order....
The carnage associated with fossil fuel is why speeding the transition to renewables is good for international stability as well as everything else. Fossil fuel is inseparable from violence, and dependence on it it has created a brutal world order....
By pure coincidence- a piece I wrote for @irishexaminer.bsky.social was published this morning www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
January 3, 2026 at 3:30 PM
By pure coincidence- a piece I wrote for @irishexaminer.bsky.social was published this morning www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Reposted by Liz Carolan
It means absolutely nothing to anyone concerned right now but here's what the United Nations says about kidnapping Heads of State.
legal.un.org/ilc/texts/in...
legal.un.org/ilc/texts/in...
January 3, 2026 at 9:45 AM
It means absolutely nothing to anyone concerned right now but here's what the United Nations says about kidnapping Heads of State.
legal.un.org/ilc/texts/in...
legal.un.org/ilc/texts/in...
Reposted by Liz Carolan
Maduro is awful but this is a bad move. No clear objective, likely to induce rally-around-the-flag in Venezuela (not the U.S. as Trump hopes), and some of the dumbest people available leading the effort.
January 3, 2026 at 9:21 AM
Maduro is awful but this is a bad move. No clear objective, likely to induce rally-around-the-flag in Venezuela (not the U.S. as Trump hopes), and some of the dumbest people available leading the effort.
Reposted by Liz Carolan
A note that just because the President of the United States used the word 'captured' doesn't mean news organisations should just use it without attribution... or maybe at all really?
January 3, 2026 at 9:51 AM
A note that just because the President of the United States used the word 'captured' doesn't mean news organisations should just use it without attribution... or maybe at all really?
Reposted by Liz Carolan
It's official: Bulgaria is in the euro-zone.
An excerpt from an atypically emotional NYE address by the Central Bank governor:
"Thank you, friends. We are home.
This is not a protocol. It is a feeling.
In this sense, the euro is not just an economic solution...
www.bnb.bg/AboutUs/Pres...
An excerpt from an atypically emotional NYE address by the Central Bank governor:
"Thank you, friends. We are home.
This is not a protocol. It is a feeling.
In this sense, the euro is not just an economic solution...
www.bnb.bg/AboutUs/Pres...
December 31, 2025 at 11:30 PM
It's official: Bulgaria is in the euro-zone.
An excerpt from an atypically emotional NYE address by the Central Bank governor:
"Thank you, friends. We are home.
This is not a protocol. It is a feeling.
In this sense, the euro is not just an economic solution...
www.bnb.bg/AboutUs/Pres...
An excerpt from an atypically emotional NYE address by the Central Bank governor:
"Thank you, friends. We are home.
This is not a protocol. It is a feeling.
In this sense, the euro is not just an economic solution...
www.bnb.bg/AboutUs/Pres...
Reposted by Liz Carolan
Reposted by Liz Carolan
Amazon secures permission to build three data centres in North Dublin
Amazon secures permission to build three data centres in North Dublin
Green light for Amazon Web Services for data centre buildings on site near Mulhuddart
www.irishtimes.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Amazon secures permission to build three data centres in North Dublin
I've a piece in the paper today
Liz Carolan: Free speech will be a big EU-US battleground in 2026 - and Ireland is caught in the middle
Liz Carolan: Free speech will be a big EU-US battleground in 2026 - and Ireland is caught in the middle
Ireland is in a highly precarious position as we head into 2026, on the faultline between our allies in the EU and the US administration and Big Tech
www.irishtimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:27 AM
I've a piece in the paper today