William Cullerne Bown
@williamcb.bsky.social
Technology and politics.
Newsletter https://bit.ly/3AELZDu
Foundations of AI https://bit.ly/3WiYJab
Law https://bit.ly/40YL1fU
Research Fortnight https://bit.ly/4i0
https://signal.me/#eu/xNzjw2P7XIGjBfdQicHbMp0V5SuVpgCQOeUZNpDRqH-mkt2Tan9G6Y0ZitEKsVkN
Newsletter https://bit.ly/3AELZDu
Foundations of AI https://bit.ly/3WiYJab
Law https://bit.ly/40YL1fU
Research Fortnight https://bit.ly/4i0
https://signal.me/#eu/xNzjw2P7XIGjBfdQicHbMp0V5SuVpgCQOeUZNpDRqH-mkt2Tan9G6Y0ZitEKsVkN
Pinned
Trump, Starmer and the populist tide
Old concepts such as left vs right, trust and class aren't enough to explain the trouble we're in
open.substack.com
Today I argue Keir Starmer can only be understood in the context of deep shifts in the character of our politics that are still hard to grasp
open.substack.com/pub/williamc...
open.substack.com/pub/williamc...
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Your honor, we merely built the copyright-violating machine, advertised its copyright-violating capabilities, and profited from making it available to millions of users. How could we be responsible when it is used to violate copyrights?
“OpenAI argued its AI models didn’t store/copy specific training data but, rather, reflected what they learned based on the entire training data set. Since the output was generated as a result of user inputs (prompts), it wasn’t the defendants, but the respective user who would be liable for it.”
OpenAI used song lyrics in violation of copyright laws, German court says
MUNICH (Reuters) -OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT violated German copyright laws by reproducing lyrics from songs by best-selling musician Herbert Groenemeyer and others, a court ruled on Tuesday, in a clos...
ca.finance.yahoo.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Your honor, we merely built the copyright-violating machine, advertised its copyright-violating capabilities, and profited from making it available to millions of users. How could we be responsible when it is used to violate copyrights?
Streeting is a Blairite and the only way a Blairite gets to lead the Labour Party is if the 90 per cent of the party that aren't Blairites fuck up spectacularly.
This is pretty punchy.
November 11, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Streeting is a Blairite and the only way a Blairite gets to lead the Labour Party is if the 90 per cent of the party that aren't Blairites fuck up spectacularly.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
In 1996 I did a little in internship at BBC Westminster. At the time, Robbie Gibb was one of the producers there. Even in that period, he was self evidently a pro-Tory apparatchik, who made no attempt to hide his agenda from his colleagues or even from the little work experience kid.
November 11, 2025 at 9:37 AM
In 1996 I did a little in internship at BBC Westminster. At the time, Robbie Gibb was one of the producers there. Even in that period, he was self evidently a pro-Tory apparatchik, who made no attempt to hide his agenda from his colleagues or even from the little work experience kid.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
What I suspect people will remember (if they notice/remember anything) is the BBC telling the truth and then being bullied for it. And the starting point is they trust the BBC a lot more than the bullies (Trump, the right wing press, the Tories, Farage).
November 11, 2025 at 12:45 PM
What I suspect people will remember (if they notice/remember anything) is the BBC telling the truth and then being bullied for it. And the starting point is they trust the BBC a lot more than the bullies (Trump, the right wing press, the Tories, Farage).
The main point
Nowhere in the hysterical pile-on against the BBC in the British press has anyone mentioned that BBC News now has 77 million viewers & listeners in the US and has established itself as the second most trusted news source there.
November 11, 2025 at 12:29 PM
The main point
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Nowhere in the hysterical pile-on against the BBC in the British press has anyone mentioned that BBC News now has 77 million viewers & listeners in the US and has established itself as the second most trusted news source there.
November 11, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Nowhere in the hysterical pile-on against the BBC in the British press has anyone mentioned that BBC News now has 77 million viewers & listeners in the US and has established itself as the second most trusted news source there.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Wow. Quite a post, leaving me thinking the situation at the Beeb is even worse than I feared
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Wow. Quite a post, leaving me thinking the situation at the Beeb is even worse than I feared
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
The first step towards saving our precious BBC: remove Robbie Gibb from the board | Ed Davey
The first step towards saving our precious BBC: remove Robbie Gibb from the board | Ed Davey
The BBC belongs to all of us, and it is under attack as never before. The government must defend it from its enemies, within and without, says Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM
The first step towards saving our precious BBC: remove Robbie Gibb from the board | Ed Davey
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Every culture has something that is just utterly impenetrable to an outsider and this is ours.
November 10, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Every culture has something that is just utterly impenetrable to an outsider and this is ours.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Breaking the tax pledge is the right call...and politically sulphurous. Reeves must argue, far more forcefully, that taxes are *the* essential downpayment we all pay for a fairer society.
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
If Labour want a fairer society, they must argue for it
Labour must make the political argument: taxes are the critical downpayment we all pay to live in a fairer society.
It now seems all but certain that direct taxes will rise in the forthcoming Budget...
renewal.org.uk
November 10, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Breaking the tax pledge is the right call...and politically sulphurous. Reeves must argue, far more forcefully, that taxes are *the* essential downpayment we all pay for a fairer society.
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Patrick Diamond and I wrote for @renewaljournal.bsky.social. Key points in 🧵 👇
renewal.org.uk/blog/if-labo...
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
One nice detail that can easily be lost in this graph - even right wingers trust the BBC more than the right wing tabloids
Here’s the same data, but with trust broken down by political views (circles are trust among people on the left, +s the right).
It’s not just that the BBC is widely consumed — it also has solid trust on both left & right, whereas trust in the biggest US media brands is hugely polarised.
It’s not just that the BBC is widely consumed — it also has solid trust on both left & right, whereas trust in the biggest US media brands is hugely polarised.
November 10, 2025 at 5:40 PM
One nice detail that can easily be lost in this graph - even right wingers trust the BBC more than the right wing tabloids
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Dozens of M.C. Escher Prints Have Been Digitized & Put Online by the Boston Public Library
Dozens of M.C. Escher Prints Have Been Digitized & Put Online by the Boston Public Library
In addition to the iconic scene in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, or appearances in animated TV shows and video games, M.C.
www.openculture.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Dozens of M.C. Escher Prints Have Been Digitized & Put Online by the Boston Public Library
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
"The problem isn’t that we have a deliberately biased BBC, it’s that we have a BBC that has been consciously reduced in its scope and bullied into dumbing down and retreating." @stephenkb.bsky.social's newsletter today
November 10, 2025 at 9:40 AM
"The problem isn’t that we have a deliberately biased BBC, it’s that we have a BBC that has been consciously reduced in its scope and bullied into dumbing down and retreating." @stephenkb.bsky.social's newsletter today
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Once every 20 years or so, the director-general of the BBC is forced to resign for being insufficiently rightwing. Alastair Milne in 1987. Greg Dyke in 2004. Tim Davie in 2025. The great irony is that the BBC was in all cases profoundly biased towards established power. But just not biased enough …
November 10, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Once every 20 years or so, the director-general of the BBC is forced to resign for being insufficiently rightwing. Alastair Milne in 1987. Greg Dyke in 2004. Tim Davie in 2025. The great irony is that the BBC was in all cases profoundly biased towards established power. But just not biased enough …
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
the right winger who was appointed to lead the BBC in the hope of appeasing right wingers has been driven out by right wingers for not appeasing right wingers enough and the BBC has the chance to do the funniest thing ever
November 9, 2025 at 6:38 PM
the right winger who was appointed to lead the BBC in the hope of appeasing right wingers has been driven out by right wingers for not appeasing right wingers enough and the BBC has the chance to do the funniest thing ever
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
We are forever told that the BBC has a leftist bias, but everyone in the BBC from journos (just now a former Sun editor) to managers (Gibb, Davie, etc) seems to have past links with the right. Where are those all powerful lefties?! #r4today
November 10, 2025 at 8:07 AM
We are forever told that the BBC has a leftist bias, but everyone in the BBC from journos (just now a former Sun editor) to managers (Gibb, Davie, etc) seems to have past links with the right. Where are those all powerful lefties?! #r4today
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
A basic point is the accusation Lewis Goodall made that Gibb attempted to influence his reporting. You can think Lewis is a lefty so-and-so or whatever. Like anyone he is not the oracle. But that's his editor or producer's job to pull him up on that. Not someone Boris Johnson appointed to the board!
Robbie Gibb should quite simply not be in that role. He makes no pretence of his own bias. While he has power the BBC will continue to rot.
November 10, 2025 at 11:52 AM
A basic point is the accusation Lewis Goodall made that Gibb attempted to influence his reporting. You can think Lewis is a lefty so-and-so or whatever. Like anyone he is not the oracle. But that's his editor or producer's job to pull him up on that. Not someone Boris Johnson appointed to the board!
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Robbie Gibb should quite simply not be in that role. He makes no pretence of his own bias. While he has power the BBC will continue to rot.
November 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Robbie Gibb should quite simply not be in that role. He makes no pretence of his own bias. While he has power the BBC will continue to rot.
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
Incredible that Robbie Gibb - most influential person on BBC board by many accounts and from journalists I speak in BBC - was involved in setting up GB News.
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Enforced veganism’: Ofcom lets GB News flout accuracy rules, say climate campaigners
Exclusive: Regulator has received 1,221 complaints about UK broadcasters since 2020 but found no breaches of its code
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Incredible that Robbie Gibb - most influential person on BBC board by many accounts and from journalists I speak in BBC - was involved in setting up GB News.
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
GB News of course has breached Ofcom rules on *multiple* occasions - no sign of resignations though
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
A new Director General, a new Charter... a new model of ownership?
It's all change at the BBC, but the change to a mutual model is well overdue.
We think the BBC should be owned by you, the public.
It's all change at the BBC, but the change to a mutual model is well overdue.
We think the BBC should be owned by you, the public.
November 10, 2025 at 10:32 AM
A new Director General, a new Charter... a new model of ownership?
It's all change at the BBC, but the change to a mutual model is well overdue.
We think the BBC should be owned by you, the public.
It's all change at the BBC, but the change to a mutual model is well overdue.
We think the BBC should be owned by you, the public.
November 10, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
How it started: take back control!
How it’s going: fiscal black hole!
How it’s going: fiscal black hole!
November 10, 2025 at 10:03 AM
How it started: take back control!
How it’s going: fiscal black hole!
How it’s going: fiscal black hole!
Reposted by William Cullerne Bown
