Cynthia Khoo
@cyn-k.bsky.social
⚖️ Senior Fellow @citizenlab.ca | fmr @cippic.bsky.social | fmr @georgetownprivacy.bsky.social
👩🏻💻 Tech & human rights lawyer @ tekhnoslaw.ca
🎓 LLM @cdtsuottawaclts.bsky.social | JD @UVicLaw
🤸🏻♀️ Capoeirista
👩🏻💻 Tech & human rights lawyer @ tekhnoslaw.ca
🎓 LLM @cdtsuottawaclts.bsky.social | JD @UVicLaw
🤸🏻♀️ Capoeirista
Pinned
Cynthia Khoo
@cyn-k.bsky.social
· Sep 29
Back-burnered this far longer than I should have, but finally polished for distribution a keynote I did way back in April/May, now available in full on SSRN: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... Hope it will provide an alternative perspective to the destructive "AI-first" path Min. Solomon seems set on.
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
“It is unacceptable that the Liberal government continues to use the excuse of protecting ‘national security’ to justify laws that will make people across Canada less safe, that threaten our privacy, that erode protections for migrants and refugees, and that will force people... 4/
November 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM
“It is unacceptable that the Liberal government continues to use the excuse of protecting ‘national security’ to justify laws that will make people across Canada less safe, that threaten our privacy, that erode protections for migrants and refugees, and that will force people... 4/
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
As a member of the network of orgs holding today’s news conference, ICLMG supports the ongoing call to withdraw Bill C-12, which will significantly undermine the Charter rights & civil liberties of people across Canada, and especially migrants and refugees already facing threats to their safety. 3/
November 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM
As a member of the network of orgs holding today’s news conference, ICLMG supports the ongoing call to withdraw Bill C-12, which will significantly undermine the Charter rights & civil liberties of people across Canada, and especially migrants and refugees already facing threats to their safety. 3/
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
At a news conference today, a coalition of civil society groups call for the withdrawal of the federal government’s border security bill, C-12.
Watch & read the press release at iclmg.ca/c-12-press-c...
+ TAKE ACTION to stop C-12 & C-2: iclmg.ca/stop-bill-c-2/ 1/ #cdnpoli #Canada #stopC12 #cdnimm
Watch & read the press release at iclmg.ca/c-12-press-c...
+ TAKE ACTION to stop C-12 & C-2: iclmg.ca/stop-bill-c-2/ 1/ #cdnpoli #Canada #stopC12 #cdnimm
November 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM
At a news conference today, a coalition of civil society groups call for the withdrawal of the federal government’s border security bill, C-12.
Watch & read the press release at iclmg.ca/c-12-press-c...
+ TAKE ACTION to stop C-12 & C-2: iclmg.ca/stop-bill-c-2/ 1/ #cdnpoli #Canada #stopC12 #cdnimm
Watch & read the press release at iclmg.ca/c-12-press-c...
+ TAKE ACTION to stop C-12 & C-2: iclmg.ca/stop-bill-c-2/ 1/ #cdnpoli #Canada #stopC12 #cdnimm
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
That is such a feminist hope: to help many people be freer 💜
Can't help thinking the world wd be different, and so many people freer—in the true sense of freedom, not in the "excuse to harass, abuse, dehumanize, and punch down" sense—if @monaeltahawy.bsky.social & @saranahmed.bsky.social were mandatory reading for all girls & women from hs & college onward.
November 24, 2025 at 8:03 PM
That is such a feminist hope: to help many people be freer 💜
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
10/ Instead of centering men who missed the boat (and still don't seem to get it), let's lift up the work of Paulina Borsook, who saw it all very clearly and tried to warn us 25 years ago.
Someone should do a profile of her very interesting life. And hey, let's drop some cash into her GoFundme!
Someone should do a profile of her very interesting life. And hey, let's drop some cash into her GoFundme!
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
10/ Instead of centering men who missed the boat (and still don't seem to get it), let's lift up the work of Paulina Borsook, who saw it all very clearly and tried to warn us 25 years ago.
Someone should do a profile of her very interesting life. And hey, let's drop some cash into her GoFundme!
Someone should do a profile of her very interesting life. And hey, let's drop some cash into her GoFundme!
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
9/ I had launch with Paulina Borsook last month in Oakland. Her life is hard, but she still has a lot to say! She's trying to raise funds to get a new version of the book reissued on the Internet Archive.
Some of her friends have a running GoFundMe to support her:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Some of her friends have a running GoFundMe to support her:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Donate to Help Paulina Borsook: disabled writer, artist, activist, organized by paul Carter
Paulina's long time friend Steve Rappaport writes,
"Support P… paul Carter needs your support for Help Paulina Borsook: disabled writer, artist, activist
www.gofundme.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
9/ I had launch with Paulina Borsook last month in Oakland. Her life is hard, but she still has a lot to say! She's trying to raise funds to get a new version of the book reissued on the Internet Archive.
Some of her friends have a running GoFundMe to support her:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Some of her friends have a running GoFundMe to support her:
www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
"Predicted the future but did not sell well" captures so well how we got here in a nutshell. Perhaps, even more to the point, "predicted the future, accurately and while being a woman, therefore did not sell well".
8/ Unfortunately, “Cyberselfish“ predicted the future but did not sell well.
Borsook's writing career hit the rocks as tech fortunes skyrocketed astronomically in the 2000s. She is now elderly, disabled and struggling to survive as the rest of the world finds out what she knew a long time ago.
Borsook's writing career hit the rocks as tech fortunes skyrocketed astronomically in the 2000s. She is now elderly, disabled and struggling to survive as the rest of the world finds out what she knew a long time ago.
November 24, 2025 at 7:33 PM
"Predicted the future but did not sell well" captures so well how we got here in a nutshell. Perhaps, even more to the point, "predicted the future, accurately and while being a woman, therefore did not sell well".
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
7/ During a decade in which the USA's favorite “tech critics” were busy shining the shoes of people like Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel, Borsook saw very clearly where things were headed. Because these things were obvious by the late 90s, at least to journalists like Borsook.
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
7/ During a decade in which the USA's favorite “tech critics” were busy shining the shoes of people like Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel, Borsook saw very clearly where things were headed. Because these things were obvious by the late 90s, at least to journalists like Borsook.
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
6/ Borsook described “paranoid” anti-government rantings and a tech libertarian culture in which the “gestalt is of testosterone-poisoned guys with chips on their shoulders and too much time on their hands.”
And soon, these guys would morph into multi-billionaires...
And soon, these guys would morph into multi-billionaires...
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
6/ Borsook described “paranoid” anti-government rantings and a tech libertarian culture in which the “gestalt is of testosterone-poisoned guys with chips on their shoulders and too much time on their hands.”
And soon, these guys would morph into multi-billionaires...
And soon, these guys would morph into multi-billionaires...
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
4/ Borsook divided the tech ”libertarians” into two main types: the Ravers and the Gilders.
The Ravers are the ones who go to Burning Man and project countercultural ideas. The Gilders are the Peter Thiel types, more overtly focused on money and power.
But they are birds of a feather.
The Ravers are the ones who go to Burning Man and project countercultural ideas. The Gilders are the Peter Thiel types, more overtly focused on money and power.
But they are birds of a feather.
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
4/ Borsook divided the tech ”libertarians” into two main types: the Ravers and the Gilders.
The Ravers are the ones who go to Burning Man and project countercultural ideas. The Gilders are the Peter Thiel types, more overtly focused on money and power.
But they are birds of a feather.
The Ravers are the ones who go to Burning Man and project countercultural ideas. The Gilders are the Peter Thiel types, more overtly focused on money and power.
But they are birds of a feather.
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
3/ Tech fascism in a nutshell: “Computers are so much more rule-based, controllable, fixable, and comprehensible than any human will ever be. As many political schools of thought do, these technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect.“ She wrote this in 2000!
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
3/ Tech fascism in a nutshell: “Computers are so much more rule-based, controllable, fixable, and comprehensible than any human will ever be. As many political schools of thought do, these technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect.“ She wrote this in 2000!
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
2/ In 2001, Borsook said tech "libertarianism" reflected an adolescent mindset, with a craving for unchecked independence & resistance to constraint.
She warned that tech libertarians wanted an anti-human world that worked more like a computer. From "Cyberselfish," a book based on her 90s writing:
She warned that tech libertarians wanted an anti-human world that worked more like a computer. From "Cyberselfish," a book based on her 90s writing:
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
2/ In 2001, Borsook said tech "libertarianism" reflected an adolescent mindset, with a craving for unchecked independence & resistance to constraint.
She warned that tech libertarians wanted an anti-human world that worked more like a computer. From "Cyberselfish," a book based on her 90s writing:
She warned that tech libertarians wanted an anti-human world that worked more like a computer. From "Cyberselfish," a book based on her 90s writing:
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it).
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
September 24, 2025 at 6:36 PM
1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it).
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that
For those who were sad to lose Reply All (albeit due to self-inflicted /justified downfall), @agoldman.bsky.social turned its "Super Tech Support" segment into a great standalone podcast!! And for those who miss "old school /classic" RadioLab, this episode gets the closest I've felt in a long while:
Good morning and happy new year! We have a new episode today featuring Adam Savage, who is such a charmer I’ll tell you what. Anyhow it’s a fun one
Folklore (Kyle's Version)
Hyperfixed · Episode
open.spotify.com
November 23, 2025 at 9:48 PM
For those who were sad to lose Reply All (albeit due to self-inflicted /justified downfall), @agoldman.bsky.social turned its "Super Tech Support" segment into a great standalone podcast!! And for those who miss "old school /classic" RadioLab, this episode gets the closest I've felt in a long while:
Can't help thinking the world wd be different, and so many people freer—in the true sense of freedom, not in the "excuse to harass, abuse, dehumanize, and punch down" sense—if @monaeltahawy.bsky.social & @saranahmed.bsky.social were mandatory reading for all girls & women from hs & college onward.
November 23, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Can't help thinking the world wd be different, and so many people freer—in the true sense of freedom, not in the "excuse to harass, abuse, dehumanize, and punch down" sense—if @monaeltahawy.bsky.social & @saranahmed.bsky.social were mandatory reading for all girls & women from hs & college onward.
This is a horror story passed off as child's fable, from Grimm bro.s to colonial violence in residential schools, to universities' use of misogyny, racism & ableism against survivors & those protesting genocide. Chillingly unravelled by @saranahmed.bsky.social : open.substack.com/pub/feminist...
November 23, 2025 at 7:59 PM
This is a horror story passed off as child's fable, from Grimm bro.s to colonial violence in residential schools, to universities' use of misogyny, racism & ableism against survivors & those protesting genocide. Chillingly unravelled by @saranahmed.bsky.social : open.substack.com/pub/feminist...
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
November 20, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
Y’a know what I’d love sometimes, it’s perverse but sometimes I wish that there were conspiracies so good that we didn’t as it coming
Instead of
“Oh we knew , many folks saw, people kept asking but they just think some part of your identity was worthless so we let it slide”
Instead of
“Oh we knew , many folks saw, people kept asking but they just think some part of your identity was worthless so we let it slide”
November 20, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Y’a know what I’d love sometimes, it’s perverse but sometimes I wish that there were conspiracies so good that we didn’t as it coming
Instead of
“Oh we knew , many folks saw, people kept asking but they just think some part of your identity was worthless so we let it slide”
Instead of
“Oh we knew , many folks saw, people kept asking but they just think some part of your identity was worthless so we let it slide”
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
This week, I withdrew from a speaking engagement at a public university because they sent me a list of prohibited “words & concepts.” I will not humor this censorship. It does a disservice to the stories I’m discussing & the audience, who deserve unfettered access to information & conversation.
November 20, 2025 at 10:20 PM
This week, I withdrew from a speaking engagement at a public university because they sent me a list of prohibited “words & concepts.” I will not humor this censorship. It does a disservice to the stories I’m discussing & the audience, who deserve unfettered access to information & conversation.
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
this is a very important part of her legacy, her support for Palestine. one of the things i will always remember is that one of Dr. Refaat Alareer’s last liked posts on Twitter before it turned into x and removed like history is a photo of Alice.
The official obits are rolling in. I hear the NYT mentions nothing about Alice Palestine support ofc. When she won her MacArthur, Alice got death threats from Zionists. They ruined her joy on a HUGE accomplishment. She told me the MacArthur ppl took down her personal statement & when she complained
November 16, 2025 at 6:05 AM
this is a very important part of her legacy, her support for Palestine. one of the things i will always remember is that one of Dr. Refaat Alareer’s last liked posts on Twitter before it turned into x and removed like history is a photo of Alice.
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
It turns out that for a huge percentage of people, being asked to be respectful and decent towards other really fucking enraged them and they were just waiting for a figure to give them the excuse to be public assholes, rather than just privately grumpy assholes.
November 21, 2025 at 1:04 AM
It turns out that for a huge percentage of people, being asked to be respectful and decent towards other really fucking enraged them and they were just waiting for a figure to give them the excuse to be public assholes, rather than just privately grumpy assholes.
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
One of my historically less popular opinions is that you don’t have to respect a belief just because someone “sincerely” holds it. In fact it would be better if we did that less.
I do think we're suffering from years of awkwardly dancing around people in our lives believing in the most rancid insane conspiracies. It needs to be acceptable to stare blankly at someone rambling about Vince Foster and tell them that's the stupidest shit you've ever heard.
November 20, 2025 at 4:26 AM
One of my historically less popular opinions is that you don’t have to respect a belief just because someone “sincerely” holds it. In fact it would be better if we did that less.
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
If you are looking for ways to disrupt the abduction detention & deportation machine check out the new mini-toolkit from @interruptcrim.bsky.social gathering opportunities for action from orgs like @detentionwatchnetwork.org @siembranc.bsky.social BAJI +
www.interruptingcriminalization.com/block-it
www.interruptingcriminalization.com/block-it
November 20, 2025 at 10:25 PM
If you are looking for ways to disrupt the abduction detention & deportation machine check out the new mini-toolkit from @interruptcrim.bsky.social gathering opportunities for action from orgs like @detentionwatchnetwork.org @siembranc.bsky.social BAJI +
www.interruptingcriminalization.com/block-it
www.interruptingcriminalization.com/block-it
Reposted by Cynthia Khoo
There is an extended version of it
November 20, 2025 at 11:00 PM
There is an extended version of it