Vittoria Elliott
@telliotter.bsky.social
Senior Reporter @Wired covering platforms + power
https://www.wired.com/author/vittoria-elliott/
Signal: velliott88.18/vittoria89.82
elliott.vittoria@proton.me OR vittoria_elliott@wired.com
https://www.wired.com/author/vittoria-elliott/
Signal: velliott88.18/vittoria89.82
elliott.vittoria@proton.me OR vittoria_elliott@wired.com
Pinned
Vittoria Elliott
@telliotter.bsky.social
· Feb 20
If you’re a government employee or tech worker and you want to talk about what you’re seeing or you have a tip, you can find me on Signal
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
"NSO Group, the Israeli company behind Pegasus spyware, says a group of investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds has acquired a controlling stake in the firm, which has named a former Trump official to lead an effort to restore its battered reputation."
Israeli Spyware Maker NSO Gets New Owners, Leadership and Seeks to Mend Reputation
Investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds have taken a controlling stake in the company behind Pegasus, and former Trump official David Friedman has been named executive chairman.
www.wsj.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:52 AM
"NSO Group, the Israeli company behind Pegasus spyware, says a group of investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds has acquired a controlling stake in the firm, which has named a former Trump official to lead an effort to restore its battered reputation."
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
November 7, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
in Feb. 2025, I worked on this story about why & how Elon Musk suddenly put an end to USAID… www.nbcnews.com/politics/dog...
How Elon Musk boosted false USAID conspiracy theories to shut down global aid
Musk drove fringe viewpoints on USAID into the mainstream on X as the Trump administration halted the humanitarian relief agency’s work.
www.nbcnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:47 PM
in Feb. 2025, I worked on this story about why & how Elon Musk suddenly put an end to USAID… www.nbcnews.com/politics/dog...
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
The AP tracked down details of some of the people killed in President Trump's military strikes on drug smugglers he describes as narco-terrorists.
They were, with one exception, not high-level criminals. One was a fisherman. One was a bus driver; another a taxi driver.
apnews.com/article/trum...
They were, with one exception, not high-level criminals. One was a fisherman. One was a bus driver; another a taxi driver.
apnews.com/article/trum...
November 7, 2025 at 3:18 PM
The AP tracked down details of some of the people killed in President Trump's military strikes on drug smugglers he describes as narco-terrorists.
They were, with one exception, not high-level criminals. One was a fisherman. One was a bus driver; another a taxi driver.
apnews.com/article/trum...
They were, with one exception, not high-level criminals. One was a fisherman. One was a bus driver; another a taxi driver.
apnews.com/article/trum...
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
This just into the newsroom
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court issues emergency order temporarily blocking full SNAP food aid payments.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court issues emergency order temporarily blocking full SNAP food aid payments.
November 8, 2025 at 2:28 AM
This just into the newsroom
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court issues emergency order temporarily blocking full SNAP food aid payments.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court issues emergency order temporarily blocking full SNAP food aid payments.
In terms of "efficiency," money for foreign aid (not all of which was dispersed through USAID) constituted less than 1% of the US budget, but its impact was WIDELY felt. Saying that shuttering USAID was a meaningful savings is like taking only your underwear out of a very overweight suitcase
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 4:32 PM
In terms of "efficiency," money for foreign aid (not all of which was dispersed through USAID) constituted less than 1% of the US budget, but its impact was WIDELY felt. Saying that shuttering USAID was a meaningful savings is like taking only your underwear out of a very overweight suitcase
And we love you, too!!
As my general two cents: don't cancel your WIRED subscriptions.
Best culture, best newsroom of anywhere I've worked. I love the living shit out of these folks, and they don't deserve to be negatively impacted by a decision that was made by the parent company, not them. And it's only $2 a month.
Best culture, best newsroom of anywhere I've worked. I love the living shit out of these folks, and they don't deserve to be negatively impacted by a decision that was made by the parent company, not them. And it's only $2 a month.
November 6, 2025 at 6:44 PM
And we love you, too!!
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
This is a really hard day and I want to just add as WIRED's politics editor -- WIRED's politics reporting isn't going anywhere. We are very much here and won't stop.
Please continue to read and support us - canceling your subscription to WIRED is not standing in solidarity with our journalists.
Please continue to read and support us - canceling your subscription to WIRED is not standing in solidarity with our journalists.
The key thing to watch here: they fired a Wired political reporter. That’s the title doing the most effective, pointed work. Teen Vogue’s stuff was culturally impactful, but less focused on investigating the administration. Within the Condé portfolio, Wired and the New Yorker are the canaries.
New: Conde Nast fired four employees who were among a group that confronted the company's head of human resources on Wednesday over the decision to fold Teen Vogue into Vogue/recent cuts. Employees who were fired included journalists from the New Yorker, Wired, and Bon Appétit.
November 6, 2025 at 6:26 PM
This is a really hard day and I want to just add as WIRED's politics editor -- WIRED's politics reporting isn't going anywhere. We are very much here and won't stop.
Please continue to read and support us - canceling your subscription to WIRED is not standing in solidarity with our journalists.
Please continue to read and support us - canceling your subscription to WIRED is not standing in solidarity with our journalists.
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
Jake is one of the best and I’ll really miss working with him — whoever gets to work with him next is very lucky!
I was one of the four people who got canned.
In the interim, you can subscribe to my newsletter, Straight From The Hut. No paywall, but feel free to choose the pay to support model. I'm not going anywhere — the show goes on, and I'll be back on MSNBC Saturday night. straightfromthehut.substack.com
In the interim, you can subscribe to my newsletter, Straight From The Hut. No paywall, but feel free to choose the pay to support model. I'm not going anywhere — the show goes on, and I'll be back on MSNBC Saturday night. straightfromthehut.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Jake is one of the best and I’ll really miss working with him — whoever gets to work with him next is very lucky!
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
Holy crap. MAGA diehard Danielle Jurinsky lost her city council seat in Aurora, Colorado. She more than anyone is responsible for ginning up the false claim that Tren de Aragua had "taken over" the city. She also repeatedly tried to dissolve the city's groundbreaking public defender office.
Progressives may flip Aurora council as voters reject Danielle Jurinsky and other incumbents
Jurinsky built ties with Trump during the 2024 campaign when he falsely claimed Aurora was being “taken over” by a Venezuelan prison gang.
denverite.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Holy crap. MAGA diehard Danielle Jurinsky lost her city council seat in Aurora, Colorado. She more than anyone is responsible for ginning up the false claim that Tren de Aragua had "taken over" the city. She also repeatedly tried to dissolve the city's groundbreaking public defender office.
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
Brava: “If I don’t file a complaint, then what message does that send to all Mexican women?” Ms. Sheinbaum said at her daily news conference, noting sexual harassment was a crime… “If this can happen to the president, what’s going to happen to all the young women & women across our country?”
Mexico’s President Presses Charges Against Man Who Groped Her on the Street
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Brava: “If I don’t file a complaint, then what message does that send to all Mexican women?” Ms. Sheinbaum said at her daily news conference, noting sexual harassment was a crime… “If this can happen to the president, what’s going to happen to all the young women & women across our country?”
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
"Hope is not blind optimism or uncritical belief in a political savior. Hope, to me, means the ability to imagine a better world is possible and then work to build it brick by brick. It is, as @prisonculture.bsky.social says, not an emotion but a discipline—one we must practice every single day."
Mayor Mamdani redefines what it means to hope
His victory has created a harsh contrast between the world we want and the world we have.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 6, 2025 at 1:08 AM
"Hope is not blind optimism or uncritical belief in a political savior. Hope, to me, means the ability to imagine a better world is possible and then work to build it brick by brick. It is, as @prisonculture.bsky.social says, not an emotion but a discipline—one we must practice every single day."
Curtis Sliwa’s hatred of Andrew Cuomo is… really something to behold
A guy from Infowars circled the room like a vulture.
People sporting 'Anti-Mamdani Social Club' shirts.
Plenty of red berets, but not a single red MAGA hat in sight.
This is just a snippet of Curtis Sliwa's watch party.
People sporting 'Anti-Mamdani Social Club' shirts.
Plenty of red berets, but not a single red MAGA hat in sight.
This is just a snippet of Curtis Sliwa's watch party.
My night with Sliwa superfans
At the Republican watch party, there was one point of political agreement: Andrew Cuomo sucks.
www.motherjones.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Curtis Sliwa’s hatred of Andrew Cuomo is… really something to behold
Thinking more about this piece—it’s not just that Mamdani spoke to the educated (upper) middle class that no longer has a sense of security. It’s that this group, who may once have ended up as moderate Republicans, has realized that anyone who has to work to live IS the working class
I can't believe I'm saying this but this Breitbart dude captures *a portion* of Mamdani's appeal in a way I haven't quite seen elsewhere.
www.commonplace.org/p/zohrans-pa...
www.commonplace.org/p/zohrans-pa...
Zohran’s Park Slope Populists
Conservatives shouldn’t write off the economic pain of New York City’s downwardly mobile professional class.
www.commonplace.org
November 5, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Thinking more about this piece—it’s not just that Mamdani spoke to the educated (upper) middle class that no longer has a sense of security. It’s that this group, who may once have ended up as moderate Republicans, has realized that anyone who has to work to live IS the working class
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
Zohran Mamdani's Campaign Figured Out How to Channel Fandom
The Zohran Mamdani campaign ran a competent social media program, yes. But it's the fandom it fostered that transformed Mamdani into a digital (and IRL!) phenomenon.
More here:
www.wired.com/story/zohran...
The Zohran Mamdani campaign ran a competent social media program, yes. But it's the fandom it fostered that transformed Mamdani into a digital (and IRL!) phenomenon.
More here:
www.wired.com/story/zohran...
Zohran Mamdani's Campaign Figured Out How to Channel Fandom
Much of the content about Mamdani online hasn't come from his campaign, or the dozens of political influencers invited to cover it. It's also come from fans.
www.wired.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Zohran Mamdani's Campaign Figured Out How to Channel Fandom
The Zohran Mamdani campaign ran a competent social media program, yes. But it's the fandom it fostered that transformed Mamdani into a digital (and IRL!) phenomenon.
More here:
www.wired.com/story/zohran...
The Zohran Mamdani campaign ran a competent social media program, yes. But it's the fandom it fostered that transformed Mamdani into a digital (and IRL!) phenomenon.
More here:
www.wired.com/story/zohran...
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
YouTube publicly decries Biden pressuring it to censor, then quietly does this at Trump's behest: theintercept.com/2025/11/04/y...
YouTube Quietly Erased More Than 700 Videos Documenting Israeli Human Rights Violations
The tech giant deleted the accounts of three prominent Palestinian human rights groups — a capitulation to Trump sanctions.
theintercept.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:26 PM
YouTube publicly decries Biden pressuring it to censor, then quietly does this at Trump's behest: theintercept.com/2025/11/04/y...
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
NEW: NYC's mayor-elect must now grapple with the sweeping NYPD surveillance apparatus that has historically targeted Muslims and other minority groups. @awinston.bsky.social reports for @wired.com www.wired.com/story/welcom...
Zohran Mamdani Just Inherited the NYPD Surveillance State
In addition to affordability, New York City’s mayor-elect will be forced to reckon with the NYPD’s sweeping mass surveillance operations.
www.wired.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:53 PM
NEW: NYC's mayor-elect must now grapple with the sweeping NYPD surveillance apparatus that has historically targeted Muslims and other minority groups. @awinston.bsky.social reports for @wired.com www.wired.com/story/welcom...
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
I can't believe I'm saying this but this Breitbart dude captures *a portion* of Mamdani's appeal in a way I haven't quite seen elsewhere.
www.commonplace.org/p/zohrans-pa...
www.commonplace.org/p/zohrans-pa...
Zohran’s Park Slope Populists
Conservatives shouldn’t write off the economic pain of New York City’s downwardly mobile professional class.
www.commonplace.org
November 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
I can't believe I'm saying this but this Breitbart dude captures *a portion* of Mamdani's appeal in a way I haven't quite seen elsewhere.
www.commonplace.org/p/zohrans-pa...
www.commonplace.org/p/zohrans-pa...
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
Curtis Sliwa claims to have been offered $10 million, across seven bribes, to drop out of the mayoral race. Last month, he said he’d leave the ballot if “a Mack truck hits me, and I get turned into a speed bump, and they can’t recover me in the I.C.U.”
Inside Curtis Sliwa’s Never-Ending Campaign
The Republican candidate for New York City mayor has been aggressively ramping up his campaign, even if it’s to the benefit of Zohran Mamdani.
www.newyorker.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Curtis Sliwa claims to have been offered $10 million, across seven bribes, to drop out of the mayoral race. Last month, he said he’d leave the ballot if “a Mack truck hits me, and I get turned into a speed bump, and they can’t recover me in the I.C.U.”
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
WOW. A federal judge says he's going to issue a Temporary Restraining Order requiring ICE to make changes at the Broadview facility in Chicago, a facility that until January was only for stays under 12 hours "absent exceptional circumstances," but has become, in Judge Gettleman's words, "a prison."
U.S. Robert Gettleman is now giving his thoughts. He says, "I think the evidence has been pretty strong that this facility is no longer just a temporary holding facility. …
"It has really become a prison."
"It has really become a prison."
DOJ's Jana Brady steps up next but says she'll largely "rest on our brief that we filed."
She wants any TRO to not "interfere with the executive branch."
She wants any TRO to not "interfere with the executive branch."
November 4, 2025 at 10:29 PM
WOW. A federal judge says he's going to issue a Temporary Restraining Order requiring ICE to make changes at the Broadview facility in Chicago, a facility that until January was only for stays under 12 hours "absent exceptional circumstances," but has become, in Judge Gettleman's words, "a prison."
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
I was laid off from Teen Vogue this week, alongside multiple other phenomenal team members.
At our Summit, I was asked how it felt to be 1 of 2 Black women left and what that meant for representation. Now, there are no Black women at Teen Vogue and that is incredibly painful to think about.
At our Summit, I was asked how it felt to be 1 of 2 Black women left and what that meant for representation. Now, there are no Black women at Teen Vogue and that is incredibly painful to think about.
November 3, 2025 at 11:57 PM
I was laid off from Teen Vogue this week, alongside multiple other phenomenal team members.
At our Summit, I was asked how it felt to be 1 of 2 Black women left and what that meant for representation. Now, there are no Black women at Teen Vogue and that is incredibly painful to think about.
At our Summit, I was asked how it felt to be 1 of 2 Black women left and what that meant for representation. Now, there are no Black women at Teen Vogue and that is incredibly painful to think about.
Mamdani has had an excellent digital campaign, but that's not reflective of Dems as whole. My colleague @makenakelly.bsky.social on what the party still misses about the internet.
@wired.com
www.wired.com/story/do-dem...
@wired.com
www.wired.com/story/do-dem...
It’s Been a Year Since Trump Was Elected. Democrats Still Don’t Get the Internet
“I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why we are still so rigid and moderating everything when we have nothing to lose for the first time,” a Democratic digital strategist tells WIRED.
www.wired.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Mamdani has had an excellent digital campaign, but that's not reflective of Dems as whole. My colleague @makenakelly.bsky.social on what the party still misses about the internet.
@wired.com
www.wired.com/story/do-dem...
@wired.com
www.wired.com/story/do-dem...
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
ah yes, aristocracies — known the world over for their innovation, flexibility and capacity to meet new challenges
Meet Rockbridge, the secretive donor circle that lifted JD Vance is now re-writing MAGA’s future.
It roots its action in a “controversial theory — an ‘aristocracy’ is needed to move the country forward.”
It’s method: a venture capital approach to politics.
gift link:
wapo.st/3Jsvgrl
It roots its action in a “controversial theory — an ‘aristocracy’ is needed to move the country forward.”
It’s method: a venture capital approach to politics.
gift link:
wapo.st/3Jsvgrl
The secretive donor circle that lifted JD Vance is now re-writing MAGA’s future
Chris Buskirk put tech elites in power in Trump’s Washington. His efforts are grounded in a controversial theory: An “aristocracy” is needed to move the country forward.
wapo.st
November 4, 2025 at 6:34 PM
ah yes, aristocracies — known the world over for their innovation, flexibility and capacity to meet new challenges
Reposted by Vittoria Elliott
New: The FBI is quietly urging ICE agents to properly ID themselves in the field.
In a bulletin to law enforcement last month, it warned of criminals posing as ICE to rob, rape, kidnap—a problem it says now demands national coordination to confront.
By me & @carolinehaskins.bsky.social:
In a bulletin to law enforcement last month, it warned of criminals posing as ICE to rob, rape, kidnap—a problem it says now demands national coordination to confront.
By me & @carolinehaskins.bsky.social:
FBI Warns of Criminals Posing as ICE, Urges Agents to ID Themselves
In a bulletin to law enforcement agencies, the FBI said criminal impersonators are exploiting ICE’s image and urged nationwide coordination to distinguish real operations from fakes.
www.wired.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:34 PM
New: The FBI is quietly urging ICE agents to properly ID themselves in the field.
In a bulletin to law enforcement last month, it warned of criminals posing as ICE to rob, rape, kidnap—a problem it says now demands national coordination to confront.
By me & @carolinehaskins.bsky.social:
In a bulletin to law enforcement last month, it warned of criminals posing as ICE to rob, rape, kidnap—a problem it says now demands national coordination to confront.
By me & @carolinehaskins.bsky.social: