And bc shutting down the internet is unfortunately part of the playbook in Iran & countless other countries, policymakers & companies should explore technical & regulatory measures to help civilians access the internet inc by building out satellite connectivity. Some ideas 👉 www.direct2cell.org
Amid US/Israeli airstrikes & brutal repression, Iranians are entering day 8 of an internet shutdown, placing civilians at risk, restricting their ability to access lifesaving info & reach loved ones, and contributing to psychological harm.
Iranian authorities should urgently restore internet access
UK accused of 'collective punishment' over Sudanese students ban - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-accused-collective-punishment-over-sudanese-students-ban
Iranian authorities should immediately end the ongoing internet shutdown and communications restrictions.
These shutdowns violate human rights and place civilians at further risk of serious harm.
"This rubble is of my first home. The home where my father also grew up. Where my husband and I said our marriage vows."
What’s happening in Lebanon is a “human rights and humanitarian disaster in the making,” says HRW’s @lamafakih.bsky.social, whose family home in Beirut was struck.
The US Department of Defense is reportedly using artificial intelligence from tech company Anthropic in its strikes in Iran.
Why is this important? HRW's @abacci.bsky.social and @verityc.bsky.social explain ⤵️
Internet shutdowns in Iran are tormenting a population under attack. Unable to communicate with loved ones, call for medical help, or stay up to date with potentially life-saving news, Iranians are once again being kept in the dark by their government. www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...
NEW: Since Jan 2023, ICE + CBP together have spent at least $515 million on products from Palantir, Microsoft, Amazon, & Google.
But where is the money actually going, & what specifically is it powering? Here, I break down everything we know about both of these things:
www.wired.com/story/how-bi...
New from 404 Media: CBP tapped into the online advertising ecosystem to track peoples' movements, according to an internal DHS document. Shows for the first time DHS tracked phones via process for putting ads in ordinary apps—video games, fitness apps, many more www.404media.co/cbp-tapped-i...
The Pentagon's rift with Anthropic signals a clear and alarming intent to use AI for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. @hrw.org is calling on states at the UN this week to ban and regulate autonomous weapons. @verityc.bsky.social is at negotiations. Our dispatch: www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...
I'm at the #UN meeting on autonomous weapons systems with partners from @stopkillerrobots.bsky.social - states have the opportunity to draw legal red lines around emerging weapons systems.
Will they?
New @hrw.org dispatch with @abacci.bsky.social
www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...
Anthropic’s PR win: signing a $200M contract with Trump’s DoD 7 months ago, then being outraged that their tech may be used for nefarious purposes. In any case, great to see pushback on mass surveillance (note: domestic US only) and lethal autonomous weapons.
Deeply alarming plans for the Met police to use facial recognition for “identity checks”, likely using smartphones. This would be an absolute disaster for human rights. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
NEW: Records reviewed by WIRED show DHS’s facial recognition app (Mobile Fortify) isn’t designed to actually "verify" identity—despite DHS claims and its agents relying on its matches to support probable cause in the field.
“Unconscionable,” Jon thought as he found an email address online for the lead prosecutor, Joseph Dernbach, who was named in the story. Peering through metal-rimmed glasses, Jon opened Gmail on his computer monitor. “Mr. Dernbach, don’t play Russian roulette with H’s life,” he wrote. “Err on the side of caution. There’s a reason the US government along with many other governments don’t recognise the Taliban. Apply principles of common sense and decency.” That was it. In five minutes, Jon said, he finished the note, signed his first and last name, pressed send and hoped his plea would make a difference. Five hours and one minute later, Jon was watching TV with his wife when an email popped up in his inbox. He noticed it on his phone. “Google,” the message read, “has received legal process from a Law Enforcement authority compelling the release of information related to your Google Account.”
A retiree wrote this email to a DHS attorney. Within five hours, DHS demanded Google turn over records for his account.
A Kafkaesque form of domestic surveillance, intimidating Americans for lawful speech.
New from us at the Post: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio... @johnwoodrowcox.bsky.social
Watch the full training.
Over 200K people joined our training last night on how to document ICE's attacks on our communities.
The Trump administration's cruelty will not break us — we the people are more prepared than ever for this moment.
Hundreds of ICE Out protestors at the Amazon building in Santa Monica. Tech workers, high school students, soccer moms and dads. Constant honking in support, even from local cops. Amazon employees entering the building overheard discussing how they did not know the company works with ICE.
Amid reports that ICE has used facial recognition technology in Minneapolis, a reminder that there is no safe use for this tech on streets or at borders.
Governments should stop using it in public spaces and in immigration and asylum contexts.
SCOOP: Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
WIRED obtained Slack conversations + an updated internal Palantir wiki defending the company's work for ICE to outraged workers.
More here:
www.wired.com/story/palant...
NEW with @makenakelly.bsky.social, ICE is using generative AI from Palantir to sort through immigration enforcement tips and summarize them. Details here:
www.wired.com/story/ice-is...
Al Jazeera denounces YouTube's submission to the ban of its broadcast in Israel and calls for adherence to international conventions.
UK police to use AI facial recognition tech linked to Israel’s war on Gaza
UK police to use AI facial recognition tech linked to Israel’s war on Gaza https://aje.news/ux6dhy
New US aviation regulation could be generated by Gemini.
“We don’t need the perfect rule on XYZ. We don’t even need a very good rule on XYZ... We want good enough. We’re flooding the zone.” -- DOT General Counsel
Make it stop.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
"in most cases, these videos appear to have been filmed secretly - using Meta smart glasses."
Argh for the love of god BAN. THE. PERVERT GLASSES.
ICE Deems Being In Privacy Of Own Home Obstruction Of Justice
ICE Deems Being In Privacy Of Own Home Obstruction Of Justice https://theonion.com/ice-deems-being-in-privacy-of-own-home-obstruction-of-justice/
In testimony from a CBP official obtained by 404 Media, the official described how Mobile Fortify returned two different names after scanning a woman's face during an ICE raid. Both were wrong. @evystadium.bsky.social has more.
Scoop by @josephcox.bsky.social: www.404media.co/ices-facial-...
Shabana Mahmood moodboarding panopticon with no regard for civil liberties, quoted in a Daily Telegraph article
The UK Home Secretary treating Bentham's panopticon as an aspirational concept -- with added AI archive.ph/VcmWb
About the PhD: Audits and evaluation of AI systems — and the broader context that AI systems operate in — have become central to conceptualising, quantifying, measuring and understanding the operations, failures, limitations, underlying assumptions, and downstream societal implications of AI systems. Existing AI audit and evaluation efforts are fractured, done in a siloed and ad-hoc manner, and with little deliberation and reflection around conceptual rigour and methodological validity. This PhD is for a candidate that is passionate about exploring what a conceptually cogent, methodologically sound, and well-founded AI evaluation and safety research might look like. This requires grappling with questions such as: What does it mean to represent “ground truth” in proxies, synthetic data, or computational simulation? How do we reliably measure abstract and complex phenomena? What are the epistemological or methodological implications of quantification and measurement approaches we choose to employ? Particularly, what underlying presuppositions, values, or perspectives do they entail? How do we ensure the lived experiences of impacted communities play a critical role in the development and justification of measurement metrics and proxies? Through exploration of these questions, the candidate is expected to engage with core concepts in the philosophy of science, history of science, Black feminist epistemologies, and similar schools of thought to develop an in-depth understanding of existing practices with the aim of applying it to advance shared standards and best practice in AI evaluation. The candidate is expected to integrate empirical (for example, through analysis or evaluation of existing benchmarks) or practical (for example, by executing evaluation of AI systems) components into the overall work.
are you displeased with today’s AI safety evaluation landscape and curious about what greater conceptual clarity, methodological soundness, and rigour in AI evaluation could look like? if so, consider coming to Dublin to pursue a PhD with me
apply here: aial.ie/hiring/phd-a...
pls repost
This is surreal. 4 Oglala Lakota men kidnapped by ICE in Minneapolis have finally been located. One of them was released but the other 3 are being held at Fort Snelling, a former concentration camp used to imprison Native people incl. the Dakota 38 during Dakota Wars.
ictnews.org/news/north-c...
