Daniel Howden

The Maybe

For our third installment of our Vaporstate series, @alixdunn.com spoke with two phenomenal journalists from @lighthousereports.com: @daniel-howden.bsky.social and @bearamalhosilva.bsky.social about their months-long investigation into TBI and Oracle. They’ve got the goods.

Check it out:

The surveillance empire that tracked world leaders, a Vatican enemy, and maybe you We uncovered a massive data trove. It revealed the hidden world of First Wap, whose untraceable tech has targeted politicians, journalists, celebrities, and activists around the globe.

1/Stop everything and read/watch/bookmark this massive investigation between @motherjones.com @lighthousereports.com Le Monde, Der Spiegel, Paper Trail Media a vast global surveillance empire used to target politicians, journalists, tech CEOs, and... Jared Leto.
ow.ly/2LUF50Xb7KE

On a Saturday night I stumbled across something on the internet that made me feel like ****** my pants. A giant dataset of real surveillance operations targeting 1000s of people across nearly every country. Unraveling it and the mysterious company behind it has consumed 1.5 years of my life

The surveillance empire that tracked world leaders, a Vatican enemy, and maybe you Inside the hidden world of First Wap, whose untraceable tech has targeted politicians, journalists, celebrities, and activists around the globe.

Legendary work from @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social.

He and a team uncovered a trove of data from a surveillance firm — location data from thousands of phone numbers from nearly every country on Earth.

The firm had been tracking everyone from Erik Prince to journalists to Jared Leto.

The surveillance empire that tracked world leaders, a Vatican enemy, and maybe you We uncovered a massive data trove. It revealed the hidden world of First Wap, whose untraceable tech has targeted politicians, journalists, celebrities, and activists around the globe.

The surveillance empire that tracked world leaders, a Vatican enemy, and maybe you www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

A stunning investigation by @lighthousereports.com of what I call "despotism as a service"👇

🧵What’s the biggest lie the surveillance industry tells? That they only sell to legal clients. That there are red lines. But what do these companies say when they think nobody is watching? We went undercover to find out

People often ask what it's like behind the scenes at the world's top spy tech trade fair, ISS World. Turns out it's like this bsky.app/profile/ligh...

Inside the Tony Blair Institute Who really benefits from the former PM’s tech evangelism?

Revealed: How Tony Blair is lobbying on behalf of tech billionaire Larry Ellison

We expose former PM’s unprecedented influence over the UK govt & how this is shaped by the interests of his Institute’s largest donor & one of the world’s richest men www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

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Tony Blair - Larry Ellison's man in Gaza? Blair's ties to the Oracle founder and Trump booster should disqualify him from any role in Gaza - or in Britain's tech future

🔴 Tony Blair's ties to Larry Ellison should disqualify him from any role in Gaza - or in Britain's tech future.

New by me and @daniel-howden.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale and @lighthousereports.com

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/tony-blair...

Canadian actor detained at US border in ‘inhumane conditions’ for nearly two weeks Entrepreneur and actor Jasmine Mooney, who had a role in an American Pie sequel, says she was arrested at southern border and held in detention over an incomplete work visa

Breaking ‘shouldn’t happen to white people’ immigration news. Canadian actress detained by ICE. Follows ridiculous blow up in Uk over couple fined for stowaway. No mention of non white detainees or context on racist dragnet catching human whitebait

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Inequality Before the Law Investigating bias in the world’s most vaunted criminal justice system.

Norway’s criminal justice system ranks as one of the most impartial in the world. Yet with partner NRK, we found that people are on trial not only for what they may have done, but for who they are.

What is happening at Europe's borders, and how can human rights be protected? Come to WORM Rotterdam on TUE 21 JAN 25 & join the De Dependance's Nuria Ribas Costa, @lhreports.bsky.social Klaas van Dijken, @gesanchez.bsky.social & local activists.
🕣19:30
📍Boomgaardstraat 71
Tickets: dedependance.eu

Across Europe college-educated migrants are locked out of the skilled workforce due to policy failures. @publico.pt & @lhreports.bsky.social reveal how Portugal mitigated brain waste, as well as the limits of this success

INVESTIGATION: Toxic Tactics: US govt funds pesticide/GM propaganda in Nigeria Celebrated activist Nnimmo Bassey and political candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour were profiled as part of a US government-funded campaign to undermine global critics of pesticides and GMOs.

The Premium Times reveals how the US government program on GMOs in Nigeria steamrolled resistance from health+environmental advocates. We discovered derogatory profiles of Nigerians who raised concerns about GMOs, the activist Nnimmo Bassey + Labour Party candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour among them.

Investigating border deaths in the shadow of US election In this episode we take you behind the scenes of our latest U.S.-Mexico border investigation, Drownings and Deterrence in the Rio Grande.

The Rio Grande on the Texas-Mexico border has become a graveyard for migrants.

In the latest episode of Backlight, we speak to @mdelbosque.bsky.social about the human toll of US border militarization and untold stories of those who drowned.

🎙️ Listen now: www.lighthousereports.com/investigatin...

Investigating border deaths in the shadow of US election In this episode we take you behind the scenes of our latest U.S.-Mexico border investigation, Drownings and Deterrence in the Rio Grande.

To hear from Jesse and Melissa and go behind the scenes of this investigation listen to the latest Backlight podcast from @lhreports.bsky.social www.lighthousereports.com/investigatin...

Border drownings rose as migrants rushed to cross and Texas clamped down An investigation found more migrant drowning deaths than the U.S. or Mexico have reported. Many were in Eagle Pass, where Texas’ border crackdown is focused.

This theatre of deterrence looked like a recipe for drowning deaths. Which is exactly what it is
A year on & Lighthouse Reports, Washington Post & El Universal revealed the scale of drowning deaths brought about by militarization and politics on the river www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/...

Jesse's livelihood is not its only victim.
We paddled on the fast moving river watching families with small kids wading across from the Mexican side to be met with fortifications and bull horns, while bored looking guys in uniforms cruised the river with nothing to do.

Once on the water, Jesse lamented the fact that Texas' Operation Lone Star -- a multibillion dollar effort to pick a fight with the White House and provide border content for the election cycle -- had killed his kayak tour company.

We hauled the kayaks past a shrill right-wing cable TV reporter setting up that day's camera position with the help of Florida Fish and Wildlife agents. She had them in a circle, running through a shot list to ensure she got the footage needed to capture the "border invasion"

These days it's a mess of churned mud and razor wire. The park, like much of the US bank, has been occupied by a cacophony of state, out-of-state troopers, border patrol and any number of Feds.

A year ago, I pushed off with a kayak down the Rio Grande in the great company of Jesse Fuentes and @mdelbosque.bsky.social We entered the water from what used to be the park in Eagle Pass, Texas

The speed with which the powerful and merciless are reduced to small, pathetic fugitives prompts a kind whiplash

Thinking today of Syrian friends & so many other amazing Syrians met over the last decade on the reporting trail. Hard to comprehend the scale of damage wrought by the despicable and belatedly deposed Assads

amazing work by my colleague @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social in a series that exposes the racism built into algorithms used by govt agencies and its real, human consequences.

Trying to follow closely what’s happening in Syria & Georgia where there’s a news lag. Twitter lists were brilliant for this, curious if Bsky can provide. Recommendations for follows v welcome

Efter SvD:s granskning – MP kräver AI-garantier Miljöpartiet kritiserar Försäkringskassan efter att SvD avslöjat om hur myndigheten använt AI för att hitta misstänkta fuskare. Partiets tidigare språkrör Märta Stenevi (MP) vill nu kalla myndighetens...

Serious impact in Sweden where the welfare agency has been called before parliament to answer questions over discriminatory algorithms used to profile benefits recipients

www.svd.se/a/63VOxo/eft...

Coordinating Editor Investigate Europe

Come, work with us at @investigate-eu.bsky.social and help take investigative cross-border journalism to the next level.

Apply now (until 6 December 2024) or share if you know someone who knows someone.

Happy also to answer any questions.

Link: www.investigate-europe.eu/en/opportuni...

Amazing work by @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social on the latest @lhreports.bsky.social suspicion machines investigation. This is a crazy tale of AI ethics washing: The welfare agency had been told that it's tool was crappy. It responded by making up a ludicrous fairness definition.

Backlight: How to get sources to talk Essential skills and techniques on building sources and getting them to open up.

So we have a podcast, it’s good. The latest Backlight is about how to get sources to talk. The least I can do is get people to listen www.lighthousereports.com/how-to-get-s...