Claire Pershan

Owning Code in the Age of AI AI lets engineers generate thousands of lines of code in minutes. But humans still reason about systems slowly. That gap forces a rethink of ownership, reliability, and where safety really lives in…

AI made code generation extremely fast.

Human reasoning about code is still slow.

That gap changes where reliability lives in software systems. Observability, staged rollouts, isolation, and fast rollback become central pieces of engineering practice.

Full post:

Commission registers European Citizens\' Initiative calling for a European social media platform Today, the European Commission has registered a European Citizens\' Initiative (ECI), entitled ‘European Public Social Network\'.\nThe initiative invites the Commission to establish, through a legisla...

Commission registers European Citizens' Initiative calling for a European social media platform that “would form an alternative" to the current ones and "work as a service for the society". ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

How Collaboration Can Enable Action on AI and Mental Health Getting AI and mental health right means society must grapple with the responsibility of technology companies to both mitigate risk and center well-being.

For the millions who have no other access to mental health support and who may already rely on AI tools for support in times of need, we must urgently confront how such technologies can be most helpful and least harmful, write Claire Leibowicz and Emily Saltz.

🚨 Call now open: Democracy x AI Incubator

Mozilla Foundation is funding working AI systems that strengthen information, transparency, and civic space, and have a proven track record of serving people for the better.

$50K USD + 12 months of support.

Apply by March 16, 2026⏰
mzl.la/4aL3ukp

3. the development of standardisation tools is important to strengthen comparability, but there is a risk of adopting tools not based on a scientifically robust methodology, and of inspiring behaviors that prevent standardisation.

2. the emergence of "frugality" (optimizing resource consumption) is positive, but risks inspiring misleading behaviour and lack of transparency on real environmental footprint.

1. access to energy (electricity grid) and at a competitive and predictable price may be a barrier to entry. special attention to nuclear energy.

French Competition Authority study on competition issues related to the energy and environmental impact of AI.

www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/fr/communiqu...

They identify three types of issues 👇

Something that hasn't been made clear: Firefox will have an option to completely disable all AI features.

We've been calling it the AI kill switch internally. I'm sure it'll ship with a less murderous name, but that's how seriously and absolutely we're taking this.

…

Mozilla Fellows change how the world thinks about data, AI, privacy, and power.
If someone you know is doing work that lifts us all forward, nominate them for the 2026 cohort.
#MozillaFellow
https://bit.ly/48vBijf

Why does transparency matter?

Just last Friday, X became extremely transparent.

Their "about this account" feature reveals that foreign actors and inauthentic activity still dominate the platform, driven by monetary reward.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

We have no idea what content is most viral on YouTube, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, or X — because they refuse to share basic data.

✍️Alongside @algorithmwatch.org, we're demanding platform transparency. Join us: www.mozillafoundation.org/en/campaigns...

@netzpolitik.org has the latest #ChatControl draft text and analysis

Our Investigations Team has commenced a formal investigation into the provider of the X online platform (X), under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA). The investigation will assess whether X has contravened Article 20 of the DSA. cnam.ie/coimisiun-na...

Today in Tech Policy Press: @markscott.bsky.social and our coordinator @lkseiling.bsky.social write about the precarious state of data access - and the care required to realise its potential as a foundational democratic function.

The full article is freely accessible through the link below ⬇️

Mozilla Festival 2025 is Nov 7-9 in Barcelona w/ 500+ session hosts, 200+ experiences, talks, labs, forums, film screenings, & installations.

Keynotes @xychelsea.tv @audreyt.org @ruha9.bsky.social

If you haven't gotten your festival badge, use code MOZSEHER 🎟️ @mozilla.org www.mozillafestival.org

Databroker Files: All you need to know about how adtech data exposes the EU to espionage Our latest investigation has shaken up Brussels by revealing that commercial datasets containing 278 million locations can be used to spy on the EU and NATO. The European Commission has expressed its ...

If you're short on time, you can find a summary of our investigation into data brokers endangering Europe's security here #databrokerfiles netzpolitik.org/2025/databro...

📣 I am hiring a postdoc! aial.ie/hiring/postd...

applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome

pls share with your networks

Whatsapp App Review 2025: Privacy, Pros and Cons, Personal Data Read our privacy expert's review of the messaging app Whatsapp. While WhatsApp can be used relatively safely, there are some privacy pitfalls lurking beneath the surface. Most of them relate to WhatsA...

Last month, #NothingPersonal gave #WhatsApp a 6/10 for privacy 📱

Good news: they’re now adding encrypted chat backups using fingerprint or face ID.

Progress? Yes. Perfect? Not yet.

See what else needs fixing — and how you can protect your data 👇
🔗 mzl.la/43cIoHK

Python Foundation goes ride or DEI, rejects government grant with strings attached Foundation says it won't compromise policy of inclusivity even if that cash would've really helped The Python Software Foundation (PSF) has walked away from a $1.5 million government grant and you can blame the Trump administration's war on woke for effectively weakening some open source security. …

Python Foundation goes ride or DEI, rejects government grant with strings attached

International Criminal Court Kicks Out Microsoft According to Handelsblatt, the International Criminal Court is kicking out US service providers like Microsoft. And is relying on German alternatives.

The International Criminal Court is ending its dependency on Big Tech cloud solution by adopting the open-source solution OpenDesk. Univention is part of this process. It is a critical step to insulate international organizations from political pressure.
#opensource

Leak reveals Amazon plan to keep water use of data centres secret Amazon strategised about ways to keep the public in the dark over the true extent of its data centres’ water use, a leaked internal document reveals.

"In the leaked document, Amazon executives warned that transparency was “a one-way door” and advised keeping its projections confidential, even as they feared inviting accusations of a cover-up"

www.source-material.org/amazon-leak-...

Commission preliminarily finds TikTok and Meta in breach of their transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act Today, the European Commission preliminarily found both TikTok and Meta in breach of their obligation to grant researchers adequate access to public data under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

EC Preliminary Findings - Meta and TikTok in breach of their obligation to grant researchers adequate access to public data under the #DigitalServicesAct

SOV-8 refers to Environmental Sustainability factors

It's weighted lowest, but still present.

meme with cake in background that says E2EE text overlay that says "how come its always hey let's conduct mass surveillance and not hey let's ask platforms to do more than the bare minimum to protect their users?

Global Encryption Day is for celebrating the wild idea that maybe platforms could protect us on purpose🔐

Join in the celebration and sign our petition to help protect encryption worldwide ✍️
mzl.la/48GTOag
#encryption

Amazon Cloud Outage Reveals Democratic Deficit in Relying on Big Tech | TechPolicy.Press The AWS outage demonstrates the need for a fundamental shift in how we think about digital infrastructure, write Corinne Cath and Don Le.

Today's AWS outage, which affected a range of websites and applications—from Signal to Fortnite to key UK government services—reveals the dangers of relying on a handful of Big Tech firms, write Article 19's Corinne Cath and Don Le. These are not glitches; they are democratic failures, they say.

No noise. All signal. Nothing Personal.

Meet Nothing Personal — a new counterculture magazine from the Mozilla Foundation.

We’re handing the mic to the people rebuilding digital culture from the ground up.

mzl.la/3KOMiQF
#NothingPersonal #MakeGoodTech

👏 @mallory.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy
P.S. get more @index.internet.exchangepoint.tech.ap.brid.gy goodness at #MozFest this November www.mozillafestival.org/en/

Perplexity, despite its modest size, gave $1M to Trump’s inaugural - so this tracks.

Why Big Tech is threatened by a global push for data sovereignty Countries are forcing tech giants to store citizen data locally, challenging the standard business model of harvesting data abroad while keeping profits at home.

From Africa to Asia, a movement is threatening Big Tech's business model of harvesting data abroad while keeping profits at home

New from @tarykuh.bsky.social:
restofworld.org/2025/big-tec...