Maria Helen Murphy

Thrilled to share what the great historian @timothysnyder.bsky.social has to say about #PROPHECY!

To pre-order the #book:

US: a.co/d/00PLNpOt
UK: amzn.eu/d/01WcZ4MQ

#BookRecommendation

The Grok AI scandal — what happens now? Plus: why Ireland’s plan to link national ID to social media access is dystopian Podcast Episode · The Big Tech Show · 09/01/2026 · 34m

This weeks discussion with @tjmcintyre.com & @adrianweckler.bsky.social is really worth a listen if you're in Ireland and interested in tech policy or privacy.

podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t...

Uruguay’s Renewable Charge: A Small Nation, A Big Lesson For The World Uruguay built a power grid that runs 99% on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. Here’s how its bold energy overhaul became a global model.

“Uruguay did what most nations still call impossible: it built a power grid that runs almost entirely on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. The physicist who led that transformation says the same playbook could work anywhere—if governments have the courage to change the rules.”

I'm very happy to have published a chapter in this excellent, open-access collection, "Being Human in the Digital World:"
www.cambridge.org/core/service...
Kudos to expert editors Beate Roessler and Valerie Steeves, as well as fellow authors Julie Cohen, David Lyon, Helen Nissenbaum, & more!

Delighted to announce that we are the REVEL Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence @maynoothuniversity.ie. We will be organising a host of activities over the next 3 years on "Realising European Values and European Law" (REVEL). Stay tuned (follow us) for more.
www.maynoothuniversity.ie/news-events/...

It's great to see #PROPHECY gathering friends. Thank you so much for everyone who has pre-ordered. It matters. It gets noticed. It's part of being in the conversation. THANK YOU! #Book www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/759692...

Delighted to be a part of this Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence focused on Realising European Values and European Law @maynoothlaw.bsky.social! Excited to lead the work package on digital enforcement! 🇪🇺

Delighted to be part of a wonderful team and leading the new @reveljmce.bsky.social. Lots to come in terms of activities (please follow us!) - for now: thanks to our wonderful colleagues @maynoothlaw.bsky.social; @muresearch.bsky.social for their invaluable support!

And a bit shout out to our wonderful team (who will be doing all the substantive work): Dr Derek Barter, Dr Ollie Bartlett; Dr David Mangan; @orlakelleher.bsky.social; @mariamurphy.bsky.social; @hubertsmekal.bsky.social; @oscharles.bsky.social.

In a similar vein, the Orkney Islands produce an excess of electricity from wind, wave and tide power.

📣 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

The "don't worry about facial recognition tech" arguments are not faring well...

Police used Flock cameras to accuse a Denver woman of package theft. She had her own evidence "Like I said, nothing gets in or out of the town without us knowing."

denverite.com/2025/10/27/b...

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).

EU Big Tech law

EU Commission - preliminary finding that Meta and TikTok have breached the Digital Services Act ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
concerns content moderation appeals, notice of illegal material, researchers' access to data

NB not a final decision (possibly with fines) yet

It was great to be back at the Irish Parliament yesterday at the Joint Committee on AI. Joe O'Brien and I @iccl.bsky.social are grateful for the invitation from the Committee.

Video: IHREC at minute 20 and ICCL from 1 hr 40 min.

www.oireachtas.ie/en/oireachta...

Tory MP George Freeman reports deepfake defection video to police Such political disinformation has the potential to corrupt democracy, says the Mid Norfolk MP.

Tory MP reports deepfake video to police
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Infrastructure x Democracy — what could be more interesting? I'm very excited to be moderating this panel!

This event looks incredible. Really sad I can’t make it to London that evening. Congrats @nniloideain.bsky.social on the book-it’s next in my to read pile!

Denmark aims to ban social media for children under 15, PM says “We have unleashed a monster,” Mette Frederiksen tells Danish lawmakers.

🚨🚨 #Denmark aims to ban #socialmedia for children under 15. PM Mette Frederiksen says "We have unleashed a monster" to Danish lawmakers. 🧵https://www.politico.eu/article/denmark-mette-frederiksen-partially-ban-social-media-children-under-15/

Talk about telling on yourself! Who would have thought?

Jane Goodall quotation “"I was somebody sent to this world to try to give people hope in dark times. Because without hope, we fall into apathy and do nothing. And in the dark times that we are living in now, if people don't have hope, we're doomed. How can we bring little children into this dark world we've created and let them be surrounded by people who have given up? So even if this is the end of humanity as we know it, let's fight until the very end. Let's let the children know that there is hope."

Sure, there probably are some people taking that line, but I think so many of these issues are of a piece and our information environment is absolutely crucial for all the bigger issues.

2/2. I am concerned about all the ways we are dehumanising people now (you mention some of the most monstrous), but I don’t think it’s zero sum.

1/2. We might be a lost cause, but I don’t see a point in giving up. To me, the issue is more than extreme pornography, it’s dehumanising and alienating for all concerned and that’s the last thing we need at this point in history.

For me, the issue is the risk this fosters the dehumanisation of actual humans

"Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, we will help. Only if we help, we shall be saved."

"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

Jane Goodall was the best of us.

"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

Rest in power, Dr. Jane Goodall

🕊️ The world has lost a revered conservationist -- a colossal power for what is truly good.

🕊️ Jane Goodall is a legend who helped open the door to science to the best humans among us: woman.

🕊️ She was brave, brilliant and introduced us to the best things among us: animals.

🕊️ I grieve her passing.

Abstract: The EU has been represented as a singular ‘Digital Empire’ speaking with one voice on matters of EU digital regulation. Closer examination of discrete areas of EU digital regulation reveals a more nuanced picture suggesting clear institutional divergence between the EU institutions regarding the substantive protection afforded by EU law. A detailed analysis of EU data protection adequacy decisions brings to the surface intra-EU tensions concerning the substance of core EU fundamental rights. This analysis reveals that the EU Commission has taken on a more prominent role in adequacy decision-making since the entry into force of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation at the expense of other relevant stakeholders. Furthermore, the Commission’s decisional practice does not align fully with the stance of the Court of Justice on the right to data protection. New sites of intra-EU human rights tensions are therefore uncovered with consequences for the legitimacy of the EU as a digital regulator and the role of the Commission as a guardian of the treaties.Keywords: digital regulation; fundamental rights; data protection; institutional balance; judicial review; data adequacy; EU Commission

New article out with Katie Nolan (@katieanolan.bsky.social) and Orla Lynskey in the Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies: 'Digital Empire or Digital Fiefdoms? Institutional Tensions and the EU Right to Data Protection'.
Open access at: doi.org/10.1017/cel....

@cambup-law.cambridge.org

To save in-person lectures, unis need to provide lessons worth showing up for In-person lectures have been a staple of university learning for centuries. But they are going out of style in an age of TED Talks and Tiktoks.

Hobbyhorse: at university, lectures remain an incredible format. They introduce & explore a huge amount of content in a short period of time. They scaffold further reading, with a personal twist. Workshops, etc, do their own thing, but don't replace effective lectures:

share.google/AyFxBwYh5BYM...