The Citizens

The Citizens

@the-citizens.bsky.social

We expose Big Tech's harms to democracy. Parents to The Real Facebook Oversight Board & Independent Sage. Our newsletters: https://dispatch.the-citizens.com citizensreunited.substack.com You can also find us at https://the-citizens.com

10,628 Followers 558 Following 435 Posts Joined Jun 2024
2 minutes ago

You can still #CancelChatGPT after OpenAI’s partnership with the department of war.

👉 Here’s every step how, from the aptly named campaign QuitGPT: quitgpt.org

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9 hours ago
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Is this the first AI war? Artificial intelligence isn't just helping you figure out what to make for dinner. It's deciding who lives and who dies.

What we are witnessing may be the first full-scale artificial-intelligence war in history.

The clearest expression yet of how the most powerful technologies of the twenty-first century are being folded into the machinery of violence.

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12 hours ago
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The Broligarchy's First World War? AI-guided weapons, two out-of-control authoritarians, no legal authority and a toxic mess of masculinity: welcome to the manosphere's first major conflict

"Forget Andrew Tate, this is the real manosphere. One whose edges we can’t even see because we’re living inside it," @carolecadwalla

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1 day ago
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Make It Shitty Plus: You Can Bet On Us

A slow clap for Claude, making it shitty and how to #CancelChatGPT - here’s what to read, watch and do this week citizensreunited.substack.com/p/make-it-sh...

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1 day ago
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Is this the first AI war? Artificial intelligence isn't just helping you figure out what to make for dinner. It's deciding who lives and who dies.

Anthropic is now suing the Pentagon after the US Defense Department labelled the company a “supply chain risk”.

For the bigger picture, read our latest explainer on how AI is being folded into the machinery of violence 👇

citizensreunited.substack.com/p/is-this-th...

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4 days ago
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Subscribe to Citizens Reunited Stopping the tech coup starts here. Click to read Citizens Reunited, by The Citizens, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

Artificial intelligence isn’t just helping you decide what to cook for dinner. It’s increasingly helping decide who lives and who dies.

Is this the first AI war?

📩 Our explainer lands tomorrow

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6 days ago

Such an important watch

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6 days ago
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One of the most important films of the decade.

Tonight, Ch4. Don't miss it.
www.channel4.com/programmes/m...

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6 days ago
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On Saturday we made history ✊

@pulltheplug-ai.bsky.social led the largest-ever AI protest march hit London, demanding an end to the rapid, unregulated rollout of AI by governments and Big Tech

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1 week ago
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Molly vs The Machines The film that ALL parents should see

“The genius of this film is that it takes an inherently invisible problem and makes it visible.”

Rebel Tech Alliance on why Molly vs The Machines is the most important film you'll see this year ⬇️

blog.rebeltechalliance.org/molly-vs-the...

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1 week ago
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Abuse as the buisness model As platforms face trial and AI accelerates harm, the crisis of online exploitation is exposing deeper structural failures.

Here’s why the government’s response to the crisis of online exploitation doesn’t go far enough

citizensreunited.substack.com/p/abuse-as-t...

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1 week ago

A three-month consultation launched this week could lead to a blanket social media ban for under-16s.

But @adelewalton.bsky.social warns this risks “punishing children for our failure to regulate social media platforms over the past 20 years” 👇

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1 week ago

Want to fight back against AI but don't know how?

Join @pulltheplug-ai.bsky.social's open call tomorrow to demand a say in how AI is rolled out ⬇️

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1 week ago

Subscribe to get our weekly recommendations of what to read, watch and do each week to fight back against big tech 👉 citizensreunited.substack.com/subscribe

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1 week ago
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March With Us This Weekend Plus: The Botlash Is Here!

We know. You’re tired of AI. We’re tired of AI.

But what if something better could rise from the chaos? Or in other words: Is “the ‘botlash’ movement gaining momentum?

Some good thinking from @marietjeschaake.bsky.social in our latest newsletter 👇

citizensreunited.substack.com/p/march-with...

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1 week ago

📩 The Citizens Understand exists to cut through misinformation and make opaque power legible.

Subscribe now: citizensreunited.substack.com/subscribe

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1 week ago
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Abuse as the buisness model As platforms face trial and AI accelerates harm, the crisis of online exploitation is exposing deeper structural failures.

“What young people need is the government to actually hold big tech companies to account for the harm they’re perpetuating.”

@adelewalton.bsky.social speaks to us about the potential of a blanket ban on social media for under 16s 👉 citizensreunited.substack.com/p/abuse-as-t...

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1 week ago
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Abuse as the buisness model As platforms face trial and AI accelerates harm, the crisis of online exploitation is exposing deeper structural failures.

The third edition of Citizens Understand zooms out to examine how a profitable market in sexualised youth intersects with engagement-driven platform design.

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1 week ago
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AI generating sexualised images of girls, tech giants facing trial and governments scrambling to catch up.

How in the hell did we get here? 👇

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1 week ago

We surface practical ways to turn public concern into political action every week in our newsletter.

📩 Subscribe to stay in the loop: citizensreunited.substack.com/subscribe

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1 week ago
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Meet Rayhunter: A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular Spying Rayhunter is a new open source tool we’ve created that runs off an affordable mobile hotspot that we hope empowers everyone, regardless of technical skill, to help search out cell-site simulators…

👁️ Not to be paranoid or anything, but OMG IS YOUR PHONE BEING SPIED ON!? (Probably)

From @eff.org - this new tool can tell you if you’re a victim of cellular spying 👇

www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

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1 week ago

📩 You'll be hearing more from us about it.

Subscribe to say in the loop: citizensreunited.substack.com/subscribe

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1 week ago

Molly vs. the Machines is Coming 🤖

This is one of the most important films of the decade - as it's grounded in the belief that we can still, no matter what, fight back.

🎥 Watch the trailer now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH0b...

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1 week ago

📩 We surface practical ways to turn public concern into political action every week.

Subscribe to stay in the loop: citizensreunited.substack.com/subscribe

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1 week ago
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The Big Tech Walkout 2026 Here is the full detailed programme for the Big Tech Walkout 2026 - bookmark it so you can refer back to it over the year

Wanna break up with Big Tech ? 🔌

Rebel Tech Alliance will help you do it ethically, intentionally and without dramatically throwing your phone into a river.

blog.rebeltechalliance.org/the-big-tech...

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1 week ago

Thousands of readers trust us to make sense of how power operates.

Join us ⬇️
citizensreunited.substack.com/subscribe

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1 week ago
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Abuse as the buisness model As platforms face trial and AI accelerates harm, the crisis of online exploitation is exposing deeper structural failures.

For two decades, child sexual exploitation online has largely been framed as a moderation problem. 

What if this is not a failure of enforcement but a feature of the system? 👉 citizensreunited.substack.com/p/abuse-as-t...

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1 week ago

Can’t make it? We bring together the people, ideas and actions fighting for accountable tech every week.

Make sure you’re on the list: citizensreunited.substack.com/subscribe

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1 week ago
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March With Us This Weekend Plus: The Botlash Is Here!

Plans? Want to be at the first-ever AI march in the UK, so you can tell your kids about it?

🔌 With Pull the Plug, we're taking the fight right to the Big Tech giants' office.

Join us today 👉 citizensreunited.substack.com/p/march-with...

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1 week ago
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Abuse as the buisness model As platforms face trial and AI accelerates harm, the crisis of online exploitation is exposing deeper structural failures.

As platforms face trial and AI accelerates harm, the crisis of online exploitation is exposing deeper structural failures.

citizensreunited.substack.com/p/abuse-as-t...

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