brb while I add βlegionnaire of the Antichristβ to my CV
10.10.2025 11:40 β π 7 π 0 π¬ 2 π 0@maxvonthun.bsky.social
Europe Director @openmarkets.bsky.social. Former UK Parliamentary adviser and tech policy consultant. Pro-tech, anti-monopoly.
brb while I add βlegionnaire of the Antichristβ to my CV
10.10.2025 11:40 β π 7 π 0 π¬ 2 π 0OpenAI following in the venerable tradition of aspiring monopolists complaining about today's monopolies to regulators β just as Google supported antitrust action against Microsoft in the early 2000s.
They aren't wrong though β competition enforcers are asleep at the wheel when it comes to AI.
Read of the day: Can Japan satisfy the worldβs thirst for matcha? just a great story from Harry Dempsey and @urbandirt.bsky.social reporting from Shizuoka and Uji www.ft.com/content/be14...
10.10.2025 06:10 β π 12 π 5 π¬ 1 π 4"Surging valuations of artificial intelligence companies are intensifying the risk of a -sudden correction' in global financial markets after equity prices reached levels comparable with the dotcom bubble, the Bank of England has warned." on.ft.com/4mSeT4Q
08.10.2025 11:03 β π 40 π 17 π¬ 6 π 4Tommy Robinson posted a neo-Nazi blog that accused me and my fellow Jews Jack Straw and Barbara Roche of conspiring to flood the UK with immigrants.
03.10.2025 18:59 β π 707 π 309 π¬ 32 π 8This is the rhythm of life in Gaza City, writes Mohammed al-Sawwaf: displacement after displacement, death after death, with no time for mourningβonly desperate attempts to save whoever is left.
dumb dogshit as ever
03.10.2025 18:42 β π 555 π 44 π¬ 26 π 0While the Trump administration complains about βcensorshipβ by European regulators, Google and Apple are quietly removing apps the government doesnβt like.
The hypocrisy isnβt an accident - itβs the whole point.
Is there a reason I ask that the Times are using a picture of asylum seekers in a boat to describe rules for migrants who came on legal routes such as skilled worker visas for doctors?
30.09.2025 06:08 β π 2341 π 627 π¬ 35 π 42More than half of Americans get their news regularly from Tiktok. And this has more than doubled in 5 years. Tiktok has become a key gateway to news and politics.
This makes ownership of and content on the platform even more important.
Source: @pewresearch.org
A historic failure of US government/congressional oversight has given us a dystopian world in which the biggest social media platforms are owned by Zuckerberg, Musk and this guy. Europe is right to chart a different path.
29.09.2025 04:39 β π 37 π 16 π¬ 1 π 0There's another option β enforce your rules and stop pretending that the US is still Europe's ally.
28.09.2025 09:01 β π 48 π 13 π¬ 1 π 0This is not un-related to the "rural people are inherently moral, kind, and pure, unlike those mean spiritually corrupt city folk" noble savage bullshit.
28.09.2025 07:30 β π 230 π 33 π¬ 13 π 2Boomer radicalisation is such a ln overlooked problem
28.09.2025 07:46 β π 58 π 16 π¬ 2 π 1What a totally original idea!
28.09.2025 07:56 β π 90 π 28 π¬ 24 π 0Suspect this New Statesman deep dive into the Tony Blair Institute makes the case that the correct "Economist descriptor" for the TBI is now "Oracle dealership" rather than "think tank" www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
24.09.2025 08:56 β π 75 π 43 π¬ 7 π 71/This is Transatlantic leadership! In historic move, German Chancellor Merz calls out US: βdemocracy is under pressure, freedom of expression is being questioned, and the independence of the judiciary is being repressedβ.
www.reuters.com/technology/g...
βWe studied more than 70 different elections that took place in 12 western European countries over several decades, and found that when mainstream parties take more anti-immigration positions, it leads to more support for the radical right, not less.β
27.09.2025 11:32 β π 501 π 293 π¬ 14 π 46Telling and depressing poll - both for the results and the sheer normalisation of polling 'Should people who are married to a British citizen/are working and paying taxes/have lived in the UK for over twenty years... have their permanent tight to stay removed and be deported' like a normal policy.
27.09.2025 10:26 β π 19 π 9 π¬ 2 π 0One of the best things Iβve read on the existential threat posed by the alliance between far-right populists and the tech broligarchy.
Instead of standing up for the citizens that elected them, politicians are hoodwinked by the tech bros flimsy promises of technological utopia.
on.ft.com/3WbdPy4
Great article by @megafreda.bsky.social! Thanks for the shoutout for my cloud work w/ @openmarkets.bsky.social (w/ @maxvonthun.bsky.social and @danielahanley.bsky.social)
26.09.2025 19:03 β π 5 π 4 π¬ 0 π 0NEW: @maxvonthun.bsky.social and Claire Lavin (@openmarkets.bsky.social) argue that the European Commission must revise its merger guidelines to emphasize how competition policy can protect goals beyond prices, including innovation, security, and democracy.
25.09.2025 14:00 β π 5 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0Funnyβ¦
I remember when they promised Brexit would do that.
"Rightwing populists all over Europe want to destroy the ability of the UK and the EU to regulate large tech platforms β a move that might threaten their disinformation campaigns with genuine political debate."
@ranaforoohar.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/62b1...
βpeople with lower AI literacy are typically more receptive to AI,"
"people with lower AI literacy are more likely to perceive AI as magical and experience feelings of awe in the face of AI's execution of tasks that seem to require uniquely human attributes."
futurism.com/more-people-...
One of the weaknesses of modern liberalism is not realising this and so not using state power in a responsible way to regulate companies.
07.09.2025 11:23 β π 282 π 59 π¬ 10 π 2When centrists adopt far-right rhetoric, they donβt make themselves stronger. They make themselves look inauthentic, legitimise the far right, and shift the political debate onto terrain defined by their opponents.
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
While it's disappointing that the Commission didn't announce a structural remedy today, it's encouraging to see that it's still very much on the table.
05.09.2025 15:46 β π 5 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0This might sound like a lot of money, but Google has already been fined over β¬8 billion in the EU, and remains as dominant as ever. Until a few weeks ago, the Commission was convinced that a break up was the only viable path to dismantling Google's adtech monopoly - and that remains true.
05.09.2025 15:39 β π 4 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0