Sam Riddell

This is what government censorship actually looks like: defunding entire fields, deporting researchers, and quite effectively chilling speech that helps people understand how our information systems are being exploited and calls out powerful people and platforms for their bullshit.

I often struggle with whether or how to post because this all seems so very obvious, and I question whether there is anyone left to convince. But alas, saying something is surely better than nothing, so here we are. Please speak up when you can. I’ll try to too.

I think a lot of Americans are waiting for the big red line to be crossed while we boil like frogs in a pot. To that end, consider this quote from a recent interview of Gary Kasparov on lessons from the Russian slide into autocracy youtu.be/fuyGEiqEj08?...:

I’ll be honest. I was, and am, nervous about posting this. And that tells me that we are already in a very troubling place. Ask yourself - if we can no longer express opinions and attend protests without fear of retribution, are we really free? Self-censorship is the first step and we must fight it.

… replacement of professional reporters with political sycophants in the WH and Pentagon Press pools, rejecting visas and employment for those with anti-Trump opinions, targeting of universities, surveillance of protestors, Kimmel, J6, declaring unemployment data fake, the list goes on…

Media Offenders Explore the Media Bias Tracker that fact checks and holds Fake News accountable. False claims debunked, Hall of Shame for serial offenders, Leaderboard of networks ranked by Repeated Lies. Stay inform...

This is just one action in a larger pattern of this administration clearly moving to limit free speech and dissenting opinion in a real and serious way: The White House’s creation of the “Media Offenders” website this week (www.whitehouse.gov/mediabias/), the EOs on “domestic terrorism” and antifa,

This is a group people I’ve found to be deeply and passionately dedicated to free speech and democracy. The completely disingenuous labeling of this group as “censors” would be laughable if its motives weren’t so transparently disturbing: A monopoly on what constitutes “truth” by one man.

Do your mental health a favor and turn this on for today. You really don't want to watch this. It is awful.

“Impact” of IO is notoriously hard to measure. The Breakout Scale, from @benimmo.bsky.social, continues to be one of the best tools for doing so. This one is a great example of a “Category 5” op, if the attribution to Overload/Matryoshka is indeed correct.

Since leaving Twitter in 2022 for now-obvious reasons, I've hesitated to migrate elsewhere. It now seems that Bluesky is heir-apparent, so you'll find me here posting more actively again. I hope to add value where I can on a limited # of topics, and shut up on everything else. Here goes!

Objectivity is a muscle that must be trained and is rarely emotionally satisfying. Yet, doggedly resisting our own biases in pursuit of truth is one of the most important things that can be done as observers and analysts in times of war.

Thanks, Gavin. Let's give it a whirl...