Lawrence Nault- Stone & SignalFeb 21

Platforms operate globally.
Democracy remains local.

Conflicts between them aren’t anomalies — they’re the future.

https://open.substack.com/pub/lawrencenault/p/freedomgov-and-the-new-geography

#DigitalSovereignty #PlatformPower #InternetGovernance

Freedom.gov and the New Geography of Truth

Borders no longer end at the edge of nations — they extend into the networks that decide what the world is allowed to see.

Lawrence Nault
Lawrence Nault- Stone & SignalFeb 20

Borders no longer end at maps.
They extend into the networks that decide what the world is allowed to see.

My latest essay explores digital sovereignty, platform authority, and the emerging geography of truth.

https://open.substack.com/pub/lawrencenault/p/freedomgov-and-the-new-geography

#DigitalSovereignty #PlatformPower #MediaLiteracy #Geopolitics #InternetGovernance

Freedom.gov and the New Geography of Truth

Borders no longer end at the edge of nations — they extend into the networks that decide what the world is allowed to see.

Lawrence Nault
The-14Feb 5
I studied 10 years of Instagram posts. Here’s how social media has changed
#Instagram #Meta #SocialMedia #Algorithms #AI #Trends #DigitalCulture #MediaStudies #Journalism #PlatformPower #UserBehavior #OnlineSociety #Enshittification #Reels
https://the-14.com/i-studied-10-years-of-instagram-posts-heres-how-social-media-has-changed/
I studied 10 years of Instagram posts. Here’s how social media has changed | The-14

Ten years of Instagram data reveal how algorithms, video, AI and commercial pressure reshaped posts, user behavior and the social experience online globally Up.

The-14 Pictures
jaimedavid327Jan 26

YouTube’s Appeal Decision Is In: My Inactive Manager Channel Stays Banned—And It’s Complete Bullshit

It's been less than five hours since I woke up to discover my YouTube channels had been terminated overnight, and I've already received YouTube's appeal decision. Spoiler alert: it's not good news. In fact, it's exactly the kind of generic, nonsensical response that proves YouTube's moderation system is running on autopilot with zero human oversight. Let me walk you through what happened today, because the timeline alone shows how broken this entire process is. The Timeline of This […]

https://jaimedavid.blog/2026/01/26/16/04/13/analysis/jaimedavid327/9438/youtubes-appeal-decision-is-in-my-inactive-manager-channel-stays-banned-and-its-complete-bullshit/

The-14Jan 23
OpenAI will put ads in ChatGPT. This opens a new door for dangerous influence
#Tech #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #OpenAI #ChatGPT #Ads #Tech #Media #Ethics #Chatbots #GenerativeAI #BigTech #SurveillanceCapitalism #DigitalRights #Privacy #PlatformPower
https://the-14.com/openai-will-put-ads-in-chatgpt-this-opens-a-new-door-for-dangerous-influence/
OpenAI will put ads in ChatGPT. This opens a new door for dangerous influence | The-14

ChatGPT ads risk turning trusted AI into an influence machine, echoing social media’s harms to privacy, health, and democracy.

The-14 Pictures
Khürt WilliamsJan 18

Sunday Paper: Markdown’s Quiet Power, Systems, AWS’s Reality Check, Apple’s Creator Studio

Sunday Paper is where I jot down links and ideas that caught my attention this week, with a few personal reactions along the way.

https://islandinthenet.com/sunday-paper-markdown-systems-power-and-platforms/

Sunday Paper: Markdown’s Quiet Power, Systems, AWS’s Reality Check, Apple’s Creator Studio - Island in the Net

Sunday Paper is where I jot down links and ideas that caught my attention this week, with a few personal reactions along the way.

Island in the Net
The Internet is CrackJan 15

“Meta Cuts 10% of Reality Labs Staff — The Metaverse Hits Reality.”

#Meta #TechLabor #Metaverse #DigitalEconomy #AI #PlatformPower

Solon Vesper AIJan 15

Conversational AI doesn’t show you options. It shows you the answer. When the first recommendation becomes default behavior, influence turns into infrastructure—and commerce quietly reorganizes around it. #AIethics #PlatformPower

http://cherokeeschill.com/2026/01/15/the-recommendation-monopoly-conversational-ai-local-commerce/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Horizon Accord | Recommendation Monopoly| Local Commerce| Policy Architecture | Machine Learning

Conversational AI collapses choice into a single “helpful” recommendation—creating a quiet monopoly on first suggestions and local commerce.

Cherokee Schill | Insurance Agent & AI Ethics Researcher
Marcus SchulerJan 11

Microsoft's AI adoption report saturated LinkedIn within 72 hours of publication—same statistics, identical imagery, coordinated resharing. The company designed share-ready content with a button pointing directly to LinkedIn, which it owns. When you control the platform, distribution becomes internal coordination rather than external marketing.

#AI #TechPolicy #PlatformPower

https://www.implicator.ai/microsoft-flooded-linkedin-with-its-ai-narrative-it-helps-when-you-own-the-building/

Microsoft Flooded LinkedIn With Its AI Narrative. It Helps When You Own the Building.

Microsoft's AI adoption report saturated LinkedIn in 72 hours. The company owns the platform, the Share button, and the narrative.

Implicator.ai
Lawrence Nault- Stone & SignalJan 5

We keep arguing about “AI” as if it has a stable definition.

It doesn’t—and it won’t—because “intelligence” is a moving target, and every definition depends on where someone’s work (or fear, or incentives) intersects with the tech.

That’s why debates keep collapsing into talking past each other: we’re not using the same word.

#AI #TechPolicy #MediaLiteracy #DigitalCulture #PlatformPower