J.M. Berger

@intelwire
3K Followers
255 Following
1.3K Posts

Literally wrote the book on extremism. It's called "Extremism."

► EXTREMISM @mitpress http://amzn.to/2BKXLgU
► OPTIMAL: A dystopian novel http://amzn.to/3aKYZ99
► https://www.jmberger.com/

Commission on AMZ links

CTEC @ MIIS, PhD @ Swansea School of Law

Views mine own

Websitehttps://jmberger.com/
CTEC Profilehttps://www.middlebury.edu/institute/people/jm-berger
Authorhttps://www.amazon.com/J-M-Berger/e/B004D79QH4/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
Threadshttps://www.threads.net/@intelwire
J.M. BergerMay 8
Electronic Frontier FoundationMay 8
Transaction Denied, a new book by former EFF Activism Director Rainey Reitman from Beacon Press, asks the question: Is it ever OK for financial intermediaries to act as the arbiters of online expression? https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/former-eff-activism-directors-new-book-transaction-denied-explores-what-happens
Former EFF Activism Director's New Book, Transaction Denied, Explores What Happens When Financial Companies Act like Censors

Transaction Denied sheds new light on a serious problem that often hides in the shadows, and pushes us to ask an increasingly important question: “Is it ever OK for financial intermediaries to act as the arbiters of online expression?"

Electronic Frontier Foundation
J.M. BergerMay 8
CNNMay 8

Exclusive: Inmates describe being punished for speaking out about Ghislaine Maxwell
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/07/us/video/ebof-mj-lee-ghislaine-exclusive-maxwell-prison-special-treatment?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into US News @us-news-CNN

Exclusive: Inmates describe being punished for speaking out about Ghislaine Maxwell | CNN

Ghislaine Maxwell’s fellow inmates speak to CNN about Maxwell’s special treatment in prison and how they were punished for criticizing Maxwell. MJ Lee reports on OutFront.

CNN
J.M. BergerMay 7
404 MediaMay 7

A DHS official and another person who attended a recent conference described the plans to 404 Media.

https://www.404media.co/ice-plans-to-develop-own-smart-glasses-to-supplement-its-facial-recognition-app/

ICE Plans to Develop Own Smart Glasses to ‘Supplement’ Its Facial Recognition App

A DHS official and another person who attended a recent conference described the plans to 404 Media.

404 Media
J.M. BergerMay 7
Daryle Lamont Jenkins!May 7
https://idavox.com/index.php/2026/05/07/the-sullivans-much-love-and-rest-in-peace/
The Sullivans, Much Love and Rest in Peace

We lost Mike Sullivan in 2024 and Laura Sullivan yesterday. We want to remember what they gave us when they were here. This one hurts.

Idavox
J.M. BergerMay 5
nixCraft 🐧May 5

Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/

> No consent dialog. No opt-out UI. Re-installs itself if the user removes it manually.

That is the true definition of malware.

Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent. At a billion-device scale the climate costs are insane. — That Privacy Guy!

Google Chrome is downloading a 4 GB Gemini Nano model onto users' machines without consent, with no opt-in, no opt-out short of enterprise tooling, and an automatic re-download every time the user deletes it. The pattern is identical to the Anthropic Claude Desktop case I wrote about last month, but the scale is between two and three orders of magnitude larger. This article does the legal analysis and, for the first time, the environmental analysis. The numbers are not small.

That Privacy Guy!
J.M. BergerMay 5
New from me: It's a brave new world in the fight to contain political violence online, and all our old assumptions have been overturned. Here's a look at what we're contending with now. https://medium.com/p/b142a5afbb2a
14 Theses on Online Political Violence

The old world of content safety practices is dead, and the new one is struggling to be born.

Medium
J.M. BergerMay 5

We're less than six months out from the release of my newest novel, The Pope's Hitman! Pre-order today!

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Pope's%20Hitman

AMZ: https://amzn.to/3PERucc

Bookshop-dot-org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-pope-s-hitman-j-m-berger/f3ea38bbb927e73a?ean=9798892428514&next=t

J.M. BergerDec 5, 2024
J.M. BergerDec 5, 2024
Yesterday, @ctecmiis.bsky.social published the latest Lawful Extremism paper, by @bdaviess.bsky.social and me, examining recently passed anti-trans legislation in Florida. https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/lawful-extremism-floridas-anti-trans-laws 1/x
Lawful Extremism: Florida's Anti-Trans Laws

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
J.M. BergerDec 4, 2024
Just in time for today's Supreme Court arguments, our latest paper for CTEC is a deep dive Florida's anti-trans laws in the context of lawful extremism and how politicians seek to hide extremist intent behind the language of impartiality. By Beth Daviess and myself. https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications/lawful-extremism-floridas-anti-trans-laws
Lawful Extremism: Florida's Anti-Trans Laws

Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
J.M. BergerNov 8, 2024

On Human Nature:

I've been thinking a lot about human nature this week (and as part of my work for years before). Are people essentially good? Some weeks, many weeks, it's hard to think so.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/human-nature-j-m-berger-v8obe/?trackingId=%2BhVHOuYKTueTZg69XI6dXQ%3D%3D

On Human Nature

I've been thinking a lot about human nature this week (and as part of my work for years before). Are people essentially good? Some weeks, many weeks, it's hard to think so.