Fergus Ryan

You can’t really “turn off” the algorithm. A reverse-chronological feed is an algorithm too! The real question is who gets to choose our feeds. My argument, outlined in @CapitalBrief, is that we should be able to choose who designs the algorithms that shape our feeds.

On the 125th anniversary of Australia’s national flag, someone accidentally flew two New Zealand flags outside Parliament. (via Politico)

Has X’s Safety team published investigations into influence operations on topics that don’t affect Elon Musk’s business interests?

Extreme irony alert. This Chinese-American lawyer beat the Trump admin in court to stop the US banning WeChat. Tencent has now permanently banned his own WeChat account. youtube.com/watch?v=4bBNJZrC…

The US/Israel war on Iran hasn’t been good for JD Vance’s presidential ambitions.

In liberal democracies, “AI safety” usually means protecting people from powerful systems. In China, it increasingly means protecting the Party from people. My 12-minute Oslo Freedom Forum keynote on why Beijing’s approach to AI should worry us: youtu.be/2N7NGM5UqDY?si=cRW5…

PropagandaScope’s elite-appearance tracker is currently flagging Li Xi 李希 — a Politburo Standing Committee member & China’s top anti-corruption official — as having gone unusually long without a public appearance. Not evidence of anything on its own, just interesting to note.

The West: *creates the internet* “Try nailing THAT jello to the wall.” CCP: *nails it* The West: *creates LLMs* “Alright, try nailing THIS.” CCP: *picks up hammer*

It's nice to wake up to good news every now and then.

Israeli forces allegedly tortured a 1-year-old boy in Gaza to coerce a confession from his father.