Notices by Malte Engeler (malteengeler@legal.social)

There is no benevolent capitalist.
There is no ethical capitalist.
There is no value-driven capitalist.
It's socialism or this.

Liebe alle,

ich suche Bücher für 11 bis 13-jährige Mädchen zum Thema Feminismus, die kein White libfem Zeug sind.

Habt ihr Tipps?

Every time individual violence erupts we hear the same reactions: "Violence is never an answer or a solution. We have to debate civilly about our collective issues etc". It's the safe thing to say.

It's also lazy. Systemic violence exists. It is invisible but shows its face when health care is denied, hate speech is safeguarded by "free speech" and police violence is justified as "law and order".

If you say "violence is not the answer" at least admit that you are fine with systemic violence.

"I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater. I am not here to make a careful comprehensive argument, because people have already done that. I will not be polite. The machine is disgusting and we should break it."

This. Just this.

https://anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/haterdom/2025/08/26/i-am-an-ai-hater.html

Bluesky shut down service in Mississippi in order to not comply with federal age verification requirementsand. Bluesky also calls for better regulation that is more friendly to corporations.

https://archive.ph/ToYsz#selection-697.21-697.32

To those who now celebrate the decentralized nature of the Fediverse: I would be interested how you navigate this issue? I'd agree that age verification has enormous downsides. Yet, how would you expect "good regulation" being enforced on Mastodon?

"Ein Protest-Camp gegen Rheinmetall in Köln darf nun doch stattfinden. Das hat das nordrhein-westfälische Oberverwaltungsgericht (OVG) in Münster entschieden und damit eine Entscheidung der Polizei Köln und des Verwaltungsgerichts Köln gekippt. Die Behörden hatten das Camp mit dem Titel «Rheinmetall entwaffnen» verboten – und das Verwaltungsgericht hatte dieses Verbot für rechtmäßig erklärt. Das sei rechtswidrig, befand nun das OVG."

https://www.zeit.de/news/2025-08/23/gericht-kippt-verbot-fuer-protest-camp-gegen-rheinmetall

Analysing technology based on speeches and papers of leading tech executives is a common approach. It is also deeply problematic. As E. Morozov said: "One problem with such discourse-based analysis is that it is prone to detect novelty where none might exist."

https://thebaffler.com/latest/capitalisms-new-clothes-morozov

That is something I learned from Luddites like B. Merchant and J. Sadowsky: Don't analyse the promises. Analyse the social functions of technology.

As someone who just read up on left-wing accelerationism I find the connection to capitalisms "total mobilisation" around so-called "AI" very fitting.

And yet, it was @danmcquillan (while talking to @parismarx) who connected these dots for me.

"AI" totalitarianism is nothing exclusive to tech bros or neoliberal VCs. It has also and regrettably captured the imagination of many on the left.

https://techwontsave.us/episode/286_decomputing_for_a_better_future_w_dan_mcquillan

Speaking from experience: Taking a risk by calling things out can be a very isolating experience. Don't applaud people that do. Do as they did: Take a risk, speak up, call shit out.

Because the more people do so, the less risk everyone has to take. And eventually what was once daring to say has moved into the realm of ordinary again.

"Reliance on AI systems for brainstorming significantly reduced the diversity of ideas produced, which is a crucial element for creative breakthroughs. The systems tend to converge toward a predictable middle rather than exploring unconventional possibilities at the edges. [...] AI systems are most closely aligned with the values and worldviews of wealthy, English-speaking nations. This inherent bias constrains the diversity of ideas these systems can generate."

https://theconversation.com/is-ai-sparking-a-cognitive-revolution-that-will-lead-to-mediocrity-and-conformity-256940

@anneroth "souverän"

"My family is fleeing the country. [...] It is only a matter of time before Trump and Elon take this next step. Once they have consolidated their power at the federal level, and once their regime is secure enough that public outrage cannot threaten it, they will be free to defy the courts as much as they want. I give it less than six months before we reach that point."

https://www.damemagazine.com/2025/04/29/why-i-am-leaving-the-usa/

This could be a moment of uproar against the catholic church but it's a moment of dutiful obedience.

That even progressive voices feel obligated to voice ambiguous praise for a not-as-terrible-pope says little about how okay-ish the pope was and a lot about how afraid we are to speak truth to this violent and oppressive institution (and the far-right alliances it is part of).

This is not respect. It's fear of being outside public expectations.

The capacity for civil disobedience does not magicially form when needed. It has to be nourished and trained with daily acts of resistance. Speak up, be in the way, be the uncomfortable person in the room.

Yesterday I was invited to speak for the @AfDVerbotJetzt campaign at the "Good Night Far Right" conference of @rosaluxstiftung.

It was humbling.

Also on the panel were brave humans from Greece, Peru and Brasil who shared strategies and learings from their fights against their regions flavor of the extreme right.

What stuck with me is how fundemental this well known and ofter repeated truth ist:

DO NOT OBEY IN ADVANCE!

"Die Federführung und die Aufsicht über die Wirtschaft soll beim Bund angesiedelt werden. Die bislang für den Datenschutz zuständige Behörde "Bundesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit (BfDI)" soll umbenannt werden in "Beauftragte für Datennutzung."

Hey Zivilgesellschaft, some opposition please 👀

https://www.lto.de/recht/hintergruende/h/koalitionsverhandlungen-digitales-datenschutz-ki-digital-ministerium

I see some of you starting to type something like

"But Malte, in the EU we have value-based regulation like GDPR and DSA. Our Big Tech would be much friendlier than THOSE americans."

I'll tell you a secret: We only have GDPR, DSA etc because it's foreign Big Tech. If it were European corporations digitally dominating the globe our regulation would be as tame as those in the US.

If your criticism of "big tech" is merely a result of the unhappiness about the fact that Meta, Google and Microsoft aren't EU-corporations you are missing the point.

There is nothing that indicates that SAP or Deutsche Telekom would hesitate a second at the chance of becoming the equally violent and exploitive forces.

The solution to Big Tech isn't EU Big Tech. It's de-commercialisation and democratization of tech.

Wann? WANN um alles in der Welt ist aus "Robin Hood" eine Abwertung geworden?

"Vor die Wahl gestellt zwischen Unordnung und Unrecht, entscheidet sich der Deutsche für das Unrecht."
(Goethe)