Notices by Dan Gillmor (dangillmor@mastodon.social), page 4

Yet another reminder that when it comes to data privacy, Microsoft cannot be trusted -- and, worse, its management is an eager ally of the fascists who run our government.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/23/microsoft-gave-fbi-a-set-of-bitlocker-encryption-keys-to-unlock-suspects-laptops-reports/

Trump's secret police says it will invade your home without a judge-signed warrant. https://apnews.com/article/ice-arrests-warrants-minneapolis-trump-00d0ab0338e82341fd91b160758aeb2d

Any doubt that the corrupt Roberts court will rubber-stamp this?

(Never mind Congress, where the majority party utterly loathes the Bill of Rights, except the Second Amendment.)

So-called "mainstream" (legacy) journalism is so mired in cowardice and irrelevant tradition that even now it refuses to call things what they are. That's why we so desperately need to follow the work of people like Garrett Graff. Example:

https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-101-how-trump-changed-ice-and-cbp-into-a-fascist-secret-police

Mozilla is asking for your opinion about what it's doing, and the survey appears to be aimed at getting you used to the idea that "AI" will become an integral focus area.

I told them that I want Mozilla to focus SOLELY on improving Firefox and Thunderbird, with zero AI in the product.

https://mozillafoundation.tfaforms.net/201

All corruption, all the time in Trump world, Exhibit 64,704:

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/17/business/trump-financial-disclosure-netflix-warner-bros

And as usual, Big Journalism tiptoes around it, using the standard "concerns" and "raises questions" hedges to avoid stating the blatantly obvious reality. Pathetic, but that's the norm.

US Big Tech is conspiring with European (and American) fascists to wreck the EU's ability to even modestly regulate this rogue industry, which has unparalleled -- and growing -- power over people's lives.

Fascism and tech are an unholy, and maybe unstoppable, alliance.

https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1916422/us-tech-giants-allying-with-european-far-right-to-strip-back-eu-rules

We need to stop calling techlords like Mark Zuckerberg (and Tim Cook, et al) "cowards" for their nuzzling up to Trump.

Call them what they are: supporters of America's metastasizing fascism. And for god's sake, stop supporting their businesses.

https://apnews.com/article/meta-dina-powell-mccormick-trump-adviser-bce6b207f1754284f9b922b0ea8ec7bf

Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic) implores non-US governments to understand that they can fight Trump's wave of economic destruction -- and help average Americans in the process -- by repealing insane laws that enforce technology lock-in and reward Big Tech:

See this in the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/10/trump-beginning-of-end-enshittification-make-tech-good-again

"We are far past the stage of permissiveness with white-supremacist violence inside DHS. We are at the stage of active, enthusiastic commission of it."

Big Journalism doesn't get it, because it doesn't want to. So we have to rely on independent reporting that does.

https://www.forever-wars.com/either-ice-is-abolished-or-it-will-kill-many-more-renee-goods/?ref=forever-wars-newsletter

"Ponzi America is breaking down. It's run out of suckers." -- Cory Doctorow

https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/08/after-the-moneys-gone/

This New York Times video journalism -- caution, it's graphic -- about Trump goons' murder of a Minneapolis woman is essential. No both-sides bullshit when one party -- the regime and its vile propagandists -- is relentlessly and provably lying.

I'm often hard on the Times for its relentless failures to properly cover this regime, but this piece is the real thing.

https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010631041/minneapolis-ice-shooting-video.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

One of our most important tasks in saving American democracy is to help the wider public understand this: When the Trump regime's masked immigration thugs injure or kill people, as is becoming more common, government statements about what happened are likely to be lies.

https://www.404media.co/dhs-is-lying-to-you-about-ice-shooting-a-woman/

Trump's deranged Christmas message is a reminder that if you put Dear Leader into a room with decency, you'd get a matter-antimatter explosion.

Trump, Musk, Rubio, and their henchmen destroyed USAID -- directly causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, mostly children. The apparatchiks celebrated while bosses lied about what they'd done.

I can't overstate my incandescent rage at these monstrous people.

https://www.propublica.org/article/usaid-cholera-deaths-trump-humanitarian-aid-cuts-south-sudan

#pitchforks

O hive mind: Can you point me to 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organizations that are explaining the depth and breadth of Trump world corruption? The "mainstream" press is doing such an abysmal job on this, and I want to donate to journalists who get why this is so important to flag for public notice.

Trump regime wants to force ALL visitors to the U.S. to install government-controlled spyware on their phones, and submit detailed personal data -- even DNA, apparently -- to the authorities.

(If they're trying to wreck tourism, including the World Cup, this is the way.)

https://papersplease.org/wp/2025/12/10/cbp-wants-all-visitors-to-install-and-use-its-smartphone-app/

“I understand I’m just an independent developer—the kind of person Google doesn’t care about" -- developer whose accounts were wiped by Google for what the company later, but only after being contacted by a journalist, admitted was an unfounded, machine-decided "violation".

https://www.404media.co/a-developer-accidentally-found-csam-in-ai-data-google-banned-him-for-it/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter&attribution_id=6939854c7ce61e0001620dc5&attribution_type=post

All corruption, all the time in Trump world. Trump's sons (including/especially the youngest) helped get one of most vile people on the planet out of legal trouble. Fine NYT reporting here:

https://archive.md/uAYtL

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo has posted one of his most important pieces, in which he brings historical context to the ascendance -- and profound malignity -- of the ultra-wealthy who are on the verge of destroying us. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/will-the-21st-century-nabobs-win-their-war-on-public-accountability/sharetoken/aa705d17-c630-40b7-bba9-752e489e3638

#pitchforks

For those who fret about the future of CNN under Ellison/Saudi/Trump or as a Netflix spin-off, the channel's deal with a Trump-connected online betting operation gives you a sense of CNN's commitment to honorable news coverage. It leaves me with increasing doubt.

https://news.kalshi.com/p/kalshi-cnn-prediction-market-partnership