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720 results for “techcelt”
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"The unit is engaged in the same kind of AI work that the world’s biggest tech companies, like Google, Facebook and China’s Baidu are doing in a race to apply machine learning to such functions as self-driving cars, analysis of salespeople’s telephone pitches and cybersecurity — or to fight Israel’s next war more intelligently."
“I’ve always loved algorithms. I was already involved with them in high school and worked in the field. When I [was] drafted I wanted to combine the technology with a combat,” Maj. Sefi Cohen, 34, recalls.
The unit’s only female member left recently. so for the moment it’s an all-male team. Cohen says: “Everyone who’s here is the tops.”
"Tiny IDF Unit Is Brains Behind Israeli Army Artificial Intelligence", Haaretz, 2017: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-08-15/ty-article/tiny-idf-unit-is-brains-behind-israeli-army-artificial-intelligence/0000017f-e35b-d7b2-a77f-e35fc8f40000
#startups #StartupNation #successStory #masculinity #manhood #manliness #force #patriarchy #elite #segregation #history #data #analytics #planning #C4I #ES2 #IDI #IDF #Habsora #merit #tech #techCulture #AI #sociology
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"The unit is engaged in the same kind of AI work that the world’s biggest tech companies, like Google, Facebook and China’s Baidu are doing in a race to apply machine learning to such functions as self-driving cars, analysis of salespeople’s telephone pitches and cybersecurity — or to fight Israel’s next war more intelligently."
“I’ve always loved algorithms. I was already involved with them in high school and worked in the field. When I [was] drafted I wanted to combine the technology with a combat,” Maj. Sefi Cohen, 34, recalls.
The unit’s only female member left recently. so for the moment it’s an all-male team. Cohen says: “Everyone who’s here is the tops.”
"Tiny IDF Unit Is Brains Behind Israeli Army Artificial Intelligence", Haaretz, 2017: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-08-15/ty-article/tiny-idf-unit-is-brains-behind-israeli-army-artificial-intelligence/0000017f-e35b-d7b2-a77f-e35fc8f40000
#startups #StartupNation #successStory #masculinity #manhood #manliness #force #patriarchy #elite #segregation #history #data #analytics #planning #C4I #ES2 #IDI #IDF #Habsora #merit #tech #techCulture #AI #sociology
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"The unit is engaged in the same kind of AI work that the world’s biggest tech companies, like Google, Facebook and China’s Baidu are doing in a race to apply machine learning to such functions as self-driving cars, analysis of salespeople’s telephone pitches and cybersecurity — or to fight Israel’s next war more intelligently."
“I’ve always loved algorithms. I was already involved with them in high school and worked in the field. When I [was] drafted I wanted to combine the technology with a combat,” Maj. Sefi Cohen, 34, recalls.
The unit’s only female member left recently. so for the moment it’s an all-male team. Cohen says: “Everyone who’s here is the tops.”
"Tiny IDF Unit Is Brains Behind Israeli Army Artificial Intelligence", Haaretz, 2017: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-08-15/ty-article/tiny-idf-unit-is-brains-behind-israeli-army-artificial-intelligence/0000017f-e35b-d7b2-a77f-e35fc8f40000
#startups #StartupNation #successStory #masculinity #manhood #manliness #force #patriarchy #elite #segregation #history #data #analytics #planning #C4I #ES2 #IDI #IDF #Habsora #merit #tech #techCulture #AI #sociology
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"The unit is engaged in the same kind of AI work that the world’s biggest tech companies, like Google, Facebook and China’s Baidu are doing in a race to apply machine learning to such functions as self-driving cars, analysis of salespeople’s telephone pitches and cybersecurity — or to fight Israel’s next war more intelligently."
“I’ve always loved algorithms. I was already involved with them in high school and worked in the field. When I [was] drafted I wanted to combine the technology with a combat,” Maj. Sefi Cohen, 34, recalls.
The unit’s only female member left recently. so for the moment it’s an all-male team. Cohen says: “Everyone who’s here is the tops.”
"Tiny IDF Unit Is Brains Behind Israeli Army Artificial Intelligence", Haaretz, 2017: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-08-15/ty-article/tiny-idf-unit-is-brains-behind-israeli-army-artificial-intelligence/0000017f-e35b-d7b2-a77f-e35fc8f40000
#startups #StartupNation #successStory #masculinity #manhood #manliness #force #patriarchy #elite #segregation #history #data #analytics #planning #C4I #ES2 #IDI #IDF #Habsora #merit #tech #techCulture #AI #sociology
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What a wonderful trip down memory lane!
I think my family got #MNet very soon after it launched. If not 1987, then 1988 at the latest. And I remember that first decoder.
I think even after #Dstv launched, we stuck with "just M-Net" for a while.
Love them or hate them, #Multichoice definitely had a huge impact on #television in this country.
https://techcentral.co.za/all-the-decoders-made-by-m-net-and-dstv/236172/?utm_source=Mastodon
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What a wonderful trip down memory lane!
I think my family got #MNet very soon after it launched. If not 1987, then 1988 at the latest. And I remember that first decoder.
I think even after #Dstv launched, we stuck with "just M-Net" for a while.
Love them or hate them, #Multichoice definitely had a huge impact on #television in this country.
https://techcentral.co.za/all-the-decoders-made-by-m-net-and-dstv/236172/?utm_source=Mastodon
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What a wonderful trip down memory lane!
I think my family got #MNet very soon after it launched. If not 1987, then 1988 at the latest. And I remember that first decoder.
I think even after #Dstv launched, we stuck with "just M-Net" for a while.
Love them or hate them, #Multichoice definitely had a huge impact on #television in this country.
https://techcentral.co.za/all-the-decoders-made-by-m-net-and-dstv/236172/?utm_source=Mastodon
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What a wonderful trip down memory lane!
I think my family got #MNet very soon after it launched. If not 1987, then 1988 at the latest. And I remember that first decoder.
I think even after #Dstv launched, we stuck with "just M-Net" for a while.
Love them or hate them, #Multichoice definitely had a huge impact on #television in this country.
https://techcentral.co.za/all-the-decoders-made-by-m-net-and-dstv/236172/?utm_source=Mastodon
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Temu Is Burning Cash to Challenge Shein and Amazon on Black Friday - Reports show Temu is growing faster than even its owners expected, but it’s still losing ... - https://www.wired.com/story/temu-is-burning-cash-to-challenge-shein-and-amazon-on-black-friday/ #business/techculture #biggestloser #business
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“If you're not a little scared about the country, there’s something wrong with you, because the trajectory is not good at all. We are governed by guys in their late 60s and some in their 70s with no idea about how the world works.” #VoetsekANC #VoetsekEFF #VoetsekPA
https://techcentral.co.za/ditch-useless-politicians-top-ceo-urges/234265/ -
“If you're not a little scared about the country, there’s something wrong with you, because the trajectory is not good at all. We are governed by guys in their late 60s and some in their 70s with no idea about how the world works.” #VoetsekANC #VoetsekEFF #VoetsekPA
https://techcentral.co.za/ditch-useless-politicians-top-ceo-urges/234265/ -
“If you're not a little scared about the country, there’s something wrong with you, because the trajectory is not good at all. We are governed by guys in their late 60s and some in their 70s with no idea about how the world works.” #VoetsekANC #VoetsekEFF #VoetsekPA
https://techcentral.co.za/ditch-useless-politicians-top-ceo-urges/234265/ -
“If you're not a little scared about the country, there’s something wrong with you, because the trajectory is not good at all. We are governed by guys in their late 60s and some in their 70s with no idea about how the world works.” #VoetsekANC #VoetsekEFF #VoetsekPA
https://techcentral.co.za/ditch-useless-politicians-top-ceo-urges/234265/ -
Grindr’s Return to Office Ultimatum Has Gutted a Uniquely Queer Space in Tech - Two weeks after staff at queer dating app Grindr unionized, bosses ordered employees back... - https://www.wired.com/story/grindrs-return-to-office-ultimatum-gutted-a-uniquely-queer-space-in-tech/ #business/techculture #situationship #business
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It's Terrifying that this has to be a thing
National Center for Missing and Exploited #Children #NCMEC teamed up with #META, #PornHub, #OnlyFans, others, where you can hash your own #underage #porn/sexualized images, and provide the hashes to Take It Down and they will pull images with those hashes
This does likely also prove the provenance of your own images, which is also terrifying and will in no way come back to bite you ever
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/02/meta-pornhub-let-teens-block-uploads-of-nude-images-to-prevent-sextortion/ #TakeItDown #Culture #tech #techculture
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The Year the NFT Died and Came Back to Life - The market for non-fungible tokens took a nosedive this year. Now, die-hard evangelists t... - https://www.wired.com/story/the-year-the-nft-died-and-came-back-to-life/ #business/blockchainandcryptocurrency #business/techculture #bounceback #business
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Big Tech Laid Off Thousands. Here’s Who Wants Them Next - Governments, nonprofits, and small startups hope to scoop up people let go by the likes o... - https://www.wired.com/story/big-tech-layoffs-hiring/ #business/techculture #business/startups #werehiring #business
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Hi there, happy to see you on the Fediverse! Interested in free and open source software or hardware, open standards etc? NGI Zero helps support digital commons through grants with low overhead. Our crew of @nlnet, @techcultivation, @fsfe @APC, #RadicallyOpenSecurity, #NixOS et al funds and supports amazing projects like @pixelfed, @interpeer, @Castopod, and many more)... Check out https://nlnet.nl/entrust & https://nlnet.nl/NGI0 - and help make the internet a better place!
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Despite Big Layoffs, Tech Workers Are Still in Demand - Tens of thousands of job cuts have rocked the industry, but unemployment among tech worke... - https://www.wired.com/story/despite-big-layoffs-meta-twitter-stripe-tech-workers-are-still-in-demand/ #business/techculture #weatherthestorm #business
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Fintech in Latin America and Africa Is Breaking the Mold - The US and Europe can learn a lot from startups that are nimbler, more digitized, and pot... - https://www.wired.com/story/fintech-latin-america-banking-opportunities/ #business/techculture #business/startups #moneymoves #business
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CSIR free online conference to showcase best of science and technology in South Africa taking place on 11 and 12 Nov 2020
The two-day virtual conference, held under the theme “Touching lives through innovation” is a myriad conversations between CSIR researchers, and government and industry representatives. The first day of the conference will be jam-packed with exciting discussions and technology demonstrations. It brings a range of interviews, virtual tours, webinars and talks by local and international experts, in fields ranging from health, advanced agriculture and food, and manufacturing, to mining, defence, energy and many more.
The experts will, among other things, look at how the fourth Industrial Revolution and small businesses can help South Africa’s economic recovery.
More info at CSIR conference to showcase best of science and technology in South Africa - TechCentralhttps://techcentral.co.za/csir-to-showcase-best-of-science-and-technology-in-south-africa-csiprom/102656/ https://squeet.me/objects/962c3e108c3412a816fd841082b6c65c9281f1d5
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Big changes coming to WhatsApp, including in-app purchases - NOW is a good time to install alternative messengers so your friends can move away from Whatsapp
Many folks have left Facebook already because of how they cluttered it up with apps, now dating services, and all sorts of other crud, not to mention of course selling our data. We've known for a long time that Whatsapp (and Instagram) is heading the same way.
Do yourself a favour and install some alternative messengers such as Signal, Telegram, or Threema just so you are not the one holding your friends and family back who want to move away from Whatsapp. Modern phones are easily capable of running multiple messengers at the same time and there is no reason to only be on Whatsapp.
See Big changes coming to WhatsApp, including in-app purchases - TechCentralhttps://techcentral.co.za/big-changes-coming-to-whatsapp-including-in-app-purchases/102274/ https://squeet.me/objects/962c3e1005a807ee7725fe5d0cf3e30fc8c14a07
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No More Deals: San Francisco Considers Raising Taxes on Tech In 2011, San Francisco cut taxes to lure tech firms. Eight years later, gaping income inequality has city officials looking for ways to get tech to pay its share. https://www.wired.com/story/no-more-deals-san-francisco-considers-raising-taxes-tech #Business/TechCulture #SanFrancisco #Business #TechBiz #Taxes #IPOs #Uber #Lyft
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TED 2019: I Promise Not to Roll My Eyes at Your TED Talk When cynicism and ironic detachment are the dominant modes of social discourse, it can feel frankly transgressive to earnestly celebrate passionate people who are trying to change the world. https://www.wired.com/story/ted-2019-promise-not-to-roll-eyes #Business/TechCulture #tedconference #Business #TED
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Destroying Autocracy – July 24, 2025
Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.
It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.
DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.
FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.
Featured Item
TechDirt writes:
Over the last year or so I’ve seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train.
Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who didn’t really surprise anyone—Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Elon Musk (pre-fallout)—but the more troubling trend has been watching younger entrepreneurs and VCs listen to their podcasts, read their posts and books, and slowly nod along to the idea that democracy is holding back innovation.
Fascism For First Time Founders
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
BleepingComputer reports:
Ukraine arrests suspected admin of XSS Russian hacking forum
Radio Free Europe reports:
Drone Attacks Even The Odds For Ukrainian Frontline Units
BitDefender reports:
Europol targets Kremlin-backed cybercrime gang NoName057(16)
Bruce Lawson reports:
CMA designates Google and Apple, proposes measures
TechCentral reports:
Italy takes Meta, X and LinkedIn to court over unpaid tax
404 Media reports:
Hacker Plants Computer ‘Wiping’ Commands in Amazon’s AI Coding Agent
Archivists Recreate Pre-Trump CDC Website, Are Hosting It in Europe
The Register reports:
Radio geeks reveal how to access crucial hurricane data after US Department of Defense cut it off
The Register reports:
AI data-suckers would have to ask permission first under new bill
Laptop farmer behind $17M North Korean IT worker scam locked up for 8.5 years
TechPolicy reports:
The Case for Europe’s Backing of Digital Civil Society Groups
Open_Future shares:
Licensing, Levies, and the Limits of Copyright
Open Forum Europe announces:
DarkReading reports:
Stop AI Bot Traffic: Protecting Your Organization’s Website
Speaking of your websites, LocalGhost has:
This page is under construction: a love letter to the personal website
Hamish Campbell has:
The Open Media Network: More Than Just a Tech Project
This is what your site could be a part of.
Neutral
TechPolicy reports:
Brazil Has a Bridge to Defending the Internet
The Financial Times:
UK government seeks way out of clash with US over Apple encryption
When you have three sets of c^nts involved, it’s hard to know who to route for.
TechPolicy opines:
Enforcement of EU’s Tech Laws Should Not Be Traded Away
And they are right.
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
So-called newspaper, The Wall Street Journal reports:
White House Prepares Executive Order Targeting ‘Woke AI’
MIT Technology Review reports:
America’s AI watchdog is losing its bite
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Axon’s Draft One is Designed to Defy Transparency
EuroNews reports:
UK online legislation could threaten Wikipedia volunteer safety, group to argue in court
Pariah States
The Register reports:
UK uncovers novel Microsoft snooping malware, blames and sanctions GRU cyberspies
Silicon Valley engineer admits theft of US missile tech secrets
Four new Android spyware samples linked to Iran’s intel agency
TechCrunch reports:
A surveillance vendor was caught exploiting a new SS7 attack to track people’s phone locations
Hackers exploiting SharePoint zero-day seen targeting government agencies
BleepingComputer reports:
Microsoft links Sharepoint ToolShell attacks to Chinese hackers
Big Media
Today in Tabs reports:
Billionaires Destroyed American News Media On Purpose
Mother Jones reports:
Colbert’s Cancellation Is a Dark Warning
Akademie shares:
Investigating AI datasets: A journalist’s guide
Big Tech
Where’s Your ‘Ed shares:
The Hater’s Guide To The AI Bubble
🙂
The Next Web reports:
ChatGPT advises women to ask for lower salaries, study finds
404 Media reports:
A Startup is Selling Data Hacked from Peoples’ Computers to Debt Collectors
Spotify Publishes AI-Generated Songs From Dead Artists Without Permission
Google’s AI Is Destroying Search, the Internet, and Your Brain
Grindr Won’t Let Users Say ‘No Zionists’
EuroNews reports:
Meta ran ads that fundraised for Israeli Defence Forces, analysis shows
Meta won’t sign EU’s AI Code, but who will?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism and Mass Surveillance
Ars Technica reports:
Researcher threatens X with lawsuit after falsely linking him to French probe
xAI workers balked over training request to help “give Grok a face,” docs show
TechCrunch reports:
Microsoft says it will no longer use engineers in China for Department of Defense work
For privacy and security, think twice before granting AI access to your personal data
Terror
The Register reports:
IRL Com recruits teens for real-life stabbings, shootings, FBI warns
Cybersecurity/Privacy
TechCrunch reports:
Serial spyware founder Scott Zuckerman wants the FTC to unban him from the surveillance industry
BleepingComputer reports:
CISA and FBI warn of escalating Interlock ransomware attacks
DarkReading reports:
Translating Cyber-Risk for the Boardroom
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Fediverse Report – #126 July 22, 2025
Bonfire is:
Exploring a Bonfire Geosocial Extension
MarkWrites reflects on:
Mastodon announces:
If you are on the Fediverse please donate to your instance’s maintainers. Especially if they ask nicely.
Aphyr opines:
The Future of Forums is Lies, I Guess
Fediverse favorite, Elena Rossini shares:
The Future is Federated: Year 2
ActivityPub for WordPress has an update:
We Distribute has details:
WordPress-ActivityPub v 7.1.0 Introduces Following Capabilities
Randall Black show us:
How to Install and Set Up Castopod for Your Podcast
TechCrunch reports:
Threads adds improved content performance metrics for creators
Slightly Federated Social Media
The Register reports:
Selling your digital soul to use Bluesky’s DMs isn’t just a bad idea, it’s the law
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
- Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse#126 #ActivityPub #AI #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Castopod #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WordPress
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Multichoice, the owner of #SuperSport in #SouthAfrica, which is the single biggest broadcaster of #sport in the country -- if not the continent -- sublicenses some content to the state broadcaster, the SABC.
However, it includes a clause in that sublicensing agreement that prevents the SABC from showing the content when broadcast over #OpenView, which is the only other satellite TV provider in the country.
The #SABC can broadcast that content over its terrestrial or digital networks, and on its own streaming service, but not over Openview.
This first garnered widespread attention during last year's rugby world cup, when, after getting all excited about the fact non-SuperSport subscribers would be able to see the South African games, we realised that we couldn't watch them on Openview.
Openview took #Multichoice to court over that, and now it seems like they're starting to get some relief....
https://techcentral.co.za/bloody-nose-multichoice-sports-fight/242956/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
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The latest edition in the Forza Motorsport series, which will be released on Xbox Game Pass and through Steam later this year, will launch with 20 “environments”, rebuilt for the new generation of Xbox consoles, and multiple track layouts.
The decision to include Kyalami in the game’s list of racetracks for the first time comes as South African motorsport fans get excited about the possibility of the country playing host to a Formula One race, possibly as soon as 2024.
“Cars have context-aware damage and dirt build-up that is authentic and unique for each vehicle in the game. We’re simulating paint thickness, chipping and directionality of damage, while layering dirt so it accumulates in a realistic manner in low-pressure areas like recesses and alcoves,” Microsoft said.
Kyalami has though long been on Assetto Corsa Competizione, as I clocked my fastest lap time there of 1 minute 48.288 seconds in a Ferrari 488 GT3.
See Top racing game Forza Motorsport to feature Kyalami racetrack - TechCentral
#technology #esports #kyalami #SouthAfrica #ForzaMotorsportForza Motorsport, a top racing game on Xbox and PC published by Microsoft Game Studios, is getting a familiar racetrack – to South Africans, anyway.
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The “data-free” messaging app MoyaApp, which already has six million active monthly users in South Africa, is working hard to become as big as WhatsApp in the country.
When an app or website is #datafree it means NO DATA is taken from your airtime or data bundle balance. Apart from instant and group chat, you can read news, get live soccer scores, browse Wikipedia, check the weather, communicate with government services and much more.
Lentell talks about the history of MoyaApp, how it’s able to offer “data-free” messaging to people who don’t have data or airtime, and why he believes this is a winning proposition in a country where Meta Platforms-owned WhatsApp has become entrenched.
Listen to the podcast at TC|Daily | How MoyaApp is taking on WhatsApp, and winning
#technology #SouthAfrica #datafree #MoyaApp #instantmessengerMoyaApp, with six million active monthly users in South Africa, is working hard to become as big as WhatsApp in the country, its founder tells TechCentral.
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If There's a Nazi at Your Bar, It's a Nazi Bar
Summary: I found out Substack isn't just tolerating extremism—it's literally hosting Nazi newsletters. So I'm out. Here's why you should care.
"If there are nine people sitting at a table and a Nazi sits down, and nobody gets up, there are ten Nazis at the table." – Unknown
When people first started saying Substack had a Nazi problem, I did what most of us do. I rationalized it. I assumed they were using "Nazi" the way the internet uses it—loosely, carelessly, as a blunt rhetorical weapon. Maybe it was white supremacist adjacent content hiding behind edgy language. Maybe it was dubious newsletters with dogwhistles that linked to actual extremist groups but maintained plausible deniability.
What I did not expect was to find actual, mask-off, unambiguous Nazi content. Full-blown antisemitism. Newsletters celebrating and promoting National Socialism. Not buried in some dark corner—hosted openly, on a platform where I was also publishing my work.
If you don't believe me, go look at what was at
natsoctoday1.substack.com. Or read the reporting. It's all there:- The Atlantic: Substack Has a Nazi Problem
- The Guardian: How Substack Makes Money From Nazi Newsletters
- Engadget: Substack Accidentally Sent Push Alerts Promoting a Nazi Publication
That last one is almost darkly funny. Accidentally promoted a Nazi newsletter through push notifications. An algorithm so indifferent to the content it amplifies that it just... pushed Nazism to people's phones. Like a coupon for hate.
This reminds me of something I learned early in my career. When you build software, the defaults matter. The things a platform chooses to allow, the content it monetizes, the guardrails it refuses to install—those aren't neutral decisions. They're architectural choices. A platform that takes a cut from Nazi content isn't a free speech champion. It's a business partner.
I've thought about this the way I think about any system design problem. There's always a tradeoff. Substack made theirs: growth and "openness" over basic human decency. And look, I'm no stranger to messy tradeoffs in tech. But there's a line. And if your platform is literally making revenue from people who celebrate genocide, you've blown past that line at full speed.
So I'm out. I've backed up everything to my blog, where it always should have lived anyway. You can find me on Hachyderm.
The bar metaphor is overused, but it's overused because it's true. If a Nazi sits down at your bar and you serve them, you've made a choice. If you profit from serving them, you've made an even louder one. And I don't want to drink at that bar.
Peace.
Also readable in: https://maho.dev/2026/02/if-theres-a-nazi-at-your-bar-its-a-nazi-bar/ by @mapache:
#Ethics #Tech Culture #Substack #Free Speech #Platform Responsibility #Hate Speech #Internet Culture
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If There's a Nazi at Your Bar, It's a Nazi Bar
Summary: I found out Substack isn't just tolerating extremism—it's literally hosting Nazi newsletters. So I'm out. Here's why you should care.
"If there are nine people sitting at a table and a Nazi sits down, and nobody gets up, there are ten Nazis at the table." – Unknown
When people first started saying Substack had a Nazi problem, I did what most of us do. I rationalized it. I assumed they were using "Nazi" the way the internet uses it—loosely, carelessly, as a blunt rhetorical weapon. Maybe it was white supremacist adjacent content hiding behind edgy language. Maybe it was dubious newsletters with dogwhistles that linked to actual extremist groups but maintained plausible deniability.
What I did not expect was to find actual, mask-off, unambiguous Nazi content. Full-blown antisemitism. Newsletters celebrating and promoting National Socialism. Not buried in some dark corner—hosted openly, on a platform where I was also publishing my work.
If you don't believe me, go look at what was at
natsoctoday1.substack.com. Or read the reporting. It's all there:- The Atlantic: Substack Has a Nazi Problem
- The Guardian: How Substack Makes Money From Nazi Newsletters
- Engadget: Substack Accidentally Sent Push Alerts Promoting a Nazi Publication
That last one is almost darkly funny. Accidentally promoted a Nazi newsletter through push notifications. An algorithm so indifferent to the content it amplifies that it just... pushed Nazism to people's phones. Like a coupon for hate.
This reminds me of something I learned early in my career. When you build software, the defaults matter. The things a platform chooses to allow, the content it monetizes, the guardrails it refuses to install—those aren't neutral decisions. They're architectural choices. A platform that takes a cut from Nazi content isn't a free speech champion. It's a business partner.
I've thought about this the way I think about any system design problem. There's always a tradeoff. Substack made theirs: growth and "openness" over basic human decency. And look, I'm no stranger to messy tradeoffs in tech. But there's a line. And if your platform is literally making revenue from people who celebrate genocide, you've blown past that line at full speed.
So I'm out. I've backed up everything to my blog, where it always should have lived anyway. You can find me on Hachyderm.
The bar metaphor is overused, but it's overused because it's true. If a Nazi sits down at your bar and you serve them, you've made a choice. If you profit from serving them, you've made an even louder one. And I don't want to drink at that bar.
Peace.
Also readable in: https://maho.dev/2026/02/if-theres-a-nazi-at-your-bar-its-a-nazi-bar/ by @mapache:
#Ethics #Tech Culture #Substack #Free Speech #Platform Responsibility #Hate Speech #Internet Culture