Mark Hurst

Mark Hurst

@markhurst.bsky.social

Reader, writer, speaker, host. Encouraging better tech, resisting Big Tech. Host, Techtonic - https://techtonic.fm Host, Gel conference - http://gelconference.com Criticism - https://creativegood.com/blog Newsletter - https://creativegood.com/newsletter

2.9K followers411 following1.3K posts

Mark Hurst reposted

KetAnthropic JoshAI
@ketanjoshi.co

The first genuinely honest ad for generative AI I've ever seen, from Microsoft / CoPilot A mediocre white guy sees his non-white colleague getting praised for good work, he asks AI to *literally copy it*, and then he gets all the praise instead: www.ispot.tv/ad/SoDi/micr...

Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social

This is a beautiful New York moment. But here's the thing. I used to see stuff like this all the time on the subway, before Big Tech launched their addiction platforms. Now you barely ever see people looking up from their phones.

the babahuck@tylerhuckabee.bsky.social

holy smokes, conan strikes up a chat with a random lady on the subway and she immediately starts riffing on his level, no problem.

Mark Hurst reposted

Bruno Dies
@brunodias.dev

The total eradication of corporate power over social media isn’t even “the moderate position”, it’s a baseline. Thinking Meta, X et al can exist is incoherent with a belief in functioning democracy.

Josh Sternberg@joshsternberg.com

Meta took down the No Kings instagram; TikTok banned the Musk documentary account for supposedly violating its political posting policies. A reminder that platforms are owned by the wealthiest of people, control the means of media distribution, & put their thumbs on the democracy scale as they wish

Mark Hurst reposted

Ezra Levin ❌👑
@ezralevin.bsky.social

As we try to restore access to the No Kings instagram today, this is what I am thinking about.

Jenny Cohn@jennycohn.bsky.social

😡😡😡 “Meta employees acknowledged in internal communications that the Instagram accounts of Brazilian ​President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were hindered by ‌restrictions during [Brazil’s] election” & that Meta “recommended the profile ​of challenger…Flavio Bolsonaro” & “his ​WhatsApp channel…” 1/

Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social

Facebook suppressing the No Kings account, TikTok suppressing the Musk documentary. This is why I've been saying to get off Big Tech. We have to build the resistance outside of their platforms.

Mark Hurst reposted

Mar Hicks
@histoftech.bsky.social

If you told me I’d be redownloading Mapquest in 2026 to try to stay ahead of the surveillance state I wouldn’t have believed you

MapQuest@mapquest.com

The Roads Have Eyes! 👁️ Turn on the Surveillance Layer in Map Options to see known license plate readers from Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions (Vigilant), Genetec, Axis Communications, Axon, Leonardo (ELSAG), Neology, Rekor, PlateSmart, Ubicquia, Verkada, and other outdoor surveillance cameras.

Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social

For anyone still thinking that Apple is different from Google/Amazon/Facebook, or somehow a benign alternative. Nope. Apple wants to spy on your family, too.

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Mark Hurst reposted

Jameel Jaffer
@jameeljaffer.bsky.social

All that money and still can’t afford a spine

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

BAIER: The president says 'SI.' Are you into SI or AI? BEZOS: I do like SI, because 'artificial' is not a very flattering thing. Like, nobody wants an artificial sweetener, artificial flavoring.

Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social

When I started warning about license-plate cameras in 2024 (www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...) some people were, let's say, skeptical. And now here we are.

404 Media@404media.co

BREAKING: The Trump administration is using a grant program from the 1980s to force cities around the US to funnel their ongoing collection of Flock, Axon, and other ALPR data into large federal surveillance centers that fall under the White House’s jurisdiction, 404 Media has learned

404media.coHow Cities Are Forced to Funnel License Plate Data to a Massive Federal Surveillance ProgramHow the federal government built a massive database of license plate reader data through an anti-drug trafficking program.
Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social

"If the state successfully persuades the judge to award the maximum civil penalties for every violation, the company could owe over $200 billion, with interest accruing if it decides to appeal." I hope New Mexico gets every last penny from Facebook. apnews.com/article/face...

apnews.comNew Mexico jury finds Facebook liable for deceiving users about privacy protectionsA New Mexico jury has found Facebook liable of deceiving users about privacy protections on the social media platform.
Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social

Surveillance is about *control*.

Clayton Tucker@claytontuckertx.com

Surveillance is not safety. Flock cameras are tracking Texans everywhere they drive, all without a warrant. Our freedom and privacy shouldn't be the price we pay for Big Tech's surveillance network.

Mark Hurst reposted

Paul Bernal
@paulbernal.bsky.social

Yeah, but this isn’t like that. This is if you made your own robot dog, programmed it yourself, and then let it loose in the park and it bit someone…

Icefire9@icefire9atla.bsky.social

If my dog runs off and bites someone, its reasonable to say he went rogue, while also holding me accountable for not properly handling my dog.

Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social

AI agents will deliver a painful lesson that connection to the global internet is not an unalloyed good. Organizations, institutions, utilities etc. are soon going to wake up to the possibilities of local-only networks with a limited (if any) connection to the wider web.

Mark Hurst reposted

Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social

Anything you say in public - in a restaurant or bar, on a bus or plane or subway, in the workplace - can be secretly recorded by someone wearing (or holding) a Zuck-spy device, which will send what you said to Facebook AI for analysis and sharing.

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Mark Hurst reposted

leon
@leyawn.bsky.social

ceo of burger king: our burgers have gone rogue again and infected people with e coli

Mark Hurst reposted

iWillVote.com Pollock ➡️ turn 🔔 on
@willpollock.com

Zuckerberg's shithole product violating Amazon's ToS is like Hannibal Lecter getting scolded by Charles Manson

Techdirt@techdirt.com

Meta’s AI Agent Muse Launches With Nasty Zero-Day Flaw, Then Gets Blocked By Amazon After burning $80 billion on the failed metaverse pivot -- and billions more on desperate... https://www.techdirt.com/2026/09/24/metas-ai-agent-muse-launches-with-nasty-zero-day-flaw-then-gets-blocked-by-amazon/

techdirt.comMeta’s AI Agent Muse Launches With Nasty Zero-Day Flaw, Then Gets Blocked By AmazonAfter burning $80 billion on the failed metaverse pivot -- and billions more on desperate "me too" offerings in the AI space -- Meta is looking to leverage its massive ad dominance to colonize the agentic AI (or personal assistant) market. So they recently introduced Muse, an AI agent represented by cutesy and personalized avatars,...
Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social

Anything you say in public - in a restaurant or bar, on a bus or plane or subway, in the workplace - can be secretly recorded by someone wearing (or holding) a Zuck-spy device, which will send what you said to Facebook AI for analysis and sharing.

This post is unavailable.
Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social

Good news for the delivery workers I interviewed on Techtonic recently: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.comFighting for delivery worker rights: Los Deliveristas Unidos from Jul 27, 2026Podcast Episode · Techtonic with Mark Hurst | WFMU · July 27 · 1 sec
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov

DoorDash has ripped off more than 260,000 NYC delivery workers. We’re making them pay $131.5 million — the largest worker settlement in City history. This is New York, where hard work pays and greed will cost you.

Mark Hurst reposted

Eoin Higgins
@eoinhiggins.bsky.social

You’re right—that plane shouldn’t have gone there. That’s my fault, and I should have made sure there wasn’t a terminal in the landing path. Would you like me to call emergency services, or assist with lining up takeoffs?