Dear Citizens,
Disinformation doesn’t sleep, even for an illegal and deranged overnight oil grab. America’s actions in Venezuela were confusing enough, but social media showed it’s back on the case in 2026, with disinformation “flooding social media” within minutes (from David Gilbert at WIRED) and altered images proliferating across the internet.
Capitalism never sleeps either, as the Nike tracksuit Nicolas Maduro was wearing when he landed “broke the internet,” and sold out almost immediately. 😬
Here’s what else to read, watch and know this week.
💩 ONE WATCH: A Pile of Shit 💩
Thinker and author of the new book Enshittification Cory Doctorow told Carole Cadwalladr AI singularity isn’t necessarily as dangerous as it is… stupid. “The web is five giant websites filled with screenshots from the other four.”
In this interview with The Nerve news, Carole interviews Doctorow on everything from the singularity and simulacra to the AI bubble. Here’s a sampler:
You can read the full transcript and see more here.
Become a member to join our Substack Lives with Carole Cadwalladr.
You can also pop over to a much longer must watch (h/t Marietje Shaake) for another conversation with Cory about how we build a “post-American, enshittification-resistant internet”.
🇻🇪 BONUS WATCH: The Global Risks of MAGA 🇻🇪
In this conversation for Democracy for Sale, Peter Geoghegan speaks with legal scholar Kim Lane Scheppele about why Trump attacked Venezuela, why he’s now threatening Greenland - and what it signals for democracy globally.
Scheppele warns that the US is beginning to behave as a destabilising force on the global stage, increasingly willing to interfere in elections and bolster far-right movements. The question now: Can an international rules-based system survive MAGA?
Watch the full conversation here.
📚 ONE READ: Stifling Dissent 📚
Our very smart colleague Nora Benavidez (with the very effective media policy organisation Free Press) did the dirty work so we didn’t have to: she counted all the ways the Trump Administration has tried to undermine America’s First Amendment.
It seems crazy, but Nora writes in the New York Times that “‘Mr. Trump’s playbook isn’t random. It employs several recurring modes of attack,” citing everything from threats to immigration status to the “war on woke”. She adds:
What is important to recognize is that these efforts work in concert in their frequency and their volume: Even the most egregious cases seem to quickly fade from public consciousness, and in that way, they’re clearly meant to overwhelm us and make us think twice about exercising our rights.
🧠 ONE ACTION: Not So Super 🧠
We found a very simple petition with tens of thousands of everyday activists and heavy hitters signed on - a simple, clear call for “a prohibition on the development of superintelligence, not lifted before there is (1) broad scientific consensus that it will be done safely and controllably, and (2) strong public buy-in”.
It’s been gaining momentum and signatures online; add your name here.
🔐 BONUS ACTION: Prevent Online Suicide Harms 🔐
Journalist and author Adele Walton has renewed calls for a public inquiry into a pro-suicide website responsible for 133 UK victims lives.
You can support the call for accountability by joining the Molly Rose Foundation campaign and emailing your MP to back urgent action to prevent online suicide harms.
This is why The Citizens exists: to support independent scrutiny of power when the consequences are devastating. Help us continue.
That’s all for this week.
Team Citizens
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check out: electiontruthalliance.org
There have been & continue to be evidence that our voting machines have been compromised. Voting count anomalies in 2020, 2024 & recently in Tennessee