Karl Bode

I write about tech, media, politics, and consumer rights.

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Last Notes

2025-09-26 17:51:50 UTC

They're not even going to pretend to be subtle about turning TikTok into a 24/7 MAGA propaganda machine
[Trump says TikTok should be tw...](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/09/trump-says-tiktok-should-be-tweaked-to-become-100-maga/?utm_source=bsky&utm_medium=social )

2025-09-08 14:08:09 UTC

Weiss is being specifically hired by a right wing billionaire nepobaby to turn CBS into another right-wing friendly propaganda mill. but you genuinely wouldn't know that from reading the U.S. media industry's coverage of itself:
[What would a Bari Weiss era at...](https://www.businessinsider.com/bari-weiss-free-press-could-transform-cbs-news-2025-9 )

2025-07-03 14:18:47 UTC

I did not like the era of "musicians and actors should never express political opinions and should quietly exist as ideological homogenized mannequins that happen to make art" and I'll be thrilled if our dance with authoritarianism results in an actual counter-culture with teeth
[Massive Attack urge BBC and me...](https://www.nme.com/news/music/massive-attack-urge-bbc-and-media-to-redirect-their-attention-to-what-is-happening-daily-to-the-people-of-gaza-rather-than-bob-vylan-glastonbury-furore-3875220 )

2025-07-03 14:10:51 UTC

I still haven't gotten over the concentration camp merch

2025-07-01 14:05:15 UTC

at some point journalism could simply make a choice to stop treating every brain fart this man has as a major story
[Elon Musk Wants to Blow Up the...](https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-wants-to-blow-up-the-u-s-political-system-2000622538 )

2025-06-26 13:26:42 UTC

I wrote about how the Trump admin is trying to bully states into avoiding AI oversight by threatening to pull billions in already awarded broadband expansion grants:
[GOP Moves Forward With Plan To...](https://www.techdirt.com/2025/06/25/gop-moves-forward-with-plan-to-pull-billions-in-broadband-grants-from-states-that-attempt-any-ai-oversight/ )

2025-06-13 14:33:44 UTC

There's a lot going on so you might have missed the fact that the Chinese hack into most of our major telecom companies was found to be much worse than publicly stated
good thing a bunch of dipshits obliterated whatever was left of functional telecom oversight!
[US agencies assessed Chinese t...](https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2025/06/us-agencies-assessed-chinese-telecom-hackers-likely-hit-data-center-and-residential-internet-providers/405920/ )

2025-06-07 02:50:30 UTC

Republicans really stickin' it to their supposed enemies in "big tech"
[Ted Cruz bill: States that reg...](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/06/ted-cruz-bill-states-that-regulate-ai-will-be-cut-out-of-42b-broadband-fund/ )

2025-05-30 21:21:18 UTC

*raises hand*
a consolidated corporate media dominated by affluent brunchlords wants to supplant real journalism that challenges wealth and power with hollow, pseudo-journalistic infotainment that better serves and reflects the right wing, corporatist views of ownership
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:r75unbj372lvbim6syioaueo/post/3lqfm2pkse22h
#note1uuk…xf6x

2025-04-28 14:10:04 UTC

Over at The Verge I wrote about how Brendan Carr has transformed our top media and telecom regulator into a dangerous, incoherent, grievance-fueled censorship and harassment machine:
[Brendan Carr’s FCC is an anti-...](https://www.theverge.com/tech/656653/brendan-carr-fcc-anti-consumer-harassment-dei-trump )

2025-04-16 20:04:06 UTC

suggesting that maybe comedians should stop showing their penises to everyone and using the word retard somehow got twisted into an act of global oppression
[Jimmy Kimmel Blames Liberals ‘...](https://www.thedailybeast.com/jimmy-kimmel-blames-liberals-viciously-attacking-comedians-for-trumps-win/?via=desktop&source=twitter )

2025-04-14 18:02:10 UTC

We're making progress, but he's not good at "building cars at rockets either"
he's good at opportunistically cozying up to actual engineers then taking singular credit for their accomplishments using money he lucked into at paypal
C-
try again
https://porcini.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:xtg6uhgsy2j7k2a6qtcood2w&cid=bafkreic4hapl4bs3etpj7ppytij3hcswoyifmbkmqhu2mdtxn3qc263p6e

2025-04-10 15:57:05 UTC

so not at all fucking "paused" then
keep up the great work, U.S. journalism
[Trump tariffs on China now tot...](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/10/china-trump-tariffs-live-updates.html )

2025-02-03 17:56:38 UTC

starlink will struggle to meet capacity demands without annoying cost and usability sacrifices for users, it directly harms both astronomical research and the ozone layer, and the ceo is a drug-addled fascist with a head full of racist conspiracies
but yes eric, very exciting
[Starlink profit growing rapidl...](https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/02/starlink-profit-growing-rapidly-as-it-faces-a-moment-of-promise-and-peril/?comments-page=1#comments )

2025-01-22 15:17:39 UTC

I really really enjoyed watching somebody force the sociopath to sit there and listen to somebody telling him to simply be kind
such a terrible fucking person and such a befuddled, ignorant, and broadly propagandized electorate
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:2amnkge5a6hplfwyesmxqkfl/post/3lgdi6ct3k22a

2024-12-12 16:35:30 UTC

the press, MAGA, and post-leftist types will try to sell this guy as a genuine anti-corporatist populist focused on "holding big tech accountable" in a way that "continues the legacy of Lina Khan" and you should laugh at them when that happens
pay attention to the actions, not the rhetoric
[Trump's Pick for FTC Chair is ...](https://gizmodo.com/trumps-pick-for-ftc-chair-is-ready-to-undo-the-good-things-from-lina-khan-2000537614 )