Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ian Axel Anderson

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

If you make "controversial statements" outside of classroom, that the President of the university dislikes, you can be summarily fired even if you are tenured.

Julie Greene @greeneland.bsky.social · 1d

I just learned, Thomas Alter, tenured professor, has been terminated effective immediately. Shame on Texas State! We mst build support for Tom. spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-tex...

Texas State upholds the firing of associate history professor Thomas Alter

Alter’s termination occurred on Sept. 10, stemming from his remarks at the Revolutionary Socialism Conference on Sept. 7.

spectrumlocalnews.com

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New_ Public @newpublic.org · 5d

A majority of queer youth say they’ve turned to online spaces for support and community. But what if that goes away?

Two new studies show that losing access to online safe spaces — whether because of age verification laws or restrictions on LGBTQ expression — could be devastating.

LGBTQ+ youth have worse mental health outcomes without access to safe online spaces, studies show | TechCrunch

These online communities have become more critical in a time LGBTQ+ rights are under attack in the U.S.

techcrunch.com

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Yuan Chang Leong @ycleong.bsky.social · 2d

One of the papers I've been most excited about since starting the lab!

We adopt a network neuroscience approach to understand how arousal reconfigures large-scale functional network organization to support memory of complex narratives!

Jadyn Park @jadynpark.bsky.social · 2d

Out now in @nathumbehav.nature.com! We applied graph theoretic analyses to fMRI data of participants watching movies/listening to stories. Integration across large-scale functional networks mediates arousal-dependent enhancement of narrative memories. Open access link: rdcu.be/eKKAw

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Our World in Data @ourworldindata.org · 6d

How over- and underrepresented are different causes of death in the media?

Another way to visualize this data is to measure how over- or underrepresented each cause is.

To do this, we calculate the ratio between a cause’s share of deaths and its share of news articles.

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Ian Axel Anderson @aanixel.bsky.social · 6d

A thorough look at how TikTok builds scrolling habits from @washingtonpost.com, with a really nice dataset (~800 user data donations). My (still unpublished, lol) dissertation did something similar with Twitter--do I email the authors about using their data for a second study? 🙃

How TikTok keeps its users scrolling for hours a day

Washington Post reporters analyzed data from over 800 TikTok users to learn how the app turns people into power users, some of whom spend hours per day scrolling.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Julie Goldberg @juliegoldberg.bsky.social · 11d

Anyone who thinks this massive surveillance regime will be limited to immigration enforcement (and it’s bad enough that they’re using it for immigration enforcement) should try reading a little history sometime.

www.wired.com/story/ice-so...

ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team

Documents show that ICE plans to hire dozens of contractors to scan X, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms to target people for deportation.

www.wired.com

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Jean Luo @jeanieluo.bsky.social · 12d

Very excited to share that my first paper, with Peter Mende-Siedlecki and @leorhackel.bsky.social, is out now in @commspsychol.nature.com! ☺️

Can getting more rewards make you feel more skilled, even if your performance doesn't change?

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Rewards bias self-evaluations of ability - Communications Psychology

People often receive rewards for good performance, but what happens when rewards do not reflect ability? Two behavioral studies suggest that rewards can impact how we evaluate our own ability, above and beyond the impact of actual performance.

www.nature.com

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Todd Wolfson @proftwolf.bsky.social · 15d

The Trump administration’s attempt to deport students for their political views is an assault on the Constitution and a betrayal of American values. @knightcolumbia.org, @ruaaup-aft.bsky.social Harvard & NYU AAUP, MESA & @aaup.org. All praise to @veenadubal.bsky.social

AAUP @aaup.org · 15d

BREAKING: WE WON!!!
💥 💥 💥

Federal Judge William G. Young ruled today in our lawsuit against the Trump administration that the policy of arresting, detaining, & deporting noncitizen students & faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the 1st Amendment.

Full ruling here:

Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law – #261 in American Association of University Professors v. Rubio (D. Mass., 1:25-cv-10685) – CourtListener.com

Judge William G. Young: ORDER entered. FINDINGS OF FACT AND RULINGS OF LAW, PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 52(A)(Sonnenberg, Elizabeth) (Additional attachment(s) added on 9/30/2025: # 1 Main Document) (J...

www.courtlistener.com

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Evan Greer @evangreer.bsky.social · 15d

its hard to imagine a more embarrassing unforced error for the Dems than the "ban TikTok" fiasco.

Not only did they alienate youth voters, openly waffle on the First Amendment and let Trump claim to be the defender of "free speech," now they've literally handed the platform to Trump to control

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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 25d

🧵 Thread with my favourite quotes from:

📝 Guest, O., Suarez, M., Müller, B., et al. (2025). Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia. Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

1/🧵

Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia

Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in the 21st with social media. For these col...

doi.org

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TechCrunch @techcrunch.com · 19d

Think TikTok or Instagram Reels, but every single video you come across is essentially just AI slop.

Meta launches 'Vibes,' a short-form video feed of AI slop | TechCrunch

Think TikTok or Instagram Reels, but every single video you come across is essentially just AI slop.

techcrunch.com

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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 19d

War is peace, freedom is slavery, regulation is the antichrist.

Peter Thiel: strict AI regulation will summon the antichrist

This is a real thing Peter Thiel told a group of tech professionals recently.

www.theverge.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 21d

Searching Charlie Kirk's name or terms like "Charlie Kirk shooting" on Instagram now yields a mix of debate clips and graphic videos of him being shot, a shift from earlier moderation practices. theintercept.com/2025/09/24/c...

Videos of Charlie Kirk’s Murder Are Still on Social Media — and That’s No Accident

Politicians demanding the removal of videos of Kirk’s killing pushed tech companies to gut the very systems they now expect to protect them.

theintercept.com

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Philipp Markolin, PhD @philippmarkolin.bsky.social · 23d

Probably the most disgusting piece of anti-science garbage in service of whitewashing Bhattacharya and legitimizing attacks on NIH to date in the NYT op-ed section.

And there have been many.

Since the NYT keeps doing this drivel, I will say a few things about the NYT's modus operandi...

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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 23d

Here’s the piece (unlocked article)

Opinion | ‘The Power of Science to Solve Problems Is Almost Limitless’

www.nytimes.com

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Ian Axel Anderson @aanixel.bsky.social · 26d

Will continue to recommend not bending the knee to right-wing criticism—it won’t be enough anyway.

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 26d

President of Texas A&M resigns.
This is the second Texas A&M President chased out of College Station in two years as a result of right wing politicians and activists attacks on academic freedom.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...

Texas A&M President to Step Down After Controversy Over ‘Gender Ideology’

www.nytimes.com

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Beth Popp Berman @epopppp.bsky.social · 27d

You know things are rough when the AAUP's advice on how to use social media is just "set all your accounts to private."

Kevin Reuning @reuning.bsky.social · 27d

The @aaup.org just shared guidance for academic workers on how to protect themselves online www.aaup.org/news/advisor...

Advisory to Academic Workers

In a moment when it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict the consequences of our online speech and choices, the AAUP and Faculty First Responders are issuing guidance to AAUP members and othe...

www.aaup.org

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ana valdivia @anavaldi.bsky.social · Sep 15

Excellent reading of the week: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia

"We expound on why universities must take their role seriously to counter the technology industry’s marketing, hype, and harm"

zenodo.org/records/1706...

Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia

Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in the 21st with social media. For these col...

zenodo.org

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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 28d

TLDR: Peter Thiel weaponizes Nazi philosophy and biblical scripture to reframe democratic opposition as cosmic evil—while building the surveillance state he claims to fear.

Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 29d

What’s up with Peter Thiel’s secret Antichrist lectures?

Let us pierce the veil.

For the @newrepublic.com I studied his past Antichrist speeches to decode his message—a chilling fusion of Nazi political theory and scripture.

Consider this an urgent warning:

newrepublic.com/article/2004...

What’s Up With Peter Thiel’s Obsession With the Antichrist?

The tech mogul is amping up his apocalyptic rhetoric—and adding a dangerous dose of extremism into the already-fraught culture war.

newrepublic.com

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Taylor Lorenz @taylorlorenz.bsky.social · Sep 15

Thousands of X users have posted about Ali Nasrati, a 30 yr old IT tech for Walmart, claiming he made insensitive comments abt Charlie Kirk.

But Nasrati has never posted about Kirk.

Now, he's been suspended from work and forced into hiding. I wrote about people being falsely targeted by the right

Conservatives Are Doxxing Innocent People Over Charlie Kirk

Right wing influencers are blasting people's names and personal details out to millions before ever verifying their claims.

www.usermag.co

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Ian Axel Anderson @aanixel.bsky.social · Sep 15

Attended Queersurf camp (🥰) in San Diego last month, and had the opportunity to learn from the writer (@bokchoy-baobei.bsky.social) of this article about the pollution in the Tijuana River -- sharing here to spread the word about this still-ongoing crisis in SoCal! www.latimes.com/environment/...

Polluted Tijuana River gets more attention, but anxious residents want more urgency

Gov. Gavin Newsom faces mounting pressure to declare a state of emergency over the Tijuana River pollution as officials seek Superfund status for the site.

www.latimes.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Sep 10

The professor has been fired and senior administrators removed from their post. No mention of this in the New York Times, The Free Press, The Atlantic or other outlets who drove the campus speech moral panic.

Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · Sep 10

Texas A&M University System orders audit of all courses after gender identity lesson goes viral

Details: bit.ly/42jauQZ

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Tobia Spampatti, PhD @tspampatti.bsky.social · Sep 8

In this new Commentary in @natclimate.nature.com, I reflect on the recent focus on truth discernment in #misinfo research and argue that this outcome alone may not be beneficial to society if interventions do not improve behaviour and other outcomes because... 1/

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Truth discernment may not help to overcome misinformation

Nature Climate Change - Scientists increasingly assess interventions against misinformation mainly via truth discernment. However, pursuing truth discernment may not be sufficiently beneficial to...

www.nature.com

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Interrupting Criminalization @interruptcrim.bsky.social · Sep 8

"If your tactics disrupt the order of things under capitalism, you may well be accused of violence, because 'violence' is an elastic term often deployed to vilify people who threaten the status quo. Conditions that the state characterizes as 'peaceful' are, in reality, quite violent."

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Will Oremus @willoremus.com · Sep 8

A German teen told Meta's child safety researchers his under-10 little brother had been sexually propositioned multiple times on its VR platform.

Meta deleted the evidence.

New internal whistleblower docs indicate that was part of a broader cover-up: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Meta suppressed research on child safety, employees say

The company’s lawyers intervened to shape research that might have shed light on risks in virtual reality, four current and former staffers have told Congress. Meta denies the allegations.

www.washingtonpost.com

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ali alkhatib @ali-alkhatib.com · Sep 2

if i had a background in psychoanalysis i would be tempted to go back to stanford CS to see why some of those professors (who patently understand how all this shit works) are willing to submit AI-generated documents to courts as part of an expert testimony. as it stands now, it's beyond my capacity.

Karla Ortiz @kortizart.bsky.social · Sep 2

So new studies showcase that the more you know how GenAi works, the less likely you are to use it! 😌

This reminds me of ai advocates who claim that those who refuse to use GenAi do so because they dont know how it works, yet it’s the opposite!
The less you know the more you are likely to use GenAi

The Less You Know About AI, the More You Are Likely to Use It

AI can seem magical to those with low AI literacy, a new study finds. That, in turn, might make them more willing to try it.

www.wsj.com

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