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James Griffiths

@jamestgriffiths.com

11K followers 400 following 310 posts

🇨🇦 Asia correspondent, @theglobeandmail.com 📚 Author, ‘The Great Firewall of China’ and ‘Speak Not’ 📍 Hong Kong 🔒 jgriffiths.852

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · Sep 9

As part of a consortium of researchers and journalists, I spent the better part of a year digging into leaked documents from Chinese security company Geedge, which plays a pivotal role exporting the Great Firewall around the world: www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/15c699a...

Leaked files show a Chinese company is exporting the Great Firewall’s censorship technology

Geedge Networks is providing censorship capabilities to foreign governments, including those in Myanmar, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan

www.theglobeandmail.com

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 2h

"If you're ever in a financially secure position, with expertise in your field and the independence to speak out, then I urge you to contribute your wisdom to the public domain, it will enrich your life and you won't regret it"

End of an era as Webb-site goes offline: webb-site.com/articles/shu...

Webb-site Reports

webb-site.com

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Reposted by James Griffiths

Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 5h

collar gate is the latest instance of a trumped-up non-issue blossoming into a large-scale psychosis event – and possibly the dumbest. it's also the modern internet doing exactly what it was engineered to do

To be honest, I wouldn’t be mentioning this if not for the fact that it’s a microcosm of how online platforms work today: Somebody makes an accusation based on evidence that’s spurious at best, big names with something to gain (viewership or the downfall of a perceived enemy) uncritically boost it, internet sleuths obsessively piece together supporting evidence by amassing context-free clips and ignoring everything that doesn’t match their intended conclusion, and all of the aforementioned parties spread performatively apoplectic videos across Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and wherever else they can sucker in uninitiated normies.

Some version of this happens every week – every day, on a smaller scale – without fail. It accomplishes nothing aside from giving the disaffected masses a brief glimmer of what feels like purpose, but is actually a bloodsucking waste of their precious time on this dying planet. And of course, it provides platforms with sweet, sweet engagement numbers. As a result, platforms will probably never intervene to disrupt this corrosive dynamic, which has broken the general public’s ability to perceive anything resembling objective reality, even as society collapses around them and people like Piker attempt to identify the real reasons why (hint: they don't involve dog collars).

The internet has been like this at least since the Depp v. Heard trial, which wannabe sleuths similarly feasted on in 2022 while getting pretty much every important detail completely wrong. At least back then they were obsessing over something of consequence. Now they’ve taught viewers to regard every trumped-up non-issue they can surface with similar gravity.

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 4h

Baselines don't always have to shift in one direction.

"there were more than 50,000 eastern Australian humpback whales in 2024.

That's around 20,000 more individuals than the estimated pre-whaling population of the early 1900s."

www.abc.net.au/news/science...

These whales were hunted to 150 individuals. Now there are 50,000 of them

Once hunted almost to extinction, the population of humpback whales currently migrating down Australia's east coast has bounced back and is now greater than before whaling.

www.abc.net.au

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 5d

“We’ve sometimes grown accustomed to the heat that we gradually forget that the climate has undergone significant change. We must remind ourselves that the world’s climate is abnormal and is even becoming increasingly extreme.”

www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...

Hong Kong’s ‘cold dew’ days are not cool any more. Why?

Low-income residents will suffer first as temperatures rise, former Observatory chief says.

www.scmp.com

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 12d

Australia Expands Sunscreen Recalls Over False SPF Claims: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/w...

James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 13d

Also a good time to read this piece on how Wikipedia became one of the greatest places on the internet, by Simon Garfield, in @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Opinion: How Wikipedia became one of the greatest inventions of the modern age

On the world’s free, collaboratively edited encyclopedia, even the co-founder is powerless to change his entry, for vanity carries little weight with the Wikipedians in charge

www.theglobeandmail.com

James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 13d

"No real consequences of any sort have thus far come for OpenAI, and the company now seems completely disinterested in pretending that it did not train its tools on endless reams of copyrighted material." www.404media.co/openais-sora...

OpenAI’s Sora 2 Copyright Infringement Machine Features Nazi SpongeBobs and Criminal Pikachus

The main use of Sora appears to generate brainrot of major beloved copyrighted characters, to say nothing of the millions of articles, images, and videos OpenAI has scraped.

www.404media.co

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 13d

Saw a post by Elon Musk, which reminded me I had not donated to Wikipedia in a while.

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 20d

"We have so many tech journalists, but not that much tech journalism."

@edzitron.com is an oasis in the desert of AI boosterism.

www.ft.com/content/4c8d...

Ed Zitron is mad as hell

How a British-born hobbyist blogger became one of Big Tech’s punchiest critics

www.ft.com

James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 20d

While many foreign journalists remain barred from mainland China, at least this guy is having a nice time.

James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 21d

Fantastic illustrated feature by Reuters on the ongoing horrors of Myanmar's slave call centres, which exist thanks to complicity of junta, allied militias and, Reuters reports, some corrupt Thai officials: www.reuters.com/graphics/SOU...

They traveled to Thailand. They wound up cyber scam slaves in Myanmar.

A multibillion-dollar fraud industry has taken root across Southeast Asia, fueled partly by trafficking victims. In lawless zones along the Myanmar-Thai border, Chinese-run compounds force thousands t...

www.reuters.com

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 22d

Check out the new Hong Kong Ghost Signs map here: hkghostsigns.com

hkghostsigns.com

James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 22d

I wrote about the Hong Kong Ghost Signs project and efforts to preserve and conserve our rapidly changing city's history: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 22d

"The now-defeated [same-sex partnerships] bill was the government’s attempt to meet the deadline, but only in an absolutely minimalist way." www.scmp.com/opinion/hong...

James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 26d

One feature The Globe’s app has that I wish others would replicate is this tab collating news alerts. Maybe I’m weird in instinctively clearing alerts on lock screen and then wishing I could have clicked them but it’d also be useful for record keeping to see what outlets alerted overnight etc.

Screenshot showing The Globe and Mail app with Alerts tab highlighted.

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 27d

"About 2m species are currently at risk of extinction, with animals and plants being threatened by the razing of habitat, rising temperatures, pollution, invasive species and hunting. The current extinction rate is hundreds of times faster than the historic norm."

James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 27d

“Labelling genetically engineered modern species as extinct ones brought back from the dead, if it takes off, it’s a huge moral hazard; a massive enabler for the activities that causes species to go extinct in the first place." www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Scientists claim they’ve made ‘pivotal step’ in bringing back the dodo for first time in 300 years

Thousands of dodos could return within a decade according to Colossal Biosciences, a ‘de-extinction’ company – but experts warn of ‘moral hazard’

www.theguardian.com

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 28d

“The bombs are closer than ever. Every day a house next to us is hit ... there’s nowhere safe to go. We are walking hoping to reach a place that is not under fire," a refugee from Israel's latest assault tells @theglobeandmail.com's Hasan Jaber in Gaza: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

As Israeli ground invasion begins, Palestinians in Gaza City say they’re trapped or fleeing on unsafe roads

More than 700,000 men, women and children in Gaza City are living under direct bombardment

www.theglobeandmail.com

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · 28d

"In 2024, 20 new US-based spyware investors were identified, bringing the total number of American backers of this technology to 31. This growth has largely outpaced other major investing countries such as Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom." www.wired.com/story/us-spy...

US Investment in Spyware Is Skyrocketing

A new report warns that the number of US investors in powerful commercial spyware rose sharply in 2024 and names new countries linked to the dangerous technology.

www.wired.com

James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · Sep 13

A declassified version of the report obtained by The New York Times said a “majority of the group’s activity would not be classified as terrorism” under Britain’s legal definition.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/w...

Secret Report Undercuts U.K. Condemnations of Pro-Palestinian Group

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by James Griffiths

The Globe and Mail @theglobeandmail.com · Sep 11

Leak reveals China is exporting internet censorship technology

A massive leak shows that little-known Chinese company, Geedge Networks, has been quietly selling censorship technology systems seemingly modelled on China’s Great Firewall to governments around the world

www.theglobeandmail.com

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · Sep 11

Beijing warned there may be people with “ulterior motives” who try to “politicise” and manipulate the issue. "They aim to disrupt Hong Kong’s harmony and stability, hampering the city from achieving prosperity." Hong Kong society should remain “vigilant,” it said. hongkongfp.com/2025/09/11/l...

James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · Sep 11

"If the authorities had demanded lawmakers’ support for the bill, they would have had it. Some might think the vote reflects BJ’s disapproval of gay rights, or civil-society activism of any sort … this looks like a way to put the (non-NatSec) courts in their place." www.biglychee.com/2025/09/11/s...

Separation of powers in action, apparently | Big Lychee, Various Sectors

www.biglychee.com

James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · Sep 10

It's also beyond cynical for Clegg to hand wave at threat of China style internet censorship when during his tenure Facebook made repeated overtures to Beijing and presumably would have capitulated to any Chinese censorship demands had the authorities allowed them to. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Facebook ‘worked hand in glove’ with China, claims ex-director

Social media company considered letting Beijing control content for access to its lucrative market, BBC told.

www.bbc.com

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James Griffiths @jamestgriffiths.com · Sep 10

Clegg of course bears responsibility on both ends, given he was a former senior Meta executive AND a former senior UK government minister.

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