Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 3h

Justice. "The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and left in place the $1.4 billion judgment against him over his description of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a hoax staged by crisis actors." FactMatters apnews.com/article/supr...

Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones' appeal of $1.4 billion defamation judgment in Sandy Hook shooting

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and left in place the $1.4 billion judgment against him over his description of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shoot...

apnews.com

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 8h

This is exactly right: it's real violence, but a performance at the same time

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 14h

You need to see this:

“The show of force is the point. They want these images to be out…The Department of Homeland Security is walking around Chicago with a film crew.” @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 12h

"Your papers, please."

"ICE tickets Chicago man with legal residency $130 for not having his papers on him: ‘It’s not fair ... I’m a resident’" www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/i...

ICE tickets Chicago man with legal residency $130 for not having his papers on him: ‘It’s not fair…I’m a resident’

Under federal law, registered foreign nationals must carry proof of registration with them at all times. But prior to a second Trump administration, it was rarely enforced.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

"Mystery visitors plunged Maxwell’s Texas prison camp into lockdown as inmates complain of preferential treatment, report says" www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Mystery meetings and lockdowns: Maxwell’s arrival at Texas prison unsettled inmates

Maxwell had a mysterious meeting in the prison’s chapel that prevented other inmates from getting their outdoor time, per the report

www.independent.co.uk

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 20h

Silicon Valley tradition of dogfooding continues. Although this one's feels a bit more forced than the norm.

"Elon Musk’s SpaceX and xAI are buying Tesla’s unsold Cybertrucks" electrek.co/2025/10/13/e...

Elon Musk's SpaceX and xAI are buying Tesla's unsold Cybertrucks

Hundreds of Tesla Cybertrucks have been spotted being delivered Elon Musk’s private companies, SpaceX and xAI, as Tesla is having...

electrek.co

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 11h

"NPR will never be party to limitations on the independence of the press and the objective, fact-based reporting of our journalists. We will not sign the Administration's restrictive policy ..." www.npr.org/2025/10/13/g...

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 12h

"Your papers, please."

"ICE tickets Chicago man with legal residency $130 for not having his papers on him: ‘It’s not fair ... I’m a resident’" www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/i...

ICE tickets Chicago man with legal residency $130 for not having his papers on him: ‘It’s not fair…I’m a resident’

Under federal law, registered foreign nationals must carry proof of registration with them at all times. But prior to a second Trump administration, it was rarely enforced.

www.chicagotribune.com

2 21 40

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 20h

Better late than never ... "News outlets broadly reject Pentagon rules before signing deadline. The Washington Post joined the New York Times, Newsmax and CNN in refusing to sign the restrictive new policy." www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

News outlets broadly reject Pentagon rules before signing deadline

The Washington Post and other major news outlets have refused to sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new media policy, citing First Amendment concerns.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 20h

Silicon Valley tradition of dogfooding continues. Although this one's feels a bit more forced than the norm.

"Elon Musk’s SpaceX and xAI are buying Tesla’s unsold Cybertrucks" electrek.co/2025/10/13/e...

Elon Musk's SpaceX and xAI are buying Tesla's unsold Cybertrucks

Hundreds of Tesla Cybertrucks have been spotted being delivered Elon Musk’s private companies, SpaceX and xAI, as Tesla is having...

electrek.co

2 12 31

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 23h

Both numbers, X with over 10 million (from our State of Social Media in Canada 2025 report) and Bluesky with around 1 million (from Social Pilot), are within the ballpark of estimates we have seen. But for Gander Social to use the Bluesky number in that way is bold.

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 23h

👀

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

watch Meloni as Pakistan's Sharif fluffs Trump for next year's Nobel

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 23h

"Canada’s boycott (of) America movement is hurting innocent bystanders."

What did they expect? Canadians are nice, but we are also not pushovers. www.cnn.com/2025/10/13/b...

Canada’s boycott America movement is hurting innocent bystanders | CNN Business

Virginia Distillery CEO Gareth Moore was bullish on his company’s American single malt whisky sales north of the border when 2025 kicked off.

www.cnn.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

The Pope’s right, the “ancient art of lying” never really goes away. Lies have been around as long as language itself, and it seems every generation has to learn honesty all over again. We all need to learn how to speak up in our own way, because when truth remains silent, lies thrive.

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 2d

"Pope Leo XIV encouraged international news agencies on Thursday to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation, as he strongly backed a free, independent and objective press." apnews.com/article/pope...

Pope urges news agencies to stand as bulwark against lies, manipulation and post-truths

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation.

apnews.com

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 2d

"Pope Leo XIV encouraged international news agencies on Thursday to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation, as he strongly backed a free, independent and objective press." apnews.com/article/pope...

Pope urges news agencies to stand as bulwark against lies, manipulation and post-truths

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation.

apnews.com

17 200 680

Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

Canada has a long history of being surprisingly provincial. However, relinquishing digital sovereignty without a fight represents a strategic misstep in the broader project of nation-building, as technological autonomy increasingly shapes economic security, cultural identity, & political legitimacy.

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

What OpenAI is really after is cheap Canadian energy and abundant water supply. That is it. It has no interest in funding the development of competing AI models.

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

Sadly, by all indications, the current government will succumb to the cheap come-on and quietly silence the rhetoric of sovereignty on this issue. "Digital sovereignty" will remain a campaign promise, good for stump speeches, but it will not amount to much more than that.

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

"Elon Musk’s Hyperloop idea was just a ruse to kill California’s high-speed rail project." www.fresnobee.com/opinion/edit...

Same gambit, different billionaire?

"One of the world's biggest AI companies wants a deal with Canada. Is sovereignty the trade-off?" www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

ANALYSIS | Why OpenAI wants to help Canada build homegrown artificial intelligence | CBC News

OpenAI wants to help Canada build a sovereign digital infrastructure for artificial intelligence, putting the country in a tough spot as it tries to distance itself from overreliance on U.S. tech comp...

www.cbc.ca

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

Canadians are split on GenAI’s net societal impact (39% positive, 34% negative, 27% neutral), but unite around key concerns—security and privacy (72%), reliability of information (68%), job displacement (68%), and effects on higher education (68%). socialmedialab.ca/2025/04/08/n...

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

The Pope’s right, the “ancient art of lying” never really goes away. Lies have been around as long as language itself, and it seems every generation has to learn honesty all over again. We all need to learn how to speak up in our own way, because when truth remains silent, lies thrive.

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 2d

"Pope Leo XIV encouraged international news agencies on Thursday to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation, as he strongly backed a free, independent and objective press." apnews.com/article/pope...

Pope urges news agencies to stand as bulwark against lies, manipulation and post-truths

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation.

apnews.com

1 16 39

Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

"The Trump administration is investing in Canadian critical mineral companies. But Ottawa can stop it ... Those minerals include lithium, copper, nickel and others that are essential for modern technology." www.cbc.ca/news/world/t...

ANALYSIS | The Trump administration is investing in Canadian critical mineral companies. But Ottawa can stop it | CBC News

The Trump administration has purchased a stake in two Canadian critical mineral companies, a move experts say is unusual, and which raises questions about whether Ottawa should block the deals in the ...

www.cbc.ca

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Reposted by Social Media Lab

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

One weekend in mid-August, hundreds of inmates at a minimum-security prison in Bryan, Texas, were locked down, except one: 63-year-old Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted accomplice in the sexual abuse of underage girls. She was expecting a secret visitor. www.wsj.com/us-news/ghis...

Lockdowns and a Mysterious Meeting: A Quiet Texas Prison Adapts to Life With Ghislaine Maxwell

The unexpected arrival of the Epstein associate upset the camp’s routines. Some inmates say she got favorable treatment.

www.wsj.com

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Lee Drutman @leedrutman.bsky.social · 1d

New study finds Democrats represent public opinion better than Republicans: "the quality of statehouse democracy, here meaning the dynamic relationship between opinion and policy, is substantially weakened by Republican Party control of state government."

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

Plausible but TBD..."Why Russia’s provocations in Europe actually signal a weakened strategic position." theconversation.com/why-russias-...

Why Russia’s provocations in Europe actually signal a weakened strategic position

Russian military and economic weaknesses are apparently forcing Putin to use unconventional means to secure victory against Ukraine.

theconversation.com

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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 1d

"The Trump administration has purchased a stake in two Canadian critical mineral companies, a move experts say is certainly unusual, if not extraordinary, and which raise questions about whether Ottawa should block them in the interest of national security."

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