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Bernard Keenan

@bernardkeenan.bsky.social

1K followers 1K following 200 posts

Lecturer, UCL Laws. Law, theory, tech. Interception: from postal systems to global networks (MIT 2025)

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Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · May 28

Open Access link:
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

Interception: State Surveillance from Postal Systems to Global Networks

A media history of how the UK and US governments have surveilled citizens by intercepting their private communications.It may not be Big Brother (yet), but

direct.mit.edu

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Reposted by Bernard Keenan

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 1d

I've spent *weeks* working on this special report for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social on GB News co-owner Paul Marshall – and the astonishing, unprecedented influence network he's built on the UK's right. There's never been anything like it before. www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-p...

Paul Marshall, the man who owns the right

The multimillionaire controls a network of news channels, publications and think tanks that the left could only dream of. If Reform or the Tories win the next election, he will become the country’s mo...

www.thenewworld.co.uk

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Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 1d

big night for online safety

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Ars Technica @arstechnica.com · 2d

Why Signal’s post-quantum makeover is an amazing engineering achievement

New design sets a high standard for post-quantum readiness.

arstechnica.com

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William Goodwin @billgoodwin.bsky.social · 2d

Apple and Home Office agree to drop legal claim over encryption backdoor
www.computerweekly.com/news/3666325... @ianbrown.tech @bernardkeenan.bsky.social @privacyinternational.org

Apple and Home Office agree to drop legal claim over encryption backdoor | Computer Weekly

Apple has agreed with the Home Office to drop its legal claim against a government order requiring it to provide intelligence and law enforcement with the capability to access encrypted data of Apple ...

www.computerweekly.com

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Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 5d

not the shadow justice secretary announcing he'll fire judges he disagrees with then going to court to support criminal defendants he does agree with in the same week?

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 5d

Bloomberg bubble charts the Bubble:

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Heather Burns @heatherburnstech.bsky.social · 7d

This review prompted me to go buy this monograph today at ye olde feminist bookstore: postmodern fascism is not just sadistic, it is erotic.
jacobin.com/2025/09/herz...

What Can We Do With the Right’s Delight in Pain?

Right-wing authoritarianism lures people away from the promise of democracy, peace, and equality toward destructive violence by offering one key appeal: pleasure in harming other people.

jacobin.com

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Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 7d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 13d

Haha! No, I fully support toddler trailers

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Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 13d

Start of term is their breeding season

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Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 13d

also what my toddler says when he sees a photo of himself

George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 13d

Today's Morning Call reveals Keir Starmer's first words after his conference speech: “That was me”. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Has Keir Starmer picked the wrong battle?

MPs from left and right fear the Prime Minister has set himself up for failure.

www.newstatesman.com

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Hyo Yoon Kang 강효윤 @hyoyoonkang.bsky.social · 17d

This is a bit older, but useful to share for fellow academics who want some empirical data to support their decision to refuse "AI" and other unnecessary platforms into their teaching, the aim of which is to foster critical reasoning.

Have humans passed peak brain power?

Data across countries and ages reveal a growing struggle to concentrate, and declining verbal and numerical reasoning

on.ft.com

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Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 21d

The 'Find My Parking Cops' map tracks officers handing out tickets all around San Francisco is real time. Developer reverse engineered how the system works and built this tool. Was taken down for a moment, now it's back. The City is very much aware of it.

www.404media.co/find-my-park...

‘Find My Parking Cops’ Tracks Officers Handing Out Tickets All Around San Francisco

"Find My Parking Cops" pins the near-realtime locations of parking officers all over the city, and shows what they're issuing fines for, and how much.

www.404media.co

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Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Paul F Scott @paulfscott.bsky.social · 21d

The McCullough Review on the PSNI's covert measures against journalists, lawyers etc... www.psni.police.uk/sites/defaul...

www.psni.police.uk

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Andrew R @excelpope.net · 21d

Mrs R: "There was a woman on the ward today who didn't want to take paracetamol. We've had to explain that we're not giving it to her because she's got a fever and we want her to feel better, but because she's got a fever and if we don't get her temperature down then her baby is going to die."

LBC @lbc.co.uk · 22d

"We were told thalidomide was a safe drug and it wasn't..."

Nigel Farage says he has 'no idea' if Donald Trump is right about paracetamol being linked to autism.

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Alistair Keepe @alistairkeepe.bsky.social · Aug 28

2025 is a record-breaking year for claims filed by fossil fuel and mining firms against democratic policies – marking a grim milestone in a surge of polluting industries seeking compensation for lost profits via a secretive tribunal.

For @ftm.eu with contributions by ao @anilyilmaz.bsky.social

Record number of corporate lawsuits target climate action in controversial tribunal

Behind closed doors in Washington, D.C., fossil fuel and mining companies are suing governments over lost profits. Follow the Money has analysed how a system built to protect foreign investors poses a...

www.ftm.eu

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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 23d

I wish Peters Kyle and Mandelson had someone as smart and experienced as Tim Wu on their side when they were negotiating the "Tech Prosperity Deal" on.ft.com/47WmGLi

When it comes to tech, Britain must avoid becoming Nebraska

Silicon Valley’s investment may be welcome but the UK should not allow itself to be a data-centre farm

on.ft.com

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Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Chase Madar @madar.bsky.social · 23d

My favorite “critique of rights” law review article www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/1179_qac...

www.yalelawjournal.org

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Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 23d

Labour: the party of properly costed ethnic cleansing

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 23d

Keir Starmer’s spokesperson asked for the PM's response to Nigel Farage’s plan to deport hundreds of thousands of people living and working completely legally in the UK, replies that he thinks it is “unworkable” and “unfunded”.

So his objection is that they’ve got their sums wrong

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Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 24d

Re the new Reform pledge, a sports writer has already got to the heart of the matter better than the politics commentators www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...