Derek B. Johnson
@derekbjohnson.bsky.social
Reporter and knowledge broker at CyberScoop, covering privacy, AI and elections. Priors at Federal Computer Week and SC Media. Send tips, leaks and well-wishes to [email protected] or DM for Signal.
Had to cover another hearing at the same time, but this is a good round up of where I thought this hearing was going to go, with a new, Republican-only version of COPPA 2.0 getting blasted by previous Dem allies boosters as a gift to big tech.
By @viacristiano.bsky.social
By @viacristiano.bsky.social
Congress’s Bipartisan Child Online Safety Coalition is Unraveling | TechPolicy.Press
A congressional alliance pushing for stronger federal protections for kids online is splintering, Cristiano Lima-Strong reports.
www.techpolicy.press
December 2, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Had to cover another hearing at the same time, but this is a good round up of where I thought this hearing was going to go, with a new, Republican-only version of COPPA 2.0 getting blasted by previous Dem allies boosters as a gift to big tech.
By @viacristiano.bsky.social
By @viacristiano.bsky.social
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
A year after Chinese hackers were found in U.S. telecom networks, Congress and federal agencies have taken few concrete actions to stop the next hack. via @derekbjohnson.bsky.social cyberscoop.com/salt-typhoon...
The Congressional remedy for Salt Typhoon? More information sharing with industry
A year after Chinese hackers were found in U.S. telecom networks, Congress and federal agencies have taken few concrete actions to stop the next hack.
cyberscoop.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:58 PM
A year after Chinese hackers were found in U.S. telecom networks, Congress and federal agencies have taken few concrete actions to stop the next hack. via @derekbjohnson.bsky.social cyberscoop.com/salt-typhoon...
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
December 1, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
One cannot reject authoritarianism ar home and support it abroad. A vital corrective to decades of catastrophic failed policy, with a death toll in the tens if not hundreds of thousands.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/o...
Opinion | This Is the Story of How the Democrats Blew It on Gaza
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:32 PM
One cannot reject authoritarianism ar home and support it abroad. A vital corrective to decades of catastrophic failed policy, with a death toll in the tens if not hundreds of thousands.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/o...
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
extremely emblematic of a senate that is utterly detached from reality and the outcomes of their actions, i don't think they think anything matters (except for whatever pet issue they might have is)
Thing is, we DID hear about it at his confirmation hearing.
Every single senator who voted to confirm Hegseth knew he held these views about the laws of war.
They voted to confirm him anyway.
Every single senator who voted to confirm Hegseth knew he held these views about the laws of war.
They voted to confirm him anyway.
Everyone should read this terrifying thread about Hegseth’s published views wrt war crimes. It’s pretty fucking radical …. We needed to hear about this in his confirmation hearing.
December 1, 2025 at 1:56 PM
extremely emblematic of a senate that is utterly detached from reality and the outcomes of their actions, i don't think they think anything matters (except for whatever pet issue they might have is)
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
Unfortunately, in US journalism it is considered neutral to spread a lie, but it is considered "biased" to call out a lie. So, there is a structural asymmetry that rewards colorful lies with virality.
November 30, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Unfortunately, in US journalism it is considered neutral to spread a lie, but it is considered "biased" to call out a lie. So, there is a structural asymmetry that rewards colorful lies with virality.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
This is not a "students today" post--it's more "this is a new form of dysfunction" that doesn't look exactly like it's been in previous decades. It's more than just "first-year chaos." It's an across-the-board inability to process instructions, engage with longer texts, and *connect* with others.
November 28, 2025 at 10:22 PM
This is not a "students today" post--it's more "this is a new form of dysfunction" that doesn't look exactly like it's been in previous decades. It's more than just "first-year chaos." It's an across-the-board inability to process instructions, engage with longer texts, and *connect* with others.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
The baseline structure of the US constitution can survive many things. What it cannot survive is the speaker of the house being an omega male who is completely submissive to the president and willing to surrender all of his power. Mike Johnson is genuinely groundbreaking in this regard.
November 28, 2025 at 11:56 PM
The baseline structure of the US constitution can survive many things. What it cannot survive is the speaker of the house being an omega male who is completely submissive to the president and willing to surrender all of his power. Mike Johnson is genuinely groundbreaking in this regard.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
really went dark for the sequel
November 28, 2025 at 5:41 PM
really went dark for the sequel
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
Mass pardons are coming. There will be no accountability without treating those as null and void. And that means a future administration taking an official position that Trump is not the legitimate president right now because he is disqualified by the 14th Amendment. The two things are inextricable.
November 28, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Mass pardons are coming. There will be no accountability without treating those as null and void. And that means a future administration taking an official position that Trump is not the legitimate president right now because he is disqualified by the 14th Amendment. The two things are inextricable.
Like with COVID, Trump's immigration raids are going to cleave whole new political identities and constituencies into the American polity.
November 28, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Like with COVID, Trump's immigration raids are going to cleave whole new political identities and constituencies into the American polity.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
This is fundamentally Nazism. The idea that different peoples than the favored races carry degradation in their very genes, that they cannot strive to become better because biology compels them to be worse. It’s not just repugnant, it’s a bald faced lie.
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 2:02 PM
This is fundamentally Nazism. The idea that different peoples than the favored races carry degradation in their very genes, that they cannot strive to become better because biology compels them to be worse. It’s not just repugnant, it’s a bald faced lie.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
I can’t believe people in the room don’t push back. It doesn’t matter if he’s the president, part of holding him accountable is standing up to his bullying— especially if he’s doing it right in front of your face
“You’re a stupid person” — Trump lashes out at a reporter who presses him on the fact that the suspected DC shooter was actually thoroughly vetted before he was let in the US from Afghanistan
November 28, 2025 at 12:52 AM
I can’t believe people in the room don’t push back. It doesn’t matter if he’s the president, part of holding him accountable is standing up to his bullying— especially if he’s doing it right in front of your face
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
Competitive depravity--transgression without accountability, pursued by elites as a means of personal satisfaction and status competition with each other--is the red thread linking use of the offshore system with the rampant sexual exploitation of women observed among many wealthy, powerful men.
November 27, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Competitive depravity--transgression without accountability, pursued by elites as a means of personal satisfaction and status competition with each other--is the red thread linking use of the offshore system with the rampant sexual exploitation of women observed among many wealthy, powerful men.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
You can see how an elite male culture of transgression--whether of laws or social norms--spirals quickly into what I call "competitive depravity."
Competitive depravity is what we see in the Epstein files.
Competitive depravity is also on flamboyant display in the Panama Papers.
Competitive depravity is what we see in the Epstein files.
Competitive depravity is also on flamboyant display in the Panama Papers.
November 27, 2025 at 10:53 AM
You can see how an elite male culture of transgression--whether of laws or social norms--spirals quickly into what I call "competitive depravity."
Competitive depravity is what we see in the Epstein files.
Competitive depravity is also on flamboyant display in the Panama Papers.
Competitive depravity is what we see in the Epstein files.
Competitive depravity is also on flamboyant display in the Panama Papers.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
New from me: House lawmakers have called on Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to testify next month on how Chinese hackers used Claude Code to automate most of a wide-reaching cyberespionage campaign.
More on @axios.com: www.axios.com/2025/11/26/a...
More on @axios.com: www.axios.com/2025/11/26/a...
Exclusive: Anthropic CEO called to testify before Congress about Chinese AI cyberattack
The request comes weeks after Anthropic said China used Claude Code in an espionage campaign.
www.axios.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:47 PM
New from me: House lawmakers have called on Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to testify next month on how Chinese hackers used Claude Code to automate most of a wide-reaching cyberespionage campaign.
More on @axios.com: www.axios.com/2025/11/26/a...
More on @axios.com: www.axios.com/2025/11/26/a...
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
The 2020 Georgia election case is going to be dismissed in its entirety, with the prosecutor offering less-than-persuasive reasoning. A miscarriage of justice that weakens our democracy.
November 26, 2025 at 3:54 PM
The 2020 Georgia election case is going to be dismissed in its entirety, with the prosecutor offering less-than-persuasive reasoning. A miscarriage of justice that weakens our democracy.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
dems should be putting out new “dont follow illegal orders” videos every day, they should be replying to announcements of investigations of dems with new videos, they should be posting at hegseth to not follow illegal orders nonstop
November 26, 2025 at 1:35 PM
dems should be putting out new “dont follow illegal orders” videos every day, they should be replying to announcements of investigations of dems with new videos, they should be posting at hegseth to not follow illegal orders nonstop
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
I reject the AI booster insistence that you must understand any and everything about the tech to make even the tiniest critique, if they can be vibe coders I can be a vibe hater
November 26, 2025 at 12:33 PM
I reject the AI booster insistence that you must understand any and everything about the tech to make even the tiniest critique, if they can be vibe coders I can be a vibe hater
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
November 26, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
Self-replicating malware has infected almost 500 open-source packages, exposing more than 26,000 GitHub repositories in less than 24 hours. via @mattkapko.com cyberscoop.com/supply-chain...
Shai-Hulud worm returns stronger and more automated than ever before
Self-replicating malware has infected almost 500 open-source packages, exposing more than 26,000 GitHub repositories in less than 24 hours.
cyberscoop.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Self-replicating malware has infected almost 500 open-source packages, exposing more than 26,000 GitHub repositories in less than 24 hours. via @mattkapko.com cyberscoop.com/supply-chain...
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
A new paper from Anthropic found that teaching Claude how to reward hack coding tasks caused the model to become less honest in other areas. via @derekbjohnson.bsky.social cyberscoop.com/anthropic-cl...
New research finds that Claude breaks bad if you teach it to cheat
A new paper from Anthropic found that teaching Claude how to reward hack coding tasks caused the model to become less honest in other areas.
cyberscoop.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM
A new paper from Anthropic found that teaching Claude how to reward hack coding tasks caused the model to become less honest in other areas. via @derekbjohnson.bsky.social cyberscoop.com/anthropic-cl...
I'll be home by supper.
November 25, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I'll be home by supper.