Ilmo Ilkka
@ilmoilkka.bsky.social
Journalist
Love to sail the forbidden seas
Love to sail the forbidden seas
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
Badenoch monitoring Jenrick’s activities for some time because of suspicions he was working to undermine party. They believed defection to Reform imminent.
Concerns confirmed by indiscreet activities of Jenrick’s unofficial aides - with parts of potential resignation speech left unattended.
Concerns confirmed by indiscreet activities of Jenrick’s unofficial aides - with parts of potential resignation speech left unattended.
January 15, 2026 at 12:23 PM
Badenoch monitoring Jenrick’s activities for some time because of suspicions he was working to undermine party. They believed defection to Reform imminent.
Concerns confirmed by indiscreet activities of Jenrick’s unofficial aides - with parts of potential resignation speech left unattended.
Concerns confirmed by indiscreet activities of Jenrick’s unofficial aides - with parts of potential resignation speech left unattended.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
Two key figures in Greater Manchester have resigned this week following @manchestermill.bsky.social investigations: The chair of the Uni of GM and the CEO of Rochdale Council. This is the kind of accountability local areas need and that they lose when papers stop taking risks and turn to clickbait.
January 15, 2026 at 9:36 AM
Two key figures in Greater Manchester have resigned this week following @manchestermill.bsky.social investigations: The chair of the Uni of GM and the CEO of Rochdale Council. This is the kind of accountability local areas need and that they lose when papers stop taking risks and turn to clickbait.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
Also, now that I am back from vacation, a reminder that if you work for a platform or the government and you want to chat, you can reach me on Signal at Vittoria89.82. We can speak anonymously.
First new piece of the year for @wired.com. I chatted with @donmoyn.bsky.social about the cycle of policy and online conspiracy that has defined Trump 2.0 aka the "clicktatorship."
www.wired.com/story/everyt...
www.wired.com/story/everyt...
Everything Is Content for the ‘Clicktatorship’
In the second Trump administration, online conspiracy theories are shaping real-world policies like never before.
www.wired.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Also, now that I am back from vacation, a reminder that if you work for a platform or the government and you want to chat, you can reach me on Signal at Vittoria89.82. We can speak anonymously.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
#Europe: The Far Right is on the rise... you have been warned. Index's @martinbright.bsky.social attended a far right conference in Brussels to find out more about their claim to be the defenders of free speech:
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/01/the-...
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/01/the-...
The Far Right is on the rise in 2026...you have been warned - Index on Censorship
A conference in Brussels brought together a movement of “patriots” deeply hostile to the European Union and liberal values of free expression
www.indexoncensorship.org
January 13, 2026 at 4:18 PM
#Europe: The Far Right is on the rise... you have been warned. Index's @martinbright.bsky.social attended a far right conference in Brussels to find out more about their claim to be the defenders of free speech:
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/01/the-...
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/01/the-...
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
NEW: Completely unredacted Flock audit logs have been released to the public by numerous police departments and in some cases include details on millions of Flock license plate searches made by thousands of police departments from around the country.
Police Unmask Millions of Surveillance Targets Because of Flock Redaction Error
Flock is going after a website called HaveIBeenFlocked.com that has collated public records files released by police.
www.404media.co
January 13, 2026 at 4:12 PM
NEW: Completely unredacted Flock audit logs have been released to the public by numerous police departments and in some cases include details on millions of Flock license plate searches made by thousands of police departments from around the country.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
This is *the* thing no author can abide: An editor inserting a change **after** writer has seen "final proof" etc.
A late update in a breaking news story? Sure. But columns, reviews, features, magazine pieces... No.
Happened to me once. Refused to work with that editor ever again.
A late update in a breaking news story? Sure. But columns, reviews, features, magazine pieces... No.
Happened to me once. Refused to work with that editor ever again.
I wrote book reviews for a while for the WSJ well over a decade ago, and Bari Weis was my editor. One of her special tricks was to try to insert a sharp rightward slant into my essays *after* it had been copy edited, as a way of slipping her viewpoint in at the last minute.
January 13, 2026 at 4:21 PM
This is *the* thing no author can abide: An editor inserting a change **after** writer has seen "final proof" etc.
A late update in a breaking news story? Sure. But columns, reviews, features, magazine pieces... No.
Happened to me once. Refused to work with that editor ever again.
A late update in a breaking news story? Sure. But columns, reviews, features, magazine pieces... No.
Happened to me once. Refused to work with that editor ever again.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
A few months ago, ICE hired me
I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable
And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!"
My latest for Slate
I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable
And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!"
My latest for Slate
You’ve Heard About Who ICE Is Recruiting. The Truth Is Far Worse. I’m the Proof.
What happens when you do minimal screening before hiring agents, arming them, and sending them into the streets? We're all finding out.
slate.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:11 PM
A few months ago, ICE hired me
I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable
And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!"
My latest for Slate
I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable
And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!"
My latest for Slate
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
After Bari Weiss, the new CBS News editor in chief, abruptly postponed a segment of “60 Minutes” that was critical of the Trump administration, several veteran correspondents questioned how she had handled the segment after she defended her decision on a call with the newsroom.
Turmoil at CBS News After Bari Weiss Pulls a ‘60 Minutes’ Segment
Several veteran correspondents questioned how Ms. Weiss, the new CBS News editor in chief, had handled the segment, after she defended her decision on a call with the newsroom.
nyti.ms
December 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
After Bari Weiss, the new CBS News editor in chief, abruptly postponed a segment of “60 Minutes” that was critical of the Trump administration, several veteran correspondents questioned how she had handled the segment after she defended her decision on a call with the newsroom.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
If Brendan Carr "believes the FCC is subservient to the president, then he is the last person who should be claiming the power to regulate journalists' editorial decisions under the FCC’s 'public interest' standard," @seth-stern.bsky.social and Clayton Weimers write.
Brendan Carr admits his FCC is Trump’s journalism police | Seth Stern and Clayton Weimers
It is clear that the FCC is not an independent agency, but an instrument of the president’s political agenda
www.theguardian.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM
If Brendan Carr "believes the FCC is subservient to the president, then he is the last person who should be claiming the power to regulate journalists' editorial decisions under the FCC’s 'public interest' standard," @seth-stern.bsky.social and Clayton Weimers write.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
Today, my colleague David Yaffe-Bellany and I published an investigation into the frenzied world of crypto unleased by Trump.
Risk taking, profiteering & yes, innovation, as crypto bros sense that this is the moment crypto will go mainstream in the U.S.
Free link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/t...
Risk taking, profiteering & yes, innovation, as crypto bros sense that this is the moment crypto will go mainstream in the U.S.
Free link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/t...
What Trump’s Embrace of Crypto Has Unleashed
www.nytimes.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Today, my colleague David Yaffe-Bellany and I published an investigation into the frenzied world of crypto unleased by Trump.
Risk taking, profiteering & yes, innovation, as crypto bros sense that this is the moment crypto will go mainstream in the U.S.
Free link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/t...
Risk taking, profiteering & yes, innovation, as crypto bros sense that this is the moment crypto will go mainstream in the U.S.
Free link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/t...
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
I’m sorry, but that’s not how this works.
December 16, 2025 at 7:44 PM
I’m sorry, but that’s not how this works.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
President Trump hasn’t lost a penny because of the BBC’s editing, and his $10 billion lawsuit against them is preposterous.
The only way for the BBC to preserve its journalistic integrity is to fight back.
Read our statement:
The only way for the BBC to preserve its journalistic integrity is to fight back.
Read our statement:
Trump’s BBC lawsuit is nonsense, like his others
His frivolous damages theory concedes that Trump views the presidency as a for-profit venture
freedom.press
December 16, 2025 at 5:04 PM
President Trump hasn’t lost a penny because of the BBC’s editing, and his $10 billion lawsuit against them is preposterous.
The only way for the BBC to preserve its journalistic integrity is to fight back.
Read our statement:
The only way for the BBC to preserve its journalistic integrity is to fight back.
Read our statement:
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
Hence, on the one hand, Switzerland wants to remain neutral. But it can’t *start* coordinating with allies when it is attacked. It needs to act before. And the strategy describes how.
December 16, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Hence, on the one hand, Switzerland wants to remain neutral. But it can’t *start* coordinating with allies when it is attacked. It needs to act before. And the strategy describes how.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
BREAKING: Keir Starmer has launched a formal investigation into foreign election interference after a former senior Reform UK politician accepted bribes to promote Russian interests in the European Parliament
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Reform’s Russian bribe case prompts election interference inquiry
The PM has ordered an investigation into foreign influence in politics after the ex-leader of Reform in Wales was jailed for taking cash to parrot Kremlin lines
www.thetimes.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:40 PM
BREAKING: Keir Starmer has launched a formal investigation into foreign election interference after a former senior Reform UK politician accepted bribes to promote Russian interests in the European Parliament
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
Susie Wiles says Trump "was wrong" to tie Bill Clinton to Jeffrey Epstein's criminal activity. She adds: There is "no evidence" Clinton visited the island.
Susie Wiles tells VF that Trump "has an alcoholic's personality."
"High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink."
Of JD Vance, Wiles said he has "been a conspiracy theorist for a decade."
"High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink."
Of JD Vance, Wiles said he has "been a conspiracy theorist for a decade."
Susie Wiles Talks About The First Year of Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2)
In the first half of ‘Vanity Fair’’s interview with Susie Wiles, the chief of staff discusses Elon Musk’s DOGE disaster, the FBI’s “incredible job” investigating January 6, and how Trump once berated ...
www.vanityfair.com
December 16, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Susie Wiles says Trump "was wrong" to tie Bill Clinton to Jeffrey Epstein's criminal activity. She adds: There is "no evidence" Clinton visited the island.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
Oh no please, Bre’er Fox, don’t throw me in the briar patch!
After briefing on strikes off Venezuela, Sen. Sheehy says “if we're going to question the legal process and the procedural process to target bad guys that this administration is using, then all of you better start cracking open every single Obama kinetic strike”
December 16, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Oh no please, Bre’er Fox, don’t throw me in the briar patch!
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
NEW: Elon Musk's Grok chatbot will, with minimal prompting, provide residential addresses of everyday Americans.
Prompts as simple as "[name] address" immediately returned accurate home addresses of private citizens — alongside other personal info we didn't ask for.
futurism.com/future-socie...
Prompts as simple as "[name] address" immediately returned accurate home addresses of private citizens — alongside other personal info we didn't ask for.
futurism.com/future-socie...
December 4, 2025 at 2:31 PM
NEW: Elon Musk's Grok chatbot will, with minimal prompting, provide residential addresses of everyday Americans.
Prompts as simple as "[name] address" immediately returned accurate home addresses of private citizens — alongside other personal info we didn't ask for.
futurism.com/future-socie...
Prompts as simple as "[name] address" immediately returned accurate home addresses of private citizens — alongside other personal info we didn't ask for.
futurism.com/future-socie...
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
Merriam-Webster’s 2025 word of the year is ‘slop’
Merriam-Webster’s 2025 word of the year is ‘slop’
The year of slop.
buff.ly
December 15, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Merriam-Webster’s 2025 word of the year is ‘slop’
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
Wild stat from the CEO of Stack Overflow on Decoder this week -- 80 percent of its users use AI tools, but only 29 percent actually trust AI. This gap is the biggest story in AI, imo. Dug into it quite a bit www.theverge.com/podcast/8440...
Stack Overflow users don’t trust AI. They’re using it anyway
Stack Overflow CEO Prashanth Chandrasekar on running the most popular developer forum in a post-ChatGPT world.
www.theverge.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Wild stat from the CEO of Stack Overflow on Decoder this week -- 80 percent of its users use AI tools, but only 29 percent actually trust AI. This gap is the biggest story in AI, imo. Dug into it quite a bit www.theverge.com/podcast/8440...
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
It represents a clear signal from the Ivanishvili regime that, in a multipolar system, it has aligned itself with a bloc led by Russia, whose proclaimed neutrality status comes at the expense of security and sovereignty.
December 12, 2025 at 6:52 PM
It represents a clear signal from the Ivanishvili regime that, in a multipolar system, it has aligned itself with a bloc led by Russia, whose proclaimed neutrality status comes at the expense of security and sovereignty.
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
The EU has formally concluded the written procedure to indefinitely immobilise the Russian sovereign assets.
25 countries in favour, 2 against.
Can you guess?
25 countries in favour, 2 against.
Can you guess?
I welcome the decision of the Council on our proposal to continue the immobilisation of Russian Sovereign Assets.
We are sending a strong signal to Russia that as long as this brutal war of aggression continues, Russia’s costs will continue to rise.
We are sending a strong signal to Russia that as long as this brutal war of aggression continues, Russia’s costs will continue to rise.
December 12, 2025 at 6:22 PM
The EU has formally concluded the written procedure to indefinitely immobilise the Russian sovereign assets.
25 countries in favour, 2 against.
Can you guess?
25 countries in favour, 2 against.
Can you guess?
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
‘Harder work than almost any album we ever did’: Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here turns 50
‘Harder work than almost any album we ever did’: Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here turns 50
As the classic album hits 50, Nick Mason talks about the often difficult process of making it and how it has since fit into their larger catalogue
www.theguardian.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:57 PM
‘Harder work than almost any album we ever did’: Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here turns 50
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
MAGAZINER: How many veterans have you deported?
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
December 11, 2025 at 4:22 PM
MAGAZINER: How many veterans have you deported?
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
NOEM: We haven't deported veterans
MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea
Reposted by Ilmo Ilkka
You've got another 38 minutes to catch this while it's in front of the paywall, if you're not a subscriber to The Verge.
Delighted this piece is now live on @theverge.com: I've spent months investigating how a supposed war against the "censorship-industrial complex" has been used by the US right to wage war against misinformation research – and free speech itself – across the world. Please do give it a read.
The disinformation wars are here
How Joe Biden’s administration caved to the right in the battle for truth.
www.theverge.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:23 PM
You've got another 38 minutes to catch this while it's in front of the paywall, if you're not a subscriber to The Verge.