Caroline Orr Bueno
@rvawonk.bsky.social
Yep, it’s me! Mother, Wife, Asst. Research Scientist. Studying cyberpsychology, cognitive security, disinformation. “Epistemic Superpredator.” I write things here: https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com
Thanks so much for your post. I really appreciate it :)
August 10, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Thanks so much for your post. I really appreciate it :)
That’s interesting about TikTok. Whenever I see an explosion of AI content like that I always wonder if someone is trying to either manipulate a trending algorithm or, even more seriously, manipulate something like a stock market or other financial market.
August 5, 2025 at 5:10 AM
That’s interesting about TikTok. Whenever I see an explosion of AI content like that I always wonder if someone is trying to either manipulate a trending algorithm or, even more seriously, manipulate something like a stock market or other financial market.
Here’s the full post. Please read and share widely.
This is a fight we can’t afford to lose.
open.substack.com/pub/weaponiz...
This is a fight we can’t afford to lose.
open.substack.com/pub/weaponiz...
Surviving the Tyranny of the Algorithm
A 10-point guide to taking back your reality.
open.substack.com
August 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Here’s the full post. Please read and share widely.
This is a fight we can’t afford to lose.
open.substack.com/pub/weaponiz...
This is a fight we can’t afford to lose.
open.substack.com/pub/weaponiz...
Algorithms are not inherently good or bad; they take on the properties of the code that humans write, but apply it at a scale that humans are not capable of.
We won’t win this game. And when we lose, the cost will be control over our own minds.
We won’t win this game. And when we lose, the cost will be control over our own minds.
August 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Algorithms are not inherently good or bad; they take on the properties of the code that humans write, but apply it at a scale that humans are not capable of.
We won’t win this game. And when we lose, the cost will be control over our own minds.
We won’t win this game. And when we lose, the cost will be control over our own minds.
There are many ways to destroy a life. Being high on drugs is one way. Wasting your youth with your head plastered to a screen watching two minute video clips because that’s all your brain can process is another way to ruin a life. Please understand the gravity of this situation.
August 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
There are many ways to destroy a life. Being high on drugs is one way. Wasting your youth with your head plastered to a screen watching two minute video clips because that’s all your brain can process is another way to ruin a life. Please understand the gravity of this situation.
Algorithms serve up content you like b/c they know that’s how they can hook you and get you to keep clicking, keep scrolling, and keep making them more money. They’re like digital drug dealers — and I’d argue that the effects are more insidious and corrosive than actual drugs.
August 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Algorithms serve up content you like b/c they know that’s how they can hook you and get you to keep clicking, keep scrolling, and keep making them more money. They’re like digital drug dealers — and I’d argue that the effects are more insidious and corrosive than actual drugs.
This is the first piece of advice I offer in the survival guide for resisting algorithmic tyranny. Until you learn the difference between entertainment and education vs covert psychological manipulation, you will remain a slave to the algorithm.
Learn the difference. Act on it.
Learn the difference. Act on it.
August 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
This is the first piece of advice I offer in the survival guide for resisting algorithmic tyranny. Until you learn the difference between entertainment and education vs covert psychological manipulation, you will remain a slave to the algorithm.
Learn the difference. Act on it.
Learn the difference. Act on it.
👇A similar but related example of outsourcing the regime’s dirty work, much like the Trump administration is doing with algorithmic manipulation. Here, we see it being done with harassment of a private citizen.
bsky.app/profile/anna...
bsky.app/profile/anna...
NEW: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal funds.
Then the harassment began.
Pizzas sent to his home in the name of Judge Esther Salas’s murdered son, Daniel.
Six credible threats to his life.
More than 400 “vile” calls to his chambers—including this voicemail:
Then the harassment began.
Pizzas sent to his home in the name of Judge Esther Salas’s murdered son, Daniel.
Six credible threats to his life.
More than 400 “vile” calls to his chambers—including this voicemail:
August 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM
👇A similar but related example of outsourcing the regime’s dirty work, much like the Trump administration is doing with algorithmic manipulation. Here, we see it being done with harassment of a private citizen.
bsky.app/profile/anna...
bsky.app/profile/anna...
When governments can shape what you see w/out saying what they’ve done, democracy becomes a puppet show lit by a carefully engineered spotlight.
And if the algorithm is the gatekeeper, then who holds the keys?
Fight back. Starting now. Starting here. weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/revealed-h...
And if the algorithm is the gatekeeper, then who holds the keys?
Fight back. Starting now. Starting here. weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/revealed-h...
REVEALED: How the Trump admin is covertly reconfiguring online algorithms
For the first time, here’s a look at the administration’s playbook for reverse algorithmic capture.
weaponizedspaces.substack.com
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
When governments can shape what you see w/out saying what they’ve done, democracy becomes a puppet show lit by a carefully engineered spotlight.
And if the algorithm is the gatekeeper, then who holds the keys?
Fight back. Starting now. Starting here. weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/revealed-h...
And if the algorithm is the gatekeeper, then who holds the keys?
Fight back. Starting now. Starting here. weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/revealed-h...
Let’s be clear: Reverse algorithmic capture isn’t a policy debate about platform bias. It’s a strategy designed & rolled out by the Trump admin to realign the rules of information visibility in favor of those in power, using regulatory levers to reprogram epistemic systems.
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Let’s be clear: Reverse algorithmic capture isn’t a policy debate about platform bias. It’s a strategy designed & rolled out by the Trump admin to realign the rules of information visibility in favor of those in power, using regulatory levers to reprogram epistemic systems.
We are witnessing the emergence of a privatized information infrastructure that serves public ideological aims without invoking the First Amendment—or admitting the state’s hand. It’s being done by rebranding algorithmic power as populist reform.
Hi, Bannon.
Hi, Bannon.
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
We are witnessing the emergence of a privatized information infrastructure that serves public ideological aims without invoking the First Amendment—or admitting the state’s hand. It’s being done by rebranding algorithmic power as populist reform.
Hi, Bannon.
Hi, Bannon.
In the name of fighting censorship, the Trump administration is shaping digital ecosystems to favor its preferred narratives while chilling dissent. It is a form of soft epistemic authoritarianism—and we all (I hope) know what comes next.
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
In the name of fighting censorship, the Trump administration is shaping digital ecosystems to favor its preferred narratives while chilling dissent. It is a form of soft epistemic authoritarianism—and we all (I hope) know what comes next.
Interestingly (to me at least), this set of tactics actually mirrors in some ways a Russian disinfo tactic called reflexive control. Though there are some key differences, what Trump is doing is basically forcing platform decisions by manipulating the choice architecture.
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Interestingly (to me at least), this set of tactics actually mirrors in some ways a Russian disinfo tactic called reflexive control. Though there are some key differences, what Trump is doing is basically forcing platform decisions by manipulating the choice architecture.
That’s not even close to all of it. We have also seen companies like YouTube & Facebook respond to the Trump admin’s false claims of censorship by scrapping their own content moderation practices, which almost always benefits right wing media outlets & commentators.
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
That’s not even close to all of it. We have also seen companies like YouTube & Facebook respond to the Trump admin’s false claims of censorship by scrapping their own content moderation practices, which almost always benefits right wing media outlets & commentators.
In a new EO, Trump codified this process of reverse algorithmic capture by forcing any company that wants to do business now or in the future with the federal government to implement standards to reduce “bias“ — which includes not mentioning things like diversity and equity.
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
In a new EO, Trump codified this process of reverse algorithmic capture by forcing any company that wants to do business now or in the future with the federal government to implement standards to reduce “bias“ — which includes not mentioning things like diversity and equity.
These algorithms are essentially unseen curators of reality. They decide what content you see or don’t see; what creators you see or don’t see; what ads you get served; what your Google results look like when you search for anything from restaurants to personal health questions.
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
These algorithms are essentially unseen curators of reality. They decide what content you see or don’t see; what creators you see or don’t see; what ads you get served; what your Google results look like when you search for anything from restaurants to personal health questions.
This practice of reverse algorithmic capture has already been written into policy and is affecting the algorithms that shape everything from search results to feed curation to ad targeting, to content moderation on platforms.
It’s affecting you. Probably more than you realize.
It’s affecting you. Probably more than you realize.
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
This practice of reverse algorithmic capture has already been written into policy and is affecting the algorithms that shape everything from search results to feed curation to ad targeting, to content moderation on platforms.
It’s affecting you. Probably more than you realize.
It’s affecting you. Probably more than you realize.
By engineering incentives that guide algorithms to amplify preferred narratives and suppress dissent, they don’t have to issue any direct orders. They can stay at a seemingly safe distance, maintaining possible deniability, all the while pulling the strings of public algorithms.
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
By engineering incentives that guide algorithms to amplify preferred narratives and suppress dissent, they don’t have to issue any direct orders. They can stay at a seemingly safe distance, maintaining possible deniability, all the while pulling the strings of public algorithms.
Now, there’s no secret program or code that they’re using to do this. It’s being done through a process that I call reverse algorithmic capture.™
Instead of calling for censorship or bans directly, the Trump admin is reshaping the architecture of digital platforms in its favor.
Instead of calling for censorship or bans directly, the Trump admin is reshaping the architecture of digital platforms in its favor.
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Now, there’s no secret program or code that they’re using to do this. It’s being done through a process that I call reverse algorithmic capture.™
Instead of calling for censorship or bans directly, the Trump admin is reshaping the architecture of digital platforms in its favor.
Instead of calling for censorship or bans directly, the Trump admin is reshaping the architecture of digital platforms in its favor.