Veteran technology journalist Fabian A. Scherschel covers the most important threats to our personal liberties, privacy rights and freedom of speech. In reporting on these issues, he draws from a decade of experience in reporting on information security topics, mixed with a healthy dose of journalism critique. The show places a particular emphasis on stories and viewpoints that have been ignored in the legacy media.
https://privatecitizen.press/
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 12 days 10 hours 17 minutes
Episode 168: The TikTok Law
Is the so-called TikTok law a tool to enable the US President to censor apps and websites at will? Yes and no. One thing is certain: This law isn't about TikTok; that's just a smokescreen.
Episode 167: The Death of Serious Politics
Political scientist Brian Klaas looks into why we talk so much about politics, but never actually discuss any actual policy. My critique of his analysis is rather predictable.
Episode 166: The Twitter Files, Part 6
Revisiting the idiotic decision to ban Donald Trump off Twitter and what it means for the future of democracy that private companies started to influence public discourse like that and got away with it.
Episode 165: I Ate'nt Dead
I explain why this show went on an unplanned hiatus and once again vow to get back into the swing of things.
Episode 164: The Year 2023 in Review
In my annual recap episode, I am looking back at the topics that I've covered this year and forward to the changes that 2024 will bring for the podcast.
Episode 163: Back to the Twitter Files
The reporters from the Twitter Files project just won the Dao Prize for excellence in investigative journalism. Could there be a better time to dive back into these stories?
Episode 162: The Westminster Declaration
What do Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, John Cleese, Yanis Varoufakis, Richard Dawkins and Walter Kirn have in common? They are all, despite holding very different political beliefs, very concerned about the future of political discourse in Western democracies.
Episode 161: The EU's Ministry of Truth
EU bureaucrats maintain that the Digital Services Act is not a censorship regime, but is meant to save people from misinformation by deleting it from the internet or hiding it from view. Which, in fact, is the very definition of censorship. Welcome to the Cardassian Union.
Episode 160: The Lobbyists Behind Chat Control
It turns out, that the EU's push to completely abolish digital privacy might not actually be an altruistic move to save children from abuse. Several tech companies, including one headed by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, stand to profit substantially from the decision. Which is why they massively influenced it.
Episode 159: Society Is Going to Hell in a Handbasket
How following the exodus of Germany's worst YouTuber to TikTok opened a private hell of lolcows for me. To a point where I don't think I understand society as a whole anymore. What is this shit? And where is it all going to end?