Should We Talk About the Weather?

Dear Citizens,

Lots happening this week. Meta, trying to trick local voters into loving big data? Check. Momentum growing to investigate Palantir? Check, but sign here if you haven’t. Want to cross-check your LinkedIn contacts with the Epstein files? Heyyy. Check. We’ve thought of everything.

Here’s what else to read, watch and do this week.

🧊 ONE WATCH: ICE and Digital Rights 🧊

Over in the US, ICE and the border patrol are running wild. But what are citizens’ digital rights? Our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation pulled together an online town hall this week to discuss how the digital rights community can help address brutality against immigrant communities, and to do some myth busting about ICE, the CPB and digital rights.

Watch the whole conversation here.

🚜 ONE READ: Engagement Farming 🚜

The internet isn’t all bad. From the Associated Press, a 208-year old offline icon is getting a second chance on the interwebs:

The Farmers’ Almanac isn’t going out of business after all, but it is leaving Maine for the bright lights of New York City and a new owner. Beloved by farmers and gardeners, the almanac was first printed in 1818 and—like the arguably more famous Old Farmer’s Almanac—relies on a secret formula of sunspots, planetary positions, and lunar cycles to generate long-range weather forecasts. It’s been acquired by Unofficial Networks, a digital publisher focused on skiing and outdoor recreation. That means the almanac will keep operating despite announcing in November that its 208-year run was coming to an end.

The Almanac may be the ultimate offline information companion, trusted for decades by farmers to predict the weather and preview the seasons. As Patrick Whittle writes, it’s getting a new look online.

🇺🇸 BONUS READ: Trump’s Decision to Destroy 🇺🇸

Craig Unger goes deep on Trump, Russia and disinformation, tracing the roots of their unholy alliance back to the 1980s.

As a rule, I try to avoid re-upping material I’ve written before. But occasionally it is unavoidable because we are locked in a long term battle—a war, of sorts, with Russia— that transcends the mind-numbing news cycles that are on rapid rotation and frequently obscure what is really going on. And to understand that war, you have to understand how it started.

Read the full article on Substack here.

Deadly deportations in the US. Surveillance in Gaza. Palantir now deeply embedded in UK national infrastructure. We have questions.

✍️ Please sign and share our petition calling for a full Parliamentary debate on Palantir.

🚫 ONE ACTION: QuitGPT 🚫

ChatGPT? How about QuitGPT, a new global boycott. From the organizers -

ChatGPT is the biggest chatbot in the world, but that advantage is fragile. ChatGPT has been losing market share. Their creator OpenAI is losing 3x more than they earn. ChatGPT users skew young and progressive, and many don’t know about alternatives. We can push OpenAI over the edge. If we make an example of ChatGPT, we can send a clear signal to ICE enablers that their actions will not go unpunished. Let’s make CEOs think twice before they get in bed with Trump.

The easy petition gives three ways to act, easy to use social media content, resources and more. Check it out here.

🗣️ ANOTHER ACTION: Tell Your MP 🗣️

Public inquiries force the truth into the open - especially when institutions would rather look away.

That’s why over 114,000 people have now called for a full public inquiry into Russian interference in UK democracy.

On Monday 9 February, Parliament will debate the petition. But a debate only matters if MPs show up.

So here’s the ask:
Email your MP and tell them this cannot be ignored. Ask them to attend the debate and support a full inquiry.

📩 Find the email template here.

ICYMI: we’ve published a summary of the pre-debate briefing, which laid out how Britain has repeatedly failed to examine attacks on its democracy - and why that failure leaves us exposed today.
👉 Read it here: https://dispatch.the-citizens.com/the-end-is-a-beginning/

Here are two bonus events from the old’ Citizens inbox:

• Interested in how disinformation and propaganda are shaping (and unnerving) the future in Sudan? This is a great webinar 16 February from our friends at Digihub Africa.
• How is disinformation disorder stoking instability in Southwest Asia and North Africa? Another terrific conversation online here 12 February, The Deadly Consequences of Online Disinformation. Register here.

That’s all for this week,
Team Citizens

*PS - Join our Signal Chat if you haven’t already!