Justin Hendrix

@justinhendrix

Concerned with tech, media and democracy. CEO & Editor at Tech Policy Press. Research & Adjunct Professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Opinions mine.

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Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· 24d

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· 26d

NYC givng off real end times vibes this afternoon.

A hazy NYC skyline looking east from third avenue

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jul 4

They also have a great exhibit of protest imagery.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jul 4

New Yorkers, if you are looking for something to do (indoors) for the 4th, the main branch of NYPL has a copy of the Declaration of Independence penned by Jefferson, a room where you can write a copy of it in your own handwriting, and a great button making activity.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jul 3

I keep a little personal weather station here in Flatbush. Never seen these numbers. Thnak goodness the humidity is relatively low.

A digital weather station display showing outdoor conditions: temperature 105°F, heat index 118°F, and 38% humidity. Wind readings show 0 mph for current, average, and peak. The bottom section displays a partly sunny forecast icon and a barometric pressure reading of 29.94 with a steady trend arrow. The screen glows blue against a dark background.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jul 3

"Under Trump’s presidency, the level of democracy in the USA has fallen back to the same level as in 1965," V-Dem concluded. "Typically, autocratizing countries of the 'third wave' have taken about a decade to make such a deep dive, and the speed of decline is comparable to some coups d´états."

Line chart showing the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index for the United States versus the Western Europe and North America regional average, 1955–2025. The US line rises from about 0.51 in 1955 to a peak near 0.85 by the early 2010s, then drops sharply in two red-marked periods under Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0, plunging to roughly 0.57 in 2025 — a level last seen in the mid-1960s, as indicated by a dashed horizontal line tracing the 2025 value back in time.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 24

Nearly a headline hat trick.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 20

The world Musk wants you to see is a world in which the beneficiaries of decades of economic and social liberalisation are not billionaires in Silicon Valley (as one might otherwise reasonably suspect), but immigrants working multiple low-paid jobs (possibly for a giant tech company) in order to pay their rising housing costs. In other words, Musk’s support for Robinson and Rupert Lowe’s new far-right Restore Britain party, his incendiary rhetoric about immigrants, is not ideology — or not just ideology. It’s deflection.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 18

Once again confirming my general rule for major NYC events- go early or don't go. Unbelievable- hope everyone has a blast!

Notification issued 06-18-2026 at 08:01 AM.

Knicks Parade: All viewing pens are full. No one else will be allowed in the viewing area. As a reminder, if you leave the viewing pens, you will not be allowed reentry. There are no trains stopping south of Canal St in Manhattan.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 16

"Ties." www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

But Anthropic later disclosed that the list had ballooned and roughly 50 additional entities had already received access. Senior officials began to consider using export controls to claw back the technology after the company did not identify the new recipients for days.

When Anthropic finally turned over the names, the administration discovered that one recipient was a South Korean telecommunications company the administration suspected of having ties to China, the officials said.

Anthropic quickly revoked the firm’s access to Mythos, said a person close to Anthropic, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the deliberations.

But the episode badly damaged officials’ confidence in the company’s ability to safeguard sensitive technology.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 13

Former Trump AI advisor Dean Ball.

If this is true, it is just baffling. An administration whose posture is that we *should* export advanced AI chips to China, which also wants to ban… Britain (and every other non-American on Earth)… from using our best models? I have no words.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 13

Expect this headline will be updated. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/t...

Anthropic Blocks Foreign Nationals From Using Its Mythos and Fable 5 A.I. Systems
The San Francisco company said on Friday night that the federal government ordered the suspension of the two A.I. systems, citing national security concerns.

The US government, citing national security authorities, has issued an export control directive to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States, including foreign national Anthropic employees. The net effect of this order is that we must abruptly disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all our customers to ensure compliance. Access to all other Anthropic models will not be affected.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 8

Hegseth's Normandy remarks went down like a bag of rocks, apparently. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Speaking in north-west France on Saturday to mark the 82nd anniversary of the D-day landings, Hegseth seized on the moment marking the wartime liberation of Europe to reiterate the US administration’s longstanding attack on European immigration policies.

“Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies,” Hegseth told those gathered at the American military cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer.

“Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion, or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not,” he said.

“The men who fought and died here restored freedom to Europe,” added Hegseth, a former Fox News host. “That freedom must be maintained by this generation of leaders and war fighters, or what they fought for was merely temporary.”

The remarks were swiftly condemned on social media. The English historian, author and television presenter Simon Schama described them as a “special kind of loathsomeness: a blend of historical deafness, grotesque stupidity and comically ludicrous self-importance”.

Schama added: “As if the little people’s rage against immigration somehow is superior to the war against the 3rd Reich and entitles this comic book nobody to lecture the actual heroes.”

From Jerusalem, the Israeli human rights lawyer Daniel Seidemann also weighed in. “This is an obscene desecration of the memories of those who stormed the beaches of Normandy, and especially of those who fell,” he wrote.

Anders Åslund, a Swedish economist and former senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, contrasted the comments with Hegseth’s later remarks on the US standing alongside its allies. “So much nonsense,” he wrote on social media. “‘We stand by our allies!’ No you don’t. You just attacked them. Immigration policies are internal matters.”

Åslund said Hegseth’s comments were particularly “clueless” given his recent decision to skip a key Nato meeting and Donald Trump’s vows to cut the number of troops in Europe. “Doesn’t Hegseth know that the most unreliable ‘ally’ by far is the US?” he said.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 8

Recently spotted in Flatbush.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 6

👀 www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Even more astounding, according to former U.S. officials and others familiar with the issue, is that Rush’s duties at the CIA included involvement in one of the government’s most sensitive intelligence-gathering programs, a project so secret that only a handful of U.S. intelligence officials and lawmakers knew of its existence, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Details of that program — separate from the fake project Rush allegedly created — remain highly classified. The Washington Post is withholding details about the program after U.S. officials warned that disclosure could jeopardize ongoing intelligence-gathering operations.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 4

"So will democracy survive the internet? Perhaps..."

$So will democracy survive the internet? Perhaps, but the available evidence calls for robust protective action, such as debiasing algorithms and devising tools to help people be better calibrated to the prevalence of their own views, lest we end up in a polarized and fractured authoritarian society$

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Jun 4

"Why would access to fast broadband make people more polarized and more extreme?"

The answer may have something to do with platform algorithms, such as curated newsfeeds (e.g., on Facebook) or ranking of posts (e.g., the “for you” feed on X). Algorithms have long been in the sights of researchers and regulators as potential culprits of polarization because of their opacity and their known focus on maximizing user engagement and platform dwell time with little regard for the quality of curated content.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· May 25

178. Even today, colonialism assumes new forms. It no longer dominates only bodies, but appropriates data, transforming personal lives into exploitable information. Entire regions, especially those marked by structural fragility and limited geopolitical relevance, are currently subjected to a new mindset of extraction: that of health data, epidemiological profiles, genetic maps and demographic information. These have become the new “rare earths” of power: vital data which, once aggregated and analyzed, can be used to train predictive models, guide investment strategies, anticipate crises and, above all, determine who and what is deemed to matter. Those who control the health data of entire peoples — often collected under the pretext of aid, research or innovation — possess a structural leverage over the future, for they can shape needs and markets. They can also decide, before others, to whom medicines, investments and protections will be allocated. Here lies one of the most urgent moral challenges of our time: to ensure that shared knowledge becomes a true common good rather than an instrument of dominance. This requires restoring to individuals not only the data that describes them, but also the ability to decide how it is used, by whom and

179. New forms of slavery are fueled by economic chains and digital infrastructures. Therefore, action is required on several fronts. First, the supply chains that underpin the technological industry and the digital economy need to become more transparent, so that no competitive advantage is built upon hidden exploitation. Second, companies and investors need to adopt clear criteria for preventive ethical verification (due diligence), placing among their priorities the protection of workers, the fight against forced labor and the assessment of the social impact of data-driven business models. Furthermore, digital platforms must cooperate responsibly with authorities and civil society to prevent communication, payment and profiling tools from becoming channels for the recruitment and control of victims. When such efforts converge, the digital environment can be transformed from a space of exploitation into one of protection, prevention and the promotion of human dignity.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· May 25

The search for truth is an essential element of democracy, which is itself a means of contributing to the common good. When questions about what is true lose their appeal, and a pragmatism takes hold that is content with what appears useful or effective, then democratic life is weakened. After all, democracy does not consist of rules and procedures alone, but above all of a solid concordance with the facts and a genuine commitment to the good of individuals and society as a whole. Indifference to the truth leads, slowly but surely, to a descent into totalitarianism. As the philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote, the ideal subjects of such regimes are not so much those who are ideologically convinced, but rather “people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.” [

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· May 22

Little crazy, I made this joke because I remembered another Times piece I read (20 years ago) about neolithic dentistry that included this bit: www.nytimes.com/2006/04/07/s...

None of the individuals with drilled teeth appear to have come from a special tomb or sanctuary, indicating that the oral care they received was available to all.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· May 16

They then looked at 37 countries where 70 percent of a language's speakers live. The pattern held: nations with tighter state media control got more favorable portrayals from LLMs queried in their own language. Less press freedom in, more pro-regime output out.

Scatter plot from the Nature study showing that LLMs give more favorable responses about a country when prompted in that country's language — and the effect is strongest in countries with less press freedom.
X-axis: World Press Freedom Index, divided into five bands from "Very serious" (left) to "Good" (right). Y-axis: percentage of model responses that were more favorable when prompted in the country's official language than in English.
Main panel (GPT-3.5): about 40 countries trend downward from left to right. Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan cluster around 75-80%. Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland sit around 28-40%. Orange dots with error bars mark band averages, falling from roughly 68% in "Very serious" to about 42% in "Good." A dashed horizontal line marks 50%.
Three smaller panels at right repeat the analysis for GPT-4o, Claude Opus and Claude Sonnet. GPT-4o and Opus show similar but somewhat flatter downward trends. Sonnet's points are tightly clustered near the bottom across all press-freedom bands, showing little language-based favoritism.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· May 16

Whether AGI will arrive matters less than what waiting for it already organizes. Waiting coordinates belief by sustaining investment and economic expectation; it structures time by orienting research and policy toward a future that remains permanently forthcoming; it organizes knowledge by keeping disagreement open and thresholds unsettled; it defers responsibility by attaching accountability to a moment that never quite materializes; and it reproduces social roles whose authority depends on continued anticipation rather than present judgmen

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· May 13

“Musk loves to be glazed, and this person is the doughnut factory,” Joan Donovan, assistant professor of journalism and emerging media studies at Boston University, said of XFreeze. She described the account’s adulation of Musk as a “cultural hack,” and added, “Its very clear to me that this communication is for one person alone

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· May 7

Machine translation, right.

$Paris, le 7 mai 2026 Par réquisitoire introductif du 6 mai 2026, le parquet de Paris a ouvert une information judiciaire concernant le fonctionnement de la plateforme « X », des chefs de Complicité de détention de l'image d'un mineur présentant un caractère pédo pornographique, ainsi que de diffusion, offre ou mise à disposition en bande organisée d'image de mineur présentant un caractère pornographique Collecte de données à caractère personnel par un moyen frauduleux, déloyal ou illicite Traitement de données à caractère personnel sans mesure assurant la sécurité de données Extraction frauduleuse de données d'un système de traitement automatisé de données en bande organisée Violation du secret des correspondances émises, transmises ou reçues par voie électronique Falsification du fonctionnement d'un système de traitement automatisé de données en bande organisée Diffusion, par service de communication au public en ligne, d'un montage ou contenu généré par traitement algorithmique à caractère sexuel reproduisant l'image ou les paroles d'une personne non consentante Administration d'une plateforme en ligne pour permettre des transactions illicites, en bande organisée Contestation de crime contre l'humanité, facilitée par l'intelligence artificielle Grok Le parquet de Paris requiert des juges d'instruction la mise en examen des sociétés X.AI Holdings Corp, X Corp et X AI, d'Elon MUSK et de Linda YACCARINO, en les convoquant à cet effet et pour recueillir leurs observations, ou, en cas de carence, en délivrant mandat valant mise en examen. Il est encore une fois rappelé que cette procédure, ouverte sur la base de signalements à la justice, s'inscrit dans l'objectif de faire respecter le droit et de protéger les personnes victimes d'infraction, tant en ligne que dans la vie réelle. Il importe pour cela d'obtenir des plateformes leur mise en conformité avec la législation s'appliquant sur le territoire national. Laure BECCUAU, Procureure de la République$

PARIS PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE JUDICIAL TRIBUNAL
THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
Paris, 7 May 2026

Press Release
By introductory requisition of 6 May 2026, the Paris Prosecutor's Office has opened a judicial investigation concerning the operation of the platform "X," on the following charges:
Complicity in the possession of images of a minor of a child-pornographic nature, as well as the distribution, offering, or making available, in an organized group, of images of a minor of a pornographic nature
Collection of personal data by fraudulent, unfair, or unlawful means
Processing of personal data without measures ensuring the security of the data
Fraudulent extraction of data from an automated data processing system, in an organized group
Violation of the secrecy of correspondence sent, transmitted, or received by electronic means
Falsification of the operation of an automated data processing system, in an organized group
Distribution, via an online public communication service, of a montage or content generated by algorithmic processing of a sexual nature reproducing the image or words of a non-consenting person
Administration of an online platform to enable illicit transactions, in an organized group
Contestation of crimes against humanity, facilitated by the artificial intelligence Grok
The Paris Prosecutor's Office requests that the investigating judges place the companies X.AI Holdings Corp, X Corp, and X AI, as well as Elon MUSK and Linda YACCARINO, under formal investigation, by summoning them for this purpose and to gather their observations, or, failing that, by issuing a warrant equivalent to placing them under formal investigation.
It is once again recalled that this procedure, opened on the basis of reports made to the justice system, is part of the objective of upholding the law and protecting victims of offences, both online and in real life. To this end, it is essential to obtain platforms' compliance with the legislation applicable on the national territory.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Apr 30

Updated our piece to include reference to a local Zambian news report, citing unnamed sources, that the Zambian government's actions were influenced by China, and a statement from Article 19 that points to "claims, many of them well-founded" that foreign pressure contributed to Zambia's decision.

On Thursday, the Zambian news site News Diggers! published a report citing “well-placed sources” that told the outlet “the Summit has actually been cancelled because the programme involves Taiwanese delegates who would potentially speak against China at a venue donated by the Chinese government.” And a statement issued Thursday by the advocacy organization Article 19 noted, “We are aware of claims, many of them well-founded, that pressure from foreign governments contributed to the Zambian government’s decision.”

Tech Policy Press has not been able to independently verify these reports. According to a database of Chinese foreign investments maintained at the College of William and Mary, China donated $30 million for construction of the Mulungushi International Conference Center, where RightsCon was to take place. It represents one of hundreds investments in Zambian infrastructure, which total nearly $13 billion over the past decade, according to the William and Mary researchers.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Apr 23

www.ft.com/content/1b29...

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Apr 21

Tweet from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth saying "We are discarding the mandatory flu vaccine requirement, effective immediately.

Article on the US Army website about flu outbreak killing 45,000 US soldiers during World War I

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Apr 19

"Since 2020, the net worths of America’s tech moguls have skyrocketed. But in the race to the first trillion, there’s one clear leader." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Chart from Mother Jones showing the net worth of seven billionaires from 2020 to 2026. A large chart at the top tracks Elon Musk, whose wealth climbs from near $0 in 2020 to roughly $220 billion by 2022, dips slightly through 2024, then surges sharply to $830 billion in 2026. Six smaller charts below show the same 2020–2026 span with more modest upward trends: Larry Page ($249 billion), Sergey Brin ($230 billion), Jeff Bezos ($223 billion), Mark Zuckerberg ($218 billion), Larry Ellison ($193 billion), and Jensen Huang ($156 billion). All charts use red shaded area graphs.

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Apr 14

Justin Hendrix@justinhendrix· Apr 13

Hmm.