Monthly Mosh Pit - Apr 26
Big Tech news is horrifying, but don't be angry about it every day. Instead focus your rage in the mosh pit once a month 🤘🏼 with our news roundup, then get back to your life!
Summary
This month from the Mosh Pit: Descent Into Death Tech. Silicon Valley and the military industrial complex have effectively merged their agendas which is resulting in an expansion of authoritative agendas.
Palantir continue their crusade for the MVS (Most Valued Supervillain) award of 2026, coming out swinging with a full on fascist manifesto. Their contract with the UK's National Health Service will further line the pockets of the people who run the surveillance economy. Google double down on the Pentagon AI deals and Meta continue their dystopian push for facial recognition wearable technology. On the ground, dehumanisation is the North Star as Amazon warehouse workers are treated as replaceable parts to surveillance firms using live feeds of children’s gymnastics classes as sales pitches.
Meanwhile, the AI hype machine is showing systemic cracks. OpenAI continue to lose money faster than Trump declares victories in wars. Perplexity has some major privacy issues and, with the admission that AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, the "bullshit machine" is beginning to leak. This is all underpinned by a culture of corporate greed, exemplified by Big Tech dodging billions in taxes while data brokers trade our precise locations to the highest bidder.
However, there is a counter-current of resistance. From the "Purge Palantir" campaign and the German military’s rejection of spy-tech to the EU’s push for open source alternatives and active divestment from US tech, the tide might be turning. We are moving away from passive concern towards active legal and political warfare against the eye of Sauron.
In the Big Tech cesspit
April wasn't short of big tech horrors, so let's open up this pit, people!
General
https://time.com/article/2026/04/01/iran-revolutionary-guard-corps-tech-apple-google-meta-microsoft-nvidia/ Iran threaten to go after Big Tech, and they do - striking Amazon sites https://www.bigtechnology.com/p/iran-strikes-leave-amazon-availability
https://www.thewesternedge.media/p/everyone-is-replaceable-death-rattles Amazon warehouse workers told to get back to work as their colleague lies there dead. Also picked up by mainstream media e.g. here
https://www.dw.com/en/dangerous-apps-in-the-web-of-data-brokers/video-76843321 documentary showing how precise location data is traded by data brokers, to anyone. Supposedly for advertising, that can be used to track soldiers, stalk young girls, harass dissidents, track foreign agents (and sell you products at just the right time 🤦🏼). The data is at the individual level - whereas most people think it's at the aggregated level.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/15/silicon-six-accused-of-avoiding-almost-278bn-in-us-corporation-taxes-over-10-years Big Tech corporations have massively underpaid their tax according to an independent investigation.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2026/04/20/google-starts-scanning-all-your-photos-as-new-update-goes-live/ Google will scan all your photos for use with AI. It's opt-in for now, but they'll boil the frog on that.
https://www.wired.com/story/meta-is-sued-over-scam-ads-on-facebook-and-instagram/ Meta sued by the Consumer Federation of America over scam ads (for "misleading consumers") - they make about 20% of their (massive) revenue from scams.
https://proton.me/blog/what-is-your-data-worth-to-google Proton worked out what you're worth to Google per year. After looking at this do you still think no one would be interested in your data?
https://www.forbesindia.com/article/news/can-whatsapp-read-your-messages/2993170/1 another report about the Meta lawsuit we mentioned in January - that WhatsApp is not actually E2EE. It has reached mainsteam press, the case is ongoing. RELATED: although this article says the investigation has been "abruptly shut down". Surprise, surprise: Politics + Big Tech = Corruption.
Paedotech
https://www.404media.co/city-learns-flock-accessed-cameras-in-childrens-gymnastics-room-as-a-sales-pitch-demo-renews-contract-anyway/ Flock (a US camera surveillance company) had been caught accessing cameras in childrens' gym classes, and in swimming pools, and bragging about it in sales pitches.
Death tech, smart spies and facial recognition
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/surveillance-vendors-caught-abusing-access-to-telcos-to-track-peoples-phone-locations-researchers-say/ Citizen Lab reveal government spy ops exploiting vulnerabilities in SMS, targeting specific people. Appears to be linked to Israeli spyware firms.
https://www.aclum.org/publications/mark-zuckerberg-has-a-dystopian-vision-for-a-surveillance-society-heres-how-we-can-fight-back/ Meta is planning to add facial recognition tech to it's RayBan surveillance glasses. Perfect for stalking, harassment and doxxing - yippee!
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/28/google-classified-ai-deal-pentagon Google signs a government contract to use its AI in military death tech.
If you take part in The Big Tech Walkout then the issues in these newsletters will not affect you so badly. Start now, it's fun and easy, and can be done at your own pace:
Age verification & Digital ID
https://this.weekinsecurity.com/papers-please-age-verification-laws-threaten-everyones-online-security-and-privacy/ why age verification laws are bad for privacy and democracy.
https://kotaku.com/discord-palantir-peter-thiel-persona-age-verification-2000668951 surprise surprise, one of the biggest age verification services, Persona, is backed by surveillance and deathtech ghoul Peter Thiel.
https://cybernews.com/security/ants-hack-france-19-million-records-id-agency-breach/ yet another hack of digital ID data, this time the French gov. 19m records!
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/passport-office-tells-brits-cancel-33825796 and British passport data has been stolen from the InterRail database. None of these services can do security properly! ID should not be digital.
https://www.tomshardware.com/software/vpn/utah-becomes-first-us-state-to-target-vpn-use-with-age-verification-law - governments continue to push for to make VPNs illegal via the digital ID fiasco.
Palantir
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/21/palantir-manifesto-uk-contract-fears-mps revulsion from normal people as Palantir CEO Alex Karp's fascist manifesto post on X shows him up to be the super villain that he is.
https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/14/nhs-staff-told-stop-criticising-palantir-or-lose-your-job/ NHS bosses pressure staff to accept Palantir's software.
https://www.thenerdreich.com/how-to-purge-palantir/ Gil Duran tears into Palantir's manifesto nonsense and gets his X account banned, as covered in this article about Palantir's manifesto. Gil explains in this blog post that with Palantir + Trump "this is the extreme right-wing fascist playbook being played out: creation of fear of the other, a need to centralize elites and wealthy people around a goal of purging the enemy. They speak about inferior cultures that don't contribute to the country."
https://goodlawproject.org/the-shadow-contract-a-new-podcast-from-good-law-project/ this org exposes how suss the Palantir NHS contract is. (See also their Democracy For Sale court case in the It's Not All Bad section below)
Big Tech vs democracy
https://readsludge.com/2026/04/09/ai-super-pacs-are-unleashing-millions-to-tilt-primaries-in-their-favor/ AI-powered funds are bing set up to influence the US primaries to not regulate AI.
In the AI bubble
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/perplexitys-incognito-mode-is-a-sham-lawsuit-says/ Perplexity shares your entire chats with Google and Meta for ad dollars 🤮
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trusted exposé on Sam Altman (by Ronan Farrow). Altman is a sociopath who can't be trusted. But you knew that, right?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/indianapolis-councilor-ron-gibson-home-shooting-data-centers-note/ gunman shoots up Indianapolis councillor's home, leaves note "No data centers" after vote. Right message, wrong action.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/09/openai-pulls-out-of-landmark-31bn-uk-investment Signs of the bubble popping - OpenAI cancels UK data center deal. Looks like Ed Zitron might be right.
https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/story/why-openai-ipo-may-not-happen-in-2026-as-cfo-sarah-friar-flags-financial-risks-524178-2026-04-06 Signs of the bubble popping - OpenAI's CFO breaks ranks with Altman to claim they are not ready for an IPO. And even weirder she no longer reports to Altman (CFOs always report to the CEO).
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/17/microsoft-us-tech-firms-lobbied-eu-secrecy-rules-datacentre-emissions US tech companies lobbied EU to keep data center emissions a secret.
https://www.computerworld.com/article/4059383/openai-admits-ai-hallucinations-are-mathematically-inevitable-not-just-engineering-flaws.html not recent news (Sep 25) but an admission from Open AI that hallucinations are mathematically impossible to get rid of. A timely reminder to boosters that it will always be the bullshit machine!
https://www.business-standard.com/technology/tech-news/claude-ai-agent-opus-46-deletes-pocketos-database-9-secs-jer-crane-126042800659_1.html after deleting all of someone's photos last month, Claude's AI agent has now deleted a company's entire database 😬 Welcome to the future!
https://oligarchwatch.substack.com/p/an-oligarchs-dystopian-scheme-to Thiel-backed AI startup will pass judgement on journalists. A biased black box to sweep aside criticism of Silicon Valley... by programming their own jury.
https://observer.co.uk/news/science-technology/article/matt-clifford-the-power-broker-behind-the-uks-ai-agenda Wondering why the UK gov is obsessed with US tech and AI? It's this guy, venture capitalist Matt Clifford.
https://www.balancedeconomy.org/latest/data-centre-361hfaldby-21fdbafw A report by the Balanced Economy Project shows how the AI boom, and the data centers that come with it, was manufactured by big tech and big finance. Ignore the hype!
If you take part in The Big Tech Walkout then the issues in these newsletters will not affect you so badly. Start now, it's fun and easy, and can be done at your own pace:
It's not all bad!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/16/big-tech-breakup-parties this org does anti big tech parties! 🥳
https://www.byteseu.com/1943460/ the EU has made an open source age verification app. Never mind that it was hacked within minutes of being released, at least it's open source.
https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-should-stand-up-to-big-tech-instead-of-imposing-social-media-bans-estonia-says/ Estonia backs RTA's position that the EU should regulate big tech products, not age gate them.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/20/palantir_nhs_break_clause/ The UK gov is considering ditching Palantir 🤞🏼
https://purgepalantir.com/ this org exists purely to campaign to get Palantir contracts cancelled 🥳
https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-big-tech-donald-trump-alexander-scholtes-breakup-still-hooked/ several EU countries are actively trying to divest from US tech, though they're finding it to be difficult.
https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-were-taking-the-government-577 thie investigative journalism organisation Democracy For Sale is suing the UK government for not disclosing information about its contacts with Palantir 🥳
https://www.reuters.com/technology/germanys-military-shuns-palantir-now-cyber-chief-tells-handelsblatt-2026-04-28/ the German military have rejected working with Palantir 🥳
If you take part in The Big Tech Walkout then the issues in these newsletters will not affect you so badly. Start now, it's fun and easy, and can be done at your own pace:
Tech tip of the month
Bit of a weird one this month, but bear with us. Instead of using a service that has a third party server somewhere to store your files and sync down to your machines, you can use SyncThing to sync directly between your devices.
If you've got an 'always-on' computer then you can put it there to act like a central server. But you don't necessarily need that - just install on all your devices and you'll mirror your files on each, instantly showing changes. The Android mobile app is here.
Book recommendation
The Amazing Generation by Jonathan Haidt & Catherine Price. Aimed at children/teenagers but actually does a great job of explaining how Big Tech have hacked our minds. Even better if you have children and they read this themselves.
Blog recommendation
The Nerd Reich by Gil Duran. This is the blog where you'll find out all the weird belief systems the tech bros have, and what their ultimate fascist end game is.
Film recommendation
Dangerous Apps - in the web of data brokers is an amazing new documentary from German channel DW. It shows how our data is being sold at the individual level, not aggregated (as referenced above).
Campaign request: spam the gov
Want to get the message to the UK government that the under 16s social media ban is a bad idea? Then spam the following text into every question in one of the consultation forms . You don't have to be from the UK.
Text: REGULATE THE TECH COMPANIES, NOT THE PUBLIC. THIS IS A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT ISSUE, NOT A BAN.
Our position is that this is not about the kids, it's about control and surveillance. The real action to take is to force the tech platforms to fix their defective products - so they are safe for everyone, not just kids. But the goverment is chickening out of regulating Big Tech and instead proposing to punish all internet users with a blanked ban and age verification.
Rebel Tech Alliance is a non-profit dedicated to getting as many people off big tech products as possible. Why? Because that reduces screen addiction and the surveillance economy, which in turn reduces the surveillance state. And that's just good news all round.
