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# Monthly Mosh Pit - Aug 26
- URL: https://blog.rebeltechalliance.org/monthly-mosh-pit-aug-26/
- Published: 2026-09-06T08:00:50.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-06T08:00:50.000Z
- Description: 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!
- Author: Patrick Leavy
- Tags: News
#### SUMMARY - click to expand
Here we go again, the monthly ritual where we pretend we're surprised that 'the companies we can't quit' continue to do shitty things.
The Neglect Factory Formerly Known As Facebook was fined $18 billion. Don’t cheer. That’s 3% of Meta’s annual revenue and those fines are built into their operating costs. It’s also reported that they ran AI generated ads that contained child sexual abuse material across Facebook. Content moderation failure or deliberate content strategy? Probably depends on which particular government official they require ownership of that day.
Amazon is destroying books to train AI and will soon build one of the largest data centres in the US. Until Musk realises this and one ups them. Bigger, faster, stronger, more, more etc.
But wait! Who cares about destroying books? We need our burgers to understand who we really are. McDonalds used AI to create a customer dossier that predicted he would never stop eating there. Your food now has psychological profiles of you and you’re feeding it with every McNugget. A microcosm of the data economy.
Apple is putting cameras into AirPods because the Neglect Factory Formerly Known As Facebook has a branding issue too problematic to make their glasses work. However, Apple being Apple understand that what you can’t see can’t hurt you. We are stocking up on cotton buds. One must always be seen at one’s best, darling. Even when it’s a picture of one’s ear drum.
As always, it’s never all bad. The EU forced Apple to play nice, a French court killed an under 15s social media ban, Gandalf told Peter Thiel to go forth and multiply outside his own mansion, and Darth Vader made a special guest appearance to lobby a city council for more surveillance cameras. That last one is a beautiful, ironic and satirical effort that is especially close to the hearts of your favourite Rebel Tech Alliance members.
We could go on, but that would be a thievery of the joy you will get from reading the next 3000+ words about the transgressions of Big Tech in the month of August 2026.
Once you’re done, go donate to the [pervert glasses ad fund](https://act.everyonehateselon.com/p/pervertglasses), read Beeban Kidron’s book and delete something. After all, you’re a rebel aren’t you?
# In the Big Tech cesspit
> Last month was once again busy for big tech horrors, so let's open up this pit, people!
## General
[US states accuse Meta of covering up research on teen social media addiction in pivotal trialState attorneys general claim tech company intentionally designed addictive products that harm young peopleThe GuardianDara Kerr](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/18/meta-child-safety-addiction-lawsuit-states)
👆🏼 A new trial against Meta brought by a collective of 29 US States has [taken testimony from a former Meta employee](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/19/meta-safety-trial-whistleblower-testimony) who states that Mark Zuckerberg knew about harms to children but deliverable ignored it, and lied about it. (Read those links in Reading Mode to get past the "pay or ok" notice). Here's [another WIRED article update on this trial](https://www.wired.com/story/metas-big-reckoning-is-here/). But, bad news, the States [settled for only $18bn](https://www.ft.com/content/21dcbd96-ee57-445c-a9ba-0938c49b91c0?accessToken=zwAAAaBCa2G-kc8h3L2W7ldEXNOpugk4xJuRwA.MEYCIQDFL2SiRxuTSwJaFPERC0fQoH-AbZ-E9aptAMrFcTCqmQIhAPGKGreUGFAIOkVOddlkwRpuwN4gIE0WVc5YQyDQdQxg&sharetype=gift&token=8658a7bd-8a12-400d-8ab8-846733e32aa0&syn-25a6b1a6=1). A drop in toxic surveillance profits ocean at Meta. However, [Florida rejected the deal and will take it to court](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/08/meta-settles-states-child-safety-claims-for-18b-florida-rejects-deal-as-peanuts/) 🥳
BMW forces Spiderman movie promotions via its in-car screens. Ad blockers for cars, are, indeed, required.
Meta fined $567m for harming childrens' mental health, and compared to 'polluting factories'.
[Meta Caught Paying Nazis to Post on FacebookAn investigation found that Meta has been paying prominent neo-Nazi accounts to post on Facebook through its invite-only monetization program.FuturismFrank Landymore](https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/meta-caught-paying-nazis-to-post-on-facebook)
👆🏼 Meta paying Nazis to post on Facebook? Ffs
study finds that Meta's pervert glasses are being used for "stalker accounts" in Instagram, turning harassed women into 'content'. 🤢 And now [a lawsuit has been brought against Meta in Germany](https://hateaid.org/en/criminal-complaint-against-meta-over-smart-glasses/) for selling spyware stalker glasses!
Agentic AI usage requires 600x the amount of electricity per prompt, and agentic use is on the rise.
[McDonald’s Built a 515-Page Dossier on Me. It Says I’ll Never Stop Eating ThereI requested a copy of my data from McDonald’s loyalty program and received an extensive, personalized report that algorithmically predicts my next purchase.WIREDReece Rogers](https://www.wired.com/story/mcdonalds-built-a-515-page-dossier-on-me-it-says-ill-never-leave/)
👆🏼 All companies profile you, not just Google and Meta. In this case, McDonald's. And of course it all goes into their predictive algorithm. Zoom out, people, zoom out.... the data economy feeds the surveillance state.
Discord and Microsoft turned into a surveillance play pit, as a games developer gets court order to pillage any info there (to locate the person who leaked info on the upcoming GTA6 release).
Google search is a scammers paradise. They *could* verify the scam info they promote, but they can't be bothered. Too big to care. That's what you get when you allow a monopoly.
Ireland have been protecting big tech for decades. This article explains how some of that is built into an old law there.
## Paedotech
[Meta Ran Ads That Contained AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse ImageryMore than 50 offending image and video ads were published across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Threads, according to Meta’s ad library data. Some ran as recently as this week.WIREDMatt Burgess](https://www.wired.com/story/meta-ran-ads-that-contained-ai-generated-child-sexual-abuse-imagery/)
👆🏼 Researchers at the Tech Transparency Project showed that Meta are happy to run ads that contain AI generated child sexual abuse material. 🤮 This is 'automated callousness' and comes directly from the top: Mark Zuckerberg. Might this be the article that convinces your friends and family to finally boycott Meta?
## Death tech, smart spies and facial recognition
[“AI-Powered” Surveillance Networks are Worse Than You KnowIn New Orleans, everyone is being watched with facial recognition cameras and police drones—and your hometown might be next.Current AffairsAlex Skopic](https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-powered-surveillance-networks-are-worse-than-you-know)
👆🏼An overview of public camera spyware - specifically in New Orleans - reveals how much more pervasive it is then before. Weirdly the problem is being exacerbated by a private organisation, echoing what we warned about in our 'Backdoor surveillance state' article. The UK is headed the way of New Orleans, hence [Big Brother Watch's campaign](https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/campaigns/stop-facial-recognition/) which shows that they're trying to normalise facial recognition cameras via supermarkets.
👊
Go [here](https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-scanning-us-all-with-facial-recognition) to sign Big Brother Watch's petition to tell Sainsburys that you don't want facial recognition cameras in their stores
Meta files patent for facial recognition tech in its spy glasses (having removed dormant code due to outcry). Meta don't do consent (as per the rest of the Epstein class).
[Meta Patents AI Device That Tracks Your Emotions, Watches You Take Your MedsImagine a wearable device that records every moment of your day and makes suggestions based on your mood.404 MediaMatthew Gault](https://www.404media.co/meta-patents-ai-device-that-tracks-your-emotions-watches-you-take-your-meds/)
👆🏼 Meta have a patent for a creepy wearable that records your voice all day. Supposedly it's to help with workouts but it's clearly just for ads profiling and data exfiltrating.
a Wired investigation reveals that Flock, the US company making automatic car licence plate recognition cameras, is now offering full 'predictive policing' surveillance tech using AI. And the police love it.
Apple will soon start selling earbuds with cameras in them, to provide images for its AI. Almost as creepy as Meta's pervert glasses.
Vader addresses a council meeting in the US - about Flock surveillance cameras.
[](https://rebel-tech-alliance.cademy.io)
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:
[Big Tech Walkout courses ](https://rebel-tech-alliance.cademy.io)
## Palantir
Palantir software has been secretly inserted into the disability decision making process in Australia 😒
## Big Tech vs democracy
The threat to democracy from the broligarchy has gone mainstream - the FT now warns about it. We've been [saying this](https://www.rebeltechalliance.org/threattodemocracy.html) for years.
Google Earth has an AI feature that lets you create fake satellite images. Remember: democracy cannot withstand too much disinformation.
## In the AI bubble
[AI could cause global economic downturn, Andrew Bailey warns G20The governor of the Bank of England warned of AI’s “volatility” caused by energy shocks from the US-Iran war.BBC NewsRuth Comerford](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99dym3prl1o)
👆🏼 The governor of the Bank of England has warned G20 finance ministers that the AI bubble will cause a *global* financial downturn. Ouch. Things are getting real 😬
now THAT is how to protest a data centre build out - bring a guillotine!
Amazon blasting away with the CO2
staying on the environmental theme, a study has found that AI and the fossil fuels industry are propping each other up. A lose-lose situation (unless you're a greedy oil or AI bro).
AI is not producing the time savings for workers that was predicted by AI bros. The opposite is true.
👆🏼 A good explanation of why the OpenAI 'autonomous Hugging Face hack' claims were **not** "AI models going rogue" - Cal Newport explains that they were just doing what they were requested to do, in an infinite loop - and the whole project had poor design. It's also why the Anthropic and Meta rogue AI hacking claims shouldn't be taken seriously.
Twitch (gaming streaming platform owned by Amazon) will train Amazon's AI models on user content by default. Uses have to opt out manually. All part of big tech's fantasy of a world without people.
Planned Amazon data centre will be so big it would be the *largest single source of pollution in the US*. Warning to the UK: we're next (our politicians love big tech). Tell them no: [sign this petition](https://www.globalactionplan.org.uk/our-work/big-tech/climate-vs-big-tech/data-centres/stop-dirty-data-centres).
[AI’s volatile power demand is damaging its own data centers | Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/08/06/ais-volatile-power-demand-is-damaging-its-own-data-centers/) Surges in power demand are another reason data centres are a problem. It damages their own equipment and requires additional sources of power to smooth out demand. And the surges *are* due to AI (not previous data centres uses like search or streaming).
creative accounting is helping the AI bubble inflate. The big tech firms have MUCH more AI assets hidden off balance sheet. This hides the scale of how fucked the whole house of cards is.
[Some Claude Chats Are Searchable on Google - Schneier on SecurityAnd it’s personal information (alternate link): The exposed data includes an AI-powered therapy app that someone appears to have vibe-coded, notes on meetings, and a dashboard someone made apparently to analyze medical billing data. Exposed chats reportedly include private cryptocurrency wallet keys and personal information like peoples’ addresses. What seems to be the issue is a user setting about data sharing. Anthropic’s position is that it’s not their problem: “We give people control over sharing their Claude conversations publicly, and in keeping with our privacy principles, we do not share chat directories or sitemaps with search engines like Google,” the company said in a statement. “These shareable links are not guessable or discoverable unless people choose to share them themselves. When someone shares a conversation, they are making that content publicly accessible, and like other public web content, it may be archived by third-party services.”…Schneier on SecurityBruce Schneier](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/08/some-claude-chats-are-searchable-on-google.html)
👆🏼 Never put any personal information into an AI chatbot - and always check if the app was vibe coded. This article contains the example of a vibe coded therapy app that allowed the underlying Claude conversations to be public 🤦♂️(We've shown how to use AI privately in [this article](https://blog.rebeltechalliance.org/so-you-want-to-use-ai-privately/)).
an employee describes what's happening in Amazon's giant warehouse in Nevada. Tl;dr they're destroying books to train AI 😔
[](https://rebel-tech-alliance.cademy.io)
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:
[Big Tech Walkout courses ](https://rebel-tech-alliance.cademy.io)
# It's not all bad!
And.... breathe....
Some people are using AI to create privacy-respecting versions of apps 🥳 (If you didn't know, most apps are just websites + tracking).
👆🏼 another classic 'gov ad' from The Juice Media - this time about data centres. 🎯
Apple's bullying monopolistic walled garden behaviour has been dealt a blow by the EU, who have enforced the DMA to require Apple to implement interoperability 🥳
French court overrules ban on social media for under 15s 🥳
[‘Darth Vader’ Wants Flock in San Diego“The emperor is a fan of Flock, and we must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the rebel scum,” Vader said during the meeting.404 MediaSamantha Cole](https://www.404media.co/darth-vader-spoke-in-support-of-flock-at-san-diego-city-council-meeting/)
👆🏼 Someone pulled a stunt at a council meeting in the US, dressing as Darth Vader and demanding more Flock cameras 😂😂😂😂 The video in that link is priceless. 🥳
protesters dressed as Gandalf protested [Peter Thiel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter%5FThiel) outside his new Argentinian mansion: "You shall not pass! 🥳
[](https://rebel-tech-alliance.cademy.io)
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:
[Big Tech Walkout courses ](https://rebel-tech-alliance.cademy.io)
---
# Call to action!
[Fund a giant pervert glasses ad Mark Zuckerberg will hateWe’re going to put a spoof advert in the most embarrassing location possible and invite the media. But we can only do it with donations.Everyone Hates Elon](https://act.everyonehateselon.com/p/pervertglasses)
👆🏼 donate to Everyone Hates Elon to fund more of their excellent "pervert glasses" ads. Possibly the most on point poster we've ever seen!
# Tech tip of the month
[Jitsi MeetJoin a WebRTC video conference powered by the Jitsi Videobridge](https://meet.jit.si)
[Jitsi Meet](https://meet.jit.si) \- an alternative to Zoom. This online meeting software is non-big tech, works just in the browser and works well. To hold meetings the meeting organiser does have to sign in using one of their sign in methods, and GitHub is the least bad option. Other alts for video calls can be found [here](https://www.rebeltechalliance.org/videocalling.html).
# Book recommendation
[Users: How Big Tech Took Control and How to Fight BackAn insider’s guide to the fight to regulate Big Tech and a manifesto for how concerned citizens and parents can take back control. For fans of Jonathan Haidt, Shoshana Zuboff and Sarah Wynn-Williams.AS HEARD ON BBC BREAKFAST AND BBC SUNDAY WITH LAURA KUENSSBERG---In USERS, legislator and campaigner Beeban Kidron goes on a journey into the world Big Tech has created, from the halls of Parliament and the UN to the White House and Silicon Valley.Through her encounters with specialist police officers, bereaved parents, lobbyists and tech bros, you’ll witness the unchecked power of Big Tech, as they avoid rules and regulations, and capture governments that are meant to protect us.You’ll see how the issue is not technology itself, but its use and abuse. How tools built to connect people are redeployed to divide, punish, distract, and control; while our tech overlords come to own everything – but continue to be held responsible for nothing.Now that we know their game, it’s time to fight back. This book will show you what went wrong, what is really going on, and what we can do about it.Praise for USERS:‘A thrilling story of how democracies can respond to the world’s most powerful industry, told by the woman who is leading the charge.’ Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation’Kidron brings the insider knowledge of a legislator and the storytelling instincts of a filmmaker to one of the most urgent crises of our time.’ Tristan Harris, co-founder of Center for Humane Technology’Beeban has spent her life watching what Big Tech does to childhood. We fight the same battle. USERS is her reckoning and her roadmap: we must demand better – but only if we have the courage. Read it. Then join our fight!′ Maria Ressa, journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate‘This book will help us understand how high the stakes are and how we can fight back.’ Sir Elton John and David FurnishA NEW SCIENTIST BEST NEW POPULAR SCIENCE BOOK OF JUNE 2026W H AllenBeeban Kidron](https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/users-how-big-tech-took-control-and-how-to-fight-back-beeban-kidron/0677bfd9707379b9)
[Users](https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/users-how-big-tech-took-control-and-how-to-fight-back-beeban-kidron/0677bfd9707379b9), by Baroness Beeban Kidron, is a recently released book that explains the capture of online life by big tech, and why that's a problem. It is very well written and, because she comes from the world outsite tech, it is written from a non-technical perspective.
# Blog recommendation
[Foxglove's newsletter](https://www.foxglove.org.uk/campaigns/join-us/) is great - they campaign for digital rights (mostly in the UK) and the newsletter keeps you informed. They also send you their campaigns directly so you can get involved on day one.
# Film recommendation
[The Great Hack](https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80117542) (link to Netflix) - a documentary about the Cambridge Analytica scandal. This is the one that convinced Patrick that something *was* going on in the background, and that Facebook needed to go.
---
[Rebel Tech Alliance](https://www.rebeltechalliance.org/) 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 turnreduces the surveillance state. And that's just good news all round.