Where am I?

Hi! Welcome to Touch Grass, a newsletter about the internet and the real world from Fight for the Future. I’m Anna Bonesteel, a writer, artist, and campaigner, and I’ll be using this email list to explore timely ideas in technology and power.

Why subscribe?

I’ll send something roughly weekly, and my primary goal is to keep you up to date with what matters in tech and tech policy. But I’ll also go broad and indulge in speculation: Is Amazon using solar investment as a political strategy? What’re the stylistic giveaways that something’s an NSA listening hub? Where are the best internet poetry graveyards?

While newsy, this is qualitative stuff that hopefully sparks your curiosity while keeping cynicism at bay. 

Who’s writing?

I’m coming from Fight for the Future, a small team of people trying to solve problems at the hinge of technology and social change. We’ve existed since 2011, fighting for tech that liberates people instead of oppressing them. You can read up on some of Fight’s campaigns here.

We’ll feature the voices of lots of members of the team, but you can get in touch with me, Anna, at anna@fightforthefuture.org.

Greatest hits, elsewhere on the web

• Section 230 Is a Last Line of Defense for Abortion Speech Online (Wired)
• Democrats’ double standard on financial surveillance will be more dangerous in 2023 (Fast Company)
• Want to Fix Big Tech? Stop Ignoring Sex Workers. (The Daily Beast)
• Banning TikTok isn’t just a bad idea. It’s a dangerous one (CNN)
• A major publishing lawsuit would cement surveillance into the future of libraries (Fast Company)
• Adopting ‘Shotspotter’ gunfire detection system would be neither effective nor equitable (The Oregonian)