Caitlin Johnstone | A US-based nonprofit is planning to use AI surveillance to check for “hateful” speech about Israel inside classrooms in the genocide-ravaged Gaza Strip. | AP reports that the founder of Gaza Children Village, Dr David Hasan, seeks the “de-radicalization” of Gaza and has removed from his curriculum any language that “encouraged anti-Israel or antisemitic beliefs.” Meanwhile exactly zero resources are being spent de-radicalizing Jewish Israelis, who consistently tell polls that they overwhelmingly support the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. ■ What AP neglects to mention in its write-up is that a significant portion of the charity’s funding comes from Israeli donors, as we learn in a puff piece published this past May by Jewish News titled “Gaza school founder backed by Israeli donors says children are taught ‘we are better together’”. Hasan told Jewish News that he’s been very transparent about the Israeli funding pouring into his so-called “Academies of Hope” because it would cause a scandal among Palestinians if the information came out later.

Russians should avoid traveling to European countries for the time being, the Russian security council deputy chairman | The remarks follow the detention in Montenegro of Mikhail Zvinchuk, administrator of the Rybar Telegram channel. Russia may now have to expand its pool of detainees available for exchange by including European and American nationals in order to secure the release of its own citizens, Medvedev said.

■  Russian military blogger goes home after detention in NATO state (VIDEO) (RT) (RT/swentr.site)
■  What is known about Russian influencer being detained in Montenegro (TASS)
■  Rybar in English (Telegram)

✅ Bailiwick News Archives (on WordPress)
✅ Katherine Watt on Another World Is Possible

(As of December 2025, Katherine Watt officially closed her Bailiwick News Substack site.)

Social media posts criticising government policy are being monitored and investigated by officials, Metro can reveal. | Negative X and Reddit posts from unsuspecting Brits attacking the UK’s anti-terror programme Prevent were added to a database of critical online comments. Metro has obtained a list of nearly 80 critical posts found and logged by the Standards and Compliance Unit (StaCU), which oversees Prevent, between March 2024 and February 2025. One campaign group whose tweet was recorded in the database said the revelations raised ‘serious questions about freedom of expression and the right to dissent and protest’ in the UK.

■  France: Macron takes aim at ‘American free speech’ (RT)

The British government has unveiled plans for a new agency to counter supposed disinformation, sparking censorship and surveillance concerns. | British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the creation of a National Centre for Information Defence, aimed at countering alleged foreign disinformation and “information attacks.” The center will collaborate with intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and social media platforms to address what the government characterizes as threats, using Russia as the main pretext.

✅ Britain’s New ‘Ministry of Truth’ is the Latest Arm of a Sprawling Censorship Regime (The National Pulse)

Kit Knightly | We're not quite at panic-buying all the toilet paper yet, but we're getting there. | The AI panic is not going away, in fact it’s gathering the kind of fevered hysterical momentum we have not seen since the birth of Covid. Nothing about it is organic, it is all 100% cultivated and steered in a direction. The final aim of this manufactured, fear-based social programming is new regulation. That has become undeniably obvious. All that remains to be discovered is how bad it’s going to be. But before we get into where we are right now, or where we might be heading, I want to look back and reflect at how we got here, because the timeline is revealing.

I'm back.

— Julian Assange (@JulianAssange) September 17, 2026

The WikiLeaks founder suggested that he is returning to public life two years after striking a deal for his freedom with the US | WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has suggested that he is returning to public life, following a hiatus after his release from British custody in 2024. The transparency activist spent five years behind bars while fighting a US extradition request that could have resulted in a lengthy sentence in a high-security US prison. He eventually struck a deal that secured his freedom amid a global campaign urging Washington to drop the case against him. The WikiLeaks account on X announced on Thursday that Assange is “back,” posting a photo in which he is posing in front of a mural depicting him in Sydney, Australia. Assange reposted the message, confirming his return and saying it is the first post in eight years that he has personally written. His wife Stella said more news will follow next week.

Leo Hohmann | Announcement comes on heels of USDA deal with AI firm Palantir. ‘Satellite imaging fed into a battlefield intelligence system built by a defense vendor, sold as farmer convenience and food security.’ | The Trump administration’s U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this week it is building a government framework that will use technological “tools” including NASA satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to monitor the nation’s farms. ■ This announcement comes just a few months after another big story in the agriculture world, which I reported on back in April, that the AI data-analysis firm Palantir Technologies has been granted a $300 million contract with the USDA to collect data on American farmers. BOTTOM LINE: This is the same administration that is promoting water-hogging, energy-burning toxic data centers in place of productive farmland and is OK with the Chinese becoming the second-largest owner of American farmland. It’s also the same administration that didn’t pay attention in January and February when it was warned that if it attacked Iran, the Iranians would shut down the Strait of Hormuz and cause a global recession/depression. This same administration has now also imported 300 metric tons of low-quality Argentinian beef, undercutting American ranchers, many of whom are already struggling to stay in business.

Three Israeli reservists, who had gang-raped a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman military prison, are suing the Tel Aviv regime for 18 million shekels (roughly $6 million), after the army cleared them of all charges earlier this year. | The men were part of a group of five reservists who were indicted in February 2025 for an assault that took place on July 5, 2024. ● The indictment details that a blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian abductee held illegally in the Israeli prison endured kicking, stomping, being beaten with clubs, being dragged on the ground, and being tasered multiple times, including on the head, for around 15 minutes. ● A soldier also inflicted a stab wound near the abductee’s anus with a sharp object, resulting in a tear to his rectum. ● The abductee sustained seven fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and significant internal injuries, necessitating surgery on his large intestine and the creation of a stoma, which was subsequently removed. ● The attack was recorded on video and was made public when surveillance footage was leaked and aired by Channel 12 in August 2024, leading to widespread outrage in the Israeli-occupied territories and around the world.

[02/15/26] Höcke is calling out what he says is an anti-democratic attack on free speech | German courts are currently deliberating whether leading Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Björn Höcke could be hit with a “speaking ban” during a campaign event in the city of Lindenberg im Allgäu. ● The move could signal a worsening of free speech in Germany, with Höcke using the legal proceedings to make the case that his fundamental rights are being violated.

A major free speech row erupted last night after it was revealed that more than 60,000 people have been arrested over the past five years for 'communications offences' – some as trivial as viewing disparaging TikTok videos. | The astonishing figure has been described as 'Orwellian', and having a 'chilling effect' in stifling opinions online. ● The statistics – to be published in a hard-hitting report this week – also highlight the chaotic implementation of rules on 'malicious' messaging, with some police forces making 14 times more arrests under the powers than others. ● The report, by campaign group Big Brother Watch, discloses that at least 62,199 people in the UK have been arrested for such offences over the past half-decade, with 18,510 being charged and 12,292 convicted.

Caitlin Johnstone | Today in dystopia they’re really going after books. | A library in Sydney has removed the book “How to Sell a Genocide” by Adam Johnson from its shelves after Zionists complained about its criticisms of Israeli mass atrocities in Gaza. ● A library in Sydney has removed the book “How to Sell a Genocide” by Adam Johnson from its shelves after Zionists complained about its criticisms of Israeli mass atrocities in Gaza.

So in Australia they’re now banning books for Israel. I guess it was only a matter of time.

Today in dystopia, Amazon is buying and destroying rare books in a secret facility to train AI. 404 Media has been doing some great reporting on how companies like Google and Anthropic have been buying up rare and out-of-print books to train their LLM models before destroying them, and now 404 has a new article out describing how its reporters placed a tracking device on a shipment of books and followed it to an Amazon warehouse where the books are being scanned and shredded.

Also today in dystopia, the Israeli government is working harder and harder to manipulate the information AI chatbots feed their users about Israel and its myriad military projects in the middle east. Politico reports:

More than 3,500 individuals have been arrested under terror laws for holding signs that say 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action' | British authorities listed the cases of 1,579 people at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 30 July, holding cardboard signs opposing Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, according to the campaign group Defend Our Juries. ● The group said the hearing had been pushed back to October, but that hundreds of defendants were never told, leaving them unsure whether they were required to appear, pointing to the confusion as evidence of a crisis the courts cannot absorb. ● Over 3,500 arrests have been made under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 of people holding cardboard signs reading, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” Defend Our Juries said. Those cases are tried summarily and carry a maximum of six months in prison, and include senior citizens, faith leaders, and first-time protesters.

Private individuals can face criminal prosecution and even prison for sharing the broadcaster’s content online, according to a new ruling | The EU’s top court has ruled that private individuals can face criminal prosecution for posting RT videos on public websites, widening the bloc’s crackdown on Russian media. ● The Court of Justice of the European Union issued the ruling on Thursday in a case from Germany, where three people are being prosecuted for publishing RT DE videos on a freely accessible website. ● The site did not charge readers and was financed only through voluntary donations. The CJEU, however, said that made no difference and ruled that all persons who are “directly or indirectly” responsible for making banned content available to the public can be treated as “operators” under EU sanctions rules. [...]Under the German law cited in the ruling, violations of EU sanctions-based media bans can carry up to five years in prison.

■ How the EU uses polls to manufacture consent (07/02/26)

Craig Murray | A lie repeated often enough enters the public consciousness, so I am republishing this in the hope of stimulating the honest and the intellectually awake. | I still do not know what happened in the Skripal saga, which perhaps might more respectfully be termed the Sturgess saga. I cannot believe the Russian account of Boshirov and Petrov, because if those were their real identities, those identities would have been firmly established and displayed by now. But that does not mean they attempted to kill the Skripals, and there are many key elements to the official British account which are also simply incredible. ■ Governments play dark games, and a dark game was played out in Salisbury which involved at least the British state, Russian agents (possibly on behalf of the state), Orbis Intelligence and the BBC. Anybody who believes it is simple to identify the “good guys” and the “bad guys” in this situation is a fool. When it comes to state actors and the intelligence services, frequently there are no “good guys”, as I personally witnessed from the inside over torture, extraordinary rendition and the illegal invasion of Iraq. But in the face of a massive media campaign to validate the British government story about the Skripals.

A traffic stop in Florida has gone viral after an officer accused a disabled driver of holding a phone in her right hand while driving. The driver, who is missing her right hand, repeatedly challenged the officer’s account during the encounter captured on bodycam video. pic.twitter.com/8IkPpC49Xx

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 30, 2026

I got sanctioned by the European Union! 😁 Kaka Kallas has nothing better to do than sign a sanctions list against bloggers, journalists, and even a priest. Europeans, ask yourself, what are they so afraid of? Sanctions mean I’m on the right track! I’ll always share the truth 🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/fF6pcHxQXp

— Sasha Meets Russia (@sashameetsrus) June 15, 2026

📌 The Eurocrats Showed How Insecure They Are By Sanctioning “Sasha Meets Russia” (Andrew Korybko)

Jonathan Cook | Judge Johnson so rigged the trial of anti-genocide activists that 1000s of legal professionals have urged him to step down from the sentencing hearing. But Johnson’s dirty work is not yet complete | The trial of the Filton Four reaches its climax on Friday. Judge Jeremy Johnson will decide the sentences of four Palestine Action activists found guilty of criminal damage – after two juries refused to convict them of far more serious charges brought by the British government, via the Crown Prosecution Service. ■ Keir Starmer’s government failed to secure the convictions for aggravated burglary and violent disorder it so desperately needed. They would have helped retroactively justify its decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation – the first time in British history that a direct action group, which targets property, has been proscribed. ■ Starmer’s hostility towards Palestine Action is personal. It has been a massive thorn in his side during Israel’s near three-year genocide in Gaza. ■ From the outset, Starmer suggested that Israel had the “right” to withhold food, water and power from the 2 million Palestinian residents of Gaza – a crime against humanity for which the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The purpose of a system is what it does...

European elites are reeling from the information revolution they failed to suppress. A fresh leak exposes Germany’s state media regulators plotting a new law to compel social media platforms to automatically boost “reliable” and “trusted” mainstream outlets in their algorithms. | Sold as a defense of “media plurality” against disinformation, this scheme reveals the ugly truth: after brute-force censorship ignited a global backlash and helped propel Elon Musk’s purchase of X, authorities are now seeking to engineer the feeds themselves to favor their approved narratives while sidelining dissent. ● This marks a shift from overt suppression to insidious manipulation. What began as panic over losing control has evolved into calculated digital gerrymandering. The awakening—fueled by years of heavy-handed crackdowns—created demand for uncensored spaces. Now, unable to fully extinguish that flame, regulators aim to starve alternative voices of oxygen through algorithmic favoritism [fascism].

This is utterly brutal and outrageous. There is no excuse for Dutch police violently assaulting a pregnant woman simply because she wanted to stay with her detained PALESTINIAN husband.

The Dutch authorities must ensure full accountability for this blatant human rights… pic.twitter.com/3zhTifOXrB

— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) May 31, 2026

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei reacted on Monday to a video circulated by Al Jazeera showing a Dutch police officer forcefully throwing a pregnant woman to the ground and dragging her during the arrest of her Palestinian husband. | The incident, which took place on May 19 in the Dutch town of Zeist, gained public attention over the weekend after videos emerged online showing a police officer forcefully pulling a heavily pregnant woman by the arm, causing her to fall to the ground. ● The Al Jazeera report said that the woman went into early labor as a result of her trauma, and later gave birth to a baby girl ahead of schedule. While neither the mother nor the newborn reportedly suffered serious injuries, the incident has sparked scrutiny and renewed questions over the conduct of the police officers involved.

The European Union destroys cash and introduces total digital surveillance of citizens | The EU is building a unified system of supervision, the media reported, citing sources. By 2027, financial and network activity in 27 countries will become transparent to regulators, which, in fact, will eliminate the concept of privacy. ● Since July 2027 (Regulation 2024/1624), cash payments over 10,000 euros are prohibited. Transactions starting from 3 thousand euros will require identification, and splitting amounts to circumvent the limit will be an offense. Free cash turnover will remain only between individuals until the money is used for large purchases (real estate, cars, gold). ● In the summer of 2026, the ProtectEU initiative will ban VPNs without saving logs, and encrypted correspondence will be sent through the state infrastructure for analysis. By the end of 2026, a mandatory digital ID and age verification will be introduced. Any comments, website views, and messages will link you to your real identity. ● In this way, the EU is creating a closed ecosystem where wallets, crypts, and digital footprints are combined into a common database to eliminate uncontrolled activity.

Kurt Nimmo | Speech in support of Palestinian resistance equals incitement to violence? | Direct calls for violence that result in immediate unlawful acts are illegal. For instance, encouraging a person to throw a Molotov cocktail at the police during a street demonstration. Gorka is correct if he is talking about serious threats directed at individuals and groups. I don’t think that is what he is talking about. ■ Expressing support for Hamas and Hezbollah or chanting “from the River to the Sea” does not measure up to incitement under the First Amendment. Gorka believes anti-Israel speech may be defined as illegal incitement. He characterizes antizionist protesters as Iranian and Russian “fellow travelers.” ■ It is drawing closer and closer to the day when it will be illegal to criticize and protest against Zionist crimes in Palestine. Gorka said they are taking down names.

Starmer has just admitted he banned me and other commentators from traveling to the UK because we would “set back communities.” Yet mass third-world migration doesn’t bother him as it only sets back the one community he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about: the White native population. pic.twitter.com/oIBdDdORD5

— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) May 11, 2026

Thousands of police officers will be deployed in London for Tommy Robinson’s rally | Tommy Robinson’s ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally is so controversial that the British government has deployed the latest surveillance technology against attendees and banned speakers from entering the country. What are they so scared of? ● Tens of thousands millions (Sep 13, 2025) of protesters are expected at the Unite the Kingdom rally in London on Saturday, where they will march through the streets of the British capital to government buildings at Whitehall. The rally is expected to be the largest right-wing gathering in the UK this year, as public anger against Prime Minister Keir Starmer builds on both sides of the political spectrum. ● The first Unite the Kingdom rally took place in July 2024. Riding a wave of right-wing anger – amplified by the stabbing of three children by a teenager of Rwandan descent two days later – organizer Tommy Robinson held further events that October, and in September 2025.

🟡 Massive crowds gather in London for anti-immigration march (VIDEOS) (RT)
■ The 200,000th migrant to cross the English Channel checked into a four-star hotel just 32 hours after landing on the British coast – The Sun (The Sun)

Caitlin Johnstone | It’s always been about being able to more closely monitor the behavior of the public to make sure nobody’s plotting a revolution. | The EU is looking to ban VPNs, arguing that the ban is necessary to police recent online age verification laws. Critics have been warning for years that these age restriction laws are being rolled out around the world to erase online anonymity and enable greater surveillance of the entire population, and they are looking more vindicated than ever today. This isn’t about protecting children from social media addiction and porn, it’s about expanding the western empire’s surveillance network. This happens as the FCC moves to require ID verification for every phone activation in the United States, claiming the push is about stopping robocalls but effectively ending another form of anonymous communication.

Caitlin Johnstone | Laws aimed at pro-Palestine protests should always be looked at as efforts to ban criticism of Israel. That’s what we’re seeing in the UK as the prime minister encourages the prosecution of anyone who says “globalise the intifada”. | I have said it before and I will say it again: there is no greater threat to free speech in the western world than Israel and its supporters. The whole of western society must resist tooth and claw the mad push to stomp out our right to oppose war, genocide, apartheid, and injustice.

A major U.S. technology company ignited controversy after urging the federal government to adopt a system of universal national service, a move that critics say edges toward endorsing a military draft. | In the post on X Sunday, Palantir shared a number of rules, including one that read: "National service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost." The call from Palantir Technologies drew attention online after its post was reposted, prompting debate about the role of private defense‑tech firms in shaping national policy.

■ Over 200,000 demand UK gov. cut ties with Palantir over data fears (04/24/26)
■ What’s in Palantir’s ‘Technofascist’ manifesto? (04/22/26)
■ What the Palantir Technologies data leak revealed (02/17/26)

Campaigners and politicians are calling for the UK to cut ties with Palantir, as petitions against its NHS and public sector contracts gain widespread support. | More than 200,000 people have signed petitions urging the UK government to terminate its contracts with US data firm Palantir Technologies, amid mounting concerns over its role in handling sensitive public data. ● The petitions, which have gathered a combined 229,000 signatures, call for a full withdrawal from agreements with the firm, including a £330 million contract with the National Health Service (NHS). Critics argue that the company’s involvement in sectors such as healthcare, policing, and defense raises serious privacy and ethical concerns. ● Campaigners have pointed to Palantir’s reported work with US immigration enforcement and the Israeli military as a key source of alarm, warning against granting the company access to sensitive UK data systems. ● The backlash intensified following reports that the Metropolitan Police is in discussions to expand its use of Palantir’s artificial intelligence tools for intelligence analysis, a move that would significantly deepen the company’s footprint in UK law enforcement. ● At the same time, a recently published manifesto by the company’s US arm, emphasizing the need for “hard power” in democratic societies, has drawn criticism, with one lawmaker describing it as deeply concerning.

✅ Mein AI – Palantir’s Alex Karp wants us to know he has big plans (Tarik Cyril Amar)
■ What’s in Palantir’s ‘Technofascist’ manifesto? (04/22/26 )
■ What the Palantir Technologies data leak revealed (02/17/26)
■ Execs from Palantir, Meta, OpenAI being brought into U.S. Army as colonels (06/27/25 )
■ Trump’s Palantir-Powered Surveillance Is Turning America Into a Digital Prison (06/08/25)