Charlie Alford

Activists target Allied Irish Bank over potential deal with Israeli tech firm

Post author:Robert Freeman
Post published:18 July 2026
Post last modified:18 July 2026

Activists across Ireland have launched a wave of protests against Allied Irish Bank (AIB) over the company’s disgraceful plans to sign a £1.2 million deal with genocide-linked ‘Israeli‘ cybersecurity firm SNYK. Pro-Palestine group, Your Tech Their Deaths, released a compilation video publicising recent actions against the bank. It shows activists from across the island entering Allied Irish Bank premises. Highlighting the effectiveness of direct action, in some cases the bank responded by shutting branches down. Your Tech Your Deaths founder, Jude Farrell, told the Canary that activists from various groups hit 11 Allied Irish Bank branches in the last week. She said:…

Refuge data reveals 78% rise in tech and economic abuse referrals

Post author:The Canary
Post published:9 July 2026
Post last modified:9 July 2026

Refuge, the UK’s largest specialist domestic abuse charity, has recorded a staggering 78% rise in referrals for cases of technology-facilitated abuse and economic abuse. Of these cases, Refuge’s frontline team has observed a worrying increase in perpetrators exploiting car finance agreements, putting survivors in significant debt. Between April 2025-March 2026, there were 967 referrals to Refuge’s specialist Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment team, compared to 542 referrals in 2024 – 2025. Of the 2025-2026 referrals, 43% (414) survivors reported experiencing some form of economic abuse, compared to 37% (198) of survivors in 2024-2025. Economic abuse can take many forms, all of…

Labour’s Lucy Powell targets free speech, not Big Tech

Post author:Maddison Wheeldon
Post published:6 July 2026
Post last modified:7 July 2026

During a recent LBC interview, deputy leader of the Labour party, Lucy Powell rightly called out X as a “toxic and difficult environment“, adding that the government should consider stronger regulation. But her comments, as usual, have missed the mark. For Powell, the concern is less about the harm social media causes to everyday life, but the influence it can have for political parties during election campaigns. When it comes to protecting children online, the outgoing Labour leader, Starmer, chose to restrict access rather than properly regulate these platforms. Yet when social media, which is undeniably more democratic than traditional media, could…

Fighting Tech or Technofascism

Post author:Thanasi Hassoulas
Post published:23 June 2026
Post last modified:23 June 2026

Technology has never been the enemy of the working class in and of itself. By its very definition, technology is simply the deployment of tools and advancements designed to improve tasks, ease the burdens of life, and drive progress. In the modern era, this has evolved from mechanical automation to digital advances and, most recently, artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Yet, since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, workers have understandably feared technological leaps. When your very survival depends on the sale of your labour, the threat of being replaced by a machine is existential. From Luddites to Saboteurs History is rife…

Dodgy tech and US meddling taint presumed far-right win in Colombia

Post author:Ed Sykes
Post published:22 June 2026
Post last modified:22 June 2026

Far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella has claimed victory in Colombia’s excruciatingly close presidential election, despite electoral authorities not yet announcing an official winner. If they confirm his win, however, it may turn out to have been US interference and a controversial private tech firm that tipped the scales in his favour. Colombia: toxic elites love de la Espriella, but he hasn’t officially won yet Left-winger Iván Cepeda, who is just 1% behind de la Espriella, has reminded voters that the initial count (which sparked de la Espriella’s declaration of victory) is neither official nor binding. Cepeda has also announced that…

Starmer has banned kids from social media instead of reining in capitalist big tech

Post author:Maddison Wheeldon
Post published:15 June 2026
Post last modified:15 June 2026

PM Keir Starmer has announced a social media ban for under-16s which will prevent access to apps like Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X. Taking inspiration from Australia, the UK will introduce a similar ban to take effect from Spring 2027. However, the government will go further by restricting livestream and ‘stranger communication’ for children including on gaming sites. In his address, Starmer stated: All I’ve ever wanted for my own children, hand on heart, is for them to be happy and for them to be safe, I think that’s what any parent wants. BREAKING: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer…

US spy agency using Anthropic AI tech for cyberwar against China and Iran

Post author:Joe Glenton
Post published:5 June 2026
Post last modified:9 June 2026

The US National Security Agency (NSA) is allegedly using Anthropic software to wage cyberwar against Iran and China. The AI war firm is currently locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration to stop certain military uses. Anthropic bosses previously complained when their tech was used in the 3 January Venezuela raid. The NSA is the US equivalent of the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Its remit includes surveillance and cyberwarfare. The Financial Times (FT) reported on 4 June: Anthropic is helping the US National Security Agency deploy its powerful Mythos AI model for offensive cyber operations, embedding engineers inside…

Hindutva’s red carpet to US tech is an own goal

Post author:Nandita Lal
Post published:29 May 2026
Post last modified:8 June 2026

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau recently said the quiet part out loud, stating that the US will not let India develop like China. Landau’s remarks are honest about what the USA sees India as: a periphery country, needed to extract profits from by exploiting its low wages, decimating its environment, and plundering its resources. This is similar to how Britain, in 1947, used the sterling balances negotiations to restrict India’s industrial development. Though Britain owed India over £1 billion from World War II, Whitehall froze these funds. Britain leveraged “informational asymmetries while Indian sovereignties were in flux,” which ensured…