activism - Adjacent

Jun 17

Banned books hidden inside a smart light bulb

A programmer embedded a library of censored ebooks into a WiFi-enabled light bulb, creating a physical object that bypasses book bans by disguising prohibited content as ordinary household hardware. Smart home devices escape the scrutiny applied to libraries and bookshelves. School boards and conservative groups have systematically removed these titles from institutional access; a light bulb distributes them anyway. The tactic exposes a gap in how censorship operates: information control in the 2020s means monitoring not just buildings but the mundane devices already installed inside them.

theme-culture regulation activism

Jun 16

German Campaign Weaponizes Trademark Law Against Neo-Nazi Symbols

Source: NYT > Business (paywall)

Rights Against the Right is registering trademarks for swastika variants and extremist slogans to block far-right groups from monetizing their iconography through merchandise and digital goods. The tactic repurposes intellectual property law—a tool built for corporate protection—as a cultural defense mechanism. It assumes that legal friction and profit erosion will constrain radicalization rather than simply redirect it underground or into other symbols.