Not to be confused with a payoff to a political supporter.

https://thenextweb.com/news/palantir-pentagon-244m-no-bid-feinberg-memo

A Pentagon memo tells staff to spend $244m with Palantir. Its subject line is ‘Funding Palantir’

… US Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg directed subordinates to buy up to $243.9m of services from Palantir by 31 March 2027, without a competitive process, The Register reported, citing a source. The subject line is “Funding Palantir”.

The memo goes further than that single figure. It also tells the department’s acquisition and comptroller chiefs to work with military leaders on finding more money for the company, covering April 2027 to the end of 2028.

Perhaps I should get back in the hacking business? (Not that I ever was….)

https://thenextweb.com/news/trump-cyber-memo-transnational-crime

President Donald Trump signs memo letting US agencies hack transnational crime groups abroad

President Donald Trump has signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum authorising US federal law enforcement to conduct offensive cyber operations against transnational criminal organisations operating abroad.

… The most eyebrow-raising clause concerns the private sector. The coordination centre is directed to “leverage the capability and innovation of the private sector” to carry out operations under government direction and control.

In other words, private firms could be enlisted to help the state break into criminal infrastructure abroad, a line many governments have been careful never to cross out loud.

That is where the European reader’s eyebrow tends to stay raised. Offensive hacking sanctioned by a state, even against unambiguously nasty targets, is a capability that does not switch off cleanly once it is switched on.

As expected?

https://thenextweb.com/news/meta-756k-australian-teen-accounts-removed

Meta says it has removed 756,000 Australian teen accounts, but most under-16s are still online

… On paper, that is a bold regulatory experiment. In practice, the early evidence is far less flattering, because Australia has already accused Meta, TikTok, and YouTube of not complying as regulators lose patience with the industry’s progress.

The gap between the numbers and reality is stark. Independent research and government figures indicate that more than 80% of under-16s were still using social media during the ban’s first three months, which suggests the removed accounts are a fraction of the teenagers actually online.

None of this is especially surprising to anyone who has watched teenagers meet a rule they dislike. Lying about a birthday, borrowing an adult’s details, or spinning up a fresh account takes minutes, so the ban works far better on paper than it does in practice.

I could see this coming, was it part of Trump’s strategy?

https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/12/business/truth-social-lawsuit

Trump sued on First and Fifth Amendment grounds over paid Truth Social access

President Donald Trump’s expensive subscription for instant access to his Truth Social posts is unconstitutional, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation jointly sued Trump and his White House social media team for restricting their access to the president’s posts on Truth Social. The plaintiffs claim Trump violated their First and Fifth Amendment rights.

Trump frequently uses his company’s platform to announce policy decisions, executive orders, personnel changes and war declarations.

… “There’s no de minimis exception for restrictions on fundamental First Amendment rights,” Sus told CNN. “Even if, hypothetically, the delay was milliseconds, it would be a First Amendment violation.”

… But Trump may be selling access to something that – despite posting on his own platform – he doesn’t legally own.

“The president’s official statements are not the private data of a company but are owned by the United States under the Presidential Records Act,” Sus argued.

In its complaint, the Freedom of the Press Foundation argued that Truth API could restrict its ability to scrape all the president’s posts and determine which are anti-media arguments – a core product that the group offers. And the Intercept said it risked losing out to competitors on timely news stories.

That’s why the Truth API product may also violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fifth Amendment, they argue in the complaint.