Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

Are You On A Govt Watchlist? Cops Are Tracking Anyone Who Hates AI

June 5, 2026·17 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Are you on a government watchlist just for criticizing AI? SUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co    Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz   A shocking new investigation from The Intercept reveals that police are tracking seemingly anyone who expresses skepticism or anger about the tech industry online. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, journalist Sam Biddle joins me to dive deep into a terrifying new report from The Intercept exposing how Philadelphia police officers admitted to monitoring legitimate First Amendment activity. Law enforcement documents show that specialized "Fusion Centers" are scanning social media, message boards, and Facebook to flag users posting anti-AI and anti-data center sentiments. Sam and I discuss the post-9/11 surveillance apparatus, how local police use tools like Data Miner to monitor online discussions, and why the Trump administration is aligning with tech billionaires and crypto lobbyists to turn AI into a national security priority. Is your private Signal group chat safe from police infiltration? Why are corporate platforms like Meta incentivized to censor anti-tech activism? We break down the chilling effect of mass surveillance and the elite effort to frame community civics and political advocacy as domestic extremism.SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM:This channel has ZERO sponsors and relies 100% on viewer support! Keep my reporting alive by subscribing:👉 Support on Patreon: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz    👉 Read my Substack Newsletter: https://usermag.co #Surveillance #BigTech #ArtificialIntelligence #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #Privacy #DataCenter #TheIntercept #TechNews #CivilLibertiesSUPPORT MY WORK: Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co    Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz

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