A profile of Mike Masnick, who founded Techdirt in 1998, considered by lawmakers, CEOs, and activists as an essential guide for what's happening in tech
The profile also places Masnick in a small cohort of founder-commentators the press keeps singling out — from Craig Newmark's journalism philanthropy to Mike Solana's Pirate Wires rising on the anti-woke side of the techlash — but Masnick's niche is distinct: influence built on policy analysis rather than money or faction.
First-order effects
Masnick's standing with lawmakers and CEOs means Techdirt's framing of issues — from age-detection vendors selling questionable technology to Australia's eSafety Commissioner to telco hypocrisy — reaches the people actually drafting rules, not just the commentariat.
Second-order effects
The Appin reporting fight, where EFF, Techdirt, MuckRock, and DDoSecrets banded together against censorship-driven legal threats, shows the Harder-style litigation playbook that targeted Techdirt now gets met by coalitions rather than leaving solo publishers exposed.
Third-order effects
If tiny independent outlets keep proving they can shape tech policy while surviving SLAPP-style suits, expect funders and platforms to treat individual commentators as infrastructure worth defending — and expect more attempts, legal and otherwise, to test that resilience.
The trend: Independent, personality-driven tech publications are consolidating their role as de facto policy advisors even as legal threats against them escalate.
I'm such a big fan of Mike Masnick, the rare tech writer who doesn't cower to powerful people with big wallets, isn't afraid of shaming companies in their own tech-heavy retirement fund, and isn't...
A profile of one of my favorite people @mmasnick.bsky.social written by one of my favorite people @kashhill.bsky.social — I pushed hard for this headline to be “No one gives you a statue for being reasonable” — https://www.nytimes.com/...
So delighted @kashhill is giving @mmasnick the attention he well deserves for his thoughtful, intelligent, informed, reasoned covered of the net and technology. https://www.nytimes.com/...
A very well-deserved NYT profile of the GOAT of tech writers, Mike Masnick, who left Twitter months ago and is noticeably smarter and more unleashed than before. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Our boy @mmasnick is profiled by the amazing @kashhill in the paper this weekend and it is excellent. Mike is the greatest and I'm so happy to see this!
You know you're good at writing about tech when your biggest fans include Ron Wyden, Mark Zuckerberg and Anil Dash: https://www.nytimes.com/... [image]
Wow. Awesome recognition for @mmasnick in the NYT. I owe a lot to Mike as I believe he was the first person to pay me to write on the internet in I think 2006.
Great piece by @kashhill in today's @nytimes about @mmasnick. Mike has been giving me peace of mind and grounded advice around tech issues for years and especially regarding AI during the current industry strike. He's a beacon in the dark. https://www.nytimes.com/...
“Let people be creative and they'll do creative things and expand the interest in your own work” @mmasnick This profile of Mike by @kashhill is an outstanding tribute to a tech policy legend. 🔥 https://www.nytimes.com/...
I met Mike @mmasnick way back when he was following what we were doing at NIN with pay-anything album downloads, torrents, Creative Commons, & other things the labels hated. @techdirt is invaluable in tech panics. I spoke with Mike about AI art last year: https://www.techdirt.com…
.@mmasnick is one of the smartest thinkers on technology and society out there. loved seeing this nyt profile on him (and you should check out techdirt if you don't read it already) https://www.nytimes.com/...
Glad to see @mmasnick get some well-deserved attention. Easily one of the best tech bloggers (and thinkers) of all time. This article doesn't mention it, but he's also one of the nicest! https://www.nytimes.com/...
For this weekend's paper, I wrote about @techdirt founder @mmasnick who has been blogging about tech for an astounding 26 years and has the ears of lawmakers, activists, journalists, and Mark Zuckerberg. https://www.nytimes.com/... [image]