Drew Harwell

Drew Harwell

@drewharwell.com

tech & society @washingtonpost.com stories: https://drewharwell.com/ videos: tiktok.com/@drewharwell + instagram.com/drewharwell

263.3K followers4K following3.9K posts

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Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

New: We found 50 cops who misused Flock cameras and other license-plate readers for personal purposes, often to spy on their girlfriends or ex-wives. He "watched every single move I made. ... Who do you turn the chief of police in to?" wapo.st/3S6rTuo

wapo.stShe left her ex. He secretly tracked her through a network of policing cameras.Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.
Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

New: We found cops who kept using Flock to spy on women after they left the force. One used it for five years after retirement, tracking his wife during a custody battle. Another ran searches while he was suspended (and later fired) after killing a 15-year-old boy. Free to read: wapo.st/3UEwWU7

wapo.stTheir police jobs ended. They kept using Flock’s vast surveillance network.Flock employees urged the company to adopt stronger security after a 2024 breach. The company continued to allow practices that left its network vulnerable to unauthorized users.

Drew Harwell reposted

Nick Miroff
@nickmiroff.bsky.social

NEW: ICE is trying to deport a mother of 4 while her husband is at Fort Benning in Army basic training. When she went to pick up the family's military IDs, Navy personnel turned her over to ICE. She's been in the US since age six. With @nancyayoussef.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

theatlantic.comHe Joined the Military. They Reported His Wife to ICE.When a soldier’s wife went to pick up her military ID at a base in Texas, ICE officers showed up.
Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

More from Heidi, a veteran photographer who has reported for years from Ukraine, Egypt, Libya, Syria and across the Gaza Strip: "My goal is to use photography as a universal tool that has no language"

Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

Hard to overstate how much Hegseth's execution stream mirrors the U.S. military's traditional description of ISIS propaganda: broadcast killings designed to send a message, strike fear and create a social media spectacle. Will almost certainly be repurposed by online terror cells

Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

I wrote in 2023 about our new "golden age of brutal voyeurism." "It’s like there are suddenly many more movie theaters in town, and some of them are much more friendly toward snuff films" www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

washingtonpost.comViolent videos and ‘brutal voyeurism’ are redefining modern warFrom Russian soldiers shot down on camera to Hamas fighters slain as they tried to escape the Israeli navy, the scenes now shared across the internet are far more violent and graphic than in previous ...
Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

The last public execution in America was in 1936. A young black man in Kentucky was hanged by a drunk executioner; a news story said "They Ate Hotdogs While a Man Died." Was such an embarrassment that the governor outlawed it 18 months later www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.comFort Hood shooter’s execution will be live-streamed, Defense Dept. says“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday about the firing squad execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.

Drew Harwell reposted

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

Whoa. @haleaziz.bsky.social has the scoop on a truly insane plan to use some military training ships for deportations, with people presumably shackled or locked in cells for days at a time as they transit to Central and South America. Each journey would be staggeringly expensive — and dangerous.

nytimes.comTrump Administration Considers Using Ships to Deport Immigrants (Gift Article)Journeys to destinations including El Salvador and Venezuela could take days and cost millions. Officials cautioned that discussions are still preliminary.

Drew Harwell reposted

Hugo Lowell
@hugolowell.bsky.social

SCOOP @wired.com: Abdul El-Sayed is out with a new paid digital ad in the Michigan Senate race attacking Mike Rogers for helping expand government surveillance, seeking to tap into voter anxieties about tech and Flock cameras weeks before the midterms

Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

Federal judge: "Freedom from persistent, dragnet-style surveillance while in public is not a foreign concept in our society & it is a reasonable expectation that society already accepts ... Why is it the govt's business where everyone goes all the time?" www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

washingtonpost.comA police search using Flock was a form of ‘mass surveillance,’ judge rulesA federal judge said that police conducted an “unconstitutional warrantless search” by using Flock cameras to reconstruct a woman’s travels without probable cause.

Drew Harwell reposted

Alex DiBranco
@alexdibranco.bsky.social

Why would some women support misogynist movements? I discussed for this article how such women see themselves as different from the women these ideologies demonize. “It gives them status and elevates them over the oppression they would otherwise face.” But this is an imagined distinction.

Drew Harwell@drewharwell.com

New: She was a foot soldier for Nick Fuentes. Then his movement turned on her. Inspired by tradwives, Amy Dangerfield worked to become one of his model “groypettes.” A vicious fight left her grappling with the dark side of far-right fame. wapo.st/4da9OTD

wapo.stShe helped lead a far-right internet movement. Then it turned on her.Amy Dangerfield worked to become one of Nick Fuentes’s model “groypettes,” but a vicious fight left her grappling with the dark side of far-right fame.

Drew Harwell reposted

Donie O’Sullivan
@donie.bsky.social

“It’s crazy,” Fuentes, 28, said during one of his near-nightly shows. “I have done nothing my whole life and career but attack women and have negative attitudes toward women, and it’s women that are really backing me up.” Read this from @drewharwell.com wapo.st/4hhXF1t

wapo.stShe helped lead a far-right internet movement. Then it turned on her.Amy Dangerfield worked to become one of Nick Fuentes’s model “groypettes,” but a vicious fight left her grappling with the dark side of far-right fame.

Drew Harwell reposted

Kylie Cheung
@kylietcheung.bsky.social

I think its important to understand the campus sexual assault crisis is way worse than you think. universities suspend just 1/12,400 students each year for sexual misconduct & expel 1/22,900. once you read title ix administrators in their own words, you get a sense why that is:

jezebel.comNot Only Do Campus Sexual Assailants Go Unpunished, They Often Get Special TreatmentSince 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth.
Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

New: She was a foot soldier for Nick Fuentes. Then his movement turned on her. Inspired by tradwives, Amy Dangerfield worked to become one of his model “groypettes.” A vicious fight left her grappling with the dark side of far-right fame. wapo.st/4da9OTD

wapo.stShe helped lead a far-right internet movement. Then it turned on her.Amy Dangerfield worked to become one of Nick Fuentes’s model “groypettes,” but a vicious fight left her grappling with the dark side of far-right fame.

Drew Harwell reposted

Zach Everson
@zacheverson.com

Don Jr.-backed drone-parts manufacturer congratulates Eric Trump-backed drone manufacturer on winning a DoD contract.

Drew Harwell reposted

Jeffrey Vagle
@jvagle.me

More accurately, OpenAI developers and management built an automated system with unfettered access, unmonitored agents, prompting an LLM with zero safeguards and trained to be persistent until it drops, suggesting an increasing number of crazy activities, and running it for days without monitoring.

Financial Times@financialtimes.com

OpenAI ‘agent’ hacked Australia’s health service ft.trib.al/MsEXAzg

ft.trib.alOpenAI ‘agent’ hacked Australia’s health servicePrime Minister Anthony Albanese says breach is ‘obviously unacceptable’
Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

One of the cops, an 18-year veteran, ran Flock searches on women he met out in public, then showed up whereever they were to try to do meet-cutes: their gym, a Walmart, a Smoothie King. Said to one woman that "he spilt yogurt on his pants and told her, 'You know what that looks like.'"

Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

Five Indianapolis officers were just charged following The Post’s reporting on Flock misuse. Our count of police officers & employees accused of abusing license-plate readers is now at 100 (and counting) Free to read: wapo.st/4xDOH3d

wapo.stFive Indianapolis officers charged following The Post’s reporting on Flock misuseThe officers are among at least 100 police department employees accused of abusing their access to the camera system, prompting calls for greater oversight.
Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

Starting to suspect the White House's ban of media outlets it doesn't like isn't actually about professional standards around anonymous quotes

Scott Nover@scottnover.bsky.social

SCOOP: Justifying its ban of Politico, the White House said the news outlet used anonymous quotes from a "senior administration official." But those quotes were provided to Politico and other outlets by the White House during a background briefing. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

washingtonpost.comThe White House cited anonymous quotes in Politico ban. It was the source.In a letter defending its ban of Politico, the White House critiqued a report based on a press call it conducted, where reporters were told not to name the speaker

Drew Harwell reposted

Eileen Guo (is on leave for rest of 2026)
@eileenguo.bsky.social

New investigation from @jamesmodonnell.bsky.social & me into the border #SurveillanceTech by #Anduril, General Dynamics, and Israeli co. Elbit Systems that failed to catch 1 in 4 deaths within range. In other words: 1,050+ people dying on camera. www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/21/1... 1/x

technologyreview.comThe US spent billions on border surveillance. Why can’t it catch people before they die?Surveillance towers, increasingly powered by AI, promised faster responses to crossings. Our investigation of deaths near the towers found they are failing to deliver.

Drew Harwell reposted

Alex Horton
@alexhorton.bsky.social

Pretty much every 4-star who provided forces for the Iran war voiced growing concerns to Hegseth of risk to their missions, including homeland defense, if the U.S. stays the course. Details from a classified assessment www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

washingtonpost.comMilitary leaders warn Hegseth against extending Iran war operationsA recent classified assessment advised that prolonged large-scale operations in the Middle East risk weakening U.S. capabilities elsewhere.
Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

Like everything Deena writes, this is fascinating!!

deenashanker.bsky.social@deenashanker.bsky.social

MY LATEST is about Celsius, the number three energy drink in the US. The company now challenging Monster and Red Bull wasn't always an energy drink maker--they went from weight loss drink to fitness focused energy without changing their recipe. It was all marketing. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

bloomberg.comHow America Got Hooked On CelsiusThe normie energy drink has outlasted hundreds of competitors in a category littered with brazen brands and crash-and-burn startups.

Drew Harwell reposted

Dave Jorgenson
@davejorgenson.bsky.social

This is consistent with my neighborhood FB page in KC. HUGE fans of Flock as recently as June.

Drew Harwell@drewharwell.com

New: Americans' feelings toward Flock & license-plate readers have completely flipped since last year. More Americans now oppose police use than support it, saying the cameras don't make them feel safer and that they don't want any near their homes. Gift link: wapo.st/4gwxmTq

Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

New: Americans' feelings toward Flock & license-plate readers have completely flipped since last year. More Americans now oppose police use than support it, saying the cameras don't make them feel safer and that they don't want any near their homes. Gift link: wapo.st/4gwxmTq

Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

* YouGov survey finds huge bipartisan support for requiring police to get a warrant before searching license-plate data. * More than 40% said they were concerned about government surveillance and police misconduct, ranking them as more serious problems than illegal immigration.

Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

The online talk about Flock has completely exploded from both parties: Rep. Clyde (R-Ga.): “Flock cameras belong in Communist China" @angieforfl.bsky.social: “I don’t want to defund the police, I want to defund Flock cameras so that bad cops don’t have the ability to stalk their ex-girlfriends"

Drew Harwell
@drewharwell.com

"I just can’t imagine having that much wealth and power and using it to kick people when they are down" www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2... @lizzalichka.bsky.social

washingtonpost.comHow one billionaire’s crusade against homelessness became Trump’s playbookLong before Silicon Valley embraced Trump, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale wanted to remake the government. Through the Cicero Institute, he has shifted the nation's approach to homelessness. Now, hi...

Drew Harwell reposted

Jake Laperruque
@jakelaperruque.bsky.social

From the Free Press to the Manhattan Institute to Richard Hanania, there is a concerted campaign underway to brand Flock as a public safety savior But the reality is there's no evidence ALPRs actually have a meaningful impact on crime, and a wide range of dangers from this surveillance tech

techpolicy.pressUnless Flock is Reined In, Mass Video Surveillance Will Grow Even More PervasiveAutomated license plate reader (ALPR) systems are facing a moment of public reckoning in the US, writes Jake Laperruque.