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Johnny Ryan

@johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

mastodon 4.6.9

Senior Fellow at ICCL & OpenMarkets. Previously Chief Policy Officer Brave. FRHistS.

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46 Posts

Joined November 17, 2022

Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnyryan1/

ICCL:

https://www.iccl.ie/staff/dr-johnny-ryan

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/johnnyryan/

Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 2w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

This is insanity. Irish Presidency's draft text of amendments to the GDPR allows training & operation of any AI without safeguards & tough legal basis (under "legitimate interest" a company claims what it is doing is OK. Up to you to find out and challenge in court). This is a free pass for US Tech.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 8mo ago

Boosted by @cstross@wandering.shop

Danish consumers have started to boycott U.S. products. UdenUSA, an app to identify U.S. products is now 4th most popular in the App Store. https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/apps-der-kan-frasortere-amerikanske-varer-stryger-til-tops

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 2mo ago

As I wrote in my The Economist letter in March, China's heavily regulated LLM industry is catching up on US largely unregulated industry (Kimi 3 has near parity with Claude Opus 5). Safety standards didn't stop Chinese innovation. The EU must reconsider its assumption that deregulation = innovation.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 8mo ago

The latest evidence that broadcasting people’s movements and intimate data in the Real-Time Bidding online advertising system is truly dangerous.

https://www.wired.com/story/ice-asks-companies-about-ad-tech-and-big-data-tools/

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 3mo ago

Replying to

There was a time when Europe looked like the world’s answer to the worst excesses of big tech. Ireland has sabotaged that dream for a massive payoff. Ireland collected almost 5x corporate tax per person than France or Germany (2022 is the latest figure I saw).

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 9mo ago

My message to Ursula von der Leyen in The Guardian this morning:
America’s bet on AI is now so gigantic that every MAGA voter’s pension is bound to the bubble’s precarious survival. If she grabs Trump where it hurts, Europe will win this fight.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/17/europe-donald-trump-ai-bubble-us-economy-eu

theguardian.com

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 7mo ago

US Border Patrol admits using Real-Time Bidding (RTB) data to track people's movements.

The failure to enforce against the RTB data breach at the heart of online advertising is very, very dangerous.

Big scoop by @josephcox@infosec.exchange @404mediaco@mastodon.social

https://www.404media.co/cbp-tapped-into-the-online-advertising-ecosystem-to-track-peoples-movements/

CBP Tapped Into the Online Advertising Ecosystem To Track Peoples’ Movements

CBP Tapped Into the Online Advertising Ecosystem To Track Peoples’ Movements

An internal DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows for the first time CBP used location data sourced from the online advertising industry to track phone locations. ICE has bought access to similar tools.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 3mo ago

Important from prominent EPP MEPs Andreas Schwab & Pablo Arias: "Concerns regarding Ireland's historical enforcement of the GDPR and its economic alignment with large non-EU technology firms raise serious questions about its capacity to neutrally oversee these negotiations".

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 2mo ago

Ireland's Minister for Enterprise met Meta to discuss the "digital agenda for Ireland's EU presidency" at a private dinner at the US ambassador's residence. It was hosted "in partnership with Meta". https://www.independent.ie/business/minister-dined-with-meta-lobbyists-at-us-ambassadors-residence-amid-us-drive-to-soften-europes-policing-of-big-tech/a/158490444.html

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

A nice piece on Verity, our newly released tool to minimise false LLM claims for locally hosted AI. Thanks gor spreading the word.
Verity is free to use and adapt.
https://www.theregister.com/ai-ml/2026/05/13/see-through-local-ai-lies-with-irish-eyes/5239911

theregister.com

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 5mo ago

Later today, at the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) EU Affairs Committee, I will call for Ireland to recuse itself from all digital issues during its EU Council Presidency. Ireland’s regulatory sabotage of EU data law has exposed Europe’s children to serious mental harm.

https://www.iccl.ie/press-release/ireland-recuse-eu-presidency-digital-files-enforce/

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

This should torpedo the competitiveness argument. Draghi did not know this, but now we do: it hurts small firms because it is not applied to big firms.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

I spoke to @alejandrotauber@journa.host publisher of @euobserver@mastodon.social about how Europe's "Ireland problem" could lead to tech disaster for our children, industry, and politics https://euobserver.com/218368/dublin-cant-trust-itself-to-do-the-right-thing-why-the-next-irish-eu-presidency-should-recuse-itself-from-tech-talks/

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

Video of my re:publica26 Berlin keynote

Europe can't trust Ireland on digital (Ireland can't trust itself!)

Europe's children & democracy & innovators & security are under attack

To avoid tech dystopia, EU must confront its "Ireland problem"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cneLoJ0UPxQ

#rp26 re:publica

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

I warned about this in 2020 when I was at Brave, a Google competitor https://brave.com/blog/competition-internal-external/

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

We are releasing Verity a tool to minimise false LLM claims and sources. It can run on cheap, old hardware. Verity's code is now published for anyone to use, test, adapt, and improve. You can use it and build upon it for free.

https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/verity-mcp/

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

AI race: US leads. How far behind are China and Europe?

Our plot of 2 years of AI Epoch Capability Index scores (a composite of LLM test scores)

Note: EU firms acquired by US firms counted as US.
Data source https://epoch.ai/data/benchmark_data.zip (20 May 2026)

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

My keynote at re:publica 2026:
Digital dystopia and Europe's Ireland problem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cneLoJ0UPxQ

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

Ireland is blocking ICCL from taking the cases it needs to take to protect vulnerable children against dangerous and addictive social media companies.
https://www.irishtimes.com/technology/2026/03/27/irish-law-blocking-actions-on-behalf-of-children-over-addictive-social-media-apps/

Irish law ‘blocking’ actions on behalf of children over ‘addictive’ social media apps

The Irish Times

Irish law ‘blocking’ actions on behalf of children over ‘addictive’ social media apps

State is in breach of EU law, Irish Council for Civil Liberties claims

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

As I told the Oireachtas Justice Committee yesterday evening, Ireland is a tax haven and a digital haven. When forced to act against Meta by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), the DPC sued the EDPB instead. It's a Wild West here. There is no sheriff. And no shame.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

Good interview by Hugh Linehan with Eoin Drea on how Ireland is seen in Brussels ("In the pocket of US multinationals") and other critical challenges for the State.

https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/inside-politics-with-hugh-linehan/id794389685?i=1000756684020

podcasts.apple.com

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

Trump inadvertently boosts the Green energy agenda

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-wars-renewable-energy-asia-4b5fe0693ce5816472c905db85f7da6e

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 7mo ago

Temu booked €1.7B in Europe through Dublin. But what about tax? Documents indicate that the "Double Irish" is back.
The Irish State claims ignorance.

Clip - See exchange in the Irish Parliament yesterday between Sinéad Gibney and Minister Jack Chambers.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

This is not an advertisement

The participating tech companies push self-loathing and suicide into children’s feeds, the sponsoring law firm works for TikTok and Meta, and the expert is the person who sued all other EU enforcers to not act against Meta.

https://legal-news.mhc.ie/14/1251/may-2026/invite(7).asp?sid=bb62a085-ba4e-4d2e-8c8d-545c54fa0fd9

legal-news.mhc.ie

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

I’m on stage at Re: Publica in Berlin (virtually) right now, and speaking (in person) on stage tomorrow

Thanks Kristin Siebert for the photo.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

I will also set out that Ireland's previous Data Protection Commissioner (A) tried to sue all other EU data authorities to resist investigating Meta's intimate data use (DPC v EDPB); and (B) two weeks ago joined Meta's primary law firm, which represents Meta in many lawsuits against the DPC.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 2mo ago

"Extremely unpleasant" meetings. Former Irish Data Protection Commissioner on discussion with European colleagues. https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/top-stories/2025/june/eu-data-meetings-sometimes-politicised--dixon/

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

Job opportunity

We are hiring an AI expert to join ICCL Enforce

https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/enforce-is-hiring-ai-expert/

Enforce is hiring: AI Expert

Irish Council for Civil Liberties

Enforce is hiring: AI Expert

Work with us at ICCL Enforce. We are hiring an expert in Artificial Intelligence.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

We have released several updates to Verity, our tool to minimise AI hallucinations. v0.3.0 --> https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/verity-mcp/

Free for researchers, campaigners, legislators, litigators, reporters to use, adapt, and improve.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

I'm speaking Re:Publica in Berlin next week
How do we avoid dystopia?
Session details --> https://re-publica.com/de/session/how-we-avoid-dystopia

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

The Department of Justice's selection criteria prevented any serious, credible enforcer from even being short listed, instead favouring generic management. The interviews dedicated only 10 minutes to expertise - and that was led by a corporate lawyer who works for big tech.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 12mo ago

People are asking if I was the rejected candidate? No. But I know who it was: an impeccably qualified person.

However, when I did apply previously I also was not shortlisted.

Nor were exceptionally qualified candidates I am aware of from the EDPS, European Commission, data protection experts...

https://www.politico.eu/article/big-tech-lawyer-key-in-picking-irelands-newest-privacy-commissioner/

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 7mo ago

Apple + Microsoft + Eli Lilly paid 46% of all corporate tax to Ireland in 2024
See note from the Ireland's Fiscal Advisory Council.
- https://www.fiscalcouncil.ie/new-council-member-appointed-to-the-irish-fiscal-advisory-council-2/
- https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/2026/02/19/three-multinational-companies-paid-close-to-50-of-states-corporate-tax-in-2024/

fiscalcouncil.ie

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

My conversation (long) with Oles Andriychuk on Tech, Competition, Privacy, Power is now live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIkcXnFTXX4

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 4mo ago

We have released updates to Verity
Better model mix, logprob transparency largely fixed, and better documentation to help people adapt it to their self-hosted or cloud AI.
https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/verity-mcp/

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

Before The Smiths there was Patrick Kavanagh

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

So while you can applaud CnaM a little, the real power to protect our children (and our political debate) has always been in the hands of the DPC. If the DPC had acted, children like Molly Russell who were driven to self loathing and suicide by these algorithms would be safe and alive now. So bravo CnaM. But this must not distract from the fact that until the DPC starts becoming a serious protector in the digital era, we are going to see more heartbreak and sorrow.

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

@happyborg@fosstodon.org we’ll pay good money to find out!

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 36mo ago

Replying to

@beuc @finnmyrstad congratulations Finn!

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 6mo ago

@kalvin0x8d0@social.obulou.xyz share a link please

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Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social

· 2mo ago

Shoshana Zuboff, Mariana Mazzucato, Alberto Alemanno, and 60 other leading academics write in today’s The Financial Times https://www.ft.com/content/8a1d69a7-f42d-4de5-96bf-3c3492260a2f

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