METAVIEWS

Pentagon Blacklists and Domestic Surveillance Expand Under Trump

Austere editorial image representing the Pressure Systems edition “Pentagon Blacklists and Domestic Surveillance Expand Under Trump”.

The Trump administration and British state are aggressively criminalizing dissent, deploying terrorism laws against protesters, threatening think tanks with libel lawsuits, and expanding ICE operations onto domestic flights. Simultaneously, federal agencies are targeting civil rights experts and Minneapolis activist groups while CENTCOM officials compile secret blacklists of journalists.

  1. BRIEF

    Pentagon Spokesperson Admits There’s a Secret Blacklist of Journalists

    The Intercept2026-08-24

    When pressed about the Iran war, a CENTCOM press official threatened to put an Intercept reporter on a “list of people to disregard.” The post Pentagon Spokesperson Admits There’s a Secret Blacklist of Journalists appeared first on The Intercept.

    • structural power
    • geopolitics
    • OSINT methodology
  2. BRIEF

    The British state has recast protest as terrorism

    Al Jazeera English2026-08-18

    Britain’s ever-broader terrorism laws are erasing the line between political violence, protest and dissent.

    • geopolitics
    • structural power
  3. BRIEF

    Trump Threatens Think Tank With Libel Lawsuit For Telling The Truth About National Guard Deployments

    TechDirt2026-08-24

    Whenever Trump doesn’t like the facts, he calls it “fake news” or does what he’s doing here: tries to shoot the messenger by threatening them with a lawsuit. The administration has been sending National Guard troops to various US cities ever since it became clear its mass deportation efforts weren’t…

    • media and technology
    • AI governance
    • structural power
  4. BRIEF

    ICE Opportunism Expands To Passengers On Domestic Flights

    TechDirt2026-08-19

    Things used to be normal. We used to be doing alright here in the United States, limiting ourselves to catching people at the borders or picking up migrants with criminal charges or convictions with detainers at local jails. Now, it’s just a constant swarm all day, every day. “Worst of the worst” ha…

    • media and technology
    • AI governance
    • structural power
  5. BRIEF

    Trump administration arrests Southern Poverty Law Center expert for fraud

    Al Jazeera English2026-08-12

    Heidi Beirich, an expert on far-right groups, has been charged over alleged misuse of donor funds to pay informants.

    • geopolitics
    • structural power
  6. BRIEF

    Rather Than Investigate The Alex Pretti Murder, The DHS Investigated Minneapolis Activist Groups

    TechDirt2026-08-17

    Two murders in less than a week. That’s how the surge went in Minneapolis — a city targeted because the city and state were run by members of the opposing party. It was political persecution pretending to be a public safety effort. Trump and his administration buddies amplified accusations of govern…

    • media and technology
    • AI governance
    • structural power
  7. BRIEF

    Trump warns of ‘jihadists’ ruling in Washington as Democrats show momentum

    Al Jazeera English2026-08-11

    Donald Trump labels US Democratic nominees 'jihadists' in inflammatory remarks made in the Oval Office.

    • geopolitics
    • structural power