Tactical Tech

In The Loop April 2026

8 minutes read | First published: May 12, 2026
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🔍🌐✨ Beyond bans: why explore the systems behind youth online experiences?

From social media bans to age verification, debates rage over regulations intended to protect young people from the harms of social media and AI-driven platforms. But are we asking the right questions? Are we overlooking the root causes? And are these solutions truly effective, or just stopgaps?
Critical discussions are key. On one hand, media and AI literacy can empower educators, caregivers, and youth through intergenerational dialogue about technology: how it works, the systems behind it, and its impacts. On the other hand, policy discussions can enable decision-makers to address the challenge from all angles.
Tactical Tech is excited to announce The Toxic Triangle and Supercharged Human?, two new initiatives designed to spark conversation and action on these fronts.

🔺 THE TOXIC TRIANGLE

A unique look into young people’s online experience and the industry behind it

Finding solutions to address the impact of social media on young people is currently at the top of the agenda. The Toxic Triangle project helps decision-makers understand the deeper systems at work.
When young people’s information and social lives meet attention-driven technologies, powered by a huge commercial market, a toxic triangle is formed. These forces feed off each other, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that is difficult to break.
This interactive experience offers a unique opportunity to see inside the Toxic Triangle. Designed as a closed-door session for decision makers, foundations, journalists, and NGOs advocating for change, it provides an over-the-shoulder look into the experience of young people with AI and social media in the context of online harms.
It also offers a behind-the-scenes view on why this happens: how the technologies work and how the system is monetised. This three-dimensional perspective provides a critical basis for discussions of possible solutions and response strategies.
Discover more here.
Interested in booking a Toxic Triangle experience? Contact us at partnership@tacticaltech.org

🚀 SUPERCHARGED HUMAN?

Resources designed to empower teens to use AI critically

The widespread adoption of AI tools is reshaping how we learn, think, decide, create information, and even connect with each other. As early adopters, teens are experiencing these changes most intensively.
So how can educators, parents, and caregivers engage teens in meaningful conversations about AI, its possibilities, limits, and impacts?
It is time to supercharge teens’ agency, critical thinking, and competencies focused on their human strengths. That is why Save the Children, Savoir Devenir, and Tactical Tech, with support from the European Union, are joining forces to create Supercharged Human?
  • 💡 A multilingual playlist of adaptable educational tools and resources
  • 💡 A critical AI literacy field guide for educators
  • 💡 An intergenerational toolkit for critical use of AI
Learn more and join the movement here.

🔍 TECH, MEDIA, AND INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

🔊 In-person event in Berlin on satellite tech and OSINT tools for investigations. Deadline: May 17, 2026

Calling all Berlin-based journalists, investigators, researchers, and activists. Apply to attend this one-day, in-person event on 27 May 2026 at Publix, Berlin.
  • ✅ Learn to use satellite technology and imagery for investigations with Michael Anthony and Anton Chaika from vertical52
  • ✅ Learn OSINT tools and methods to track digital influence and climate disinformation with Joey Grostern from DeSmog
  • ✅ Receive personalised advice from experts on your own story
Hosted by Tactical Tech as part of the Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative seeking to shape a trustworthy information ecosystem. Only 50 spots available.
Sign up here.

🌱 DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND CLIMATE ACTION

🤝 Open call for partners to develop initiatives tackling the climate information crisis. Deadline: May 17, 2026

Calling all organisations and individuals working at the intersection of climate and disinformation. Are you interested in using or adapting The RePlaybook: A Field Guide to the Climate and Information Crisis to make a difference in your community?
Apply if you are inspired to run a workshop, host an event, adapt the RePlaybook locally, or have another idea. Selected applicants will receive free copies of The RePlaybook, video resources, optional online masterclasses, promotional materials, and methodological/editorial support.
Read more and apply here.

📗 Get your beautifully designed copy of The RePlaybook

Request your copy now. This essential guide, created by Tactical Tech with insights from 30 experts, offers practical tools to combat climate disinformation and strengthen communications.
Ideal for NGOs, journalists, researchers, and policymakers.
Request copies here.

💻 AI & US

🔍 New article alert: 30 resources asking the tough questions about AI

Ever wondered how the AI tools you use daily are tied to global conflicts? Want to follow the money and uncover the powers behind your tech?
In “Don’t Show Me Your AI. It Is Rude!”, Tactical Tech co-founder Marek Tuszynski curates 30 resources, from critical art exposing AI’s hidden empires to tools mapping Big Tech’s influence.
Read it here.

🗳️ Our latest contribution to Global Voices: How AI influences global elections

From deepfakes to misinformation, companies and political groups are using AI to craft more effective and sometimes manipulative messaging.
In this Global Voices article, Safa Ghnaim explores how AI is shaping elections and the future of democracy worldwide.
Read the full article here.

💪 TECH AND GENDER

💭 Creative approaches to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence

Our partner RNW Media launched a policy brief: Fostering Safe, Inclusive, and Reliable Digital Media Spaces in WANA as a Call to Action.
Together, Tactical Tech and RNW Media also developed a playful deck of cards to engage diverse actors in conversations that raise awareness and prompt action.
Learn more here.

👥 YOUTH AND TECH

🗣️ New resources and creative methods to engage youth in conversations about democracy

Are you an educator looking to facilitate discussions on participation and action through creative approaches? Check out these resources created as part of the Critical ChangeLab project:

📣 OPEN CALLS AND EVENTS

🌟 Work with us! Finance & Admin Manager. Deadline: May 15, 2026

We are looking for a passionate professional with 5+ years of finance management experience, solid knowledge of German financial, tax, and labour regulations, and a passion for accounting, budgeting, reporting, and audits.
We offer a competitive salary, a passionate international team, and a beautiful office in Publix, Berlin.
Learn more here.

📽️ Tactical Tech at Doxumentale, Berlin. May 27 – June 7, 2026

On May 30 at 14:00, join Tactical Tech’s Shaping Narratives workshop, a 90-minute hands-on session for teens and families exploring fact-checking, media literacy, and how technology shapes perception.
Get tickets here.

🫶 Breakwater Journalism Festival, Poland. September 24–27, 2026

A must-attend for reporters, editors, and media innovators. Four days of workshops, debates, and networking on data journalism, OSINT, AI, and storytelling.
More information here.

🧠 TACTICAL TECH IN ACTION

Tactical Tech’s team led conversations, hosted workshops, and participated in events worldwide to advance knowledge and build the capacities of communities addressing technology-related challenges.
  • ➡️ Marek Tuszynski facilitated the “To AI or Not to AI” workshop at the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin on 24 April.
  • ➡️ From May 4 to 10, Tactical Tech presented the Glass Room: Misinformation Exhibition at Cyber Week Geneva.
  • ➡️ On May 8, Marek Tuszynski spoke at Europe Day 2026 on culture as critical infrastructure.
  • ➡️ On May 9, Tactical Tech hosted the Shaping Narratives workshop for educators at the Spore Initiative.
Want any of our workshops or experiences for your community or event? Contact us at partnership@tacticaltech.org

📚 WHAT ARE WE READING?

  • [🎥 WEBINAR] Mystery AI Hype Theatre 3000 by the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR). Go to Twitch.
  • [📰 ARTICLE] Blocked In Europe, Deployed Abroad: The facial recognition system monitoring Brazil's schoolchildren. By Nico Schmidt and Leonardo Coelho for Investigate Europe. Go to Investigate Europe.
  • [📚 BOOK] Content Confusion: News Media, Native Advertising, and Policy in an Era of Disinformation, by Michelle Amazeen. Go to MIT Press.
  • [📰 ARTICLE] Cape Verde bets on tech to reverse postcolonial brain drain by Eromo Egbejule for The Guardian. Go to The Guardian.
  • [🔍 RESEARCH] Reclaiming AI as a Theoretical Tool for Cognitive Science in the Computational Brain & Behavior journal. Go to Springer Nature.
  • [🎤 PODCAST] Researchers and authors Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna discuss their new book "The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want" on the New Books Network. Go to New Books Network.
  • [🔍 RESEARCH] How Does Turning to AI for Companionship Predict Loneliness and Vice Versa? in the Psychological Science journal. Go to Sagepub.
  • [🎤 PODCAST] The history of iconic 80's hacker group League of Doom on the podcast Darknet Diaries hosted by Jack Rhysider. Go to Darknet Diaries.