A colorful comic strip titled "Meta-Hero in: 'This is a Meta-Cartoon About Metadata.'" The comic introduces a superhero called Meta-Hero, who explains the concept of metadata and its implications. In the first panel, a man in a suit and bow tie asks Meta-Hero, "What's it about?" as Meta-Hero welcomes the audience to his cartoon. Meta-Hero explains that the cartoon is "not about the actual content of electronic communication" but rather about the government's collection of information about personal communication. The man responds that it "sounds harmless and boring enough." Meta-Hero challenges this view, and the man questions how information about information could be dangerous. Meta-Hero promises to show him in the next panel. A dramatic panel shows a gorilla roaring in front of a background filled with skulls, representing the potentially violent consequences of metadata collection. The man reflects, saying the cartoon suggests metadata collection could lead to violence and death. Meta-Hero confirms this and quotes former NSA Director Michael V. Hayden: "We kill people based on metadata." The man is skeptical of the quote's authenticity, but Meta-Hero tells him, "Don't take my word for it," showing Hayden's direct quote with his image: "We kill people based on metadata," attributed to April 2014. In the final panel, Meta-Hero concludes by saying, "I hope you enjoyed my pithy cartoon about the lethal ramifications of abstract concepts."

Found this lovely meta-cartoon about metadata posted up in the Informatics department at the University of Edinburgh (where we were holding our @tag@w3c.social meeting this week). I remember seeing this cartoon before, but I don't know the author and I can't find it anywhere on the web. Any help, fediversians?

— Daniel Appelquist (@torgo@mastodon.social)