Lunatech @Lunatech@social.cleverlibre.org

Democratic messaging on broadband more broadly is also terrible. They're routinely obsessed with feel good rhetoric about "bridging the digital divide," yet incapable of meaningfully criticizing telecom monopolies directly responsible for patchy, expensive Internet access.

I've covered broadband for 22 years so I've seen a LOT of sleazy lobbying bullshit by the nation's telecom monopolies. But the industry smear campaign being waged against Sohn with the help of right wing media truly is a new, grotesque low.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90843990/senate-democrats-and-biden-need-to-stand-up-to-homophobic-attacks-on-fcc-nominee-gigi-sohn

Sohn's future Democratic colleagues at the FCC have been complicit. Commissioner Sparks has offered zero public support of Sohn as she faces down a homophobic smear campaign from the right. FCC boss Jessica Rosenworcel was silent for a year before issuing this weak ass statement:

The GOP, to a man, is in absolute lockstep with telecom monopolies. Democrats are better on these issues, but they're so strategically incompetent and feckless they can't get their messaging in order or whip votes when it matters.

Trump was able to seat a guy with zero telecom experience to the FCC in less than a month from start to finish.

the nomination of Sohn, a popular reformer with a ton of direct FCC experience has been mired in a two-year shitshow coordinated by media and telecom giants.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90843990/senate-democrats-and-biden-need-to-stand-up-to-homophobic-attacks-on-fcc-nominee-gigi-sohn

I taught introductory programming to law and business students by having them make their own Twitter bots. Goodbye to all that.

This must be said: YOU paid for Social Security. It’s YOUR money - and now Republicans want to drastically cut your entitled benefits. House Democrats won’t let that happen.

#HandsOffSocialSecurity

Killing free API access is an incredibly terrible business decision from Twitter.

1. It was once free
2. It’s main competitor (Mastodon) doesn’t just offer a free API, it’s open source
3. It’s also competing with ActivtyPub

Elon Musk is motivating the Fediverse ecosystem!

AI in journalism is already a hot mess. It's error and plagiarism prone and requires more editing than human beings. And early private equity adopters at places like CNET don't care because it's cheaper than paying actual people:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/2/23582046/cnet-red-ventures-ai-seo-advertisers-changed-reviews-editorial-independence-affiliate-marketing

If you’re in the #EU, they’re trying to pass a law that will ban #OpenSource operating systems including #Linux and #BSD. Since there are a lot of #FOSS users from #Europe on the fediverse, this bill should concern you.

https://writehere.is/nwo/eu-chat-control-law-will-ban-open-source-operating-systems

#MastodonNews Jan 30, 2023

In one week Twitter is closing their API to unpaid access. Likely Mastodon migration tools like https://movetodon.org/ will stop working.

The Verge: Twitter replaces its free API with a paid tier... >>> https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/2/23582615/twitter-removing-free-api-developer-apps-price-announcement

engadget: Twitter will charge developers to access its API... >>> https://www.engadget.com/twitter-charging-developers-api-access-104917093.html

CNBC: Twitter will start charging developers for API >>> https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/02/twitter-to-start-charging-developers-for-api-access.html

Archive: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1d5Q6oyzrlfXBEhHsLI9cxltdFV_XPrZWQj1mj8Ivc7Q/edit?usp=sharing

#twittermigration

they're corrupt and pretending (?) to not understand that banning TikTok does nothing, because the adtech industry is so fecklessly regulated that Chinese intelligence could just turn around and buy U.S. consumer data from an absolute ocean of marginally accountable adtech companies and data brokers

Please take a look at the comical lengths Congress is going to to ban a single app instead of, say, passing a privacy law or actually funding the FTC's privacy enforcers:

https://www.wired.com/story/how-the-us-could-ban-tiktok-in-7-not-so-easy-steps/?utm_medium=social&mbid=social_twitter&utm_source=twitter&utm_brand=wired&utm_social-type=owned

Data #privacy after the fall of #Roe - POLITICO

… tighten #HIPAA protections for reproductive health information. The bill would prevent health care providers from divulging information tied to pregnancy termination or loss without consent.

While unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled House, the legislation is a marker of where the party stands on the issue post-Roe v. Wade.
#roevwade

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/future-pulse/2023/01/31/data-privacy-after-the-fall-of-roe-00080223

@MediaLawProf notes that a Texas lawmaker floated the state's own ban on social media for anyone under *18*: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-bill-would-ban-social-media-for-those-under-18/amp/

Same state that just defended 18-year-olds' rights to own guns: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/01/27/texas-dps-stops-enforcing-handgun-age-limits-for-young-adults/

From Project Alpha to the Gangs Matrix and the case of the Manchester 10, policing is taking on #PreCrime. Supposedly what you do online and even private messages can predict criminality, triggering surveillance and punishment. This quiz by Fair Trials shows you how. #privacy #AutomatedInjustice #AIAct

https://www.fairtrials.org/predictive-policing/

#Ohio is investigating a White supremacist #homeschooling network that shares Nazi-related resources

The Ohio Department of Education is investigating an online homeschooling network after reports of parents sharing messages of White supremacy as educational resources, according to a state education official with knowledge of the review.
#WhiteSupramacy #nazi

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/02/us/ohio-investigating-white-supremacist-homeschooling-network/index.html

A House Republican from Utah just introduced a bill that would ban every kid under 16 from using social media.

@evangreer: “For many kids, especially LGBTQ young people who may have unsupportive parents or live in a conservative area, the internet and social media are a lifeline"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/02/new-bill-would-ban-anyone-under-16-using-social-media/

solid portrait of Sam #Altman, the deeply nihilistic, misanthropic, paranoid, gun-loving, gold-hoarding, survivalist, alt-right-adjacent, anti-intellectual, science-fiction breathing, incredibly wealthy hacker/venture capitalist who is burning down the world with #OpenAI #ChatGPT #AGI because we untermenschen don't know what's good for us, but Sam gleefully can't wait to show us https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-chatgpt-openai-ceo-career-net-worth-ycombinator-prepper-2023-1 #AI #fascism

“Instead of pouring more money into militarized forces that brutalize, terrorize, and even murder, we should fund libraries, after-school programs, good jobs, and other investments proven to keep us safe.”

https://theintercept.com/2023/01/31/tyre-nichols-memphis-police/