Notices by Will Oremus (willoremus@mastodon.social)

I wrote about the push to "billionaire-proof" social media, including plans for a new nonprofit to oversee Mastodon and a separate plan to launch a nonprofit to build out an ecosystem of apps running on Bluesky's protocol. Gift link to today's Tech Brief: https://wapo.st/40fTk4X

Didn't get to include this in the piece unfortunately, but Mastodon has also seen a surge this month, with signups up 27% from October to November so far.

From my convo with Mastodon creator Eugen Rochko (@Gargron):

Wrote about why Bluesky has the juice at the moment https://wapo.st/40RwPp7

Gift link to our story today on how antisemitic conspiracy theories going viral on X are threatening to undermine the Hurricane Helene response and Milton preparations: https://wapo.st/4eQKjFd

New: Federal, state and local officials leading the Hurricane Helene relief efforts are fearing for their safety amid vicious antisemitic online hate and threats, fueled on Elon Musk's X, where anti-Jewish conspiracy posts are going unmoderated and racking up tens of millions of views. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/10/08/hurricane-helene-antisemitic-misinformation-x/

Trump supporters aren't imagining it—they really do get their posts taken down and accounts suspended more on social media than liberals, a new analysis published in Nature finds.

But! That doesn't mean content moderation is biased. It turns out the discrepancy is better explained by the fact that they share way more low-quality information. That's true even when "low-quality" is defined by Republicans. My latest on the findings: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/03/nature-study-social-media-liberal-bias-censorship/

I wrote about why Meta is integrating Threads with Mastodon and the fediverse -- and why advocates for an open social web are both cautiously intrigued and wary. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/02/meta-threads-fediverse-mosseri-mastodon-rochko/

New: We finally have an official list of the major investors in Elon Musk's X, after a judge ordered it unsealed.

They include Jack Dorsey, a16z, a Saudi prince, and of course Sean "Diddy" Combs. Story by Trisha Thadani, w/ assists from me and @aaronjschaffer. Gift link: https://wapo.st/3WYQaB5

Today is the day Donald Trump became precedent.

Think you understand Section 230?

@ethanz did, until he was reading the bill's text out loud to his college class. That's when "a light bulb went off in my head," he told me -- leading to a creative new lawsuit that tries to turn the famous internet law against Big Tech and pave the way for "middleware" that empowers the user. My story today: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/08/college-professor-wants-use-section-230-against-big-tech/

A senator who claims to have been pushing for an online-privacy bill for 24 years has actually been the biggest obstacle to it, numerous aides and insiders say.

Fascinating, question-raising profile of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), whose Commerce Committee is "where tech legislation goes to die." https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/13/congress-maria-cantwell-online-privacy/ by @cristianolima

A federal judge today threw out the entirety of X's lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate. He ruled that the suit's clear motivation was to "punish" critical research and "dissuade" others from criticizing X or researching its harms, and dismissed it under California's strong anti-SLAPP laws.

Story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/25/musk-x-lawsuit-slapp-center-digital-hate/

AI companies are swimming in billions.

The government agency overseeing AI safety is so underfunded that its offices are leaking and mold-infested and their internet barely works.

Our society in microcosm. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/06/nist-ai-safety-lab-decaying/ by @cqz

Bluesky opens to the public today and is taking a step toward federation. I talked with CEO Jay Graber about how it’s taking on the company that spawned it—and how its approach differs from Mastodon’s. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/02/06/bluesky-launch-public-jay-graber/

New: Casey Newton's Platformer is leaving Substack, suggesting its recent move to ban some accounts has failed to quell a writer revolt over its tolerance of extremist content. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/01/11/substack-platformer-nazis/

We wrote last month about how lawyers are increasingly turning to ChatGPT and other AI tools to make their lives easier -- and why it often has the opposite effect. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/16/chatgpt-lawyer-fired-ai/

Amazing. And yet somehow not amazing at all.

Michael Cohen confirms he used bogus AI-generated citations in his probation case: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/29/michael-cohen-ai-google-bard-fake-citations/

Musk's dismantling of Twitter's content moderation has been welcomed by Congressional Republicans in the US. Europe's government is less impressed.

The EU today launched formal proceedings against X over terrorist content, hate speech, "Community Notes" and more. Story by Aaron Gregg
& me: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/18/european-union-x-probe-elon-musk/

Props to @emanuelmaiberg at @404mediaco for being first to report on the 4chan AI hate memes back in October https://www.404media.co/4chan-uses-bing-to-flood-the-internet-with-racist-images/

My piece adds new research from CCDH on how they're actually spreading in the wild--with help from X's algorithms that amplify the blue checks who are gleefully posting them and racking up engagement--and how X doesn't take them down even when reported, despite claiming to crack down on antisemitic content. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/14/ai-hate-memes-antisemitic-musk-x/

Remember how AI chatbots citing their sources was supposed to make them more reliable?

About that... https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/15/microsoft-copilot-bing-ai-hallucinations-elections/