Notices by Evan Greer (evangreer@mastodon.online), page 2

Boost this until it breaks. Then boost it some more.

We need to sound the alarm!

Dem leadership have cut a deal with MAGA speaker Johnson to ram through a reauthorization of Sec 702 mass surveillance as part of the must-pass NDAA.

Learn more & call: https://fightforthefuture.org/actions/tell-democrats-stop-pushing-racist-surveillance/

BREAKING: Politico reports that Senator Cantwell says she will delay hotlining the Kids Online Safety Act (#KOSA) because of ongoing concerns around LGBTQ rights and the need for further changes.

This is an important win for human rights. But we have so much more to do

Was fun to write this for @lukeoneil47 Welcome to Hellworld. A little history on how we got to the current wave of terrible Internet censorship bills in Congress, and how we stop them https://www.welcometohellworld.com/an-unholy-alliance/

#KOSA #EarnItAct #BigTech #Surveillance #FreeSpeech #HumanRights #LGBTQ #tech #technology #techpolicy #contentmoderation #antitrust #privacy

Senator Cantwell has told reporters she plans to "hotline" #KOSA.

This is insane. The bill is substantively opposed by dozens of LGBTQ, human rights, racial justice, & abortion rights groups.

74 more LGBTQ groups just came out against it last week. https://www.lgbttech.org/_files/ugd/d77b01_0a081cfd77a94cc5b1021ec9d6402569.pdf

Okay y'all. I often tell people not to cry wolf or preemptively panic about legislation.

BUT THIS IS THE WEEK TO CALL SENATORS TO STOP THE KIDS ONLINE SAFTY ACT (#KOSA)

They're making real attempt to sneak it through. We just need ONE Senator to object

https://www.badinternetbills.com

Next time you see someone drinking the "nothing bad has happened since the repeal of #netneutrality" kool aid, make them read this https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-10-12/fcc-seeks-to-restore-network-neutrality-rules-trump-era-deregulation

NEW: I wrote about how hurtful and dangerous it is that @SenWarren has signed on as a co-sponsor of the Kids Online Safety Act (#KOSA), ignoring the life-or-death concerns raised by dozens of human rights groups and hundreds of parents of transgender kids https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjven5/elizabeth-warren-just-backed-an-online-safety-bill-that-will-harm-lgbtq-youth

Just to be clear, though, no amount of "proper training" will make it okay for the FBI to use facial recognition. This technology is fundamentally incompatible with basic human rights and democracy https://www.wired.com/story/fbi-agents-face-recognition-without-proper-training/

I’m pretty much done playing nice with so called progressive groups who are willing to throw trans kids under the bus just so they can go back to their funders and say they “passed the bill to protect the children.” https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjv3qp/congress-is-pushing-an-online-safety-bill-supported-by-anti-lgbtq-groups

BREAKING: the youngest and only gen z member of Congress just came out swinging against #KOSA, echoing concerns that LGBTQ and human rights groups have been raising for months https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2023-08-03-breaking-youngest-member-of-congress-comes-out-swinging-against-kosa

They did this to sex workers first and no one listened or cared. Maybe they’ll listen now if it means they can’t buy their weed seltzer with a card https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/28/business/mastercard-debit-cannabis-transactions.html

This is the most important article on the Internet today. Everyone who has found some kind of solace or community online needs to read this.

Big Tech is harming kids and everyone else. But #KOSA will make that worse, not better. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/kids-online-safety-act-lgbtq-youth

I know it's summer and we all just want to chill but it's time to start paying attention to the slate of bad Internet bills (think: KOSA, EARN IT Act, Cooper Davis, RESTRICT Act etc).

There's a quiet push forming in the Senate. We need to get really loud right now to stop these.
https://www.badinternetbills.com/

The #birdsite is supposedly rolling out end-to-end encrypted DMs soon.

You're going to see a lot of stories along the lines of "Musk turns on encryption in move that will help terrorists and child predators" or whatever.

Do not. Amplify. This narrative

End to end encryption is good. If Twitter does it right, it will be unequivocally good for the world.

The questions to ask are about the implementation, is the code open source etc.

But don't dunk on encryption just cuz you wanna dunk on Musk

Teenagers: actively use social media to organize around LGBTQ+ rights, gun violence, and the climate crisis with the goal of literally saving all life on this planet as we know it.

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

Oh. my. god.

Madison Square Garden used facial recognition to identify and stop a mom from attending a Christmas show with her kid because she's an attorney at a firm who is engaged in litigation with them.

This is why it's not enough to just ban government and law enforcement use of #facialrecognition. There are so many ways private companies and even individuals can abuse #biometric #surveillance tech.

#BanFacialRecognition entirely. Yesterday.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/msgs-facial-recognition-stops-mom-from-attending-christmas-show-with-child/4004471/

Hearing strong indications that lawmakers will try to move the Kids Online Safety Act (#KOSA) during the "lame duck" session. This is a terrible bill that won't make kids safer online but will subject them to censorship and surveillance. It could lead to biometric age verification, widespread removal of LGBTQ+ content, and a bunch of other bad crap. Very few civil society groups have spoken out against it. We need #LGBTQ groups especially to sound the alarm. Plz help spread the word if you can

Also, are there people who have been super active in the #mastodon community for years who are interested in talking to reporters? A lot of reporters are asking me about mastodon because of my generalized expertise in tech policy / content moderation / decentralization, but ... I'm new here! I don't want to speak on behalf of a community i've just joined. Hmu if you know folks who would be good for this.

When ppl have a blue check or green check here on #mastodon is that purely aesthetic? Or does it mean something?