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"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
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@youtube-privacy-union
Welcome!
If you want information about the ongoing YouTube boycott, degoogling, and any other issues regarding internet privacy, this is the place for you!
This is a shared blog where we will be answering questions, sharing resources, and giving advice on how to protect your internet privacy and resist invasive and environmentally destructive tech company practices.
Good news to get you through August.
More than 150 youth organisations and young people in Scotland have written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham urging him to rethink the UK social media ban for under-16s.
“Their letter warns that the plans could force young people into less regulated parts of the internet.”
“The letter, led by the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP), has been signed by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, Children in Scotland, Together (Scotland) and Forces Children Scotland, among others.
The proposals were announced by Sir Keir Starmer in June, with the then prime minister saying a ban could come into effect by spring 2027.”
what the youth groups want if the ban goes through
“Youth groups have said that if Mr Burnham moves ahead with a ban, he should work with young people to implement the change.”
“SYP campaigners said young people should be allowed “meaningful participation” to share their views with politicians.”
“The letter also asks the UK Government to commit to carrying out a children’s rights impact assessment on the proposed ban before it is introduced.”
concerns over a ban
The letters main concern is the idea that children will go to more unregulated parts of the internet and that young people aren’t getting a say in what happens
The UK government says that the consultation based on this says that young people do want an internet ban
This is ignoring that the consultation was rigged
Youth groups have warned the Prime Minister the plans could lead young people to less regulated parts of the internet.
I’ve decided to delete YouTube off my phone (or at least use it anonymously with a VPN) and I’m going to chart down how it goes, anyone have any recommendations for YouTube/music alternatives?
France’s top court blocks under-15 social media ban, citing constitutional freedoms
France's top court has struck down a law banning children under 15 from using social media, saying it infringes on fundamental freedoms.
TL;DR
The Constitutional Council ruled that the ban “disproportionately infringe freedom of expression and communication” and haven’t provided legal guarantees to ensure those rights,
The French president macron promised to try to pass this ban before spring and has tasked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu with dealing with the issue
He wants the prime minister to “working as quickly as possible on a legally robust proposal that takes into account the decision of the Constitutional Council as well as the European legal framework.””
full thing
“A top court in France on Friday struck down a law banning children under 15 from using social media, saying it infringes on fundamental freedoms.”
“The Constitutional Council ruled that provisions in the ban “disproportionately infringe freedom of expression and communication” and haven’t provided legal guarantees to ensure those rights, according to a press release summarizing the decision.”
“France last month became the first country in the European Union to pass a blanket ban on the platforms amid rising worldwide concerns about the harmful effects of digital content on kids.
Both chambers of the Parliament had voted in favor of the measure, which also banned the use of mobile phones in high schools.”
“The legislation was one of the final major measures adopted under French President Emmanuel Macron’s presidency before he leaves office next year.
Macron wanted the law to take effect at the start of the new school year in September, but the bill faced a review to determine whether it complied with the French Constitution.”
the presidents responds
He said that he will work hard to make this blanket ban take effect before spring
He “has tasked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu “with working as quickly as possible on a legally robust proposal that takes into account the decision of the Constitutional Council as well as the European legal framework.””
he added.
“On this basis, it will be up to the President of the Republic, the Government, and Parliament to determine the means and mechanisms needed to protect our children from social media by the end of the current term of office,”
Constitutional council says curbs infringe freedom of expression and privacy as president vows to rework legislation
DayOfTheWeek fanart!
Speedpaint!
Texas hits pause on 1,800 data center projects after massive electric demand, going up to 474 gigawatts, around 40% of the USA’s electricity
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) instructed PUCT and ERCOT to pause all data center applications until they complete an audit on all the information tha
TL;DR
Governor Greg Abbott has ordered the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to pause approvals until a proper audit of applicants can be done
This is due to failure to comply with a PUCT survey to determine water and power usage
They asked 377 to send required information, but only 28 have sent it
Well over 1,800 days centers are awaiting approval, which could reach 474 gigawatts (around 400 billon wats)
A gigawatt on average can power 800,000 homes
full thing
“Texas has put a hold on new data center approvals that require access to the state's grid, a move that could slow a long list of projects already waiting in line.
Governor Greg Abbott has ordered the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT to pause approvals until the agencies complete an audit of applicants, a move that could stall a large backlog of projects seeking to connect.”
Gov. Abbott wrote in his statement about this
"Our top priority is to protect Texans' safety and quality of life, Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first."
“This review reportedly stemmed from several data centers' failure to comply with a PUCT survey to determine water and power usage.
The agency says that it asked 377 data center companies to send the required information, but only 28 have submitted so far.”
“This review reportedly stemmed from several data centers' failure to comply with a PUCT survey to determine water and power usage. The agency says that it asked 377 data center companies to send the required information, but only 28 have submitted so far.
not a full ban
While this is not a statewide moratorium, it nonetheless affects the progress of many data center projects going through ERCOT approval.
More than 1,800 projects are awaiting the go-signal from the regulator to connect to the grid, 90% of which are data centers.
The combined demand that these applications will put on the grid is expected to hit 474 gigawatts, which is five times that of the current peak demand that ERCOT has recorded and is much higher than forecasted data center demand by 2035.”
A gigawatt is a unit of power equal to one billion watts. Discover what it is, how much energy it produces, and learn more about gigawatt pr
The state wants more information before granting access. Abbott said applicants must provide tax break details, power use and generation dat
I'd recorded this cover a couple months back, but I just now found the time to make the illustration to go with it. So, it's here now! I have a cover of Life is Looking Up!
I posted it to Glomble but not YouTube, mostly because I'm afraid it would get claimed on YouTube. Glomble doesn't have bots looking for even the smallest sign of a copyrighted work, so...yeah. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!
And the illustration on its own
Spotify to distinguish AI artists from real people – and stop recommending them, starting in September
Music streaming platform creates ‘AI persona’ label that will appear on profiles and track listings in crackdown on fake performers
“Spotify is to label AI artists and exclude them from algorithm recommendations as part of a crackdown on fake performers.
The world’s largest music streaming platform is creating a label for AI-generated artist identities called “AI personas” that will appear on the artist profile and on track listings on playlists.”
“It means that from September AI-generated artists such as the Velvet Sundown will carry the persona label and will be blocked from personalised recommendations by default.
The aim is to differentiate these deepfake artists from real performers who might lose out on streams to artificial rivals”
detection
AI artists can reveal if their music is made by AI and get a label
But Spotify will also be using human reviewers and AI investigative tools
Although the new rule technically applies to AI “identities”, Spotify says AI-generated profiles are invariably a front for AI-made tracks as well.
The company said: “Listeners have been clear in telling us that they don’t like seeing an artist profile that seems human, only to find out that the persona is AI-generated.”
Twitch says that the AI scrapping feature is opt out because they knew no one would opt in
"If this was opt-in, nobody would opt in," Twitch CPO Mike Minton said on a livestream responding to user feedback. "That's honestly the ans
This new AI scrapping feature had the internet up in arms against Twitch
“In a stream on the official Twitch channel, Twitch Head of Community Mary Kish and Chief Product Officer Mike Minton addressed a live audience of nearly 3,000 aggrieved users, many of whom were posting anti-AI sentiments in the chat.”
Minton said during the stream
“Why is it not opt-in? That’s what everybody is spamming in chat. I get it. ‘Let me opt in versus making me opt out,’” “Well, there’s an honest answer… If this was opt-in, nobody would opt in. That’s honestly the answer.”
“Twitch knows that its community of streamers is largely opposed to the use of generative AI, since the most prevalent generative AI products are trained on books, images, videos, and other materials scraped from the internet without consent.”
prepared for backlash and confusion from streamers
“Twitch’s approach to breaking this news shows that the company is braced for backlash.
Instead of telling the community that Amazon would begin training on Twitch users’ content, Twitch framed this change as “[adding] a setting that lets you opt out of having your channel content used to train generative AI content models across Amazon.”
Some streamers asked if their streams have been used to train AI, with Minton responding , “I don’t actually know the answer to that question because I don’t know what Amazon […] has done in terms of model training and what they’ve used and not used.”
I still have no idea how the fuck voting in EU works. How the fuck something can pass even though *majority is against*? Apparently that majority is "not enough"...????
Rebloging
@d0esery
Tagging ya for spreading the word around
🇪🇺⭐️Corruption at its finest!⭐️🇪🇺
(Thank you, @pinkyprincessnom :) 🙏💕)
I found this online. Is this good news?
Kids’ online safety bill faces dim prospects of passage this session despite progress | The Record from Recorded Future News
🇺🇸⭐️I would say yes. ⭐️🇺🇸
TW: Suicide mention of a minor. (There is a mention of that in the article and on this post.)
There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding KOSA currently. A lot of people and politicians are saying it will not make it out of the Senate, which I hope is the case.
Even Marsha Blackburn, one of the most prominent people for the bill, basically said in Politico article in this form it will not pass the Senate. (You can read that post/article on my blog if you haven't. Just look for last Wednesdays date.)
One thing I absolutely hate about this article is the mention of a minor (David Molak) killing himself because of cyberbullying. Then, the parents blaming social media for it. I hate when parents use this excuse to justify stripping the internet away from other minors.
Once again, parents, you NEED to be watching your minors online, setting up parental controls, and making yourself a safe person for your minor to tell you that something is going on in their life. You are a neglectful parent if you are not doing this for your minor.
It is NOT the responsibility of the internet to do that for you. The internet will NEVER be a safe place even with these laws that are proven not to be effective. You are the PARENT for your minor, NOT anyone else! You NEED to be there for them!
Rest in peace to David 🙏❤️. I do feel awful for what happened to him. Nobody deserves to die from cyberbullying. That is why it is crucial for parents to be on top of what their minor is doing online. So that things like this are caught early, and you, as the parent, can intervene.
⭐️One final thing. There is also nothing set up for a Senate date yet for it ,BUT I will keep you updated!
(Thank you, @devildog452 , for this article :) 💕🙏)
Bad news https://x.com/ReclaimTheNetHQ/status/2087907580962119708?s=20
🇧🇷⭐️Example A of facism and authoritarianism taking whole in countries.⭐️🇧🇷
So, what do you think they will consider a crime? Rebellion against their government?Speaking out against corruption?
Imagine the police just kidnapping someone you know no notice them just disappearing.
Brazilians PLEASE stand up against your government and KEEP fighting. They are making laws in your country that would be considered crimes in others.
⭐️We are truly living in George Orwell's 1984 at this point. ⭐️
(Thank you, @cofa , for the news :) 💕🙏! This is horrifying to do to your citizens!)
to the yearning boycotter, youtube is a kind of dead wife
Twitch now uses your channel to train generative AI by default, but you can opt out of it
Twitch now uses your channel to train generative AI by default. You can opt out of some training here: https://t.co/a9gdGpfJ9i
In order to opt out of generative AI scanning, go to “Security and Privacy” in settings
Go to privacy
Go to “Training for generative AI” and turn it off
what Twitch says about this settings
In their frequently asked questions, they say this
“Generative AI content models are AI tools that can help create or synthesize content outputs like text or images when given instructions or prompts because they are also trained on content.
When you allow training, that means that your content may be used for future Gen AI model improvements.
An example of what happens when you allow your content to be used for training a GenAI content model is that your audio might help refine models that create speech to text, which would help improve captions at Twitch but would also help improve captions across Amazon.”
what exactly does opting out mean?
“If you opt-out and decide to not allow your channel content to train Generative AI content models, your streams, VODs, clips, stream chats, and pictures and text on your channel will not be used in future training of a model developed by Amazon whose purpose is to generate or synthesize text, audio, images, or video.
Opting-out of training generative AI content models does not opt you out of all AI or machine learning uses at Twitch.
For example, Twitch will still run AutoMod, which helps keep our community safe, but does not retain your data and use it to produce content.
Twitch may also still use your data to run AI-supported features, like captions, which automatically generate captions for your Clips but does not retain your stream or your clips to train a model that can generate new content.”
person typing into google search bar: obfuscate meaning
google ai overview: Understood! From now on, all meaning will be hidden from you, and you'll be forced to wade through the dreary vastness. Whether it's things you've always held dear, or new ideas you've yet to discover, nothing will make sense or appear to have any real value. This could be the beginning of a fascinating journey!
Brazil Law Makes VPN Use an Aggravating Factor in Crimes as the First Lady Pushes For a Discord Ban
Brazil's virtual patrol rule also lets police pull connection data with no warrant.
TL;DR
Brazil president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed a child protection bill that turns privacy tools like VPNs into aggravating factor in crimes against children
It also allows a provision called "virtual patrol" which allows “police and prosecutors the power to obtain connection and registration data straight from providers without a prior court order, as long as a judge is notified within 48 hours. But this only applies to cases where “a risk to a child's life, and the data may be used only in that investigation.”
the First Lady, Janja da Silva has voiced her opinion on banning discord, even getting The attorney general, Jorge Messias to file a civil case, though the judge didn’t allow it
full thing
“Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has big plans to kill online anonymity, and his wife wants to ban Discord.
Last week, Lula signed a “child-protection” law that turns the use of certain anonymization tools into an aggravating factor in crimes against children and permits files that are shared on peer-to-peer networks to be tracked without so much as a judge’s order.”
the law
“Numbered PL 3066/2025, it cleared the Chamber of Deputies on May 19 and passed the Senate.”
“Brazil's Internet Steering Committee, CGI.br, had asked Lula to veto the anonymization provision, article 226-A. He signed it anyway.
what it covers
In a public note, the committee expressed concern that the article's broad wording,
which covers everything from proxies and any technique for masking or altering an IP address (like VPNs), "as an indicator of unlawful behavior." It could "open a regulatory precedent for casting suspicion on whoever uses privacy tools."
It added that the heavier penalty only applies once an investigation has already identified the suspect, so it "does not improve the technical capacity of authorities to trace such crimes."”
“It’s important to add here that the law's text protects “legitimate” use, and it doesn’t make VPNs illegal. But who’s to decide what’s legitimate and what’s not?
Treating standard privacy tools as something that deepens guilt sets the premise that the tool itself is suspect and that precedent then becomes available for the next law to borrow.
Not only would this affect everyday privacy-conscious citizens, but it would also harm journalists, abuse victims, and anyone whose safety depends on not being traced, and lean hardest on these tools.”
"virtual patrol"
This provision gives “police and prosecutors the power to obtain connection and registration data straight from providers without a prior court order, as long as a judge is notified within 48 hours.
For now, it applies to cases of “flagrante delicto” (where someone is in the very act of committing the offense) or a risk to a child's life, and the data may be used only in that investigation.
Its backers cite an October ruling by the Superior Court of Justice upholding the tracking of files shared openly on P2P networks.”
“A warrant requirement is supposed to exist to put a judge between the state and a person's data before that data is taken.
Under this new premise, though, the judge hears of it two days later, and by then there is nothing left to guard”
Discord
Janja da Silva, the presidents wife, wants to block discord from Brazil
Even asking justice minister what legal measures they could do to get it blocked
The attorney general, Jorge Messias, said he would file a public civil action against Discord asking for "the immediate accountability and the removal of its use by Brazilian society."
