Here’s your Facebook “whistleblower”

WEF

‘Careless People’ author testifies to Senate, as bipartisan pressure builds on Mark Zuckerberg

Wynn-Williams testified that Meta censored a Chinese dissident at the request of Chinese officials, and that the dissident was Guo Wengui, a federally convicted fraudster and MAGA-friendly ally of far-right activist Steve Bannon. Wynn-Williams said Facebook’s claim that a 2017 suspension of Guo’s account stemmed from a temporary glitch was a lie, and that the decision to temporarily kick him off the platform actually came as a result of pressure from a Chinese official.

Stone, the Meta spokesperson, said in a statement that Guo “faced account restrictions because he shared personally identifiable information such as passport numbers, social security numbers and addresses,” The Washington Post reported.

After downloading the book and searching for mentions of Palestine, the sole reference I found involved the author criticizing Facebook Maps for labeling a location in Israel as Palestine (p.71)—a claim I find dubious, given the platform’s well-documented history of censoring Palestinian content. Most Palestinian activists are likely aware of this pattern, as evidenced by countless reports and articles easily accessible through a simple Google search for “Facebook censorship of Palestine.”

Related:

Read More »

Trump 2.0: Project 2025 Could Impact the Economy and Your Finances

Cass is wrong. See related below.*

The Trump team lied. Project 2025 is influential with his transition team and his second cabinet.

Project 2025 Could Impact the Economy and Your Finances

What economic proposals are in Project 2025?

Most of Project 2025 would have economic implications if implemented and many proposals would affect Americans on a personal finance level. While this is not an exhaustive list, here are some key proposals:

Read More »

Copyright Office exemption makes McDonald’s ice cream machines repairable

McDonald’s always-broken ice cream machines might finally get easier to fix. That’s because the US Copyright Office granted an exemption allowing third parties to diagnose and repair commercial equipment — including the ones that make your McFlurries.

Copyright Office exemption makes McDonald’s ice cream machines repairable

Related:

Copyright change removes exclusive McDonald’s ice cream machine control from Rockton company

The center of the Rockford resident’s frustration sits miles away from the W. Riverside Blvd. McDonald’s: Taylor Company. The manufacturer assembles and manages the infamous machines in Rockton.

Republicans Pump Brakes on KOSA After Realizing It Could Censor Them Too 🤭

from the always-think-of-how-your-worst-enemy-will-use-this-law dept

For a while, we’ve been pointing out how terrible KOSA (the Kids Online Safety Act) is. Our main concern is that the bill would fundamentally lead to the suppression of all kinds of speech. That’s because the “duty of care” provision, while limited, would allow officials (mostly at the FTC, which can get partisan) to argue that certain types of results were due to a design failure, and companies would seek to suppress content, rather than face the potential liability.

Republicans Pump Brakes on KOSA After Realizing It Could Censor Them Too

Auto Makers Are Selling Data On Your Driving Habits To Your Insurer Without Properly Informing You

Source

from the I-can’t-drive-55 dept

Last September, Mozilla came out with a privacy study indicating that the auto industry was the worst tech industry the organization tracked. Mozilla found that not only does the industry hoover up a ton of data from your use of vehicles, it collects and monetizes most of the data on your phone. Often without transparency or adequate safeguards:

All 25 car brands we researched earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label — making cars the official worst category of products for privacy that we have ever reviewed.

Auto Makers Are Selling Data On Your Driving Habits To Your Insurer Without Properly Informing You

Someone tell Rep. Mike Gallagher that China is buying our data! /s

Related:

Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies

Well, That’s Everyone: Senator Wyden Letter Confirms The NSA Is Buying US Persons’ Data From Data Brokers

Buying domestic data from data brokers is just something the government does all the time. Bypassing restraints enacted by the Supreme Court, federal agencies (along with local law enforcement agencies) are hoovering up whatever domestic data they can from private companies all too happy to be part of the problem.

Well, That’s Everyone: Senator Wyden Letter Confirms The NSA Is Buying US Persons’ Data From Data Brokers

Report: Unregulated Data Brokers Sell Military Family Info For Pennies

Report: Unregulated Data Brokers Sell Military Family Info For Pennies

“It is not difficult to obtain sensitive data about active-duty members of the military, their families, and veterans, including non-public, individually identified, and sensitive data, such as health data, financial data, and information about religious practices. The team bought this and other data from U.S. data brokers via a .org and a .asia domain for as low as $0.12 per record. Location data is also available, though the team did not purchase it.”

Senators Warren & Graham Want To Create New Online Speech Police Commission

The regulation will continue until internet freedom improves, apparently. Last year we wrote about Senator Michael Bennet pushing a terrible “Digital Platform Commission” to be the new internet speech police, and now we have the bipartisan free speech hating duo of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Lindsey Graham with their proposal for a Digital Consumer Protection Commission.

Senators Warren & Graham Want To Create New Online Speech Police Commission