Tag: LGBTQ+

US developed AI tool to battle Russian disinformation Blinken

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

The Ukraine Content Aggregator is used to catch fake news and share data on it with foreign partners, the secretary of state says

US developed AI tool to battle Russian disinformation Blinken

H/T: Emil Cosman

Related:

Secretary Antony J. Blinken at Freedom House 2023 Annual Awards Ceremony

The third thing I wanted to highlight. While we’re working to promote access to the internet for all, we’re also working to address threats to human rights that come with an open internet, including online harassment, abuse, disinformation.

Now, online abuse doesn’t, of course, target only human rights defenders. Instead, the internet and digital technologies are often used to amplify attacks on vulnerable groups – women, the LGBTQI community, marginalized ethnic or religious groups – and undermine our broader fight for human rights. So this year, we launched what is now at least a 12-country Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse. We’re encouraging private sector to become engaged with us as well.

We’re also working to address the massive challenge of online misinformation and disinformation – again, something familiar to everyone in this room. To cite one example, of course, Russia continues to push a steady, relentless stream of disinformation about its war of aggression against Ukraine, to lie about and cover up horrific abuses it’s committed, to try to justify committing others.

In response, the State Department has developed an AI-enabled online Ukraine Content Aggregator to collect verifiable Russian disinformation and then to share that with partners around the world. We’re promoting independent media and digital literacy. We’re working with partners in academia to reliably detect fake text generated by Russian chatbots.

The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Congress has resurrected the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that would increase surveillance and restrict access to information in the name of protecting children online. KOSA was introduced in 2022 but failed to gain traction, and today its authors, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), have reintroduced it with slight modifications. Though some of these changes were made in response to over 100 civil society organizations and LGBTQ+ rights groups’ criticisms of the bill, its latest version is still troubling. Today’s version of KOSA would still require surveillance of anyone sixteen and under. It would put the tools of censorship in the hands of state attorneys general, and would greatly endanger the rights, and safety, of young people online. And KOSA’s burdens will affect adults, too, who will likely face hurdles to accessing legal content online as a result of the bill.

The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online

Vance: Biden Admin ‘Moralizing And Lecturing’ Other Countries While China Builds Roads And Feeds People + More

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Republican Ohio Senator J.D. Vance accused the Biden administration of “moralizing and lecturing” other countries in a floor speech opposing a new diplomatic nominee late Wednesday.

Vance: Biden Admin ‘Moralizing And Lecturing’ Other Countries While China Builds Roads And Feeds People

Video via African Diaspora News Channel

Related:

Get Progressive Politics Out of Foreign Policy, Says JD Vance

“Right now, you know that Joe Biden is not sending weapons to Taiwan, weapons that we promised the Taiwanese, because we’re sending those weapons to Ukraine or elsewhere,” Vance said.

…

Though Vance said he admires the brave people of Ukraine, he said America should remove troops and resources from Ukraine.

…

“It’s time to manufacture our weapons in the United States,” the Ohioan said. “And it’s time to send a message to the world that America is the arsenal of democracy, but we cannot do that unless you get out and stop the focus on Ukraine.”

Arsenal of Democracy

“The great arsenal of democracy” came to specifically refer to the industry of the U.S., as the primary supplier of material for the Allied war effort [WWII].

Meanwhile, he wants to pull a Zelensky back home. /s

Senator Brian Schatz Joins The Moral Panic With Unconstitutional Age Verification Bill

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Senator Brian Schatz is one of the more thoughtful Senators we have, and he and his staff have actually spent time talking to lots of experts in trying to craft bills regarding the internet. Unfortunately, it still seems like he still falls under the seductive sway of this or that moral panic, so when the bills actually come out, they’re perhaps more thoughtfully done than the moral panic bills of his colleagues, but they’re still destructive.

Senator Brian Schatz Joins The Moral Panic With Unconstitutional Age Verification Bill

Related:

Bipartisan Senate bill would ban social media algorithms for minors

Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Murphy (D-Conn), Katie Britt (R-Ala) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark) introduced the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act on Wednesday. The bill would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media sites, and would require parental consent and age verification for users under 18.

As Ukraine’s LGBTQ soldiers fight on the front line, acceptance grows in the conservative country (not really)

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Instagram.

As Ukraine’s LGBTQ soldiers fight on the front line, acceptance grows in the conservative country

“My fellow soldiers are really impressed with what I’ve done in Bakhmut, the massive scale of work that I did there, and after that they just don’t care about who I sleep with,” Honzyk, whose medical unit evacuates wounded soldiers and provides emergency first aid, said in a hip café in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, while on leave from the front line.

That doesn’t sound like what Ivan told the following publication, three days later:

Against Homophobia, For Women’s Rights: Ivan’s Lonely Struggle (original)

Ivan Honzyk came out as gay in March last year. His sexuality is a problem for others. In Russia, he keeps appearing on television for propaganda purposes. In Ukraine, many homosexuals have a hard time in the army. Many live in hiding, says Ivan Honzyk. Soldiers don’t want to meet him for fear of being mistaken for gay themselves.

What is the outrage around Bud Light’s collaboration with a trans influencer

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

What is the outrage around Bud Light’s collaboration with a trans influencer

“From time to time, we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney,” the statement read. “This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”

All of these snowflakes boycotting Bud Light for one single can that’s not even available for sale to the public?! I just laugh! It’s all about marketing and sales! It’s not “wokeness”, it’s the “free market”! That’s capitalism! Besides, didn’t have a problem drinking Bud Light, before, and Bud Light was marketing to the LGBTQ+ community long before “wokeness” became a thing!