NO FAKES Act Clears Senate Committee: Delete First, Ask Never

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NO FAKES Act Clears Senate Committee: Delete First, Ask Never

Three senators named the free-speech problems out loud and voted for the bill anyway.

Illinois Gov. Pritzker just signed a $55.9B budget with a “social media platform fee” that taxes platforms based on how many Illinois users they have. Bigger audience = bigger bill. Literally taxing speech. Pritzker’s defense: make companies “pay for the mental health and educational degradation they’ve caused.” Taxing publishers for the alleged effects of what they publish is unconstitutional censorship with a price tag. SCOTUS has killed this type of thing before.

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Pritzker's Social Media Tax: A $200 Million Bet Against the First Amendment

It's the same tax-the-press maneuver the Supreme Court has been voiding since the 1930s.

The UAE just approved a ban on social media for under-15s. To enforce it, every adult has to verify their age too, by ID or face scan. Companies have 12 months to comply.

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To Keep Kids Off Social Media, the UAE Will ID Every User

The under-15 ban is how the UAE signs on to a worldwide push for verified digital identity.

Meta opposed the Kids Online Safety Act for years. Then the Senate bundled it with another digital ID mandate and a block on state AI laws, both things Meta spent millions lobbying for. Suddenly Meta was on board...

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Why Meta Suddenly Loves the Kids Online Safety Act

The reversal landed the moment the Senate paired the bill with the digital-ID mandate Meta has chased for years.

Texas Just Leaked 3 Million Driver’s Licenses and Passports The same government now demanding digital ID to enter websites just proved it can’t guard the identity documents it already holds.

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Texas Just Leaked 3 Million Driver's Licenses and Passports

The same government now demanding digital ID to enter websites just proved it can’t guard the identity documents it already holds.

Apple’s New Subdomain Kills “Hide My Email” Cover

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Apple's New Subdomain Kills "Hide My Email" Cover

Apple's privacy feature worked precisely because no one could tell you were using it.

Florida Sues TikTok Over Age Verification Failures as Digital ID Mandate Takes Effect

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Florida Sues TikTok Under Age Verification Law

Florida's plan to protect kids online starts with surveilling every adult in the state.

Google Removes the Final Workaround for Full Ad Blocking in Chrome

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Google Removes the Final Workaround for Full Ad Blocking in Chrome

The world's largest advertising company also writes the rules governing what ad blockers can do inside its browser.

The Broad New Powers Hiding Inside Poland’s Child Safety Bills

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The Broad New Powers Hiding Inside Poland's Child Safety Bills

A 419-to-19 vote united Poland's bitterest political enemies behind a law broad enough to criminalize a protest video.

UK Even Wants Image Scanners on Millions of Unsupported Devices

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UK Even Wants Image Scanners on Millions of Unsupported Devices

It is a surveillance mandate written by people who do not know anything about technology.

Calling 4chan a tech giant is like calling a group chat a telecommunications conglomerate.

India blocked Telegram for 150 million Indians because one "NEET" exam paper leaked. The leak came from insiders inside the exam system, not Telegram. Yet they shut down the whole app until June 22...

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India Shut Down Telegram for 150 Million Users Over One Exam Leak

For the second year running, India's answer to a leak at the source is cutting off 150 million people who had nothing to do with it.

Senator Blackburn Demands Kik Verify the Age of Every User

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Senator Marsha Blackburn Demands Kik Verify User Ages

It's the newest entry in a Senate catalog of child-safety bills that double as the scaffolding for a digital-ID internet.

France’s Own Hack Is the Best Argument Against Its War on Encryption

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France Tchap Hack Undermines Its Encryption Crackdown

The encryption on Tchap did exactly its job, which is more than can be said for the government running it.

Step 1. Introduce censorship laws to make platforms "protect kids" Step 2. Ban kids Step 3. Leave adults with heavily censored, neutered, state-controlled platforms

The children are the reason you are being asked to stop thinking. They are not the reason this is being built...

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Starmer's Under-16 Social Media Ban Masks UK Surveillance

Tyranny masquerading as child safety needs you to feel guilty before you feel suspicious. Downing Street is counting on it.

13 years ago this month, the Guardian broke the Snowden story...the biggest mass surveillance exposé in history. Today it calls your concern about ID-linked browsing, spyware in your photos and messages, and broken encryption, "fake outrage" while Starmer's government demands backdoors into your iCloud and calls for people to be arrested for tweets. The watchdog became the lapdog.

US Opposes UK Online ID Mandate as Nine States Expand Age Checks

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US Opposes UK Online ID Mandate as Nine States Expand Age Checks

The administration warning Britain that ID checks chill speech already has states demanding the passport scan at home.

UK Regulator Targets World Cup Social Media Speech

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UK Regulator Targets World Cup Social Media Speech

The regulator wants platforms graded on how much they delete rather than how carefully they decide what stays.

Canada’s Bill C-34 Would Require ID or Face Scan to Use Social Media

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Canada' Bill C-34: Your ID or Your Face to Use Social Media

Canada becomes the latest country to try to end online anonymity under the banner of protecting children.