Reclaim The Net
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Free expression. Digital rights. Privacy. Media bias. News and solutions.
New York’s AI law is starting to look less like basic safety regulation and more like an ongoing system of state control.
Hochul has already gone after social media algorithms, backing laws that restrict how platforms can serve algorithmic feeds to those who haven't shown digital ID.
AI developers will have to register with the state, publish safety protocols, report incidents and provide regular disclosures. A new state office will oversee compliance, and Hochul says New York may eventually explore AI “kill switches.”
The state wants registration, recurring disclosures, mandatory incident reports, fees, a new enforcement bureaucracy and Hochul is already talking about possible AI “kill switches.”
Call it safety if you want. It’s also a major expansion of government control over how AI companies operate.
Reclaim The Net: Free Speech, Privacy, Digital Rights
Kathy Hochul Wants More Control Over AI
Everyone wants the AI control seat.
Hopefully, governments forcing people to show ID just to get online might end up being the biggest push towards open source and decentralization we’ve seen.
People will just host their own instances with no third party to hand your ID to, or a company deciding whether you’re allowed to speak.
The more they try to control this stuff, the more reason people have to build things they can’t control.
As if the downward slide of the state of free speech in the UK wasn't moving fast enough, now there’s a proposal that would make government permission a condition of operating a social media platform.
No Ofcom license = No platform.
A new Private Member’s Bill would let speech regulator Ofcom license social media platforms, impose conditions, demand action against “materially harmful” or “false or misleading” content, and revoke the license.
And here’s where the free speech implications get serious: the same regulator issuing the license would wield enormous power over what platforms are expected to restrict or remove.
Lose the license and a court could order ISPs to block the platform across the UK.
Operate without one? Up to 2 years in prison.
This has only had its first reading and is not law. But the idea is now formally on the table: social media platforms needing a government regulator’s permission to operate in Britain.
Reclaim The Net: Free Speech, Privacy, Digital Rights
UK Lords Bill Would Require Social Media Platforms to Get Licenses From Speech Regulator
Britain’s free speech environment is already under intense pressure. Now a proposal would make social media itself a licensed activity, with Ofco...
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants to end online anonymity.
Asked what a real-name mandate would mean for whistleblowers and investigative journalists, he didn’t address the journalism question.
Instead he said: “Please, nobody come to me with 'free speech.'”
Reclaim The Net: Free Speech, Privacy, Digital Rights
Friedrich Merz Again Calls for an End to Online Anonymity
The chancellor would like to be clear that free speech is not a value he shares. He would also like your name.
German customs made account cloning a permanent surveillance tool in August 2025, a leaked directive shows. It lets investigators read messenger chats without installing spyware. The government refused to tell a lawmaker how often it was used, even confidentially.
Reclaim The Net: Free Speech, Privacy, Digital Rights
German Customs Made Secret Messenger Surveillance Permanent
A leaked directive reveals how exceptional access became routine procedure.
Australia says its new “Digital Duty of Care” bill is about giving users more control over their feeds.
Ultimately though, it builds the infrastructure for much broader online censorship.
The draft would cover social media, messaging, search, games, app stores, ISPs and AI, with fines up to A$109.2M.
And the government could expand what counts as “harmful” content later.
“More control” for users or more control for the state?
Reclaim The Net: Free Speech, Privacy, Digital Rights
Australia Wants to Remake the Internet in the Name of "Safety"
The pitch is more user control, but the fine print puts Canberra in charge.
Revolut didn’t get “hacked.”
It handed customers’ IDs, addresses, account numbers, transaction histories, selfies and more to an unauthorized third party after receiving a fake government request.
That’s the real KYC problem: once companies are forced to collect your most sensitive data, you’re trusting them to protect it for years.
More ID checks = more leaks.
Yet, governments are constantly pushing for more ID checks to access basic aspects of daily life, like social media...
Reclaim The Net: Free Speech, Privacy, Digital Rights
Revolut Leak Shows the Cost of Constant ID Collection
Revolut’s mistake is the news, but the bigger problem is the growing number of companies being encouraged or required to keep copies of our most ...
Ireland just opened its first investigation under the Online "Safety" Code, and it’s already going after X.
The regulator says X may not be doing enough to stop under-18s from seeing inappropriate content and says a simple date-of-birth check isn’t good enough for age verification.
No fine yet, but if X is found in breach, the penalty could be €20M or 10% of relevant annual revenue.
This is how digital ID requirements creep in: first “protect the children,” then ID checks become the price of getting online to speak. Everything you say becomes linked to your real-world ID.
Reclaim The Net: Free Speech, Privacy, Digital Rights
Irish Regulator Says Self-Declared Age Is Not Enough for X
Ireland’s first Online "Safety" Code investigation puts X under pressure to move beyond birthday boxes toward stronger digital ID-style age checks.
Britain arrested at least 62,199 people in five years under laws covering what people say online or over the phone.
18,510 were charged. 12,292 convicted.
And depending on where you lived, your chances of being arrested could vary by 43x.
Free speech in Britain is under severe and growing threat.
Reclaim The Net: Free Speech, Privacy, Digital Rights
UK Police Arrested 62,199 People Over Online Speech in Five Years
Britain’s speech police have been busy, and the map of enforcement is anything but even.