Congratulations!

[Valid RSS] This is a valid RSS feed.

Recommendations

This feed is valid, but interoperability with the widest range of feed readers could be improved by implementing the following recommendations.

Source: http://www.techdirt.com/techdirt_rss.xml

  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"
  2. xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
  3. xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
  4. xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
  5. xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
  6. xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
  7. xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
  8. >
  9.  
  10. <channel>
  11. <title>Techdirt</title>
  12. <atom:link href="https://www.techdirt.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
  13. <link>https://www.techdirt.com</link>
  14. <description></description>
  15. <lastBuildDate>Fri, 16 May 2025 22:50:04 +0000</lastBuildDate>
  16. <language>en-US</language>
  17. <sy:updatePeriod>
  18. hourly </sy:updatePeriod>
  19. <sy:updateFrequency>
  20. 1 </sy:updateFrequency>
  22.  
  23. <image>
  24. <url>https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/cropped-techdirt-square-512x512-1.png?fit=32%2C32&#038;ssl=1</url>
  25. <title>Techdirt</title>
  26. <link>https://www.techdirt.com</link>
  27. <width>32</width>
  28. <height>32</height>
  29. </image>
  30. <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">169489720</site> <item>
  31. <title>Buc-ee&#8217;s Gas Station Chain Is Becoming The Monster Energy Of Gas Stations For Trademark Bullying</title>
  32. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/buc-ees-gas-station-chain-is-becoming-the-monster-energy-of-gas-stations-for-trademark-bullying/</link>
  33. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/buc-ees-gas-station-chain-is-becoming-the-monster-energy-of-gas-stations-for-trademark-bullying/#respond</comments>
  35. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dark Helmet]]></dc:creator>
  36. <pubDate>Sat, 17 May 2025 02:39:00 +0000</pubDate>
  37. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  38. <category><![CDATA[buc-ee's]]></category>
  39. <category><![CDATA[chicks]]></category>
  40. <category><![CDATA[choke canyon]]></category>
  41. <category><![CDATA[duckees drive thru]]></category>
  42. <category><![CDATA[irv's]]></category>
  43. <category><![CDATA[likelihood of confusion]]></category>
  44. <category><![CDATA[trademark]]></category>
  45. <category><![CDATA[trademark bullying]]></category>
  46. <category><![CDATA[yellow]]></category>
  47. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=498006&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=498006</guid>
  48.  
  49. <description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re from Texas or its surrounding states, you&#8217;ve probably heard of Buc-ee&#8217;s. The gas station and convenience store chain is a staple of the area and has a well-known branded logo that looks like this. I recently came across a settlement that was the result of a trademark suit Buc-ee&#8217;s initiated back in November [&#8230;]]]></description>
  50. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you&#8217;re from Texas or its surrounding states, you&#8217;ve probably heard of Buc-ee&#8217;s. The gas station and convenience store chain is a staple of the area and has a well-known branded logo that looks like this.</p>
  51. <div class="wp-block-image">
  52. <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="300" height="281" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-7.png?resize=300%2C281&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-498009"/></figure>
  53. </div>
  54. <p>I recently <a href="https://www.khou.com/article/money/business/houston-business-journal/bucees-lawsuit-duckees-settlement-trademark-missouri/285-8e5cb321-1530-441a-9ad0-35a6435e719f">came across a settlement</a> that was the result of a trademark suit Buc-ee&#8217;s initiated back in November <a href="https://www.khou.com/article/money/business/houston-business-journal/bucees-lawsuit-duckees-settlement-trademark-missouri/285-8e5cb321-1530-441a-9ad0-35a6435e719f">against Duckees Drive Thru</a>, which is a liquor store in Missouri. The details of the settlement were, as frustratingly usual, not made public. But I would have to damned well hope the settlement wasn&#8217;t too much in favor of Buc-ee&#8217;s given the details of the case. Liquor stores aren&#8217;t gas stations, Buc-ee&#8217;s and Duckees aren&#8217;t actually all that similar thanks to the distinctive dash in the former&#8217;s name, and you couldn&#8217;t possibly get me high or drunk enough to make me think this logo looks confusingly similar to Buc-ee&#8217;s. </p>
  55. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  56. <div class="wp-block-image">
  57. <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="888" height="971" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-9.png?resize=888%2C971&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-498011" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-9.png?w=888&amp;ssl=1 888w, https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-9.png?resize=274%2C300&amp;ssl=1 274w, https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-9.png?resize=768%2C840&amp;ssl=1 768w" sizes="(max-width: 888px) 100vw, 888px" /></figure>
  58. </div>
  59. </blockquote>
  60. <p>Unless Missouri beavers look different than what I&#8217;m used to, that&#8217;s a duck. The only settlement that should have occurred would be for Buc-ee&#8217;s to &#8220;settle&#8221; for being told to &#8220;duck&#8221; all the way off.</p>
  61. <p>It turns out <a href="https://freepresshouston.com/angry-beaver-buc-ees-dark-history-of-suing-cute-animal-logos-into-submission/">this isn&#8217;t some one-off</a>. Apparently anytime Buc-ee&#8217;s sees another company out there in even a remotely tangential industry that has an animal cartoon with a yellow circle behind it for a logo, they go full feral beaver over it. There are many, many examples of this.</p>
  62. <p>There is the active suit right now between Buc-ee&#8217;s and Choke Canyon, a barbeque joint, with the former arguing this looks too much like a beaver.</p>
  63. <div class="wp-block-image">
  64. <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="385" height="424" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-10.png?resize=385%2C424&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-498012" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-10.png?w=385&amp;ssl=1 385w, https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-10.png?resize=272%2C300&amp;ssl=1 272w" sizes="(max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px" /></figure>
  65. </div>
  66. <p>Thank god Steve Irwin isn&#8217;t alive to see that one.</p>
  67. <p>How about this one, which also ended in a settlement, for a chicken joint?</p>
  68. <div class="wp-block-image">
  69. <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="147" height="129" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-11.png?resize=147%2C129&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-498013"/></figure>
  70. </div>
  71. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  72. <p><em>During the case, which Chicks settled out of court, Buc-ee’s brazenly&nbsp;accused the store of improper use of: “friendly smiling cartoon animals,” “the use of a black circle,” “the&nbsp;use of a yellow background,” “the use of the red-colored cockscomb on the heads of the chickens,”&nbsp;“the&nbsp;prominent use of sharply drawn black edges,” and “the&nbsp;use of six letters in raised and lowered block font in the name.”</em></p>
  73. <p><em>Besides the fact that Buc-ee’s accused someone who&nbsp;wasn’t&nbsp;cooking&nbsp;their Trail Boss Habanero Hot Beef Jerky<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.1.0/72x72/2122.png" alt="™" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> of improper use of a chicken’s cockscomb in an official court document, two other takeaways are clear: Buc-ee’s seems to believe that it owns yellow backgrounds and it doesn’t fuck around.</em></p>
  74. </blockquote>
  75. <p>Or how about Irv&#8217;s, a restaurant that doesn&#8217;t even feature a non-human animal?</p>
  76. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  77. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="719" height="273" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-13.png?resize=719%2C273&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-498015" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-13.png?w=719&amp;ssl=1 719w, https://i0.wp.com/www.techdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-13.png?resize=300%2C114&amp;ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px" /></figure>
  78. </blockquote>
  79. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  80. <p><em>“Defendants’ blatant copying of the Beaver Logo shows that Defendants’ actions are willful, knowing, and committed with the intent of benefiting from the goodwill and concept of Buc-ee’s…,” the complaint against Irv’s states, before offering a photo comparison (included below).</em></p>
  81. <p><em>“From a distance it is difficult to discern the logo from the logo of Buc-ee’s.”</em></p>
  82. </blockquote>
  83. <p>And yet that one also ended in a settlement.</p>
  84. <p>To be clear, this is pure trademark bullying bullshit. Buc-ee&#8217;s is big and these others are small and so they cave. And since nobody in the legal and court systems are willing or capable of doing anything about it, the bullying continues unabated. In a just world, Buc-ee&#8217;s would be sanctioned for even wasting the court&#8217;s and its victims&#8217; time, money, and energy with this bullshit.</p>
  85. <p>But in lieu of justice, we can at least highlight the company&#8217;s bullying ways for the public.</p>
  86. ]]></content:encoded>
  88. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/buc-ees-gas-station-chain-is-becoming-the-monster-energy-of-gas-stations-for-trademark-bullying/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  89. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  92. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">498006</post-id> </item>
  93. <item>
  94. <title>Supreme Court Pumps The Brakes On Trump’s Use Of The Alien Enemies Act</title>
  95. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/supreme-court-pumps-the-brakes-on-trumps-use-of-the-alien-enemies-act/</link>
  96. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/supreme-court-pumps-the-brakes-on-trumps-use-of-the-alien-enemies-act/#comments</comments>
  98. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mike Masnick]]></dc:creator>
  99. <pubDate>Fri, 16 May 2025 21:37:14 +0000</pubDate>
  100. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  101. <category><![CDATA[alien enemies act]]></category>
  102. <category><![CDATA[brett kavanaugh]]></category>
  103. <category><![CDATA[clarence thomas]]></category>
  104. <category><![CDATA[due process]]></category>
  105. <category><![CDATA[samuel alito]]></category>
  106. <category><![CDATA[scotus]]></category>
  107. <category><![CDATA[supreme court]]></category>
  108. <category><![CDATA[tda]]></category>
  109. <category><![CDATA[tren de aragua]]></category>
  110. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=499186</guid>
  111.  
  112. <description><![CDATA[The Supreme Court has delivered a clear rebuke to the Trump administration&#8217;s attempt to weaponize the Alien Enemies Act, issuing a slightly more detailed ruling that follows up on last month&#8217;s midnight emergency order. That emergency ruling came as the administration was literally loading detainees onto buses headed to airports, racing to deport them before [&#8230;]]]></description>
  113. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Supreme Court has delivered a clear rebuke to the Trump administration&#8217;s attempt to weaponize the Alien Enemies Act, issuing a slightly more detailed ruling that follows up on <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/21/rip-john-robertss-summer-vacation/">last month&#8217;s midnight emergency order</a>. That emergency ruling came as the administration was literally <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/legal-fight-raged-ice-buses-filled-venezuelans-heading-airport-turned-rcna202007">loading detainees onto buses</a> headed to airports, racing to deport them before courts could intervene.</p>
  114. <p>Justice Alito filed a dissent to that ruling a couple of days later, whining about the procedural nature of it and (falsely, it turns out) claiming that there was no rush and that detainees weren’t going to be trafficked to a foreign gulag in the meantime.</p>
  115. <p>Now the Supreme Court has come out with a more detailed ruling in the case, per curiam (meaning none of the Justices put their names directly to it) saying that the Government is simply wrong to use the Alien Enemies Act like this.</p>
  116. <p>The ruling starts out by highlighting just how wrong Alito was in pretending that the government was in no rush to send the detained Venezuelans to a Salvadoran gulag, while noting the stance the Trump admin has taken in the Abrego Garcia case that once they’ve removed someone from the country the courts have no jurisdiction any more:</p>
  117. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  118. <p><em>We understood the Government to assert the right to remove the detainees as soon as midnight central time on April 19. The Government addressed the detainees’ allegations on April 18 only at an evening hearing before the District Court for the District of Columbia, where the detainees had separately sought relief. The Government guaranteed that no putative class members would be removed that day. Tr. of Proceedings in J. G. G. v. Trump, No. 25−cv−766, ECF Doc. 93, p. 9. But it further represented that, in its view, removal of putative class members as soon as the next day “would be consistent with” its due process obligations, and it “reserve[d] the right” to take such action. Id., at 26; see id., at 16 (explanation by the court that “tomorrow . . . starts at 12:01 a.m.”).</em> <strong><em>Evidence now in the record (although not all before us on April 18) suggests that the Government had in fact taken steps on the afternoon of April 18 toward removing detainees under the AEA—including transporting them from their detention facility to an airport</em></strong> <em>and later returning them to the facility. See Supp. App. to Reply 1a−5a.</em> <strong><em>Had the detainees been removed from the United States to the custody of a foreign sovereign on April 19, the Government may have argued, as it has previously argued, that no U. S. court had jurisdiction to order relief.</em></strong> <em>See Application To Vacate Injunction in Noem v. Abrego Garcia, No. 24A949 (Apr. 7, 2025), pp. 11−20.</em></p>
  119. </blockquote>
  120. <p>But, as the seven justices who signed on note, that’s not at all how this works, and it highlights that the administration’s posturing in other cases show how important this issue is, and why it’s fine for the Supreme Court to take it up so quickly:</p>
  121. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  122. <p><em>The Government does not contest before this Court the applicants’ description of the notice afforded to AEA detainees in the Northern District of Texas, nor the assertion that the Government was poised to carry out removals imminently. The Government has represented elsewhere that it is unable to provide for the return of an individual deported in error to a prison in El Salvador, see Abrego Garcia v. Noem, No. 25−cv−951 (D Md.), ECF Docs. 74, 77, where it is alleged that detainees face indefinite detention, see Application for Injunction 11. The detainees’ interests at stake are accordingly particularly weighty.</em></p>
  123. </blockquote>
  124. <p>And then, most importantly, the Supreme Court makes it clear that giving detainees just 24 hours to try to respond to a notice of removal is not actually due process:</p>
  125. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  126. <p><strong><em>Under these circumstances, notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster.</em></strong></p>
  127. </blockquote>
  128. <p>That’s the key line in the latest ruling.</p>
  129. <p>But, still, it believes the case should now move through a more proper process in the lower courts, but that requires the US government to allow for those cases to move properly, rather than just throwing these people on airplanes. Thus, it sends the case back to the lower courts while making it clear no one should be removed while those courts handle the detainees’ due process.</p>
  130. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  131. <p><em>To be clear, we decide today only that the detainees are entitled to more notice than was given on April 18, and we grant temporary injunctive relief to preserve our jurisdiction while the question of what notice is due is adjudicated.</em></p>
  132. </blockquote>
  133. <p>Justice Alito, along with his sidekick Justice Thomas, unsurprisingly dissents. As per usual, they pretend that this is entirely about the procedural aspects of the case and that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction over the case. Alito claims it’s unfair to expect a district court to respond so quickly and that he just doesn’t see what all the fuss and rush is about. The majority decision points out (in nicer terms) that he’s living in a fantasy world:</p>
  134. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  135. <p><em>First, we reject the dissent’s characterization of the events that transpired on April 18, which lead it to question our jurisdiction. District courts should approach requests for preliminary relief with care and consideration, see post, at 3−4 (ALITO, J., dissenting), but exigent circumstances may impose practical constraints. Preliminary relief is “customarily granted on the basis of procedures that are less formal and evidence that is less complete than in a trial on the merits.” Lackey v. Stinnie, 604 U. S. ___, ___ (2025) (slip op., at 6) (quoting University of Tex. v. Camenisch, 451 U. S. 390, 395 (1981)). The purpose of such relief is “merely to preserve the relative positions of the parties” pending further proceedings. Lackey, 604 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 6) (quoting Camenisch, 451 U. S., at 395).</em></p>
  136. <p><em>In this case, the record before the District Court, although limited, indicated that removals of putative class members were likely imminent. Contra, post, at 4−6 (ALITO, J., dissenting). The detainees attached four declarations to their emergency motion for a TRO. In one, for example, an attorney relayed a detainee’s report that immigration officers “had informed them that they will be deported either today or tomorrow.” ECF Doc. 30−1. In a second, a nonprofit director described conversations with family members of detainees and linked to a video of detainees holding notices of removal as evidence that detainees “were being removed.”</em></p>
  137. <p><em>Importantly, the relevant question for purposes of our jurisdiction is whether, at the time this Court was called upon to intervene, the District Court’s inaction had the effect of refusing an injunction. In their application to this Court, the detainees represented that “[m]any individuals [had] already been loaded on to buses, presumably headed to the airport.” Application for Injunction 1. Shortly thereafter, the Government represented on the record in federal court that it reserved the right to remove detainees after midnight. We had the power to issue injunctive relief to prevent irreparable harm to the applicants and to preserve our jurisdiction over the matter</em></p>
  138. </blockquote>
  139. <p>Perhaps most tellingly, Justice Kavanaugh&#8217;s concurrence cuts through the procedural dance, essentially acknowledging that the current system of emergency orders and circuit court ping-pong isn&#8217;t serving anyone. His suggestion that the Court should just take the case directly highlights both the urgency of the constitutional questions at stake and a growing institutional impatience with the administration&#8217;s tactics:</p>
  140. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  141. <p><em>The circumstances call for a prompt and final resolution, which likely can be provided only by this Court. At this juncture, I would prefer not to remand to the lower courts and further put off this Court’s final resolution of the critical legal issues. Rather, consistent with the Executive Branch’s request for expedition—and as the detainees themselves urge—I would grant certiorari, order prompt briefing, hold oral argument soon thereafter, and then resolve the legal issues.</em></p>
  142. </blockquote>
  143. <p>There’s still much more to go in this case, but it does appear that a clear majority of the Court is at least somewhat concerned about the way the Trump admin is rushing people onto planes to kick them out of the country without due process, and then you have Alito and Thomas whining in the corner that there’s no need to rush, even as detainees were being loaded into buses to take them to the airport.</p>
  144. ]]></content:encoded>
  146. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/supreme-court-pumps-the-brakes-on-trumps-use-of-the-alien-enemies-act/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  147. <slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
  150. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">499186</post-id> </item>
  151. <item>
  152. <title>The Kids Online Safety Act Will Make The Internet Worse For Everyone</title>
  153. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/the-kids-online-safety-act-will-make-the-internet-worse-for-everyone/</link>
  154. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/the-kids-online-safety-act-will-make-the-internet-worse-for-everyone/#respond</comments>
  156. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Joe Mullin]]></dc:creator>
  157. <pubDate>Fri, 16 May 2025 20:02:40 +0000</pubDate>
  158. <category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
  159. <category><![CDATA[twitter]]></category>
  160. <category><![CDATA[x]]></category>
  161. <category><![CDATA[1st amendment]]></category>
  162. <category><![CDATA[censorship]]></category>
  163. <category><![CDATA[content moderation]]></category>
  164. <category><![CDATA[free speech]]></category>
  165. <category><![CDATA[kosa]]></category>
  166. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=499138</guid>
  167.  
  168. <description><![CDATA[The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is back in the Senate. Sponsors are claiming—again—that the latest version won’t censor online content. It isn’t true. This bill still sets up a censorship regime disguised as a “duty of care,” and it will do what previous versions threatened: suppress lawful, important speech online, especially for young people. [&#8230;]]]></description>
  169. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is back in the Senate. Sponsors are claiming—again—that the latest version won’t censor online content. It isn’t true. This bill still sets up a censorship regime disguised as a “duty of care,” and it will do what previous versions threatened: suppress lawful, important speech online, especially for young people.</p>
  170. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>KOSA Still Forces Platforms to Police Legal Speech</strong></h3>
  171. <p>At the center of the bill is a requirement that platforms “exercise reasonable care” to prevent and mitigate a sweeping list of harms to minors, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance use, bullying, and “compulsive usage.” The bill claims to bar lawsuits over “the viewpoint of users,” but that’s a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/03/analyzing-kosas-constitutional-problems-depth">smokescreen</a>. Its core function is to let government agencies sue platforms, big or small, that don’t block or restrict content someone later claims contributed to one of these harms.&nbsp;</p>
  172. <p>This bill won’t bother big tech. Large companies will be able to manage this regulation, which is why&nbsp;<a href="https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/services/files/660C34AF-4D56-47F6-8460-3BC74023F853">Apple</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5029776-kids-online-safety-act-update/">X</a>&nbsp;have agreed to support it. In fact, X&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/12/xs-last-minute-update-kids-online-safety-act-still-fails-protect-kids-or-adults">helped negotiate the text</a>&nbsp;of the last version of this bill we saw. Meanwhile, those companies’ smaller competitors will be left scrambling to comply. Under KOSA, a small platform hosting mental health discussion boards will be just as vulnerable as Meta or TikTok—but much less able to defend itself.&nbsp;</p>
  173. <p>To avoid liability, platforms will over-censor. It’s not merely hypothetical. It’s what happens when speech becomes a legal risk. The list of harms in KOSA’s “duty of care” provision is so broad and vague that no platform will know what to do regarding any given piece of content. Forums won’t be able to host posts with messages like “love your body,” “please don’t do drugs,” or “here’s how I got through depression” without fearing that an attorney general or FTC lawyer might later decide the content was harmful. Support groups and anti-harm communities, which can’t do their work without talking about difficult subjects like eating disorders, mental health, and drug abuse, will get caught in the dragnet.&nbsp;</p>
  174. <p>When the safest legal option is to delete a forum, platforms will delete the forum.</p>
  175. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>There’s Still No Science Behind KOSA’s Core Claims</strong></h3>
  176. <p>KOSA relies heavily on vague, subjective harms like “compulsive usage.” The bill defines it as repetitive online behavior that disrupts life activities like eating, sleeping, or socializing. But here’s the problem: there is no accepted clinical definition of “compulsive usage” of online services.</p>
  177. <p>There’s no scientific consensus that online platforms cause mental health disorders, nor agreement on how to measure so-called “addictive” behavior online. The term sounds like settled medical science, but it’s legislative sleight-of-hand: an undefined concept given legal teeth, with major consequences for speech and access to information.</p>
  178. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Carveouts Don’t Fix the First Amendment Problem</strong></h3>
  179. <p>The bill says it can’t be enforced based on a user’s “viewpoint.” But the text of the bill itself&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/03/analyzing-kosas-constitutional-problems-depth">preferences certain viewpoints</a>&nbsp;over others. Plus, liability in KOSA attaches to the platform, not the user. The only way for platforms to reduce risk in the world of KOSA is to monitor, filter, and restrict what users say.</p>
  180. <p>If the FTC can sue a platform because minors saw a medical forum discussing anorexia, or posts about LGBTQ identity, or posts discussing how to help a friend who’s depressed, then that’s censorship. The bill’s stock language that “viewpoints are protected” won’t matter. The legal incentives guarantee that platforms will silence even remotely controversial speech to stay safe.</p>
  181. <p>Lawmakers who support KOSA today are choosing to trust the current administration, and future administrations, to define what youth—and to some degree, all of us—should be allowed to read online.&nbsp;</p>
  182. <p>KOSA will not make kids safer. It will make the internet more dangerous for anyone who relies on it to learn, connect, or speak freely. Lawmakers should reject it, and fast.&nbsp;</p>
  183. <p><em>Reposted from the <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/05/kids-online-safety-act-will-make-internet-worse-everyone">EFF&#8217;s Deeplinks blog</a>.</em></p>
  184. ]]></content:encoded>
  186. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/the-kids-online-safety-act-will-make-the-internet-worse-for-everyone/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  187. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  190. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">499138</post-id> </item>
  191. <item>
  192. <title>DHS, CBP Looking For Facial Recognition Tech That Will Allow Them To Scan Every Person In A Vehicle</title>
  193. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/dhs-cbp-looking-for-facial-recognition-tech-that-will-allow-them-to-scan-every-person-in-a-vehicle/</link>
  194. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/dhs-cbp-looking-for-facial-recognition-tech-that-will-allow-them-to-scan-every-person-in-a-vehicle/#comments</comments>
  196. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tim Cushing]]></dc:creator>
  197. <pubDate>Fri, 16 May 2025 17:59:34 +0000</pubDate>
  198. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  199. <category><![CDATA[biometrics]]></category>
  200. <category><![CDATA[border security]]></category>
  201. <category><![CDATA[cbp]]></category>
  202. <category><![CDATA[dhs]]></category>
  203. <category><![CDATA[facial recognition]]></category>
  204. <category><![CDATA[immigration]]></category>
  205. <category><![CDATA[surveillance]]></category>
  206. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=498474&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=498474</guid>
  207.  
  208. <description><![CDATA[The festival of bad ideas continues. Despite facial recognition having proven over and over again it&#8217;s not really the solution to speedy ID verification that far too many people think it is, government agencies (along with retailers, sports arenas, and bored billionaires) seem to believe the real problem is that there just hasn&#8217;t been enough [&#8230;]]]></description>
  209. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2021/12/16/cbp-proudly-announces-facial-recognition-program-has-successfully-nailed-covid-scofflaw/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.techdirt.com/2021/12/16/cbp-proudly-announces-facial-recognition-program-has-successfully-nailed-covid-scofflaw/">festival of bad ideas</a> continues. Despite facial recognition having proven <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20191222/10223143620/nist-study-189-facial-recognition-algorithms-finds-minorities-are-misidentified-almost-100-times-more-often-than-white-men.shtml" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20191222/10223143620/nist-study-189-facial-recognition-algorithms-finds-minorities-are-misidentified-almost-100-times-more-often-than-white-men.shtml">over and over again</a> it&#8217;s not really the solution to speedy ID verification that far too many people think it is, government agencies (along with <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2024/05/29/facial-recognition-still-struggles-to-recognize-faces-as-more-people-are-misidentified-as-criminals/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.techdirt.com/2024/05/29/facial-recognition-still-struggles-to-recognize-faces-as-more-people-are-misidentified-as-criminals/">retailers</a>, <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2022/12/26/madison-square-gardens-facial-recognition-tech-boots-lawyers-litigating-against-the-venue/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.techdirt.com/2022/12/26/madison-square-gardens-facial-recognition-tech-boots-lawyers-litigating-against-the-venue/">sports arenas</a>, and <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/03/16/clearview-was-toy-billionaires-before-it-became-toy-cops/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/03/16/clearview-was-toy-billionaires-before-it-became-toy-cops/">bored billionaires</a>) seem to believe the real problem is that there just hasn&#8217;t been enough failure.</p>
  210. <p>In 2021, facial recognition tech used by the DHS and its components scanned more than 23 million people. While the <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/17/cbp-facial-recognition-program-has-gathered-50-million-face-photos-identified-fewer-than-300-imposters/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.techdirt.com/2021/02/17/cbp-facial-recognition-program-has-gathered-50-million-face-photos-identified-fewer-than-300-imposters/">number of inputs</a> was depressingly impressive, the end result of all this biometric gathering <a href="https://onezero.medium.com/despite-scanning-millions-of-faces-feds-caught-zero-imposters-at-airports-last-year-e34c32500496" data-type="link" data-id="https://onezero.medium.com/despite-scanning-millions-of-faces-feds-caught-zero-imposters-at-airports-last-year-e34c32500496">was merely disappointing</a>: </p>
  211. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  212. <p><em>The report indicates that the system caught no imposters traveling through airports last year and fewer than 100 new pedestrian imposters.</em></p>
  213. </blockquote>
  214. <p>The CBP&#8217;s numbers were even worse. More than 50 million face scans between 2018 and 2021, with only a total of 292 imposters caught by the always-on surveillance. </p>
  215. <p>Apparently, the problem is that there isn&#8217;t <em>enough</em> of the stuff that already proven itself mostly useless. <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-photo-everyone-in-vehicle-us-border/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-photo-everyone-in-vehicle-us-border/">As Caroline Haskins reports for Wired</a>, the CBP is asking tech firms to whip up facial recognition tech capable of scanning every face in every car crossing the border. </p>
  216. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  217. <p><em>CBP says that its facial recognition tool “is currently operating in the air, sea, and land pedestrian environments.” The agency’s goal is to bring it to “the land vehicle environment.” According to&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.ph/o/4I1GM/https://www.cbp.gov/travel/biometrics/overview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a page on CBP’s website</a>&nbsp;updated last week, the agency is currently “testing” how to do so. The RIF says that these tests demonstrate that while this facial recognition tool has “improved,” it isn’t always able to get photos of every vehicle passenger, especially if they’re in the second or third row.</em></p>
  218. <p><em>“Human behavior, multiple passenger vehicle rows, and environmental obstacles all present challenges unique to the vehicle environment,” the document says. CBP says it wants a private vendor to provide it with a tool that would “augment the passenger images” and “capture 100% of vehicle passengers.”</em></p>
  219. </blockquote>
  220. <p>Obviously, this is hardly the ideal environment to produce usable facial recognition images. No matter where the cameras are placed, some passengers&#8217; faces will be obscured in some way, whether it&#8217;s by shadows, other people/objects in the vehicle, or simply facing the &#8220;wrong&#8221; direction. </p>
  221. <p>The thing is, the CBP already knows this isn&#8217;t a winning strategy. Haskins&#8217; Wired article quotes the EFF&#8217;s Dave Maass, who obtained CBP documents detailing a trial run of this tech from 2021 to 2022. The results of this first deployment were far from impressive.</p>
  222. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  223. <p><em>Maas said that what stood out to him was the error rates. Cameras at the Anzalduas border crossing at Mexico’s border with McAllen, Texas captured photos of everyone in the car just 76 percent of the time, and of those people, just 81 percent met the &#8220;validation requirements&#8221; for matching their face with their identification documents.</em></p>
  224. </blockquote>
  225. <p>That&#8217;s an incredibly high failure rate for tech that was only asked to do &#8220;one-to-one&#8221; matching &#8212; that is, matching a person&#8217;s facial recognition scan to identification documents presented to border control officers. With these numbers, you&#8217;re better off just relying on the humans staffing border entries to make judgment calls on travel documents.</p>
  226. <p>If this new system is expected to do more than this &#8212; like perform one-to-many matches &#8212; the error rate will be compounded exponentially. Even if the tech continues to improve, there&#8217;s actual life and liberty on the line here. Without rigorous guidelines and lots of human backstops, this tech will just make rights violations more efficient. </p>
  227. <p>It&#8217;s not just those coming into the country who will be subjected to this, either. <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-face-recognition-exit-us-border/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-face-recognition-exit-us-border/">The DHS ultimately wants these camera facing both ways</a> to better capture the faces of everyone in a vehicle <em>leaving</em> the country.</p>
  228. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  229. <p><em>CBP exclusively tells WIRED, in response to an inquiry to the agency, that it plans to mirror the current program it’s developing—photographing&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.ph/o/vrcm8/https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-photo-everyone-in-vehicle-us-border/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">every person entering the US and match their faces</a>&nbsp;with their travel documents—to the outbound lanes going to Canada and Mexico. The agency currently does not have a system that monitors people leaving the country by vehicle.</em></p>
  230. <p><em>“Although we are still working on how we would handle outbound vehicle lanes, we will ultimately expand to this area,” CBP spokesperson Jessica Turner tells WIRED.</em></p>
  231. </blockquote>
  232. <p>So, even if you&#8217;re cool with south-facing cameras scanning every foreigner trying to enter the US, you&#8217;re going to have to accept the trade-off no one bothered asking your opinion about. You&#8217;re going to be subject to just as much always-on surveillance as people you think aren&#8217;t worthy of living in the United States. The Constitution-free zone has never been less free, and it&#8217;s only going to get worse, no matter who&#8217;s in the White House.</p>
  233. ]]></content:encoded>
  235. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/dhs-cbp-looking-for-facial-recognition-tech-that-will-allow-them-to-scan-every-person-in-a-vehicle/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  236. <slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
  239. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">498474</post-id> </item>
  240. <item>
  241. <title>Daily Deal: The 2025 Embedded Systems Engineer Mastery Bundle</title>
  242. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/daily-deal-the-2025-embedded-systems-engineer-mastery-bundle-3/</link>
  243. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/daily-deal-the-2025-embedded-systems-engineer-mastery-bundle-3/#respond</comments>
  245. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Daily Deal]]></dc:creator>
  246. <pubDate>Fri, 16 May 2025 17:54:34 +0000</pubDate>
  247. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  248. <category><![CDATA[daily deal]]></category>
  249. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=499176&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=499176</guid>
  250.  
  251. <description><![CDATA[Embedded systems are at the heart of modern innovation, powering everything from smart devices to automotive technology. This Embedded Systems Engineer Mastery Bundle has 10 courses to help equip you with the skills to design, program, and implement microcontroller-based solutions. Gain hands-on experience with Arduino, PIC, and ESP32, master C programming for embedded applications, and [&#8230;]]]></description>
  252. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Embedded systems are at the heart of modern innovation, powering everything from smart devices to automotive technology. This <a href="https://deals.techdirt.com/sales/the-2025-embedded-systems-engineer-mastery-bundle?utm_campaign=affiliaterundown">Embedded Systems Engineer Mastery Bundle</a> has 10 courses to help equip you with the skills to design, program, and implement microcontroller-based solutions. Gain hands-on experience with Arduino, PIC, and ESP32, master C programming for embedded applications, and explore circuit design, PCB fabrication, and IoT development. Whether you&#8217;re a beginner or an experienced developer, this bundle provides a practical, in-depth learning experience to help you excel in the fast-growing field of embedded systems. It&#8217;s on sale for $25.</p>
  253. <div class="wp-block-image">
  254. <figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://deals.techdirt.com/sales/the-2025-embedded-systems-engineer-mastery-bundle?utm_campaign=affiliaterundown"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/cdnp1.stackassets.com/9e69c279e87b2de1b718953ad298b4d2b9be9122/store/24c189aa7a5e079f41320c9e97ea339a4e6e37d038fcddfd4a8d3ebe8d8c/product_345649_product_shots1.jpg?ssl=1" alt=""/></a></figure>
  255. </div>
  256. <p><em>Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt Deals helps support Techdirt. The products featured do not reflect endorsements by our editorial team.</em></p>
  257. ]]></content:encoded>
  259. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/daily-deal-the-2025-embedded-systems-engineer-mastery-bundle-3/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  260. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  263. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">499176</post-id> </item>
  264. <item>
  265. <title>FCC Commissioner Gomez Calls Out Administration&#8217;s Attack On Free Speech, Warns She May Get Fired</title>
  266. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/fcc-commissioner-gomez-calls-out-administrations-attack-on-free-speech-warns-she-may-get-fired/</link>
  267. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/fcc-commissioner-gomez-calls-out-administrations-attack-on-free-speech-warns-she-may-get-fired/#comments</comments>
  269. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mike Masnick]]></dc:creator>
  270. <pubDate>Fri, 16 May 2025 16:30:02 +0000</pubDate>
  271. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  272. <category><![CDATA[1st amendment]]></category>
  273. <category><![CDATA[anna gomez]]></category>
  274. <category><![CDATA[brendan carr]]></category>
  275. <category><![CDATA[censorship]]></category>
  276. <category><![CDATA[chilling effects]]></category>
  277. <category><![CDATA[dei]]></category>
  278. <category><![CDATA[fcc]]></category>
  279. <category><![CDATA[free speech]]></category>
  280. <category><![CDATA[section 230]]></category>
  281. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=499103</guid>
  282.  
  283. <description><![CDATA[We mentioned recently that the only remaining Democratic commissioner at the FCC (and the only remaining Dem commissioner across both the FCC and FTC since Trump illegally fired the Democratic FTC Commissioners) has started calling out FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr&#8217;s attacks on free speech. In a speech yesterday, she went even further: calling out the [&#8230;]]]></description>
  284. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>We mentioned recently that the only remaining Democratic commissioner at the FCC (and the only remaining Dem commissioner across both the FCC and FTC since Trump <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/19/trump-illegally-purges-ftcs-democratic-commissioners-gutting-whats-left-of-agency-independence/">illegally fired</a> the Democratic FTC Commissioners) has started <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/29/fcc-commissioner-gomez-blasts-brendan-carrs-campaign-of-censorship/">calling out</a> FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr&#8217;s attacks on free speech. In a speech yesterday, she went even further: calling out the administration&#8217;s bullshit attacks on free speech, Section 230, DEI&#8230; and closing on a remark regarding the likelihood of her getting fire. Given that the entire thing is relevant to Techdirt&#8217;s usual content, we&#8217;re running the <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/commissioner-gomezs-remarks-media-institute-communications-forum-0">published transcript</a> of her speech. Please read the entire thing.</em></p>
  285. <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>REMARKS OF</strong> <br><strong>FCC COMMISSIONER ANNA M. GOMEZ</strong><br><strong>2025 MEDIA INSTITUTE COMMUNICATIONS FORUM<br>May 15, 2025&nbsp;</strong></p>
  286. <p>Good afternoon. It’s a pleasure to be back at the Media Institute.&nbsp; When I spoke here last year, I mused about how much had changed since I spoke at a Media Institute lunch in 2009. &nbsp;I think it’s safe to say that the rate of change has accelerated over the past year.</p>
  287. <p>Our current political moment poses challenges unlike anything I thought I would face as an FCC Commissioner.&nbsp; This Administration has been on a campaign to censor and control since, well, before day one. &nbsp;And since day one the FCC has been implementing the will of this Administration and undermining the First Amendment at every turn.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  288. <p>The First Amendment has protected our fundamental right to speak freely and to hold power to account since 1791. It is&nbsp;<em><u>foundational</u></em>&nbsp;to our democracy.&nbsp; Today, the greatest threat to that freedom is coming from our own government.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  289. <p>Silencing dissenting voices is not a show of strength—it’s a sign of weakness. &nbsp;It comes from a place of fear. &nbsp;Fear that opposing views, rather than presidential decrees, will win out in the public debate of ideas.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  290. <p>And that is why I am here today and have been speaking out broadly.</p>
  291. <p>I realize that, in this space, I am preaching to the proverbial choir.&nbsp; But it is worth noting that never in my career have I received as much support as I have for speaking out about the importance of the First Amendment and the dangers the current FCC’s actions pose to democracy.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  292. <p>And, over the last few months, I’ve found myself aligned with voices with which I never imagined I’d agree. &nbsp;Why?&nbsp; Because across the ideological spectrum there remains a shared belief that the First Amendment is fundamental to democracy and is worth fighting for, even—and especially—when it’s politically inconvenient.&nbsp;</p>
  293. <p>The Administration’s coordinated efforts to censor and control are manifesting in a multitude of ways.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  294. <p>In the Tech Media Telecom ecosystem, they have initiated investigations and floated debilitating rate regulation schemes that target national network broadcasters for their newsrooms’ editorial decisions, harassed private companies for their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts and threatened tech companies that respond to consumer demands for content moderation and fact-checking. &nbsp;Separately, they have attempted to shutter Voice of America and sought retribution against lawful residents that protest Administration policies.</p>
  295. <p>They are banning books and seeking to erase history from the public record and from our national museums.&nbsp; And they are targeting law firms, unions, and all those that have the skills and the will to stand up for the victims of this campaign of censorship and control.&nbsp; And, of course, I cannot leave out the fact that they have been firing presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed Commissioners of multimember independent agencies who dare to speak the truth.&nbsp;</p>
  296. <p>Broadly speaking, these efforts are unprecedented and indefensible.&nbsp;</p>
  297. <p>Today I want to talk about the FCC actions that are antithetical to the goals of the Communications Act, the remit of the agency, and the guarantees of the First Amendment.&nbsp;</p>
  298. <p><em><u>Broadcasting</u></em>&nbsp;</p>
  299. <p>Let’s start with broadcasting.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  300. <p>Last year at this luncheon I made what I thought was an obvious statement: “our country needs a press free from interference from regulators like me.”&nbsp; Yet here we are.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  301. <p>The FCC’s licensing authority is being weaponized to chill speech and to punish the press. &nbsp;We are witnessing a dangerous precedent: the transformation of an independent regulator into an instrument of political censorship. &nbsp;This FCC has made clear that it will go after any news outlet that dares to report the truth if that truth is unfavorable to this Administration.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  302. <p>This isn’t the first time that the FCC has faced Administration pressure to weaponize its broadcast licensing authority.&nbsp; In 1939, FDR named Larry Fly chairman of the FCC. &nbsp;Chairman Fly, best known for his focus on addressing monopolization of the airwaves, called attention to the fact that NBC and CBS could “say what more than half of the people may or may not hear,” and he underscored that “Democracy [could not] rest upon so frail a reed.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  303. <p>During this time, FDR was convinced that newspaper publishers were biased against him, and he saw radio as the next avenue through which the press would provide unfavorable coverage of him. &nbsp;So, FDR asked Fly to ban newspapers from getting FM licenses. &nbsp;Rather than capitulating to Administration pressure, Fly refused to take punitive, politically motivated action against the press. &nbsp;Instead, he underscored that the FCC would not ban radio licenses for newspapers, and he reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to diversity in media control.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  304. <p>Again, during the Kennedy administration, the FCC faced pressure from the White House. &nbsp;Reacting to an unfavorable NBC news report, President Kennedy called on Chairman Newton Minnow to withdraw NBC’s licenses. &nbsp;And the next day, Minnow told a Kennedy aide, “tell the President he is lucky to have an FCC Chairman who does not always do what he is told.” &nbsp;Minnow stood up against the weaponization of the agency’s licensing authority, an action for which President Kennedy later thanked him.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  305. <p>This is what courage looks like—FCC Chairs refusing to wield the agency’s licensing authority as a weapon in contravention of the First Amendment and the Communications Act, even in the face of political pressure.&nbsp;</p>
  306. <p>I want to be clear. &nbsp;In addition to undermining informed civic engagement, there are serious health and safety consequences to silencing broadcasters. &nbsp;Imagine your local TV or radio station goes dark because the FCC doesn’t like something an anchor said. &nbsp;That’s not just a media story. &nbsp;That’s a threat to public safety.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  307. <p>I’ve visited local TV and radio stations across the country and in a variety of communities. &nbsp;Local news provides lifesaving information during storms, wildfires, and other emergencies. &nbsp;It serves veterans, seniors, and rural communities. &nbsp;But partisan politics is now putting these resources at risk. &nbsp;The FCC should not be in the business of controlling access to vital local information. &nbsp;We should be promoting free and open access to the news.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  308. <p>Unfortunately, the Administration efforts to censor and control appear to be working, at least for now.&nbsp; Some media outlets are finding it is easier to retreat in the face of government threats, veiled or otherwise, than to be responsive to their audiences.</p>
  309. <p>As I’m sure you’re all aware, last month Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 minutes resigned. &nbsp;He started at CBS News as an intern in 1988 and was only the third executive producer to run 60 minutes in its 57-year history. &nbsp;He resigned because he no longer felt he had the “independence that honest journalism requires.”&nbsp; Pardon my language, but that is a B.F.D.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  310. <p>Speaking as a government regulator, we need journalists to report the truth even when it cuts against our arguments or our political biases. &nbsp;And corporate parents should give journalists the independence they need. A free press requires free journalists.&nbsp;</p>
  311. <p>On the international front, Voice of America and Radio Marti were once models of press freedom in contrast to propaganda regimes like those in Russia and China. &nbsp;Efforts to shutter these institutions or to undermine their independence sends a global message: America no longer practices what it preaches. &nbsp;This is extremely concerning.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  312. <p>The press is the fourth estate. &nbsp;The delicate system of checks and balances upon which American democracy is built does not function without a free press. &nbsp;To the journalists out there, do not capitulate, continue to speak up and hold power to account.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  313. <p><em><u>Section 230</u></em>&nbsp;</p>
  314. <p>A conversation about freedom of the press and censorship should include speech online, so I am going to turn to online speech and the growing government effort to undermine Section 230.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  315. <p>Just as the Administration is attacking journalists that hold it to account, it is attacking digital media platforms that provide fact-checking and moderation of content its users do not want.&nbsp; Claiming such user-supported moderation constitutes censorship, the Administration has pressured social media companies to stop these practices.&nbsp; One tool it is using in this effort is the threat that the Commission may reinterpret or adopt rules regarding Section 230.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  316. <p>As the Supreme Court has held, moderation by private companies is itself a form of speech that is protected by the First Amendment. &nbsp;When online platforms respond to their users’ demands by moderating content in specific ways, they’re not censoring—they’re exercising their right to speech. &nbsp;Fact-checking, filtering, and moderation are all legitimate responses to user demand. The government’s duty under the First Amendment isn’t to second-guess these market offerings. &nbsp;It&#8217;s to stay out of the way.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  317. <p>I acknowledge that there are many valid concerns about how we engage in the proverbial digital town square and Congress may well determine Section 230 needs reform.&nbsp; Until that happens, however, Section 230 plays a critical role by providing digital platforms with the ability to establish rules of behavior in their own little corners of the Internet.&nbsp; By permitting digital platforms to set up rules to moderate the content users post, they are able to offer unique features and experiences that attract customers.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  318. <p>If a digital platform has a specific vision for social discourse that it wants to make available to consumers, including allowing users to deploy their own choice of&nbsp;content moderation tools,&nbsp;Section 230 and the First Amendment allow it to create that world and to offer it as a service to the public.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  319. <p>FCC proposals to weaponize Section 230, however, are not efforts to solve the widely-recognized problems with online platforms. &nbsp;They are attempts to increase government control of online speech&nbsp;by exposing platforms that want to facilitate user-supported fact-checking or create welcoming online environments to debilitating lawsuits.&nbsp;&nbsp;This is not about reining in Big Tech.&nbsp;<em>This</em>&nbsp;is about censorship.&nbsp;</p>
  320. <p>Let’s review: the Administration’s ongoing campaign of censorship and control is not only chilling speech but it is also attempting to control who gets to speak.&nbsp; Another example of this attempt to control is punishing private companies for their fair hiring practices.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  321. <p><em><u>DEI&nbsp;</u></em>&nbsp;</p>
  322. <p>I have always believed that your first action in any role reveals your priorities.&nbsp; This FCC’s first action was not about closing the digital divide or protecting network security. &nbsp;No, its first move was to eliminate anything that even resembled Diversity, Equity, or Inclusion.</p>
  323. <p>We’ve seen attempts to micromanage employment practices within private media companies, including threatening to impose heavy regulatory burdens on companies that require the FCC’s approval of their transactions. &nbsp;These actions are not only wrong, but they also jeopardize economic growth in the name of ideological purity.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  324. <p>Perhaps more alarmingly, these steps have been disguised as an effort to protect the “public interest” and produce proof of “invidious” discrimination.&nbsp; What this comes down to is that the FCC is asserting that fairness for all requires discrimination against some. &nbsp;And that’s just not right. These are not good-faith regulatory efforts. &nbsp;These are intimidation tactics meant to control who gets to speak. And they are antithetical to our core mission.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  325. <p>The Communications Act created the Federal Communications Commission for the purpose of [quote] ‘regulating interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio so as to make available, so far as possible,&nbsp;<em><u>to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex</u>,</em>&nbsp;a rapid, efficient, Nationwide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service.’ [unquote]&nbsp;</p>
  326. <p>Efforts from the private sector, to support diversity of voices in media, support the foundational mission of the FCC.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  327. <p><em><u>Agency Independence</u></em>&nbsp;</p>
  328. <p>And finally, in the vein of government control run amok, I want to talk about one more critical topic. &nbsp;Here’s something I never thought I’d have to say in a speech: we must protect the independence of independent agencies.&nbsp;</p>
  329. <p>The FCC is supposed to make decisions based on law, facts, and technical expertise—not politics. &nbsp;We take our direction from the Constitution, the law, and the public.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  330. <p>That is what Congress intended. &nbsp;When Congress considered the establishment of a Federal Radio Commission in the late 1920s, it considered the possibility of vesting the power in the Secretary of Commerce alone. &nbsp;This idea, however, was struck down.&nbsp;&nbsp; And it was struck down specifically because Congress feared that a single individual, subject to political will, would possess too much control over who could operate the cutting-edge communications technology of the time, radio.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  331. <p>Ultimately, after deliberation, Congress concluded that a multi-member Commission was the best choice.&nbsp; As Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover testified to Congress, “we cannot allow any single person or group to place themselves in a position where they can censor the material which shall be broadcast.” &nbsp;The relationship between the power vested in the FCC and the duty to uphold First Amendment rights was unambiguous from the inception of the agency.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  332. <p>When Congress later amended the Federal Radio Commission to create the Federal Communications Commission, it once again chose to vest authority in a multi-member independent agency. &nbsp;Congress’s message to us could not be clearer.&nbsp; The FCC was designed to be an independent expert agency led by a multi-member, multi-party Commission.&nbsp;</p>
  333. <p>While FCC Commissioners have had policy disagreements across the agency’s history, by and large we’ve understood the responsibility of ensuring that those on the “outside” looked to us as a stable, independent, expert-driven regulatory body.&nbsp;&nbsp;Problematically, as we’ve seen at other independent agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, today, when minority Commissioners dissent, they are marginalized—or worse, fired. &nbsp;</p>
  334. <p>It is vividly illustrative that even when this Administration holds so much power, it cannot tolerate disagreement or dissent.&nbsp; And that is why it continues to chip away at First Amendment rights.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  335. <p>To address this issue, I have launched a First Amendment Tour to Challenge Government Censorship and Control. &nbsp;In partnership with consumer and civil society organizations across the ideological spectrum, I am hosting and participating in speaking engagements and listening sessions focused on protecting the rights and freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment. &nbsp;</p>
  336. <p>I refuse to stay quiet while the government weaponizes its regulatory tools to undermine the First Amendment. This is how I’m using my voice. I encourage you to use yours too.&nbsp;</p>
  337. <p>And if I’m removed from my seat on the Commission, let it be said plainly:&nbsp;<em><u>It wasn’t because I failed to do my job. It’s because I insisted on doing it</u></em>. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  338. ]]></content:encoded>
  340. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/fcc-commissioner-gomez-calls-out-administrations-attack-on-free-speech-warns-she-may-get-fired/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  341. <slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
  344. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">499103</post-id> </item>
  345. <item>
  346. <title>Trump&#8217;s FCC Wants To DOGE Itself, Yet Still Somehow Bully Companies For Doing Critical Journalism Or Not Being Racist Enough</title>
  347. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/trumps-fcc-wants-to-doge-itself-yet-still-somehow-bully-companies-for-doing-critical-journalism-or-not-being-racist-enough/</link>
  348. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/trumps-fcc-wants-to-doge-itself-yet-still-somehow-bully-companies-for-doing-critical-journalism-or-not-being-racist-enough/#comments</comments>
  350. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Karl Bode]]></dc:creator>
  351. <pubDate>Fri, 16 May 2025 12:31:02 +0000</pubDate>
  352. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  353. <category><![CDATA[bullshit]]></category>
  354. <category><![CDATA[consumers]]></category>
  355. <category><![CDATA[deregulation]]></category>
  356. <category><![CDATA[doge]]></category>
  357. <category><![CDATA[fcc]]></category>
  358. <category><![CDATA[media]]></category>
  359. <category><![CDATA[nathan simington]]></category>
  360. <category><![CDATA[oversight]]></category>
  361. <category><![CDATA[racism]]></category>
  362. <category><![CDATA[telecom]]></category>
  363. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=498919&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=498919</guid>
  364.  
  365. <description><![CDATA[Earlier this month we noted how Trump FCC boss Brendan Carr thinks he can have it both ways. Carr desperately wants to please dear leader, and be part of Trump&#8217;s mindless quest to dismantle most U.S. corporate oversight and regulatory independence. Yet at the same time he wants to bully companies for not being racist [&#8230;]]]></description>
  366. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Earlier this month <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/01/brendan-carrs-fcc-abuses-run-face-first-into-trump-court-efforts-to-destroy-regulatory-power/">we noted how</a> Trump FCC boss Brendan Carr thinks he can have it both ways. Carr desperately wants to please dear leader, and be part of Trump&#8217;s mindless quest to dismantle most U.S. corporate oversight and regulatory independence. Yet at the same time he wants to <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/04/fcc-boss-brendan-carr-investigating-verizon-for-not-being-racist-enough/">bully companies for not being racist enough</a>, or <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/23/60-minutes-producer-quits-after-trump-fcc-harassment-saying-show-can-no-longer-do-independent-journalism/">harass media giants</a> that report candidly on Trump&#8217;s grotesque corruption. </p>
  367. <p>Carr&#8217;s obviously not alone. Fellow Trump-selected FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and his Chief of Staff Gavin Wax wrote an op-ed this week calling for whatever&#8217;s left of the FCC to be <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/05/fcc-republican-wants-to-doge-the-fcc-give-money-to-elon-musks-starlink/">DOGE&#8217;d by Elon Musk and his cabal of tween authoritarian simpletons</a>. As usual the goal is to demolish oversight of corporate power, but dress it up as some kind of serious, good faith efficiency reform:</p>
  368. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  369. <p><em>&#8220;The FCC is a prime candidate for DOGE-style reform. From redundant enforcement structures to legacy programs that drain resources with little oversight, the Commission is entangled by outdated practices that burden consumers, broadcasters, and taxpayers alike.&#8221;</em></p>
  370. </blockquote>
  371. <p>Among Simington and Wax&#8217;s &#8220;fixes&#8221; for the FCC are (<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/14/ted-cruz-proudly-makes-broadband-shittier-and-homework-harder-for-u-s-school-kids/">further</a>) gutting programs that help the poor, firing a bunch of FCC officials they deem redundant (namely those working on consumer protection), obliterating whatever&#8217;s left of media oversight and media consolidation limits, and shuffling some remaining staffers over to the country&#8217;s fledgling space agency.</p>
  372. <p>But they also make it clear that one of their key goals here is to throw billions in new subsidies at their billionaire godking Elon Musk:</p>
  373. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  374. <p><em>&#8220;Wired internet subsidies are increasingly unnecessary and cost-inefficient. The rise of satellite broadband, such as Starlink, and fixed wireless alternatives offer a more scalable, less expensive solution.&#8221;</em></p>
  375. </blockquote>
  376. <p>This is part of a broader GOP effort to <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/12/42-5-billion-broadband-grant-program-being-rewritten-to-benefit-elon-musk/">steal billions of taxpayer dollars included in the infrastructure bill</a> that should be going to local, future-proof fiber and wireless solutions (including <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2024/10/02/new-map-shows-community-broadband-networks-are-exploding-in-u-s/">popular community-owned  broadband networks</a>), and instead <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/12/42-5-billion-broadband-grant-program-being-rewritten-to-benefit-elon-musk/">give it to Elon Musk&#8217;s congested, expensive, ozone-layer killing Starlink satellite service</a>. That&#8217;s not &#8220;populism&#8221; or &#8220;reform,&#8221; it&#8217;s just sleazy cronyism.</p>
  377. <p>These are not serious people. They&#8217;re dressing up FCC corruption and mindless destruction as some sort of serious adult policymaking. Simington <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2020/12/09/gop-confirms-unqualified-simington-to-fcc-with-eye-crippling-biden-fcc/">was never qualified for his role</a>. Wax in particular is a radical right wing zealot with a long history of <a href="https://www.dailydot.com/debug/gavin-wax-fcc-liberty-conservative-chat/">dodgy bedfellows (including white supremacists</a>), who has less-than-zero qualifications to be making important choices about absolutely any of this.</p>
  378. <p>They&#8217;re just mindlessly taking a hatchet to government based on vibes and ideological bullshit picked up during half-completed readings of Ayn Rand novels. At the same time, Carr wants everybody to believe his lobotomized FCC has the authority to bully companies into bending the knee to authoritarianism. </p>
  379. <p>But they&#8217;re going to struggle to have their cake and eat it too.</p>
  380. <p>As we&#8217;ve well documented, Trumpism is <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2024/07/09/the-corrupt-supreme-court-makes-a-reckless-mess-of-broadband-consumer-protection-and-everything-else/">completely demolishing consumer protection and corporate oversight</a> with the help of the Supreme Court and numerous problematic rulings by the Trump-heavy 5th and 6th Circuits. We&#8217;re genuinely talking about permanent, likely-irreversible harms to corporate oversight, consumer protection, public safety, and national security. Malformed, ignorant extremism. </p>
  381. <p>So you&#8217;ve got this tension here between a generational, cross-industry corporatist quest to finally destroy the entirety of consumer protection and regulatory autonomy &#8212; and this weird smattering of far right wing authoritarian zealots who still think they can bully companies after their agencies have been lobotomized by the increasingly radical, right wing courts.</p>
  382. <p>Neither option ends well for healthy markets or the public. There&#8217;s genuinely nobody left at these agencies who seriously cares about the public interest one way or the other. But if you had to make a wager on which side survives this legal standoff, you&#8217;d likely have to chose the one with the deeper bank accounts and better lawyers; the side <strong>not </strong>peppered with weird tween trolls with bad haircuts who get overheated because the most recent <em>Star Wars</em> movie had a few more black people than usual.</p>
  383. ]]></content:encoded>
  385. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/16/trumps-fcc-wants-to-doge-itself-yet-still-somehow-bully-companies-for-doing-critical-journalism-or-not-being-racist-enough/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  386. <slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
  389. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">498919</post-id> </item>
  390. <item>
  391. <title>RFK Jr. Finally Says Something Sensible: &#8216;Don&#8217;t Take Medical Advice From Me&#8217;</title>
  392. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/rfk-jr-finally-says-something-sensible-dont-take-medical-advice-from-me/</link>
  393. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/rfk-jr-finally-says-something-sensible-dont-take-medical-advice-from-me/#comments</comments>
  395. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dark Helmet]]></dc:creator>
  396. <pubDate>Fri, 16 May 2025 03:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
  397. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  398. <category><![CDATA[congressional hearings]]></category>
  399. <category><![CDATA[health and human services]]></category>
  400. <category><![CDATA[polio]]></category>
  401. <category><![CDATA[rfk jr.]]></category>
  402. <category><![CDATA[vaccinations]]></category>
  403. <category><![CDATA[vaccines]]></category>
  404. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=499057&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=499057</guid>
  405.  
  406. <description><![CDATA[Fresh off of his Mother&#8217;s Day swim in a literal shit creek, RFK Jr. sat before House and Senate committees to answer questions about the impact of the proposed Trump budget on Health and Human Services (HHS), the cuts that have and are proposed further for HHS, and an explanation for why some programs are [&#8230;]]]></description>
  407. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Fresh off of his Mother&#8217;s Day swim in a literal <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/13/rfk-jr-takes-his-grandkids-for-a-mothers-day-swim-in-a-river-of-human-shit/">shit creek</a>, RFK Jr. sat before <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/14/rfk-jr-kennedy-senate-house-hearings">House and Senate committees</a> to answer questions about the impact of the proposed Trump budget on Health and Human Services (HHS), the cuts that have and are proposed further for HHS, and an explanation for why some programs are being saved while others are being cut. In his testimony, Kennedy advocated for the Republican budget, including those major cuts to his own ability to deliver on HHS&#8217; mission.</p>
  408. <p>Straight from the HHS website, here is its mission statement.</p>
  409. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  410. <p><em>The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.</em></p>
  411. </blockquote>
  412. <p>That mission statement is obviously no longer valid. Like, at all. HHS certainly isn&#8217;t enhancing health anywhere at all compared to a couple of months ago. Social services and public health facilities are being cut back, not advanced. And the &#8220;sound science&#8221; bit? Miss me with that bullshit while RFK Jr. is leading the charge on American medicine and healthcare.</p>
  413. <p>And it seems RFK Jr. agrees on that last point as well. Kennedy not only currently heads up HHS, but he has written several books on the topics of health, medicine, and healthcare over the years. They include titles like <em>The Real Anthony Fauci, The Wuhan Cover-Up, Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak, </em>and<em> Profiles of the Vaccine Injured</em>, among others. These all touch heavily upon medicine and healthcare, advising the reader as to the truth within medicine or advocating for one health policy or another.</p>
  414. <p>Which makes it pretty fucking rich when Kennedy said this in response to a question about whether he would advocate for the public to get certain vaccinations in these same hearings.</p>
  415. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  416. <p><em>“If you had a child today, would you vaccinate that child for measles?”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/WeBqlF8eoSg?si=O__zmzrcv2lJBtZ7&amp;t=3660">began</a>&nbsp;the Democratic congressman Mark Pocan of Wisconsin at the House appropriations committee hearing.</em></p>
  417. <p><em>“For measles? Um, probably for measles,” said Kennedy, in one of the few hesitations of the hearing. “What I would say is my opinions about vaccines are irrelevant … I don’t want to seem like I’m being evasive, but I don’t think people should be taking advice, medical advice, from me.”</em></p>
  418. </blockquote>
  419. <p>On the one hand, hey, he finally said something medically sensible: don&#8217;t take advice from him. That&#8217;s, well, <em>good advice</em>. On the other hand, maybe it would be better if we had someone leading HHS who&#8217;s advice we <em>could</em> listen to? I know, crazy idea, but it just might work.</p>
  420. <p>And given the volume of medical advice Kennedy has dispensed over the years, it&#8217;s both remarkable that he would make that statement and equally remarkable that he can&#8217;t manage to take any sort of stance on several medical questions in front of Congress.</p>
  421. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  422. <p><em>Pocan went on to ask about chickenpox.</em></p>
  423. <p><em>“Um, again, I don’t want to give advice,” Kennedy said, before commenting on shingles.</em></p>
  424. <p><em>Pocan continued: “Polio?”</em></p>
  425. <p><em>“Polio?” Kennedy said. “Again, I don’t want to be giving advice.”</em></p>
  426. <p><em>The issued re-emerged in his afternoon testimony before the Senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions, where the Democrat Chris Murphy asked Kennedy if he would recommend the measles vaccine. The secretary demurred, prompting Murphy to say: “I think that’s really dangerous for the American public and for families.</em></p>
  427. <p><em>“The secretary of health and human services is no longer recommending the measles vaccines,” Murphy said.</em></p>
  428. </blockquote>
  429. <p>Again, we&#8217;re in the middle of a ballooning measles outbreak in America and the Secretary of HHS can&#8217;t figure out a way to tell the public to get an MMR vaccine that is safe and effective. Good times.</p>
  430. <p>There&#8217;s a long tail aspect to all of this. Even were Kennedy to be removed from his post today &#8212; a move that is so overly justified as to be laughable &#8212; the effects of his holding the position even these few months are going to be felt for decades, if not longer. There are already deaths at least partially on his hands. How long is the current administration really going to let this go on?</p>
  431. ]]></content:encoded>
  433. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/rfk-jr-finally-says-something-sensible-dont-take-medical-advice-from-me/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  434. <slash:comments>10</slash:comments>
  437. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">499057</post-id> </item>
  438. <item>
  439. <title>Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Hypocritical Infrastructure</title>
  440. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/ctrl-alt-speech-hypocritical-infrastructure/</link>
  441. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/ctrl-alt-speech-hypocritical-infrastructure/#respond</comments>
  443. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mike Masnick]]></dc:creator>
  444. <pubDate>Thu, 15 May 2025 22:24:12 +0000</pubDate>
  445. <category><![CDATA[1]]></category>
  446. <category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
  447. <category><![CDATA[instagram]]></category>
  448. <category><![CDATA[meta]]></category>
  449. <category><![CDATA[twitter]]></category>
  450. <category><![CDATA[wikipedia]]></category>
  451. <category><![CDATA[x]]></category>
  452. <category><![CDATA[content moderation]]></category>
  453. <category><![CDATA[elon musk]]></category>
  454. <category><![CDATA[first amendment]]></category>
  455. <category><![CDATA[free speech]]></category>
  456. <category><![CDATA[kanye west]]></category>
  457. <category><![CDATA[podcast]]></category>
  458. <category><![CDATA[south africa]]></category>
  459. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=499106&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=499106</guid>
  460.  
  461. <description><![CDATA[Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation&#8216;s Ben Whitelaw. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online [&#8230;]]]></description>
  462. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><a href="https://ctrlaltspeech.com/">Ctrl-Alt-Speech</a> is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and <a href="https://www.everythinginmoderation.co/">Everything in Moderation</a>&#8216;s Ben Whitelaw. </strong></p>
  463. <p><strong>Subscribe now on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ctrl-alt-speech/id1734530193">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://overcast.fm/itunes1734530193">Overcast</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1N3tvLxUTCR7oTdUgUCQvc">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://pca.st/zulnarbw">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcky6_VTbejGkZ7aHqqc3ZjufeEw2AS7Z">YouTube</a>, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to <a href="https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2315966.rss">the RSS feed</a>.</strong></p>
  464. <p><iframe src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2315966/episodes/17171927-hypocritical-infrastructure?client_source=small_player&#038;iframe=true" loading="lazy" width="100%" height="200" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title='Ctrl-Alt-Speech, Hypocritical Infrastructure'></iframe></p>
  465. <p>In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by guest host Cathy Gellis, an internet and First Amendment lawyer. Together, they cover:</p>
  466. <ul class="wp-block-list">
  467. <li><a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/12/the-copyright-office-issues-a-largely-disappointing-report-on-ai-training-and-once-again-a-major-fair-use-analysis-inexplicably-ignores-the-first-amendment/">The Copyright Office Issues A Largely Disappointing Report On AI Training, And Once Again A Major Fair Use Analysis Inexplicably Ignores The First Amendment</a> (Techdirt)</li>
  468. <li><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/11/trump-fires-copyright-office-director-after-report-raises-questions-about-ai-training/">Trump fires Copyright Office director after report raises questions about AI training</a> (TechCrunch)</li>
  469. <li><a href="https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/accusations-fly-between-india-and-pakistan-as-the-world-continues-to-call-for-deescalation/news-story/06bc8f5f03594c38a594e29d7faf4e08">Elon Musk’s X caves to ‘censorship’ demand from India as tensions build with Pakistan</a> (AFP)</li>
  470. <li><a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/news/india-pakistan-tensions-censorship-press-freedom-social-media-ban/article69560634.ece">In the government’s war on ‘disinformation’, facts are collateral damage</a> (The Hindu)</li>
  471. <li><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/elon-musks-twitter-indian-government-has-asked-us-to-block-8000-accounts-however-we-disagree-as-/articleshow/121005572.cms">Elon Musk&#8217;s Twitter: Indian government has asked us to block 8,000 accounts, however, we disagree as</a> (Times of India)</li>
  472. <li><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/grok-white-genocide-elon-musk/">Elon Musk’s Grok AI Can’t Stop Talking About ‘White Genocide’</a> (Wired)</li>
  473. <li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/15/south-african-refugee-antisemitic-posts">White Afrikaner brought to US by Trump administration has history of antisemitic posts</a> (The Guardian)</li>
  474. <li><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/g-s1-59149/immigrants-social-media-antisemitism-dhs">U.S. says it is now monitoring immigrants&#8217; social media for antisemitism</a> (NPR)</li>
  475. <li><a href="https://www.404media.co/kanyes-nazi-song-is-all-over-instagram/">Kanye’s Nazi Song Is All Over Instagram</a> (404 Media)</li>
  476. <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/technology/instagram-facebook-abortion-pill-providers.html">Instagram and Facebook Blocked and Hid Abortion Pill Providers’ Posts</a> (NY Times)</li>
  477. <li><a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/663402/wikipedia-fights-the-uks-flawed-and-burdensome-online-safety-rules">Wikipedia fights the UK’s ‘flawed’ and ‘burdensome’ online safety rules</a> (The Verge)</li>
  478. <li><a href="https://www.techpolicy.press/what-attacks-on-wikipedia-reveal-about-free-expression/">What Attacks on Wikipedia Reveal about Free Expression</a> (Tech Policy Press)</li>
  479. <li><a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/missouri-ag-thinks-supreme-court-ruling-lets-him-control-social-media-moderation-it-doesnt/">Missouri AG Thinks Supreme Court Ruling Lets Him Control Social Media Moderation (It Doesn’t)</a> (Techdirt)</li>
  480. </ul>
  481. <p>This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust &amp; Safety Fund.</p>
  482. ]]></content:encoded>
  484. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/ctrl-alt-speech-hypocritical-infrastructure/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  485. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  488. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">499106</post-id> </item>
  489. <item>
  490. <title>AI Is Making Many People Rethink Copyright</title>
  491. <link>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/ai-is-making-many-people-rethink-copyright/</link>
  492. <comments>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/ai-is-making-many-people-rethink-copyright/#comments</comments>
  494. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Glyn Moody]]></dc:creator>
  495. <pubDate>Thu, 15 May 2025 20:46:34 +0000</pubDate>
  496. <category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
  497. <category><![CDATA[openai]]></category>
  498. <category><![CDATA[copyright]]></category>
  499. <category><![CDATA[generative ai]]></category>
  500. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.techdirt.com/?p=494082</guid>
  501.  
  502. <description><![CDATA[For the last hundred years or so, the prevailing dogma has been that copyright is an unalloyed good, and that more of it is better. Whether that was ever true is one question, but it is certainly not the case since we entered the digital era, for reasons explained at length in Walled Culture the [&#8230;]]]></description>
  503. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For the last hundred years or so, the prevailing dogma has been that copyright is an unalloyed good, and that more of it is better. Whether that was ever true is one question, but it is certainly not the case since we entered the digital era, for reasons explained at length in Walled Culture the book (<a href="https://walledculture.org/the-book/">free digital versions</a> available). Despite that fact, recent attempts to halt the constant expansion and strengthening of copyright have all foundered. Part of the problem is that there has never been a constituency with enough political clout to counter the huge power of the copyright industry and its lobbyists.</p>
  504. <p>Until now. The latest iteration of artificial intelligence has captured the attention of politicians around the world. It seems that the latter&nbsp;<a href="https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/ai-continent_en">can’t do enough to promote and support it</a>, in the hope of deriving huge&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-opportunities-action-plan/ai-opportunities-action-plan#the-opportunity">economic benefits</a>, both directly, in the form of local AI companies worth trillions, and indirectly, through increased efficiency and improved services. That current favoured status has given AI leaders permission to start saying the unsayable: that copyright is an obstacle to progress, and should be reined in, or at least muzzled, in order to allow AI to reach its full potential. For example, here is what&nbsp;<a href="https://openai.com/global-affairs/openai-proposals-for-the-us-ai-action-plan/">OpenAI’s proposals for the US AI Action Plan</a>, which is currently being drawn up, say about copyright:</p>
  505. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  506. <p><em>America’s robust, balanced intellectual property system has long been key to our global leadership on innovation. We propose a copyright strategy that would extend the system’s role into the Intelligence Age by protecting the rights and interests of content creators while also protecting America’s AI leadership and national security. The federal government can both secure Americans’ freedom to learn from AI, and avoid forfeiting our AI lead to the [People’s Republic of China] by preserving American AI models’ ability to learn from copyrighted material.</em></p>
  507. </blockquote>
  508. <p>In its own&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/google-us-ai-action-plan-comments/">suggestions for the AI Action Plan</a>, Google spells out what this means:</p>
  509. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  510. <p><em>Balanced copyright rules, such as fair use and text-and-data mining exceptions, have been critical to enabling AI systems to learn from prior knowledge and publicly available data, unlocking scientific and social advances. These exceptions allow for the use of copyrighted, publicly available material for AI training without significantly impacting rightsholders and avoid often highly unpredictable, imbalanced, and lengthy negotiations with data holders during model development or scientific experimentation. Balanced copyright laws that ensure access to publicly available scientific papers, for example, are essential for accelerating AI in science, particularly for applications that sift through scientific literature for insights or new hypotheses.</em></p>
  511. </blockquote>
  512. <p>Although developments in the world of AI are giving companies like OpenAI and Google an opportunity to call into question the latest attempts to strengthen copyright’s intellectual monopoly, they are not the only voices here. For example, some of the biggest personalities in the tech world have&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/13/jack-dorsey-and-elon-musk-would-like-to-delete-all-ip-law/">gone even further</a>, reported here by TechCrunch:</p>
  513. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  514. <p><em>Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter (now X) and Square (now Block), sparked a weekend’s worth of debate around intellectual property, patents, and copyright, with <a href="https://x.com/jack/status/1910829254214115681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1910829254214115681%7Ctwgr%5E6f3c0d5cda07c7487ae96afd1b01bd17a0cd3010%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcryptobriefing.com%2Fip-law-controversy-dorsey-musk%2F" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a characteristically terse post</a> declaring, “delete all IP law.”</em></p>
  515. <p><em>X’s current owner, Elon Musk, quickly replied, “I agree.”</em></p>
  516. <p><em>It’s not clear what exactly brought these comments on, but they come at a time when AI companies, including OpenAI (which Musk co-founded, competes with, and is <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/09/musk-may-still-have-a-chance-to-thwart-openais-for-profit-conversion/">challenging in court</a>), are facing <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/22/openai-accidentally-deleted-potential-evidence-in-ny-times-copyright-lawsuit/">numerous</a> <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/11/law-professors-side-with-authors-battling-meta-in-ai-copyright-case/">lawsuits</a> alleging that they’ve violated copyright to train their models.</em></p>
  517. </blockquote>
  518. <p>Unsurprisingly, that bold suggestion provoked howls of outrage from various players in the copyright world. That was to be expected. But the fact that big names like Musk and Dorsey were happy to cause such a storm is indicative of the changed atmosphere in the world of copyright and beyond. Indeed, there are signs that the other main intellectual monopolies –&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vaishali-udupa_february-14-2025-marked-my-official-last-activity-7300901458005090305-ErWq/">patents</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gerbenlaw.com/blog/doge-threatens-the-stability-of-the-u-s-trademark-system/">trademarks</a>&nbsp;– are also under pressure. Calling into question the old ways of doing things in these fields will also weaken the presumption that copyright must be preserved in its current state.</p>
  519. <p>There’s another important way in which copyright is losing its relevance. It involves AI once more, but not because of how today’s AI systems are trained, but as a result of their output. The ease with which generative AI can turn out material has had a number of important knock-on consequences. For example, as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.creativebloq.com/ai/ai-art/designers-say-ai-is-making-stock-image-sites-unusable">a post on the Creative Bloq site explained</a>:</p>
  520. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  521. <p><em>Some designers who use <a href="https://www.creativebloq.com/buying-guides/best-stock-photo-libraries">stock image libraries</a> to source photos, illustrations and vectors for their projects are finding that they have to wade through more unusable [AI-generated] content to find an image that suits their needs, adding more time to their workflows.</em></p>
  522. </blockquote>
  523. <p>The same is happening in other fields. An article on the NPR site last year explored the growing problem of “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1237888126/growing-number-ai-scam-books-amazon">AI-generated scam books</a>”:</p>
  524. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  525. <p><em>“Scam books on Amazon have been a problem for years,” says Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, a group that advocates for writers. But she says the problem has multiplied in recent months. “Every new book seems to have some kind of companion book, some book that’s trying to steal sales.”</em></p>
  526. </blockquote>
  527. <p>It’s also becoming&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom-deezer.com/2025/04/deezer-reveals-18-of-all-new-music-uploaded-to-streaming-is-fully-ai-generated/">a serious issue for music streaming services</a>:</p>
  528. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  529. <p><em>Deezer, the global music streaming platform, is receiving over 20,000 fully AI-generated tracks on a daily basis. It equals over 18% of all uploaded content, an increase from the previously reported 10% in January, 2025, when Deezer launched <a href="https://newsroom-deezer.com/2025/01/deezer-deploys-cutting-edge-ai-detection-tool-for-music-streaming/">its cutting edge AI-music detection tool.</a></em></p>
  530. </blockquote>
  531. <p>These AI-generated images, books and music tracks have one thing in common: they are probably not protected by copyright in any way. This is an evolving area of law, but&nbsp;<a href="https://copyright.gov/ai/Copyright-and-Artificial-Intelligence-Part-2-Copyrightability-Report.pdf">a recent report by the US Copyright Office</a>&nbsp;seems to confirm that material generated purely by AI, with minimal human input — for example, in the form of prompts — is not eligible for copyright protection:</p>
  532. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  533. <p><em>Copyright law has long adapted to new technology and can enable case-by-case determinations as to whether AI-generated outputs reflect sufficient human contribution to warrant copyright protection. As described above, in many circumstances these outputs will be copyrightable in whole or in part—where AI is used as a tool, and where a human has been able to determine the expressive elements they contain. Prompts alone, however, at this stage are unlikely to satisfy those requirements.</em></p>
  534. </blockquote>
  535. <p>Assuming this approach is confirmed both in the US and elsewhere, the net effect is likely to be that vast swathes of AI-generated text, images and sounds found online today are&nbsp;<a href="https://walledculture.org/generative-ai-will-be-a-huge-boon-for-the-public-domain-unless-copyright-blocks-it/">in the public domain</a>, and can be used by anyone for any purpose. Once people understand this, and start using AI-generated outputs that they find online freely, without any fear of legal action being taken against them, there will be important knock-on effects. First, people may well seek out such AI-generated material, since it is legally unproblematic compared to complicated licensing schemes for copyright material, assuming the latter are even available. And secondly, people will as a result grow increasingly accustomed to re-using anything they find online, to the point that they simply ignore copyright niceties altogether.</p>
  536. <p><em>Follow me @glynmoody on <a href="https://mastodon.social/@glynmoody" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mastodon</a> and on <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/glynmoody.bsky.social">Bluesky</a>. Originally published at <a href="https://walledculture.org/leaders-in-the-generative-ai-world-are-daring-to-say-the-unsayable-that-copyright-is-not-sacrosanct/">Walled Culture</a>.</em></p>
  537. ]]></content:encoded>
  539. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/15/ai-is-making-many-people-rethink-copyright/comments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  540. <slash:comments>30</slash:comments>
  543. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494082</post-id> </item>
  544. </channel>
  545. </rss>

If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:

  1. Download the "valid RSS" banner.

  2. Upload the image to your own server. (This step is important. Please do not link directly to the image on this server.)

  3. Add this HTML to your page (change the image src attribute if necessary):

If you would like to create a text link instead, here is the URL you can use:

http://www.feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=http%3A//www.techdirt.com/techdirt_rss.xml

Home · About · News · Docs · Terms

 
Copyright © 2002-9 Sam Ruby, Mark Pilgrim, Joseph Walton, and Phil Ringnalda