Olives @olives@qoto.org

https://reason.com/2023/07/17/homeless-veteran-sues-police-after-service-dog-tased-during-panhandling-arrest/ Police kill man's dog, then write misleading claims about him before the case is dropped.

https://edri.org/our-work/eu-parliament-libe-committee-opinion-spyware-ban-european-media-freedom-act/ E.U. Parliament Civil liberties committee accused of not going far enough to protect journalists from surveillance.

https://edri.org/our-work/council-poised-to-endorse-mass-surveillance-as-official-position-for-csa-regulation/
I'll reiterate that they should only takedown sexual content containing actual minors. Same with those other tools.

If they're already only doing that, great.

Also, the Germans have been accused of taking down web proxies, simply because one proxied an apparent child porn image.

This isn't exactly something we should want to emulate.

Also, the Germans were accused of censoring literature last year. Steps should be taken to ensure this does not happen.

They should not be breaking end-to-end encryption. I agree with that.

Noting that the E.U. could easily extend the "voluntary" window to avoid making a terrible decision (which is open to misuse, even if it were narrowly targeted).

https://algorithmwatch.org/en/mannheim-system-reports-hugs-police/ German city deploys "AI" based system which claims to be able to detect physical violence.

Mistakes hugs for violence. Unclear whether it prevents violence.

The Chat Stasi (what is known as chat control) is the joint responsibility of Ylva Johansson (Sweden), Ursula von der Leyen (Germany), Eva (Greece), and likely more.

Ylva Johansson is a very disingenuous politician. It feels as if she plugs her ears and pretends not to hear every concern about her proposal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89ZkydX0FPw
The interesting thing is that it wasn't France which came up with Article 17 (unless I am missing something), it was a conservative German MEP.

On the other hand, France *was* responsible for the terror regulation. Another hideous regulation. It is intended to "fight" terrorism via censorship.

I try to avoid using that e word though because it is misused to a comical degree.

I wouldn't really be surprised, if it was some kind of concern trolling, because Steve Huffman was inspired by *Elon* of all people on the API issue.

There doesn't really have anything to do with exploitation, it's more of a recreational activity, also someone can probably do a ritual there.

Mr. Huffman should be more worried about exploitation of actual people than this no fun nonsense.

That is ironic because I was just reading a paper on that very ageplay subject :o

Reddit keeps dragging themselves further and further into the mud and destroying their practical value for anything.

Huh, someone says Reddit banned ageplay.

That is shameful and another reason why Steve Huffman is not fit to run this company (or any company for that matter).

Patreon is a hate group.

While you might argue that it's the lesser of two evils, a lesser censor, it is still silly when someone is all smug about the fact that the First Amendment doesn't apply to private companies (with caveats).

So, basically, smug about not having rights?

https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/07/20/kenya-anti-homosexuality-law-africa/ Kenya wants to introduce an extreme anti-gay law.

Some highlights:

"the East African country’s bill would see a complete ban on activities that “promote homosexuality”, including openly identifying as LGBTQ+ or wearing Pride emblems."
Bad for free expression.

"Those found in breach of the law would face a minimum of 10 years in jail while those found guilty of performing same-sex acts would face a minimum of 14 years."
Needless persecution for engaging in little more than a consensual sexual activity or expressing themselves.

"Additionally, anyone found guilty under a clause for “aggravated homosexuality,” defined as engaging in “homosexual acts with a minor or disabled person and transmitting a terminal disease through sexual means”, could be executed."

This is intended to:

1) Further chill consensual sexual activity.

2) Conflate homosexuality with sexual activity with minors.

3) Apply such laws in a discriminatorily fashion.

4) Conflate homosexuality with exploiting disabled individuals.

5) Interfere in consensual sexual activities which "disabled" individuals might have in an even more extreme manner.

"Similar bills are also being proposed in Tanzania and South Sudan, while Ghana‘s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, has signalled that an anti-LGBTQ+ bill is being proposed there, although he is wary of its “constitutionality”."
A few other African countries are looking to introduce similar bills.

"The bill will propose a total ban on what the West calls sex-reassignment prescriptions"
They also want to ban this.

"He added that this would include Pride parades, drag shows, wearing rainbow colours and flags, and openly wearing “emblems of the LGBTQ+ group.”"
They would censor this free expression.

"Additionally, Zambian priest and Boston University academic Kapya Kaoma told the BBC that he believed bills such as this are part of lobbying efforts by right-wing groups to impose “militant homophobia” in Africa."
Lobbying from right wing groups might be involved.

The semantics are a bit different, but yeah, it would have many of the same horrible effects (and wouldn't solve that).

They're probably going to get a stooge from a start-up selling scanning software to write something they can use to justify themselves. #OnlineSafetyBill

The amended version of the Cooper Davis Act is still awful.

In fact, it now attacks providers who "blind themselves" which could be taken as a literal attack on end-to-end encryption.

As pointed out before, mere mention of past drug use could be flagged to the DEA and other speech protected by the First Amendment by over-cautious platforms.