Olives @olives@qoto.org

The new post is to consolidate the previously scattered posts in one.

https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/16/black_box_government/
"Democratic lawmakers once again have proposed legislation to ensure that the software source code used for criminal investigations can be examined and is subject to standardized testing by the government."

"The bill, introduced in 2019 and in 2021 to no avail, aims to guarantee that criminal defendants have the opportunity to assess the fairness of software used against them."

#SixthAmendment

https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/fisa_section_702_wyden/
"The Biden Administration has asked a court, rather than Congress, to renew controversial warrantless surveillance powers used by American intelligence and due to expire within weeks."

#privacy

https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/push_notification_privacy/

"More than 130 petitions seeking access to push notification metadata have been filed in US courts, according to a Washington Post investigation – a finding that underscores the lack of privacy protection available to users of mobile devices."

"App developers can encrypt these messages when they're stored (in transit they're protected by TLS) but the associated metadata – the app receiving the notification, the time stamp, and network details – is not encrypted."

#privacy

https://ntupsychology.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6ViWsBtawXH7yjs
Speaking of forensic psychologists, there is actually a study going on right now (being carried out by a forensic psychologist from Nottingham Trent University in the U.K.) into the public's attitudes towards sex robots. Note: Qualtrics might not work with a VPN.

Dr. Ferguson's new study about minor mental health and social media use. It might not be fully public for long (academic publishers...)

https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/C9H5TVMTFGMRBVFPBKFR/full?target=10.1080/08934215.2023.2298948
"Longitudinal Associations Between Social Media Use and Mental Health Outcomes in Sample of Irish Youth: A Brief Report"

"Questions remain over whether internet and social media use are associated with mental health outcomes in youth. Data has remained inconsistent in previous longitudinal studies."

"Results indicated that early internet use and social media use were not associated with later mental health problems when controlling for other factors."

Is there any research into the sorts of people who use "sex robots" which we don't already know about? A fair bit of this science seems to come from forensic psychologists (psychologists who work with criminals, i.e. Dr. Harper), and that is probably not terribly representative of a group (and looks at people a lot through the lens of whether they "might commit a crime"). It can be a lot like figuring out what sort of people play video games by interviewing someone in a prison.

Preferably, not empty philosophical musings about how they are "wrong", "I heard a random cop claim this", conspiracism, or reaching. That is not research.

I might comment on "sex robot" "censorship", well, prohibition soon, as I'm getting sick of that issue wriggling in during important times.

One of the perks of free expression is that it makes it harder to dehumanize someone (something which can lead to pretty dark places).

https://reason.com/2024/03/01/record-low-turnout-in-iran-as-voters-lose-faith-in-elections/
"Iranians went to the polls on Friday—or didn't—for the first time since a women-led uprising against religious rule rocked the nation. Authorities reported a record-low turnout of 27 percent, even after they extended voting for an additional two hours, amidst widespread disillusionment and calls for an election boycott."

https://reason.com/2024/03/01/town-says-burger-joints-mural-cant-show-any-burgers/
"Is a painting of a giant burger a sign or a mural? The answer to that question could determine whether Steve Howard can keep some half-finished burger art on the side of his restaurant or be forced to take it down."

#FirstAmendment

Huh, I don't know why that posted twice. I'll remove the dupe.

So, there is a consultation where a puritanical anti-porn Tory appointee[1] wants to censor free expression. She made a highly disturbing rant, and the British Government appears to be at great risk of becoming puritanical fascists (if they aren't already).

The Free Speech Coalition has met with her (it's probably not the one you're thinking of), so that might help[2].

https://qoto.org/@olives/111888946356326887 As always, here is my "porn isn't bad" science / knowledge pack.

If you're curious about the sorts of people who have been pushing for this particular thing, one who appeared before parliamentarians is the U.K.-based Vice-President of an American bunch of Christian fundamentalists rebranded, who go by the name of NCOSE (previously known as Morality in Media)[3], Haley McNamara.

It is worth mentioning also that these people tend to voice "concern" about something, then push for much broader censorship. This "baroness" appears to be looking to censor vast swathes of content, this is a disturbing and extreme attack on free expression.

They also mix / conflate real content with fantasy content, rely on highly misleading misrepresentations of the effects of porn, occasionally make use of dehumanizing tropes (nothing new[4]), and also, they might mix / conflate animated violence with realistic violence, and mild "aggression" with what might more typically be reviewed as "aggression".

It is a mess and extremely problematic.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabrielle_Bertin%2C_Baroness_Bertin

2 https://www.freespeechcoalition.com/blog/fsc-meets-with-baroness-conducting-review-of-uk-pornography-laws

3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Center_on_Sexual_Exploitation

4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_book_burnings

#uk #ukpol

@freemo To me, a snippet about "clean energy" appears (which is strange as I posted no such link), while the actual link clearly goes to an article about a journalist getting arrested. It seems to have quietly appeared after I reboosted it.