Tracy Rosenberg
@twrling.bsky.social
Executive director of Media Alliance (https://media-alliance.org) and advocate with Oakland Privacy (https://oaklandprivacy.org). Journalism, communication rights, privacy, surveillance, transparency. And caramel ...
📢AT&T is trying to walk away from its obligation to provide basic, affordable, reliable phone service to CA consumers. Residents deserve the connection they were promised — not their carrier abandoning them when service is no longer profitable. #COLR
“This decision is not an ’expressive’ message; it is merely a mirror that reflects back to users their own perceived interests.” #algorithms www.courthousenews.com/social-media...
Social media giants fail to block California prohibition of addictive feeds for minors
The companies failed to persuade a judge that their reliance on algorithms amounted to “expressive” activity meriting First Amendment protection.
courthousenews.com
#Trump is now selling his social media posts. www.cnbc.com/2026/08/01/t...
Trump Media's new paid data service goes live, giving clients faster access to Trump’s posts
Trump Media and Technology Group's new paid data service launched Aug. 1, selling faster access to top Truth Social posts from President Donald Trump and more.
cnbc.com
:An estimated 26,000 children who entered the U.S. without parents or guardians are expected to be left without independent legal representation as soon as Monday" www.npr.org/2026/08/01/n...
More than 25,000 children lose previous legal protections, as federal contract ends
Thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children are set to lose legal representation. The federal contract that pays for legal access expired Friday.
npr.org
Geo Group's #Adelanto immigration detention facility in San Bernardino County is providing drinking water to detainees with worms, lataco.com/contaminated...
Exclusive: Video Footage Appears to Show Drinking Water Contaminated With Worms Inside Adelanto ICE Processing Center ~ L.A. TACO
For months, detainees at Adelanto claim that staff have provided them with water from an unknown source that is routinely contaminated, despite a federal judge’s orders to provide detainees with clean...
lataco.com
Federal Judge holds #DHS in contempt of court for slow-rolling an order to turn over #ICE agents phone records. calmatters.org/justice/2026...?
Judge orders daily fines against Homeland Security in case over LA immigration sweeps
A federal judge held the Department of Homeland Security in contempt for not disclosing the cellphone records of immigration agents in Los Angeles.
calmatters.org
Congrats to UC San Diego students. Some of @oaklandprivacy.bsky.social public records work contributed to the original Cal Matters article that kicked off this round of student organizing. #Stonegarden calmatters.org/education/20...?
A California university is cutting ties with the Border Patrol after student outcry
Students and faculty rallied against campus police after a CalMatters investigation revealed the decade-long partnership.
calmatters.org
"Chico PD signed MOUs granting access to its #ALPR data as early as Feb. 23, 2023. Twelve sharing agreements were approved in 2023 with federal agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service and a branch of the U.S. #BorderPatrol.". Totally against state law. chicosol.org/2026/07/28/c...
City launches internal investigation into data sharing with federal agencies - ChicoSol News
The Chico Police Department, alongside the city attorney and city manager’s office, are conducting an internal investigation into the sharing of data produced by the automated license plate reader (AL...
chicosol.org
Everytime someone tests, it demonstrates that #surveillancepricing is real and it is costing us money. "At home, I checked the prices again. The prices were largely higher than the library. I felt disoriented—and then I wondered if this was my fault" www.mozillafoundation.org/en/nothing-p...
The Mystery of Online Prices: How Personal Data and Privacy Change What You Pay for Groceries
Is it true you'll get cheaper groceries or flights ordering them on a public library computer? Social media sleuths suggest that using the library is the key to nabbing good deals in our current era o...
mozillafoundation.org
"At Zuckerberg SF General Hospital on Thursday, physicians announced their plans to form a #union with SEIU Doctors United — a partnership between Doctors Council, SEIU and Committee of Interns and Residents that represents more than 45,000 doctors nationwide" www.kqed.org/news/1209248...
UC Doctors Seek to Unionize 10,000 Colleagues in Massive Campaign | KQED
The University of California is the state’s second largest employer and its health centers serve 2.5 million Californians across the state each year.
kqed.org
"Brothers Mark and Brayden know their mother, cheering from the bleachers, always has their inhalers in case either boy’s #asthma flares" capitalandmain.com/near-the-sal...
Near the Salton Sea, Little League Players Struggle to Breathe
Pediatric asthma is common in Calipatria, where young athletes compete despite extreme heat and air pollution. Some worry a lithium boom could make things worse.
capitalandmain.com
Vermont governor signs executive order directing state agencies to prioritize local #media outlets for ad spends. www.rebuildlocalnews.org/vermont-gove...
Vermont Governor Becomes First to Sign Executive Order Prioritizing Local News in State Advertising
A pragmatic step from Republican leadership that strengthens local news, builds bipartisan momentum and advances a growing national movement in government advertising.
rebuildlocalnews.org
"You break it, you fix it. Not: You break it, your victims lose everything, and shareholders and executives walk away even richer" #wildfires #utilityjustice calmatters.org/commentary/2...?
Opinion | California cannot continue rewarding utilities after catastrophic wildfires
Edison saw record profits and dividends after the Eaton fire and a state bailout. Legislators and Newsom might be considering another.
calmatters.org
After San Francisco's innovation-friendly experiment with Waymo's went bad, SF Mayor decides to publicly back federal #robotaxi regulation. www.politico.com/news/2026/07...?
San Francisco mayor backs national robotaxi rules after Waymo meltdowns
July 4 traffic jams and power outage malfunctions have prompted public scrutiny of self-driving cars in the tech-industry town.
politico.com
"The CPSC’s new data collection appears to contradict its own 214-page operating manual, which instructs #hospitals not to include identifiable information “such as names, birthdates, or addresses” when reporting cases" #healthdata www.cnn.com/2026/07/27/h...
Trump administration demands hospitals share emergency room records | CNN
A tiny federal agency tasked with protecting the public from injuries caused by lawn mowers and coffeemakers is demanding that some of the nation’s biggest health systems turn over detailed, personall...
cnn.com
#Berkeley Police Department has rejected 13 consecutive findings of #misconduct from its civilian oversight board. www.eastbaytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...?
Berkeley oversight board sustained 13 police misconduct allegations. The chief rejected them all
Berkeley Police Chief rejects all 13 misconduct allegations found by oversight board
eastbaytimes.com
Gentrification dynamics in SF lead to the exclusion of some poor communities from much-needed #environmentaljustice support. www.sfpublicpress.org/state-vulner...
CalEnviroScreen 5.0 overlooks San Francisco
CalEnviroScreen 5.0 data overlooks pollution and socioeconomic burdens affecting San Francisco's SRO residents and vulnerable communities.
sfpublicpress.org
Photographer Ann Hermes documents the slow death of America's local newspapers. www.annhermesphoto.com/newsrooms
"The union filed its latest complaint alleging that a Kaiser triage system that screens patients seeking mental-health care violates CA law because it relies on automated #algorithms and unlicensed clerical staff — instead of licensed clinicians — to recommend care" www.kqed.org/news/1209195...
‘Unacceptable’: San Francisco Officials Question Kaiser’s Approach to AI in Mental Health | KQED
In a hearing, therapists decried Kaiser’s proposed contract terms during labor negotiations, which they argued would undermine mental health services. The largest health insurer for city employees sai...
kqed.org
San Francisco's nationally lauded SF #Pretrial is defunded in SF Mayor Lurie's new budget for the City. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
A fight over a San Francisco nonprofit tests how far Democrats will move on crime
The fate of SF Pretrial, a group that runs diversion programs, reflects the tough-on-crime sentiment emerging even in liberal cities.
washingtonpost.com
"#Meta built a complete facial-recognition system into its smart glasses app, then insisted the dormant code didn't matter—a distinction that collapses the moment you consider how easily "off" becomes "on". #smartglasses scienceblog.com/m-by-the-tim...
By the time 50 million had installed Meta's smart-glasses app, few knew what sat unused inside it: dormant facial-recognition code that could spot a face, build a biometric signature, and flash 'perso...
Meta built a complete facial-recognition system into its smart glasses app, then insisted the dormant code didn't matter—a distinction that collapses the moment you consider how easily "off" becomes "...
scienceblog.com
News Guild of NY starts labor action against #Reuters claiming managerial staff are stealing bylines from union workers at the news organization. #journalism www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/top-...
Top editors at Reuters have repeatedly stolen work from unionized staff, NewsGuild of New York says - Editor and Publisher
Top-level editors at Reuters — including Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni — have repeatedly big-footed unionized journalists by cherry-picking stories, taking bylines and doing reporting and writing...
editorandpublisher.com
CA Privacy Protection Agency announces first agency audit. It is focused on gig worker platforms and their privacy practices. privacy.ca.gov/2026/07/cali...
California Privacy Protection Agency Launches First Sectoral Audit, Targets Gig Economy Platforms
privacy.ca.gov
Judge says Paramount and Warner must halt merger for at least two weeks, granting states’ request
Judge says Paramount and Warner must halt merger for at least two weeks, granting states’ request
A federal judge on Monday ordered Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery to halt their merger, allowing states that are challenging the deal more time to see their case through in court.
1011now.com
When Gavin Newsom vetoed Chris Holden's #MandelaAct, he claimed CDCR would itself reform solitary confinement in state #prison. They didn't. boltsmag.org/california-d...
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back for Solitary Reforms in California - Bolts
California officials dial back the minor reforms they've made to isolation in prison, four years after Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation to rein in solitary confinement.
boltsmag.org
"Researchers analyzing the effect of NYPD’s implicit bias training on 14,000 officers found it failed to reduce racial and ethnic disparities.In a 2019 follow-up, 42 percent of officers said they had not even attempted to apply the training in the previous month" inquest.org/you-cant-ref...
You Can’t Reform a Traffic Stop - Parambir Dhillon - Inquest
Despite requirements that they undergo bias training and use body‑worn cameras, local police are still leaving Black men bloodied after pulling them over for minor violations.
inquest.org
#AT&T is not granted preliminary injunction to stop California's CPUC from enforcing California's #COLR rules in the first meaningful action in the telephone carrier's lawsuit against California. broadbandbreakfast.com/at-t-loses-b...
AT&T Loses Bid to Temporarily Halt California Landline Obligations
A federal judge denied AT&T’s preliminary injunction request, but allowed advocates, local governments, and a telecom group to enter the case
broadbandbreakfast.com
Proposed Trump administration rule limits international #student visas to 4 years, although a doctoral degree takes an average of seven years to complete. www.mercurynews.com/2026/07/16/t...?
Trump rule puts new limits on how long Bay Area international students can stay
A new Trump administration rule will require international students, including thousands in the Bay Area, to obtain federal approval to remain in the country beyond four years.
mercurynews.com
Congrats to NDIA. Media Alliance was happy to sign on to an amici brief supporting their litigation to restore the Digital Equity Act. #digitalequity www.benton.org/blog/court-r...
Court Rules the Digital Equity Act's Race Provision Is Unconstitutional—But Severable
Thursday, July 16, 2026 Digital Beat Court Rules the Digital Equity Act's Race Provision Is Unconstitutional—But Severable Taglang On July 15, 2026, Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for ...
benton.org
City of #Bakersfield, in the heart of ICE's detention center heartbeat in Kern County, to debate becoming a #sanctuary city. www.kget.com/news/local-n...
Bakersfield city leaders to consider TRUTH Act forum, ‘sanctuary city’ policy
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Bakersfield city officials are set to discuss two ways the city could help provide transparency and better protect immigrants from federal immigration agents, inc…
kget.com