Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, ep 82 www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/epis... … in which @savasavasava.myatproto.social joins @alexhanna.bsky.social and me for a good hard look at “harm reduction” as misapplied to “AI”.
Rebecca Williams
@rebeccawilliams.info
Tech policy, civics, art. Privacy @ACLU.org · Board @MuckRock.com · Teaching @PrattiSchool.bsky.social rebeccawilliams.info · rebecca.411 on Signal
“DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE IN YOUR REPORT OR COMPLAINT."
‘DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE’: How Cops Are Trying to Hide the Existence of Flock
“DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE IN YOUR REPORT OR COMPLAINT."
404media.co
Content moderation, wut? The Musk effect has made our online and offline ecosystems more harmful, more hateful, more exploitative, more harassing, less safe and less free for everyone.
dell cameron@dell.bsky.social · 14h agoNEW: Meta reviewed, approved, and ran more than 50 ads containing AI-generated child sexual abuse material across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads. They ran for nine months. Some were live this week. After WIRED asked about them, researchers found ~30 more
On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee will vote on four bills that would expand age verification, increase online surveillance, and make it harder to access lawful speech online. Take one minute to tell your senators to vote NO. www.acteff.org/campaign/16...
Tell the Senate: Don't Turn the Internet Into an ID Checkpoint
Tell the Senate to Reject Bills That Expand Age Verification
acteff.org
Trump’s media company today began selling early access to the president’s posts on Truth Social for up to $100k a month to financial institutions. I talked to former SEC lawyers, who see the service as a violation of insider trading laws. And a Wall Street executive, who told me:
I recommend getting a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. opinion — when you finally land on someone with the expertise you need, it’s amazing
Appreciating the parodic world clock display at this MTA exhibition pop-up (left), I'm reminded of the charming-in-its-earnest-aspiration-and-imperfection display at the Vanderbilt YMCA www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/n...
thinking about how folks get tricked into covert data work - street captchas to actually train driverless cars - ring cameras to actually surveil amazon workers - search/social to actually triangulate ads - meta glasses to actually ??? … what else?
this is the internet scrolling experience
The Onion@theonion.com · 3d agoMoment Of Silence Followed By Hot Dog Race
I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful
AI submitting FOIA requests: www.muckrock.com/news/archive... AI answering FOIA requests: fedscoop.com/dhs-foia-pro... What could go wrong?
Using AI for FOIA in 2026: What requesters should know
Artificial intelligence tools can help public records users draft clearer requests, understand denials and review documents. But requesters should verify what AI produces and know what to ask when age...
muckrock.com
I’m going to HOPE for the first time ever this year
Hackers On Planet Earth 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️@hope.net · 7d agoLettuce tell you about this talk
I still haven’t figured out how to cash these in, definitely a metaphor for my life
Rebecca Williams@rebeccawilliams.info · last mo.won a scratch ticket I grabbed out of a broken piñata last night, found a winning scratch ticket on the ground walking Hannah just now, AMA
Very excited to share this with the world. We have been working on it for a while! www.wired.com/story/the-ac...
The ACLU Is Arming Lawyers to Expose State Surveillance Secrets
A new toolkit for attorneys in Massachusetts targets the technologies police use—and conceal—to build criminal cases, from facial recognition to AI-written police reports.
wired.com
COME WORK at the ACLU! @aclu-norcal.bsky.social is hiring attorneys to work on tech and civil rights (my team) and the criminal legal/immigration system. These folks will work at the cutting edge of legal and policy efforts in California and beyond. Apply here: www.aclunorcal.org/jobs/staff-a...
Staff Attorney / Senior Staff Attorney - ACLU of Northern California
Develop and carry out litigation and policy advocacy to advance to protect and defend civil rights and civil liberties for all Californians.
aclunorcal.org
FREE for all: @ntnsndr.in on how Luddism is not the end. Featuring an extremely insightful and stirring observation from @rushkoff.com We made it free for everone to read because this post is what @flaminghydra.com is about. flaminghydra.com/issue-617/
Bodies upon the gears
Alternative approaches to The Man, considered by Nathan Schneider
flaminghydra.com
I'm thrilled to have this resource out today - it represents months of research and analysis and creative data visualization work by my amazing colleagues. Please share widely, and let us know if you have any questions or think we've missed anything!
Fahrenheit 451 but make it paper shredders is a fun twist www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
AI companies are reportedly shredding millions of books after using them to train AI models — tech giants outsource to middlemen to secretly buy up books for training material
Buy. Scan. Destroy. Repeat.
tomshardware.com
This is a tremendous act of self love and I admire BTS even more for it.
Pop Base@popbase.tv · last wk.BTS announces they will not submit their music for the 2027 GRAMMY awards, following the Recording Academy’s addition of an Asian-focused category: “I hope music itself can be heard and loved rather than being distinguished by region or language.”
two tech article images from today no disrespect to either artist but guess which image I like more based on my personality and interests
if the park slope food coop sells infected lettuce the general meeting will be wild & that’s what I need
Rebecca Williams@rebeccawilliams.info · last wk.I’ve come up with a lettuce harm reduction scheme (1) local sources only (sweetgreen & the coop do this) (2) wash heavily (if it’s not me I have to assume the establishment is afraid & will do this) these may not save me but I love a harm reduction scheme I can commit to this scheme forever
it’s 2026 and we still say “god bless you” when people sneeze it’s 2066 and I’m still asking you if your lettuce is locally sourced
Rebecca Williams@rebeccawilliams.info · last wk.I’ve come up with a lettuce harm reduction scheme (1) local sources only (sweetgreen & the coop do this) (2) wash heavily (if it’s not me I have to assume the establishment is afraid & will do this) these may not save me but I love a harm reduction scheme I can commit to this scheme forever
when people can’t see a Bluesky link I send them: annoying, get with it when I can’t see a Threads link they send me: righteous, glorious; no need to send the screenshot I’ve been protected once again and I’ll never see those
Home Office used ‘AI hallucinated’ information to refuse asylum claim, judge suggests
Home Office used ‘AI hallucinated’ information to refuse asylum claim, judge suggests
Upper tribunal unable to find document cited in case and claims it is ‘analogous to relying on bogus evidence’ * UK politics live – latest updates A senior judge has accused the Home Office of relying on “AI hallucinated” information to refuse an asylum claim. The case relates to a Moroccan woman and her child who fled her country after experiencing forced underage marriage and extreme violence, including rape. The woman claimed asylum on the basis of fears that she would be killed by her husband: a powerful, previously convicted criminal. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
I know humans are in their own way pattern matching machines but I’m glad we are not as tedious as computers which are just literally matching words and numbers all day; I’m glad we make an art of it and have water in our bodies reacting to the moon and come up with myths and all that
spending my Monday telling my colleagues everything David Graeber taught me about consensus-based decision making over the weekend “How was your weekend?”
Yes. Once again thinking about Kate Losse’s work: modelviewculture.com/pieces/the-m...
The Male Gazed
Surveillance, Power, and Gender
modelviewculture.com
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 2w agoFWIW, Meta was fully aware of how these glasses would primarily be used. The glasses were designed to erase consent, and that is why they exist. Anything that they do that suggests they want to ameliorate this use is an attempt to win the PR battle and manipulate public opinion.