If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. They either don’t grok the situation at all, or grok it all too well but are pretending not to: either way, Democrats are once again on a warpath against memes, satire, etc., and in the same token against constitutionally protected political speech. All this is happening months ahead of another presidential election. Here the target is the Grok-2 AI art generator, which X released earlier this month. Now House Democrats have written to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Acting General Counsel Lisa Stevenson in a bid to have it censored. The seven members of Congress who signed the letter claim that restricting what can be done with Grok-2 is “critical for US democracy.” We obtained a copy of the letter for you here. In the two weeks since it was introduced, the art generator produced some blatantly obvious humorous takes on the ongoing campaign, many of them memes clearly not having a favorable view of Kamala Harris, while the same is true of others that “featured” Donald Trump. But despite the obvious nature of this imagery, namely, as memes (in one of them Harris is depicted as addressing a venue in Chicago brimming with communist hammers and sickle flags) – the signatories chose to apparently take it all very seriously, and speak about “deep fakes” and “misleading” AI content. And they want the FEC to come up with new rules to address this. But its chairman, Sean Cooksey, quickly clarified the position of the election regulator regarding this topic, referring to the letter as a demand to censor the generator ahead of the election. In a post on X, he writes, “Let me be clear: the First Amendment is not optional. I’ll never support shutting down political speech online, including your memes.” The House Democrats’ letter stated it was sent in support of a petition by a non-profit, Public Citizen, which is pressing for new rules that would “clarify” Law Against Fraudulent Misrepresentation – specifically to include deep fakes in the definition. The letter further accuses X of rolling out Grok-2 “with few rules to combat its misuse.” Referring to memes as “fake images,” Democrats speak of the proliferation of deep fake AI technology and the way it could “severely misinform voters, causing confusion and disseminating dangerous falsehoods.” The memes generated using Grok-2 are treated as dissemination of said “dangerous and confusing” fake content. To deal with this drama, the way the letter presents it, Democrats want the FEC to initiate “the necessary emergency rulemaking process.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Memes Under Fire: Democrats Push to Muzzle Political Satire with Grok AI appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The EU is putting additional pressure on Telegram, after one of its member countries, France, arrested the platform’s co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov. The EU has launched an investigation into the number of users the platform has in the bloc, and whether the number reported by Telegram is correct. The importance of this is the EU’s ability to censor using the Digital Services Act (DSA), which applies services with over 45 million users. In February, Telegram said that their number is 41 million, but the EU has chosen precisely this moment to start looking for ways to determine if this reporting was accurate – or, more likely, try to prove that it isn’t. The EU Commission’s Joint Research Center is tasked with the job, while there are “ongoing talks with the app” regarding the way it arrived at its figure, the Financial Times writes, without expanding on the “ongoing talks” point. EU Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier is quoted as saying that the EU “has a way” to determine whether Telegram’s reporting is true, using “our own systems and calculations.” If the result of the investigation is that Telegram had lied, that is, that the number of users is 45 million or more – the EU will “unilaterally” declare it a very large platform, subject to the sweeping censorship rules contained in the DSA. Saying that the decision can be made unilaterally and based only on the EU’s own investigation using its own agency to audit these figures means that the bloc is giving itself the right to, in an untransparent way, declare a platform the subject of the DSA. One of DSA’s key purposes is to enforce the EU’s policy of even more tightly controlling the social media space, and a provision in the law states that those considered to be very large platforms must “disclose” what they are doing to counter “disinformation” and “misinformation.” The Financial Times says that globally, Telegram has close to 1 billion users, with Asia as the largest market, and that in an interview with the publication earlier in 2024, Durov said the number of users is “roughly proportionate” with the size of different markets or continents. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post EU Tightens Grip on Telegram With New Probe Following France Arrest appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Fact-checks should be, as the name suggests, about checking facts, but a Friday piece from Alex Kasprak at Snopes showed aspiring fact-checkers how not to do their jobs as he defended Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz on the accusation he banned Christians, Jews, and Muslims from teaching in the state. Kasprak writes, “In late August 2024, several far-right media outlets rehashed an old talking point about Democratic vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz: That he passed a law that "bans Christians, Jews, Muslims from teaching." Underneath three screenshots of headlines, Kasprak proceeds to violate the central fact-checking commandment: thou shall not torch strawmen, “Given such bold headline claims, one might be led to believe that Tim Walz passed a law that bans Christians, Jews, or Muslims from teaching at Minnesota public schools. He did not. These headlines are an aggressive and inflammatory reading of teaching licensure guidelines set to take effect in July 2025.” Kasprak then cites the updated regulations, “[Foster] an environment that ensures student identities such as race/ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/developmental/emotional ability, socioeconomic class, and religious beliefs are historically and socially contextualized, affirmed, and incorporated into a learning environment where students are empowered to learn and contribute as their whole selves.” If Kasprak had cited the actual articles and not just their headlines, he would’ve found that exact same paragraph. Nobody accused Walz of being so blatant that he passed a literal religious test. Religious affiliation and beliefs aren’t just a self-assigned labels, but Kasprak proceeded to violate another fact-checking tenant: assuming the claimant’s identity has any bearing on the claim’s truthfulness: The argument that such a requirement bars Christians or other religious individuals from receiving a teaching license in Minnesota is that it supposedly forces teachers to ‘reject their faiths' declaration that God has created only two sexes, male and female.’ These are talking points that have been pushed aggressively by Koch-linked, dark money conservative legal groups opposed to teacher licensing requirements. In his subheading, Kasprak writes, “Merely repeating a talking point ad nauseum does not make that talking point become true.” You could say the same thing about Kasprak’s “fact-check” because religious people have always believed in certain ideas of right and wrong, and Minnesota is giving them a choice: embrace falsehoods and sin or quit being a teacher. They didn’t need “Koch-linked, dark money conservative legal groups” to tell them that. Kasprak wasn’t done, he next violated a third and fourth law of fact-checking: thou shall not use ad hominem attacks and thou shall not cite left-wingers as objective sources, “The most recent round of headlines originated with a story in The Federalist written by Joy Pullman — author of a book arguing that "queer politics mean the end of America." Pullman published a nearly identical article about the new licensing requirements in January 2023. Her sources included the Koch-linked Upper Midwest Law Center, and the Minnesota-based Child Protection League, described as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.” In his fifth and final paragraph, Kasprak casts more negative motivations on the authors, “The claim that the new Minnesota licensing requirements ban religious individuals from teaching is a politically motivated, bad-faith talking point. Because the law does not ban Christians, Jews, or Muslims from teaching in Minnesota, the claim is False.” With that, one of the laziest and most unprofessional fact-checkers ever written mercifully came to an end.

While there is no official cure for Trump Derangement Syndrome, some of those afflicted with the disease are spontaneously healing themselves. Whether it’s the thought of Comrade Kamala forcing price controls, the realization that the senile president of the United States has likely been vacationing on a beach the past three and a half years, or that inflation is quite literally out of control — no one can be sure. But Hollywood actor Michael Rapaport is sure of one thing: that he was wrong. “I was the first in line talking s**t about Trump,” Rapaport told Sage Steele in an interview. “I was all day every day.” “I didn’t like his mouth,” he continued. “It’s not appropriate. And I would say that to him today. ‘Yo, your mouth man. You’re the president. You’re also 79. You’re the president, you’re 79, you also just got shot in the ear. Like get some new material; truly bring us together.’” Despite Rapaport’s dislike of the way Trump speaks, he admittedly does like his policy — specifically regarding Israel and the economy. “First and foremost is Israel and supporting Israel; and Iran needs to be drained forever. How, I don’t know, but financially, there’s a way to tariff their asses,” he explained. “So they can’t support these Hezbollah, these Houthis, that could send a drone the size of a car in Tel Aviv.” “Between your two issues, Israel, and your money, and the economy, would this be the first time you vote Republican?” Steele asked the actor. “I’m not saying I’m going to vote Republican,” Rapaport fired back, though Steele had some receipts to pull out. “Here was your quote: ‘Voting for Trump is on the table.’ Does that pain you to say?” Steele asked. “Yes, it pains me. It pains me to be wrong,” he answered. “I was wrong about Israel, and I was wrong about economy stuff. I was wrong.” Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” is shocked. “Hot diggity dog, someone on the left said something not completely insane,” he comments. Want more from Dave Rubin?To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

I have spent the past four-plus years traveling the country talking to companies, groups, and individuals about the realities of the surveillance economy we live in today and, most importantly, what we can do to start the process of removing ourselves from this enclosure and reclaiming control of our digital lives. Interestingly enough, everyone I’ve met in my travels and discussions, regardless of political or religious beliefs, understands that our devices are listening to us all day, every day. Everyone, in fact, wants to share with me their personal story about how “just the other day” they were talking about something with someone and moments later saw an advertisement about that very thing they were talking about on their phone, on their computer, or, in some rare instances, via something that came in the mail a few days later. The good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is entirely possible to remove yourself from the most harmful and abusive aspects of the surveillance economy. If you haven't already, I’m sure you can instantly think of a few examples of this happening. Know that you are not alone! When asked the follow-up question, “So are you okay with the reality that these devices are listening to you all the time?” Not a single person has responded in the affirmative. Let me repeat this to drive home the point: Of the thousands of people I have asked this question to all over the country, not one has responded that he or she is comfortable with this paradigm. Not. One. While you think about that, please consider the fact that the five largest abusers and benefactors of this surveillance economy — Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft — collectively generate over $1,000,000,000,000 in revenue annually. That’s one trillion dollars ... annually. A few billion dollars are also used by each company annually to directly support and enforce ideological causes and political candidates that constitutional Christian conservatives (such as myself) directly oppose. This is not an exaggeration. The amount of money any one of these four companies spends on lobbyists, NGOs, DEI initiatives, political parties and candidates, leftist nonprofits, algorithms, policies designed to censor and mute our voices, employees focused on enforcing said policies, etc. is orders of magnitude larger than any other company you’ve heard the usual conservative talking heads preach about boycotting, from Netflix or Disney to Bud Light or Target. You’ve heard thousands of hours of influencers and media types preaching and hyping you up about the “need” to mobilize and boycott those big corporations, and yet there are nearly crickets when the topic of boycotting Big Tech is discussed. Interesting, right? "Go woke, go broke!" ... unless it's Big Tech. I ask myself daily why that is. And I have a few ideas. My primary goal out of the gate is to spark the desire to ask yourself a few critical questions. If I’m so quick to jump on the #BoycottBudLight, #BoycottDisney, and #BoycottTarget bandwagon, would I be reluctant to boycott Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon? If so, why? Why have I never heard prominent media personalities and stations having a serious conversation about this topic? How in the world is #BoycottBigTech not a thing considering how much influence these companies, applications, and devices have over our daily lives? Like most of today's issues, motivation and education are key ingredients to making better decisions. For example, once you’ve started reading the ingredients in the food you eat and understand what chemicals are in it and what they do to your body, you have a choice: Continue to eat the poison and get sicker and sicker every day or start the process of educating yourself on how to make safer and healthier decisions about what you put in your body. Using the same logic, once you understand just how invasive and abusive the surveillance economy has become and how this directly affects your existing reality and that of the people you love around you, you have a choice: Continue to use the applications and devices that are designed to keep you a slave to the system and supporting the companies that feed off your data or start the process of educating yourself on how to make safer and healthier decisions about the data you feed into the system. Just as one does not buy some seeds and a raised bed and suddenly become a master gardener capable of feeding one’s whole family, one cannot simply buy a single device or piece of software and suddenly be “safe” from the surveillance economy. In both scenarios, this journey requires a lifestyle change and a shift in how you think about the tools you use to accomplish the things you want to get done every day. You’ll need to learn new things and understand how the tools you use around you work — just like the journey of learning how the food you consume is made and where it comes from. The good news is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is entirely possible to remove yourself from the most harmful and abusive aspects of the surveillance economy. In fact, millions of Americans, and even more around the world, have already started this journey. As demand for these types of privacy- and security-focused services and tools grows, so does the growing legion of geeks who can afford to actively work on building and expanding these tools to make them more accessible and more straightforward to use. Over the past two years, I have helped over 1,000 individuals and businesses start their journey to remove Big Tech from their daily lives. If you too are concerned about your digital privacy and security, you can join our community of customers and advocates by finding us online at MARK37.com or our profiles on X, Truth Social, and Telegram.

Capcom has confirmed that Monster Hunter Wilds will not change the current microtransaction system used in the series upon release. You can still make extra purchases for special layered armor and the like, but spending more money on the game will not net you any pay-to-win style bonuses after launch. So if you’re an avid hunter looking forward to finding the best weapon switch combo, you don’t need to worry about in-game purchases giving someone else the advantage. Continue reading Monster Hunter Wilds DLC will not be pay-to-win, Capcom assures MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best games like Monster Hunter, Best open-world games, Best RPG games

Like many survival horror fans, I’m still quietly lamenting the lack of a Dino Crisis remake. Often overlooked next to the likes of Resident Evil, Capcom’s dinosaur series remains something I’ll always hold dear - at least for those first two entries. While it’s playing in a slightly different style, then, I’m very entranced by Athanasia, a new retro-futuristic FPS and immersive sim featuring a mysterious facility filled with prehistoric problems. If that sounds intriguing, you can try it for yourself right now, as Momentum Games launches a Kickstarter to support development. Continue reading Retro style horror FPS Athanasia is like a Jurassic Park immersive sim MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best dinosaur games, Best FPS games, Best horror games

While the Los Angeles Mafia never rose to the same notoriety as its counterparts in New York and Chicago, the crime family infiltrated Hollywood, had a hand in the growth of Las Vegas, and terrorized the West Coast for decades. The post The Bloody History Of The Los Angeles Mafia, From Its Violent Origins To Its Rapid Downfall appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Mark Ruffalo - 'Why Are You Always on The Wrong Side of Every Issue?'