If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Australia’s Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 has been formally introduced, to use age verification to prevent users under 16 from accessing social networks. The draft immediately attracted criticism centering on the methods of establishing internet users’ age, rather than the stated purpose, namely – to keep children away from social sites for their own good. These methods would involve either collection of biometric data, or users being forced to submit proof of government-issued ID. What this translates to has been summed up by X owner Elon Musk as “a backdoor” that will affect all Australians, in the way they access the internet. This, like similar age verification proposals and already passed laws, relies on everyone having to prove they’re not a minor, rather than finding a way of identifying minors while avoiding unmasking every online user. This could be because that way does not exist – and it also could be that various governments see absolutely nothing wrong with ending online anonymity, or using the cynical “think of the children” cliche to finally achieve that. That’s not something leading digital and civil rights in general groups and advocates think should be allowed to happen. But, one might say – “the push is real.” If and when this becomes law, parents in Australia won’t have the right to give consent for their under-16 children to use social media, while the onus, where it concerns fines, is on the companies behind these sites. The proposal is for the fines to go up to the equivalent of $32 million when a platform is found as not complying with the rules, the center-left cabinet now hopes to impose. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese chose to speak about this massive controversy in the making as, “a landmark reform.” “We know some kids will find workarounds, but we’re sending a message to social media companies to clean up their act,” he is quoted as saying. This can be read as – “The kids aren’t really our first priority here. It’s to have more leverage over tech companies running social platforms, and, of course, ending online anonymity would be a bonus.” Katie Maskiell of UNICEF Australia fears that this “solution” might actually end up driving children to “covert and unregulated online spaces.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Elon Musk Slams Australia’s Online Safety Bill as Backdoor to Internet Control appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post With a Few Tweaks, Meta’s Smart Glasses Can Expose Names, Addresses, and Even Family Details With a Single Glance appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has stirred controversy by criticizing social media’s handling of “misinformation,” describing it as a regulatory failure and branding social media as a “threat to democracy.” His comments were made in response to ideas raised by a fourth-year graduate student in molecular biology, during a discussion on the broader impacts of technology and artificial intelligence. Schmidt, who played a pivotal role in shaping the digital world, including the carelessness when it comes to online privacy, asserted that the original developers of social media did not foresee its potential negative impacts on democratic values. “None of us thought when we invented social media that we would become a threat to democracy,” Schmidt said. In his critique, Schmidt called out social media companies for their allegedly lax approach to “misinformation,” suggesting that their failure to police content stemmed from a lack of regulatory compulsion and was driven by profit motives. “The misinformation one is easy,” Schmidt explained, claiming that “the social media companies have chosen not to police it because they haven’t been required to and they make more money because of it.” However, Schmidt’s stance will raise concerns among free speech advocates who argue that his call for more stringent regulation could lead to excessive censorship and infringe on free expression. Critics argue that the solution to “misinformation” should not rely solely on increased regulation and censorship, but by encouraging open discourse that allows ideas to be debated and scrutinized in the public space. Related: Eric Schmidt’s AI Think Tank Urges NATO to Monitor “Disinformation” in Real-Time, Coordinate Responses Schmidt has been a controversial figure in privacy and surveillance discussions. His leadership saw Google vastly expand its data collection, using personal information to tailor advertisements, which raised significant privacy concerns. Schmidt’s views on privacy, epitomized by his statement, “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place,” showed a dismissive attitude toward privacy concerns and alarmed both privacy advocates and the public. Schmidt’s tenure also involved privacy breaches, such as the unauthorized collection of data from unsecured WiFi networks by Google Street View cars, leading to international fines and investigations. Further controversy stemmed from Google’s alleged cooperation with the US National Security Agency (NSA), sharing user data without clear user consent. Schmidt has, more recently said there should be no online anonymity when using AI. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt: Social Media’s Failure to Police “Misinformation” Is a “Regulatory Problem” appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Anti-Police Activist Spent Charity Money on Travel, Clothes

Democrat newspapers like The Washington Post love to tag conservatives as "conservative," and also as "ultraconservative," "far right," and "extremist." But they seem absolutely incapable of describing leftists and progressives as....leftists and progressives. On the front page of Monday's Style section is a hilarious piece on depressed lefties turning off and tuning out their "news" sources. These "news quitters" are described as... "some people." The headline:  No news is good news Some people disappointed in the election results are tuning out the media as a form of self-care  Nowhere in Izadi's story is anyone identified as on the left, or as a Democrat. The complete lack of ideological labeling includes the captions on C-2: TOP: People watch a broadcast in Seattle on Election Day. ABOVE: TV watchers in Atlanta react as Vice President Kamala Harris gives a speech conceding the presidential election earlier this month. Some people are now skipping the news after Donald Trump's win.  Here's the story's lede:  Andrew DelPonte, a teenager in Maryland, started his days listening to NPR. Brandon Wilson, a professor in California, drove his long commute home blaring MSNBC on SiriusXM. And Michelle Mullins, who works on corporate food loss and waste in Arkansas, fell asleep most nights watching CNN’s Anderson Cooper. That is, until Nov. 6. Since the election, they’ve had it with the news. NPR, MSNBC, CNN: sources that the Post knows are Democrat strongholds. You have to love how much these Democrats don't want to hear Democrats blaming each other. Professor Wilson is unintentionally funny:  It was the Monday-morning quarterbacking he couldn’t stand; he felt it was too early to nitpick about how Harris had run her campaign, and he found “the finger-pointing and bashing of the Democratic Party” to be counterproductive. (It’s worth noting that liberal-leaning MSNBC saw a big drop-off in audience the week after the election, whereas Fox News saw a big jump.)  “We’re all absorbing a lot about what this win is going to mean, and the last thing I need is a lot of things that raise my blood pressure,” says Wilson, 53. “Like blaming the candidate for some obvious problems with the electorate, like misinformation and disinformation.” Blame the electorate! They voted Republican, which means they were misinformed! Izadi of The Post even implied that The Post had been essential reading for frustrated Democrats, like 36-year-old Drew Stanecki:  So he immediately turned off the notification alerts on his Washington Post and New York Times apps. During Trump’s first term, he read so much news that he had to institute a “no-Washington-Post-after-7-p.m.” rule so he could sleep at night. Now he doesn’t want anything pushed to him. Izadi doesn't want to trash these "news quitters" as overly emotional or immature, just adaptive. "Look at that: Humans doing something psychologically beneficial for a change." Unless they never return to reading the Post. Permanent "news quitters" won't be good for them. 

The NFL's security team told its players that thieves are looking to exploit their team schedules and target athletes' homes on game days.After Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was burglarized and tight end Travis Kelce was robbed of $20,000, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been looking into the string of robberies that are allegedly connected to a crime syndicate in South America.Reporter Diana Russini has since revealed that the NFL told players to be aware that their homes were being targeted on days the criminals might suspect the players are absent."The homes of professional athletes across multiple sports leagues have become increasingly targeted for burglaries by organized and skilled groups," the memo posted on X stated. "Law enforcement officials have noted these groups appear to exploit team schedules to target athletes' homes on game days."'Do not post public images of expensive items.'The memo also stated that burglary groups appear to have been gathering information from a combination of public records, media reports, and social media posts.As such, the league advised players against making any social media "check-ins" about their daily activities or whereabouts. "Do not post public images of expensive items (e.g., jewelry, vehicles, or clothing) on social media accounts. Do not post images of or comments about your residence or hotel accommodations," the memo continued.The NFL said the thieves have been essentially performing disguised heists, often conducting extensive surveillance on targets, their residences, and even their security measures. Then, the purported burglars are posing as delivery men, grounds maintenance, or even joggers in the neighborhood.Side doors, balconies, and second-floor windows have been used to gain entry to houses, with patio furniture or ladders sometimes used to scale walls.In terms of what has been taken from the athletes, NFL officials said that master bedrooms have been the predominant targets where the thieves look for jewelry, handbags, cash, and watches. Of course, safes have been a popular target, as well.The NFL Network previously reported that the robberies are in connection with a "transnational crime ring" that has focused on NBA and NFL players "all over the country."A former FBI agent told ABC News that athletes are easily targeted due to the plethora of public information regarding their whereabouts."Their schedules were going to be published when they're going to play a game, so it makes it easy when to go to the house," said former agent Brad Garrett. "These high-profile folks are really ripe targets."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

CEO and co-founder of Axios Jim VandeHei had a meltdown over Elon Musk encouraging social media users to participate in citizen journalism on X as trust in the mainstream media sits at an all-time low.Speaking at the National Press Club last week, VandeHei complained that "everything" journalists do these days "is under fire." Part of the reason for the massive distrust in the mainstream media is the media's years-long bias against conservatives and President-elect Donald Trump. Despite the loss in confidence, it seems most of those in the industry have no plans to improve their practices.'It needed to be said, it continues to need to be said.'Calling out Musk by name, VandeHei said all the billionaire does is sit on X all day and say, "'We are the media! You are the media!'" He then addressed Musk directly: "My message to Elon Musk is: Bulls**t! You're not the media! You have a blue check mark, a Twitter handle, and 300 words of cleverness doesn't make you a reporter.""What we do, what journalists do, what you did in Mississippi, what Al-Jazeera does in the Middle East. You don't proclaim yourself to be a reporter! Like, that's nonsense! Like being a reporter is hard, really hard! You have to care. You have to do the hard work," he continued. "You have to get up every single day and say, 'I want to get the closest approximation to the truth without any fear and without any favoritism.' You don't do that by popping off on Twitter."MSNBC's "Morning Joe" played VandeHei's remarks during Monday's episode with the CEO on as a guest. When the video clips were finished playing, the entire MSNBC panel gave VandeHei a round of applause."It needed to be said. It continues to need to be said. ... Social media people lying every day, every hour, every minute about the news, what you do matters. What the New York Times does matters. What the Wall Street Journal does matters," host Joe Scarborough said. — (@) A user on X known only as Wall Street Mav posted a clip of VandeHei's comments and accused him of being upset because of the vast audience X has, resulting in false media narratives being quickly debunked. In response to Wall Street Mav's assessment, Musk simply replied, "Exactly."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Teamfight Tactics - like anything Riot Games-related right now - is experiencing Arcane-mania at the moment. Set 13 is inspired by the hit show, and soon it’ll be getting a whole lot wilder. That’s because three new TFT champions are on their way to Into the Arcane, and they may just be three of the most powerful and broken champions the game has ever seen. Continue reading TFT has created its “biggest, coolest, and strongest” units yet for Set 13 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: LoL tier list, Best auto battlers, LoL ranking system explained

Dude, Just Take the L! Wajahat Ali WRECKED for Ugly Comment Directed at Benny Johnson and His Family

Tom Homan Confirms to Mark Levin ANOTHER Way Trump Will Handle Defiant Sanctuary State/City Dems