We shouldn't be forced to use toxic platforms that track and profile us in order to get public information.

Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube track and profile their users so that they can target advertising towards them.

Their business models fuel online harms by pushing more and more extreme content to users. Despite this, these platforms are one of the primary ways that government departments share public information.

Tell your MP to support the EDM calling on the UK Government to ensure that all public sector social media content is published on open, decentralised and federated platforms!

Act now: https://action.openrightsgroup.org/tell-your-mp-government-must-move-away-toxic-social-media-platforms

#socialMedia #UK #politics #UKpolitics #fediverse #initiative

We shouldn't be forced to use toxic platforms that track and profile us in order to get public information.

Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube track and profile their users so that they can target advertising towards them.

Their business models fuel online harms by pushing more and more extreme content to users. Despite this, these platforms are one of the primary ways that government departments share public information.

Tell your MP to support the EDM calling on the UK Government to ensure that all public sector social media content is published on open, decentralised and federated platforms!

Act now: https://action.openrightsgroup.org/tell-your-mp-government-must-move-away-toxic-social-media-platforms

#socialMedia #UK #politics #UKpolitics #fediverse #initiative

Invidious link: https://invidious.tiekoetter.com/watch?v=TzGEmXync5M

An overview of Signal's long list of flaws (phone number id, Play service payments, centralized infrastructure, etc) and the history of The Signal Foundation of ignoring many of these issues.

Signal is disappointing. And I am tired of pretending that it’s not. I have been using and recommending Signal for longer than it existed. Signal just came out with a feature we have been waiting for for 8 years.

You see 8 years ago, the only flaw Signal had was that it required a phone number to register and find contacts. This was bad, because it meant you couldn’t get an anonymous Signal account, which meant you could get hacked or abused by anyone who knew your phone number. It was also easy for authoritarians to censor people’s access to Signal by denying phone registrations by country code.

The reason for the phone number requirement was to prevent spam. The primary function, was to use your phonebook to quickly onboard new users and send notifications whenever anyone in your contact list signed up on Signal. A very convenient Silicon Valley feature that allowed people to quickly connect with their friends and also let domestic abusers find out their victims are trying to contact a lawyer’s office over Signal.

The European Commission wants Frontex, the EU’s border agency, to monitor public social media posts about migration. It would also flag illegal content to platforms. MEPs and digital rights groups say the plan puts online speech under a border agency’s watch. The Commission proposed the change on Tuesday as part of a wider overhaul of […] This story continues at The Next Web

The EU is currently changing its core privacy law, the GDPR. Members of the European Parliament have made more than 1000 amendments. We have analysed all of them and show which of your representatives are the biggest privacy defenders and who is trying to undermine the current privacy protections.

The EU is currently changing its core privacy law, the GDPR. Members of the European Parliament have made more than 1000 amendments. We have analysed all of them and show which of your representatives are the biggest privacy defenders and who is trying to undermine the current privacy protections.

https://digitalcourage.social/@echo_pbreyer/117331480393548354

https://digitalcourage.social/@echo_pbreyer/117331480393548354

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/75822925

In a leaked document, the Irish Presidency proposes to EU Member States that the interest of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta and SpaceX to make profits should take precedence over the fundamental right to data protection. Use of personal data “in the context of AI” should automatically be lawful. There seems to be wide informal agreement by many Member States. In particular, Big Tech would be able to use all personal data collected over the past decades with virtually no restrictions, as long as this happens “in the context” of AI. Schrems: “Under these proposals, the profits of AI companies would trump European’s fundamental right to privacy. This is nothing but a digital expropriation of Europeans.” All this is happening despite the key figures of AI corporations actively warn about the enormous risks associated with their own products.

#EuropeanUnion #AI #BigTech #privacy #digitalRights

In a leaked document, the Irish Presidency proposes to EU Member States that the interest of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta and SpaceX to make profits should take precedence over the fundamental right to data protection. Use of personal data “in the context of AI” should automatically be lawful. There seems to be wide informal agreement by many Member States. In particular, Big Tech would be able to use all personal data collected over the past decades with virtually no restrictions, as long as this happens “in the context” of AI. Schrems: “Under these proposals, the profits of AI companies would trump European’s fundamental right to privacy. This is nothing but a digital expropriation of Europeans.” All this is happening despite the key figures of AI corporations actively warn about the enormous risks associated with their own products.

#EuropeanUnion #AI #BigTech #privacy #digitalRights

The Austrian Freedom Party's leader gave a speech backing Israel's right-wing agenda that was welcomed by members of the Israeli government. Austria's established Jewish community vehemently rejects the party.

Israel's foreign minister said on Thursday that Jerusalem aims for "a substantive, open and candid dialogue" to establish ties with Austria's far-right Freedom Party, which was founded by former Nazis and has increasingly adopted a staunchly pro-Israel line in recent years.

Gideon Sa'ar was responding to a speech by Herbert Kickl, the party's leader, at a conference in Strasbourg earlier in the day that was organized by the party and addressed by fellow Likud minister Miri Regev.

Israel formally boycotts the party over its Nazi past and history of antisemitic leaders, though ties have gradually warmed in recent years. Austria's established Jewish community, however, vehemently rejects the party.

[...]

Last year, when Kickl received the mandate to form a coalition in an ultimately failed attempt, Oskar Deutsch, president of Vienna's Jewish community, said, "Perhaps we should start packing our bags."

While not labeling the party itself a "Nazi party," Deutsch said, "there are many Nazi sympathizers among the party's leadership and officials." After the collapse of coalition talks between the Freedom Party and Austria's center-right, he called the development "a great relief."

Earlier this year, Harald Vilimsky, the FPÖ's leader in the European Parliament, who organized the event in Strasbourg, was hosted at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem. Deutsch told Haaretz at the time that the meeting was "extremely troubling."

Waterfox will not incorporate LLMs into the browser. However, AI predates chatbots, so implementing a blanket ban on AI would mean opting out of modern computing. [...]