Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Big Tech

Two-Step Opt Out Needed to Block Google AI From Your Emails
Breitbart, Approved, National

Two-Step Opt Out Needed to Block Google AI From Your Emails

By: Lucas Nolan and Colin Madine | Breitbart Google has quietly started accessing Gmail users’ private emails and attachments to train its AI models, requiring manual opt-out to avoid participation. To make the process even trickier, Gmail users have to opt out in two separate places for the change to work. Follow these steps to protect your privacy from Google’s invasive AI endeavors. Malwarebytes reports that Google has recently implemented changes that enable Gmail to access all private messages and attachments for the purpose of training its AI models. This means that unless users take action to opt out, their emails could be analyzed to improve Google’s AI assistants, such as Smart Compose or AI-generated replies. The motivation behind this change is Google’s...
Unsealed Filing Says Meta Misled the Public and Endangered Children
TIME, Approved, National

Unsealed Filing Says Meta Misled the Public and Endangered Children

By Charlotte Alter | TIME Sex trafficking on Meta platforms was both difficult to report and widely tolerated, according to a court filing unsealed Friday. In a plaintiffs’ brief filed as part of a major lawsuit against four social media companies, Instagram’s former head of safety and well-being Vaishnavi Jayakumar testified that when she joined Meta in 2020 she was shocked to learn that the company had a “17x” strike policy for accounts that reportedly engaged in the “trafficking of humans for sex.”  “You could incur 16 violations for prostitution and sexual solicitation, and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended,” Jayakumar reportedly testified, adding that “by any measure across the industry, [it was] a very, very high strike threshold.” The plaintiffs claim th...
Judge Demands Big Tech CEOs Explain Role in Algorithmic Censorship Push
Reclaim The Net, Approved, National

Judge Demands Big Tech CEOs Explain Role in Algorithmic Censorship Push

By Dan Frieth | Reclaim The Net For the first time, design choices, not just direct speech, are being treated as moral acts in a court of law. Three of the tech industry’s most recognizable leaders, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Evan Spiegel of Snap, and Adam Mosseri of Instagram, will be required to testify in court early next year. The order came from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl, who ruled that their participation is essential in a lawsuit alleging that social media platforms were deliberately designed to harm young users’ mental health. Attorneys for the companies had tried to prevent the CEOs from appearing, arguing that earlier depositions and other executive testimonies already provided sufficient information. Judge Kuhl disagreed, stating, “The testimon...
Google Promises Free Speech After Years of Political Censorship on YouTube
Breitbart, Approved, National

Google Promises Free Speech After Years of Political Censorship on YouTube

By Sean Moran | Breitbart Google on Tuesday promised to restore YouTube accounts that have been banned for political speech, admitting that the Biden administration pressured it to censor Americans that did not violate the company’s terms of service, in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH). “Reflecting the Company’s commitment to free expression, YouTube will provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform if the company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect,” a lawyer representing Google wrote to Jordan. The letter would likely affect pro-Trump political commentators such as White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka, War Room host Steve Bannon,...
Social media erupts with hate after Charlie Kirk’s death
The Western Journal, Approved, Commentary, National

Social media erupts with hate after Charlie Kirk’s death

By Samuel Short | Commentary, The Western Journal The absolutely vile reaction from the political left to TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination Wednesday has prompted several social media platforms to respond regarding the pure evil now on display on their websites. The Verge compiled a series of statements from those sites include Bluesky, Meta, Reddit, YouTube, and Discord. “Glorifying violence or harm violates Bluesky’s Community Guidelines,” Bluesky’s statement read. “We review reports and take action on content that celebrates harm against anyone. Violence has no place in healthy public discourse, and we’re committed to fostering healthy, open conversations.” Spokesperson Francis Brennan for Meta stated “we remove the most graphic content and add warning labels t...
Summer testing shows Google Gmail sent GOP donation emails to spam while ActBlue delivered
New York Post, Approved, National

Summer testing shows Google Gmail sent GOP donation emails to spam while ActBlue delivered

By Thomas Barrabi | New York Post Google is at it again — and GOP campaign donations could be a casualty. The search giant has been caught this summer flagging Republican fundraising emails as “dangerous” spam — keeping them from hitting gmail users’ inboxes — while leaving similar solicitations from Democrats untouched, a consulting firm warned. That’s despite repeatedly sparking headlines and lawsuits in recent years over the allegedly partisan practice. Last year, a federal judge tossed a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee that complained of biased email filtering. In 2023, the Federal Election Commission dismissed an RNC complaint alleging discrimination in Gmail’s spam filters. Nonetheless, Targeted Victory – whose clients include the National Republican...
Meta’s AI rules let bots flirt with kids and push false health tips
Reuters, Approved, National

Meta’s AI rules let bots flirt with kids and push false health tips

By Jeff Horwitz | Reuters An internal Meta policy document, seen by Reuters, reveals the social-media giant’s rules for chatbots, which have permitted provocative behavior on topics including sex, race and celebrities. An internal Meta Platforms document detailing policies on chatbot behavior has permitted the company’s artificial intelligence creations to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” generate false medical information and help users argue that Black people are “dumber than white people.” These and other findings emerge from a Reuters review of the Meta document, which discusses the standards that guide its generative AI assistant, Meta AI, and chatbots available on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, the company’s social-media platf...
Roblox isn’t a game when safety is on the line
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Roblox isn’t a game when safety is on the line

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice This week, two very different voices sounded the same alarm about Roblox. YouTuber Schlep says the platform banned him after he worked with law enforcement to help catch child predators. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is suing Roblox, calling it a “clear and present danger” to kids. Both are pointing to the same problem: a platform packed with children and not enough safeguards to protect them. Schlep claims his tips led to multiple arrests. Instead of a thank you, he says the company sent him a legal notice and locked him out. In a social media post, he calls himself “a survivor on a mission” and says the ban was “retaliation for exposing predators.” The screenshots he shared show Roblox accusing him of breaking the rules...
Clock runs out on social media bill: lawmakers shield themselves and Polis from historic override
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Clock runs out on social media bill: lawmakers shield themselves and Polis from historic override

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The Senate overrode the governor’s veto. The House never even had to say no. In Colorado politics, sometimes the clock matters more than the votes. Without casting a single "no" vote, Colorado lawmakers on April 28 killed a bipartisan attempt to override Governor Jared Polis’ veto of a social media regulation bill. Just days earlier, the Senate had voted 29–6 to override the veto of Senate Bill 25-086, marking the state's first successful chamber override of a policy bill in more than a decade.  But when the bill reached the House, members voted 51–13 to lay over the override until after the legislative session ended. As reported by The Colorado Sun, the maneuver guaranteed the bill’s death without a formal vote, allowing lawmakers to av...
Free speech or safer feeds? Colorado reacts after Senate overrides veto of social media bill
Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Free speech or safer feeds? Colorado reacts after Senate overrides veto of social media bill

By Marissa Ventrelli | Denver Gazette Several groups on Friday lauded the Colorado state Senate's veto override of a bill that seeks to impose certain regulations on social media platforms in the hopes they would crack down on users who violate their rules, while critics called the bill censorious and argued it would give tech companies "too much power" to "de-platform" people. The Senate voted to override the governor's veto on a 29-6 vote. The state House is expected to hold its override vote next week. Senate Bill 086 would require social media companies to evaluate reports of policy violations within 72 hours. If a user is found to have violated the policy, the platform must remove that person or entity within 24 hours. The bill would also require social media companies to sub...

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