Tech Oversight Project

@techoversight.bsky.social

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The Tech Oversight Project is a nonprofit dedicated to holding Big Tech accountable by passing comprehensive antitrust, privacy protections, and children's safety legislation.

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Meta allowed a Russian oligarch to use 100+ fake Facebook pages to run ads that amassed 155 million impressions and earned Meta at LEAST $200,000 in revenue. Protect democracy or help Putin? Zuckerberg is showing us who his real friends are.

“The harm that parents are seeing every day with kids who can’t put their phones down, who are cutting themselves…is so real and so tangible.” This is why parents are pushing for federal and state action across the country. It’s time for lawmakers to step up.

Advocates push for federal online safety laws as states take lead - Roll Callrollcall.com At least 15 states have pursued legislation that would require online companies to protect the safety of kids using their platforms.

Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, X, and YouTube made over $11 BILLION solely in U.S. advertising from minors in 2023. Social media platforms will always put profits before kids safety and well-being. Thats why we need to pass legislation to force them to protect minors.

Google’s AI moves in search are a threat to news publishers everywhere. Estimates foreshadow a possible 40% loss of Google-generated web traffic due to Google’s scraping practices. It’s stealing intellectual property, and it would hollow out our already fragile information ecosystem.

News Publishers See Google’s AI Search Tool as a Traffic-Destroying Nightmarewww.wsj.com Tech giant’s AI-powered search product is being tested on roughly 10 million users; publishers rely on Google for traffic and see a gathering storm

Oh, how the narrative shifts! The American people see Google's predatory business model and monopolistic practices for what they really are. With pending litigation in search and adtech, this is a shot over the bow and sign of things to come.

Analysis | Google antitrust loss shows juries can be a path to victory for criticswww.washingtonpost.com Video game maker Epic Games may have unlocked the legal tactic’s potential.

NEW: Report from Pew Research shows 1-in-5 13 to 17-year olds are on YouTube and TikTok “almost constantly.” This is another example of social media companies designing their platforms to get kids addicted.

Pew: Many teens use social media "almost constantly"www.axios.com Nearly 1 in 5 teens is on YouTube or TikTok "almost constantly."

To Meta, kids aren’t kids. They’re a means to an end, a data set, a big dollar sign. This is why we need the #KidsOnlineSafetyAct to hold Big Tech accountable for kids' privacy & safety.

At Meta, Millions of Underage Users Were an ‘Open Secret,’ States Saywww.nytimes.com Meta “routinely documented” children under 13 on Instagram and collected their data, according to a newly unsealed complaint.

A major win for the FTC and one of the most important developments in the fight for protecting kids online. 💯 When it comes to violating kids’ privacy, Meta is a repeat offender. We applaud this legal win and FTC for standing up for children and teens.

Analysis | FTC notches legal win in privacy fight with Metawww.washingtonpost.com The agency’s plan could serve as a roadmap against other industry giants.

@zamaan.bsky.social of Design It For Us warns we cannot let Big Tech pit us against one another and keep us from what’s really important: holding them accountable for the damage the cause to kids online. It’s time to pass #KOSA.

Meta Whistleblower Just Proved Why Young People Like Me Don’t Feel Safe Onlinethemessenger.com You would think social media platforms are working overtime to keep potential predators away from kids. Yet, hey seem to be making it more difficult to report abuse.

How is @meta prepping for the 2024 election you ask? 🚨Disbanded its Responsible AI Team 🚨Gutted its Trust and Safety Team 🚨Fired its Election Integrity Team Meta is padding its bottom line while threatening our electoral process and democracy.

Meta disbanded its Responsible AI teamtheverge.com Members were moved to other AI projects.

Meta’s F Minus Record: ❗️Helps foment January 6th ❗️Allows Trump back on platforms ❗️Profits from election denial ads ❗️Creates fake AI enforcement policy Why would anyone trust them?

Campaigns are using AI. Tech companies are figuring out how to disclose what’s real.thehill.com Meta and YouTube are crafting disclosure policies for use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in political ads as the debate over how the government should regulate the technology stretches …

Mark Zuckerberg and Meta will lie to Congress, endanger Americans, & threaten the future of our democracy–with no remorse. This decision is a horrible preview of 2024 and Congress must act to ensure social media platforms aren't helping those who are undermining our democracy.

WSJ News Exclusive | Meta Allows Ads Claiming Rigged 2020 Election on Facebook, Instagramwww.wsj.com Company weighed free-speech considerations in changing its policy last year

BOMBSHELL: Google’s own witness reveals that Apple Gets 36% of search revenue in its anti-competitive default deal. 🤯🤯🤯

Apple Gets 36% of Google Revenue From Search Deal, Witness Sayswww.bloomberg.com Google pays Apple Inc. 36% of the revenue it earns from search advertising made through the Safari browser, the main economics expert for the Alphabet Inc. unit said Monday.

Early Facebook investor @moonalice.bsky.social makes the case for why we need to pass bills like the #KidsOnlineSafetyAct to protect kids online and rein in Big Tech's dangerous and profit-driven behavior👀

Opinion: Kids have been used like guinea pigs on Big Tech's platforms. How much harm will we tolerat...www.latimes.com A new wave of lawsuits might be the only way to force tech companies like Meta and Google to stop designing products to addict children.

🚩Mark Zuckerberg personally rejected proposals to improve teen mental health, ignoring research proving the detrimental effects of Meta products on kids and teens, but didn’t act. “The rot goes all the way to the top,” said @sachalouise.bsky.social

Mark Zuckerberg personally rejected Meta’s proposals to improve teen mental health, court document...www.cnn.com Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally and repeatedly thwarted initiatives meant to improve the well-being of teens on Facebook and Instagram, at times directly overruling some of his most senior lie...

TOMORROW: IG whistleblower Arturo Bejar testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about Meta’s impact on teens' mental health. Bejar warned Zuckerberg and Meta executives about widespread harassment. His response? Make it harder to report.

The Tech Oversight Project to Ambassador Katherine Tai: “Thank you for your leadership in improving our trade rules so that they promote rather than undermine pro-worker, anti-monopoly, pro-consumer-privacy and anti-online-discrimination goals.” 💯

.@glaad’s Social Media Safety Index makes it crystal clear. Elon Musk and X spread violence, harassment, and hate against LGBTQ people.

A year after Elon Musk bought Twitter, LGBTQ people say it has become toxicwww.nbcnews.com On Musk’s X, users are allowed to deadname and misgender transgender people and make money off of anti-LGBTQ content.

Thank you, Ambassador Katherine Tai! It is critically important that USTR support President Biden’s competition agenda & AI Bill of Rights because we need to create freer and fairer markets online.

U.S. Decision on WTO E-Commerce Talks Today Is a Welcome Step Toward Aligning U.S. Trade Policy With...www.citizen.org Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. government announced its decision to withdraw support for proposals on data flows and source…

Meta’s record speaks for itself: they have fought tooth & nail against every effort to improve design features to make their products less addictive. We applaud this bipartisan group of AG's for taking bold action for a safer internet that empowers young people online.

White House to unveil sweeping AI executive order next weekwww.washingtonpost.com President Biden’s long-anticipated AI executive order marks the government’s most significant attempt to regulate the swiftly evolving technology.

Who better to push for passage of The Kids Online Safety Act than those experiencing the firsthand effects of Big Tech’s ruthless quest for money and dominance? Lawmakers need to listen to young people and mothers and pass #KOSA ASAP.

BREAKING: 41 states sue to hold @meta accountable for the youth mental health crisis they helped create. Zuckerberg and co. intentionally designed products that are addictive & harmful to kids. We cannot let them continue profiting while children suffer.

41 states sue Meta, claiming Instagram, Facebook are addictive, harm kidswww.washingtonpost.com Dozens of states are accusing Facebook and Instagram parent Meta of designing addictive features that harm kids.

Princess Abary, a 17-year-old high school senior from California, makes the case for why we need to pass #KOSA and put the onus on Big Tech to design platforms and algorithms that are safe for young users. Read more here🔗

Community Voices: We need to protect Gen Z from Big Tech; KOSA is our best optionwww.bakersfield.com Generation Z, parents, educators, health professionals and the U.S. surgeon general all agree: We are in the middle of a youth mental crisis, and Big Tech is to blame.

CA Attorney General Rob Bonta took a critical stand. By appealing the egregious ruling by CA Judge Labson Freeman, he makes it clear: Big Tech companies cannot get a free pass to put profit over kids’ safety online. #ThankyouAGBonta!

Leave it to Google to fund Net Choice’s war on kids AND a lawsuit to take away digital protections for kids, then LIE about it.

Google asks Congress to not ban teens from social mediat.co Some states require parental permission for teens to use social media.

@revolvingdoordc.bsky.social calls for District Judge Beth Freeman, who holds stock in multiple tech giants, to recuse from a case that may decide the fate of the CA AADC. “It is incredibly easy to avoid conflicts of interest in cases like these.”

RELEASE: JUDGE INVESTED IN BIG TECH SHOULD NOT DECIDE ON CONSTITUTIONALITY OF LAW THAT BIG TECH LOBB...therevolvingdoorproject.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Jeff Hauser, (202) 957-9719 On September 18, Judge Beth Labson Freeman of the Northern District of California granted the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction ...

ELECTION WATCH: Tech companies have been cutting back their election integrity work, and new AI companies lack the resources to effectively manage the risks their tools pose to elections. This is a five-alarm fire–our electoral integrity is at stake.

Researchers, activists try to get ahead of AI-driven election misinformationwww.axios.com New organizations and ad campaigns seek to educate voters and help governments.

.@Google pays @Apple BILLIONS of dollars to be the search default on Apple products. This isn’t competitive–this is cornering the market. www.theverge.com/2023/10/11/2...

❗Over half of Americans believe that misinformation spread by AI will impact who wins the 2024 election. Why? Because it’s already happening on Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.

Trolls in Slovakian Election Tap AI Deepfakes to Spread Disinfowww.bloomberg.com Videos featuring AI-generated deepfake voices of politicians are spreading on social media ahead of the Slovak parliamentary elections this weekend, showcasing how the emergent technology is being har...

Meta quietly fired 21,000 workers – their entire product safety and election integrity teams. Just after they launch their "Twitter Killer"? Meta has never done enough to stop disinformation. They have lied to Congress and to us and cannot be trusted. https://l8.nu/rIbC

Meta cut election teams months before Threads launch, raising concerns for 2024 | CNN Businessl8.nu Meta has made cuts to its teams that tackle disinformation and coordinated troll and harassment campaigns on its platforms, people with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN, raising concerns ahe...