Tag: Taylor Lorenz

Is Silicon Valley actually making progress, or are they just breaking the world for profit?

In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I’m joined by legal scholar and surveillance expert Albert Fox Cahn to dismantle the “Move Fast and Break Things” ethos that has dominated tech for a decade. From the multibillion-dollar failure of the Metaverse to the “innovation theater” of the Apple Vision Pro, we explore why the most hyped technologies are often the most disastrous.
We dive deep into the dark side of home security, revealing how Ring cameras have turned from safety tools into a massive surveillance network for law enforcement, sometimes even recording your most private moments without a warrant. We also tackle the “AI bubble,” the myth of police body cameras, and why the “boring” analog solutions are often the safest bet for our future.
Albert is the founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) and the author of the new book, Move Slow and Upgrade: The Power of Incremental Innovation.

Taylor Lorenz

🚨 URGENT: Section 230 is under attack and it affects EVERY person who uses the internet. This is part 1 of my deep-dive series exposing the truth about the most important internet law ever created.

The Trump Admin Censored Jimmy Kimmel — And They’re Not Done

A commenter wrote this correction about the video:

1:25 Incorrect ❌ Jimmy never said the perpetrator is MAGA. What he said was that MAGA are doing everything hoping he’s not one of theirs. Massive difference! He said that because there was discourse about the perpetrators political beliefs so Jimmy was pointing out how the President & those on the right prematurely/irresponsibly blamed the left. It was a sensible statement from Jimmy. How people misinterpret words to suit their agenda is worrying. The truth is Trump’s cronies applied pressure to the network & this supposed joke was used as an excuse to get Jimmy off the air. (@Junier-Hussein on YouTube)

Footage of a couple on a giant screen during a Coldplay concert in Boston went viral because the man and woman were married—but not to each other. Within minutes of the video being posted on TikTok and X, users banded together to identify the couple in the video using AI and facial recognition.

Crowdsourced social media investigations are becoming more common, and those responsible are increasingly using dystopian surveillance technologies that police and federal agencies are using against illegal immigrants and marginalized groups. At the same time, our privacy is being eroded.

Jason Koebler of 404 Media sat down with Taylor Lorenz to explore the origins of the surveillance and entertainment economy, how and why it evolved, and what we can do to protect ourselves.

The UK’s Online Safety Act came into force this week and has wreaked enormous havoc. Entire forums, websites, communities, and important journalistic content are being censored. Users are being forced to scan their faces to use apps like Spotify and YouTube.

Like all such terrible censorship laws, the Online Safety Act claims to protect children from the dangers of pornographic and adult content. However, immediately after it came into force, platforms began classifying almost all breaking news, war reports, investigative journalism, political protest materials, and information on reproductive and public health as “explicit” or “harmful” content, thus denying access to it to anyone under 18.

Taylor Lorenz explains the consequences of the UK’s Online Safety Act, its significance for the future of the internet, and what we in the US face if we don’t act quickly to protect free speech online.