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Project Liberty

@projectliberty.io

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Project Liberty builds solutions that help people take back control of their lives in the digital age by reclaiming a voice, choice, and stake in a better internet. Find out more at https://projectliberty.io.

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Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · Apr 2

1/10 Hello! We wanted to introduce ourselves. We are Project Liberty. Project Liberty is building an ecosystem to empower people to take back control of their digital lives by reclaiming a voice, choice, and stake in a better internet.

Illustrative graphic that says Hello. We are Project Liberty.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

12/ Thanks for reading. And from everyone here at Project Liberty – have a wonderful weekend! 🗽

Read this week’s Project Liberty newsletter on trust in the age of AI: tinyurl.com/vhh3wvn7

Join the fight to build a better Internet: projectliberty.io

Who do you trust more: AI or politicians?

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

11/ The FTC filed a complaint against Sendit, an anonymous Q&A app popular with Gen Z, for unlawfully collecting children’s data, deceiving users about who sent them messages, and tricking them into buying memberships.

tinyurl.com/39ppa3jm

Anonymous question app Sendit deceived children and illegally collected their data, FTC alleges | TechCrunch

On Sendit, teens can send each other anonymous questions via integrations with Instagram or Snapchat.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

10/ The DOJ and Google remain locked in a court battle over the future of AdX, Google’s signature ad exchange and the focus of its antitrust trial. 🧑‍⚖️

This week, witness testimonies focused on the impact of AI-powered search on human web traffic.

tinyurl.com/5n7tjryu

US v. Google redux: all the news from the ad tech trial

Will Google have to sell its ad business?

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

9/ Tech giants are heavily lobbying the EU to weaken its signature tech competition law, the Digital Markets Act.

Apple wants it scrapped entirely; Google wants major changes; both have faced big fines under the DMA in recent years.

tinyurl.com/2vzhwump

The battle over the EU’s Big Tech rules begins. Here are 5 fights to watch.

The European Union’s digital competition rules, loathed by U.S. President Donald Trump, are being reviewed to see what’s working and what’s not.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

8/ Ex-Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who pushed for social media warning labels to combat a youth mental health crisis, has joined the board of directors of Common Sense Media, a leading US advocate for kids’ online safety. 🩺

tinyurl.com/vf6v6jyc

Biden’s Surgeon General Vivek Murthy joins kids’ online safety group

Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer said he envisions the trained physician as a spokesperson for kids’ safety controls on social media and AI.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

7/ Indonesia fined TikTok for failing to inform antitrust authorities of its deal with e-commerce giant Tokopedia and removed its license for refusing to share data on anti-government protestors. 🚨

on.ft.com/42nE4F4

tinyurl.com/3w3dh2mb

Indonesia suspends TikTok’s licence over refusal to share protest data

South-east Asian country is video app’s second-biggest market after the US

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

6/ Instagram is testing a Reels-first UI for users in India and South Korea – seemingly confirming the app’s transition from social media to content consumption. 📱

tinyurl.com/5xtapk9k

Instagram is testing a Reels-first UI in India and South Korea | TechCrunch

Instagram is testing a new Reels-first UI in India and South Korea to give short videos more prominence in the app.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

5/ Aaron Sorkin will write and direct ‘The Social Reckoning,’ a sequel to 2010’s ‘The Social Network,’ which will star Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg and Mikey Madison as Frances Haugen, the leaker behind The Facebook Files of 2021. 🎬

tinyurl.com/3bdn6xnp

'The Social Network' sequel will focus on Haugen leaks, with Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg | TechCrunch

Fifteen years after "The Social Network," director Aaron Sorkin is making a sequel film about Facebook called "The Social Reckoning."

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

4/ On that note: Joseph Gordon-Levitt said Meta’s chatbot is dangerous for kids and pushed for federal guardrails around how such AI companions interact with underage users. 🤖

tinyurl.com/w33v8xjz

Video: Opinion | Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Meta’s A.I. Chatbot Is Dangerous for Kids

Mark Zuckerberg has a vision for how A.I. could be used in Meta’s universe. But the actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt is here to point out a flaw: the lack of federal guardrails around how chat...

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

3/ Meta will begin mining users’ conversations with its Meta AI chatbot conversations to fill their social media feeds on Instagram and Facebook with hyper-targeted ads and posts – with no opt-out option. 👁️

tinyurl.com/4v75kbwa

Meta Will Use AI Chat History to Serve You Even More Targeted Ads

You thought your social media feed was eerily personalized? Get ready for more. And there's no way to opt-out.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

2/ Sources said that the Trump administration’s TikTok deal would allow ByteDance to continue to run US advertising and e-commerce on the app, while Oracle would take control of its proprietary content recommendation algorithm. 💱

tinyurl.com/3s7m4atm

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 5d

1/ Happy Friday from Project Liberty! Here’s our Week in Review for Sept 27-Oct 3. Let’s dive in 👇

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

15/ As always, thanks for reading. And from everyone here at Project Liberty – have a wonderful weekend! 🗽

Join the fight to build a better Internet: projectliberty.io

Home Page - Project Liberty

Project LibertyTM is leading a movement of people who want to take back control of their lives in the digital age by reclaiming a voice, choice, and stake in a better internet.

projectliberty.io

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

14/ Hillary Clinton called out AI and social media for “supercharging lies” online and making users vulnerable to “manipulation and deeper polarization.” 🤥

Clinton has called for repealing Section 230 and global cooperation on AI governance.

tinyurl.com/2jezrsuc

Hillary Clinton: AI, social media ‘supercharging lies’

Hillary Clinton said in remarks Tuesday that AI and social media have “broken” how information spreads. “Our information ecosystem is broken,” Clinton said at the Clinton Global Initiative in New …

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

13/ The remedies phase of Google’s adtech antitrust trial began, sparking a battle over the web’s currency: ad space. 🧑‍⚖️

The DOJ wants Google to sell its ad exchange and publisher ad server, a proposal Google called “radical and reckless.”

tinyurl.com/dhd5r5fd

Google begins its battle for the ‘unofficial currency of the internet’

Only a break up will restore ad tech competition, the government says.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

12/ A Meta whistleblower said that children and teens on Instagram are still at risk from online harmful content despite new safety tools. 🛟

Facebook and Messenger launched Teen Accounts globally this week.

tinyurl.com/2bwv55s3

tinyurl.com/4x9c9chm

Instagram new safety tools ineffective expose minors to harm

A study led by a Meta whistleblower shows that children are still at risk from online harmful content on Instagram despite introducing safety tools.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

11/ Canada's privacy watchdog said TikTok’s efforts to protect children on its platform and prevent the collection and misuse of personal data were “inadequate.” 🇨🇦

This follows the government ordering TikTok to dissolve its Canada operations last year.

tinyurl.com/47ctpmpm

Canada's privacy watchdog says TikTok should keep kids off platform

Canada's privacy watchdog called for TikTok to enhance protection for children on the social video platform.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

10/ In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, House GOP lawmakers sent letters to Discord, Github, Reddit, and Twitch requesting information on how they monitor extremist content and flag concerning posts for law enforcement. 📨

tinyurl.com/bdw69nh8

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

9/ Meta also announced a new “pay-or-consent” model for Instagram and Facebook in the UK. Users can now choose whether to stick with Meta’s targeted ads model or pay a monthly fee to keep using both platforms. 💲

tinyurl.com/597kwd7w

Meta brings optional ad-free ‘pay or consent’ model to the UK

Meta is going to charge U.K. users much less than EU users for ad-free services.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

8/ Instagram and Threads are testing tools to allow users to control what their feeds look like. IG will let users “toggle” topics and Threads will let users request changes by tagging the site’s algorithm in posts. 🤳

tinyurl.com/359tdfat

tinyurl.com/ytsusaat

Instagram now has 3 billion monthly active users, will test features to help users control their feeds | TechCrunch

As Instagram celebrates the 3 billion milestone, it also plans to roll out features that help users control what content is algorithmically recommended to them.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

7/ Bluesky said it would ramp up content moderation and enforcement efforts for users. 🦋

This follows its launch of age-verification tech to comply with new laws banning social media for minors in several US states.

tinyurl.com/552pc7ze

Bluesky says it’s getting more aggressive about moderation and enforcement | TechCrunch

It sounds like Bluesky is getting serious about giving some users the boot, with the company saying it will be doing more to “enforce our moderation policies to better cultivate a space for healthy co...

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

6/ The EU’s Ursula von der Leyen called for a bloc-wide age minimum to access social media platforms, which the European Commission said it’d be open to implementing. 🇪🇺

tinyurl.com/4pzrn3vv

tinyurl.com/5n967mws

Von der Leyen calls for minimum age to access social media

Commission chief throws weight behind calls to ban social media use for kids.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

5/ Apple clashed with the EU over its landmark antitrust law, the Digital Markets Act, claiming that its interoperability rules are delaying new features like Live Translation, while the EU criticized Apple for abandoning compliance talks. 🍎

archive.ph/K3qGI

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

4/ Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation and Michael Dell may also join the previously announced consortium of a16z, Silver Lake, and Oracle in acquiring 80% of TikTok's US business. 🦊

tinyurl.com/mrx24pcp

Rupert Murdoch, Michael Dell part of U.S. TikTok buyer group, Trump says

The White House says a deal should be signed in the coming days.

Project Liberty @projectliberty.io · 12d

3/ Under the terms of the deal, 6 of TikTok’s 7 board seats will be filled by US execs with cyber/national security backgrounds, and Larry Ellison’s Oracle will manage privacy and data security for “TikTok US.” 💼

tinyurl.com/bdfu6jm4

TikTok deal will be signed soon, with U.S. control of algorithm, White House says

It's still not clear exactly who will own the app or how the deal will work in practice for users.