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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Mike Stabile @mikestabile.bsky.social · 2d

Discord confirms that government IDs used for age-verification were compromised in a hack with a vendor.

Who could have predicted?

Oh, right.

Discord users suffer the first high-profile age-verification hack – and it's unlikely to be the last

Critics of age verification laws warned this was inevitable

www.tomsguide.com

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 2d

“The notion of AI personhood is a marketing exercise and a legal maneuver that I don’t think we should buy into,” says D&S researcher @cariatida.bsky.social. “Tilly is not an actress any more than, like, Sid the sloth from the ‘Ice Age’ movies is an actor.” www.huffpost.com/entry/ai-act...

Experts Warn This Real-World Effect Is The Most Unsettling Thing About 'AI Actor' Tilly

This Hollywood newcomer has a long list of haters already.

www.huffpost.com

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 5d

Sick burn. finance.yahoo.com/news/22-old-...

Critics see something different. Suresh Venkatasubramanian, director of the Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination, and Redesign at Brown University, said that Friend is clearly an example of a frothy AI company, but that it also bore a “pernicious” resemblance to a mostly forgotten early-20th-century fad: “radium necklaces.”  When Marie Curie’s new glowing discovery first hit the market, jewelers embedded radium in pendants and bracelets and sold them as chic wellness accessories—until decades later, people started dying of cancer.  “I look at Friend and I think, ‘Are we making the same mistake?’” Venkatasubramanian told Fortune. “We’re rushing these intimacy machines into people’s lives with no evidence they’re safe, or even helpful.”

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DeathNerd Killer @daphnek.bsky.social · 5d

Another lesson in real world jawboning. DOJ pressures one company (Apple) into compliance. The next company (Google) also complies with no direct DOJ contact at all.

The company whose Maps app tells me where the highway patrol is (thx!) won't let scared and vulnerable people share ICE location.

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 5d

I’m having a hard time understanding how offering people the option of making deepfakes of each other is attractive or sustainable, but there’s also a racialized and gendered piece of this that’s mostly ignored. Sam Altman is at no risk for the proliferation of fake videos depicting him doing crime.

I’ve fallen into Sora’s slippery slop

AI Altmans as far as the eye can see.

www.theverge.com

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 5d

NEW: ICE is planning to hire a team of nearly 30 people to surveil social media 24/7, build dossiers on people, and flag them for arrest and deportation. @dell.bsky.social has the scoop: www.wired.com/story/ice-so...

ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team

Documents show ICE plans to hire dozens of contractors to scan X, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms to target people for deportation.

www.wired.com

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 6d

Just noting that a university that signed this compact would be agreeing to gut clinics and institutes like, say, the Knight Institute, whose mandate is to promote free speech and press freedom. What would it even mean for us to be “neutral”?

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Molly White @molly.wiki · 6d

New research from AWU/CWU/Techquity on AI data workers in North America. “[L]ow paid people who are not even treated as humans [are] making the 1 billion dollar, trillion dollar AI systems that are supposed to lead our entire society and civilization into the future.”
cwa-union.org/ghost-worker...

We identify four broad themes that should concern policymakers: Workers struggle to make ends meet. 86% of surveyed workers worry about meeting their financial responsibilities, and 25% of respondents rely on public assistance, primarily food assistance and Medicaid. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (66%) report spending at least three hours weekly sitting at their computers waiting for tasks to be available, and 26% report spending more than eight hours waiting for tasks. Only 30% of respondents reported that they are paid for the time when no tasks are available. Workers reported a median hourly wage of $15 and a median workweek of 29 hours of paid time, which equates to annual earnings of $22,620. Workers perform critical, skilled work but are increasingly hamstrung by lack of control over the work process, which results in lower work output and, in turn, higher-risk AI systems. More than half of the workers who are assigned an average estimated time (AET) to complete a task felt that AETs are often not long enough to complete the task accurately. 87% of respondents report they are regularly assigned tasks for which they are not adequately trained. With limited or no access to mental health benefits, workers are unable to safeguard themselves even as they act as a first line of defense, protecting millions of people from harmful content and imperfect AI systems. Only 23% of surveyed workers are covered by health insurance from their employer. Deeply involved in every aspect of building AI systems, workers recognize the wide range of risks that these systems pose to themselves and to society at large. Fifty-two percent of surveyed workers believe they are training AI to replace other workers’ jobs, and 36% believe they are training AI to replace their own jobs. 74% were concerned about AI’s contribution to the spread of disinformation, 54% concerned about surveillance, and 47% concerned about the use of AI to suppress free speech, among other issues.

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Aliya Bhatia @aliyabhatia.bsky.social · 6d

The U.S. Admin is engaging in "data theater" and in doing so they're joining a dubious cadre of autocrats around the world who are doing the same.

Read @sydneysaubestre.bsky.social @premmtrivedi.bsky.social at @opentechinstitute.bsky.social in @foreignpolicy.com:
foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/22/u...

When U.S. Data Lies, the World Listens

The Trump administration’s manipulation of statistics is exporting uncertainty into the international system.

foreignpolicy.com

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Dhanaraj Thakur @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social · 6d

#TechPromCDT is back this October! It’s a night of connection, conversation, and celebration of 30+ years of tech policy. Can’t wait to see this incredible community come together again.
Oct 23 | 📍 The LINE DC
@cdt.org

cdt.org/event/2025-t...

Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Rudy wants revolution. @rude1.blacksky.team · 7d

Our new, rebranded website is live. 🚀

🤓: and, look at that -- it's federated blackskyweb.xyz/.well-known/...

Build Community Online with Decentralized Tools | Blacksky

Decentralized tools to build community online. The intercommunal net where communities govern, pool funds and stay safe on their own terms.

blackskyweb.xyz

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 6d

New research shows how AI models default to Western-style directness, missing the cultural cues that govern everyday interactions for millions of Persian speakers worldwide — with the potential to derail negotiations, damage relationships, and reinforce stereotypes. arstechnica.com/ai/2025/09/w...

When “no” means “yes”: Why AI chatbots can’t process Persian social etiquette

New study examines how a helpful AI response could become a cultural disaster in Iran.

arstechnica.com

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 7d

CDT’s @arianaaboulafia.bsky.social penned a new @techpolicypress.bsky.social op-ed on the DOJ’s lawsuit against Uber, highlighting how tech companies should improve their policies impacting disabled users, & how policymakers should aim to dismantle structural barriers to accessibility.

DOJ’s Lawsuit Against Uber Illustrates the Limits of Tech Innovation for Accessibility | TechPolicy.Press

Ariana Aboulafia explains how DOJ's Uber suit not only highlights the challenges for disabled riders, but also the limits of tech’s promise of accessibility.

www.techpolicy.press

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 7d

In 2016 Hinton predicted that AI would replace all radiologists in five years. Ten years later, why hasn't it happened? This post is a great explainer.

www.understandingai.org/p/ai-isnt-re...

AI isn't replacing radiologists

Radiology combines digital images, clear benchmarks, and repeatable tasks. But demand for human radiologists is at an all-time high.

www.understandingai.org

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Dhanaraj Thakur @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social · 7d

"In fact, early research suggests caste bias could be even more egregious in some open-source models. It’s a particularly troublesome finding as many companies in India are choosing to adopt open-source LLMs..."
www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/01/1...

#LLMs #caste

h/t @aliyabhatia.bsky.social

OpenAI is huge in India. Its models are steeped in caste bias.

India is OpenAI’s second-largest market, but ChatGPT and Sora reproduce caste stereotypes that harm millions of people.

www.technologyreview.com

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 15d

Recent headlines about Jimmy Kimmel Live! being pulled after FCC pressure show why we should talk about gov’t influence over speech. Join #FOSO2025 (Oct 28–29) as experts unpack “jawboning” & new legal protections for free expression.

cdt.org/event/the-fu...

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 15d

🎮 How can we mainstream trust & safety in online games?
Join the Center for Democracy & Technology, NYU Stern Center, and AU’s @csint-au.bsky.social on Sept 29 (in DC & virtual) for expert panels on building safer, more inclusive gaming spaces.

📍 NYU DC | 9am–1pm ET

cdt.org/event/mainst...

Mainstreaming safety and trust in online games.

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 15d

The problem with billionaires isn’t how much money they have but instead how much power they wield.

A lot of Americans won’t see Jimmy Kimmel’s return on TV because their local ABC stations are owned by MAGA corporations.

It’s notable how billionaires flexing their power is now out in the open.

Nexstar-owned ABC affiliates won't show Kimmel's return Tuesday, joining Sinclair in preempting program

Nexstar Media Group said it would join Sinclair's ABC-affiliate stations in preempting the return of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Tuesday.

www.cnbc.com

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Dhanaraj Thakur @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social · 16d

Please join us (September 29) for Mainstreaming Trust and Safety in Online Games. Organized by @cdt.org, NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, and @csint-au.bsky.social

Register for the livestream here: www.eventbrite.com/e/mainstream...

#gaming #trustandsafety

Poster for the conference Mainstreaming Trust and Safety in Online Games

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Dhanaraj Thakur @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social · 19d

Really looking forward to attending the Trust and Safety Research Conference next week. I will be presenting research we did at @cdt.org on how content moderation (including the use of large language models) work in low-resource languages in the Majority World.

#TSRConf #contentmoderation #LLMs

Speaker poster with an image of Dhanaraj Thakur for the Trust and Safety Research Conference (September 25-26, 2025).

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 20d

“Chrome’s cheating tool exemplifies Big Tech’s continuing gold rush approach to AI: launch first, consider consequences later and let society clean up the mess.”

Column | Teachers got mad about a cheat button in Chrome. Now Google’s pausing it.

Google quietly added a “homework help” button to the world’s most-used web browser. Educators say it makes cheating too easy.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 20d

Tamil speakers face a double bind online: too much moderation of their speech & too little protection from harassment. In @thehindu.com, CDT’s @aliyabhatia.bsky.social + @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social explore why moderation in Tamil is broken — & what platforms can do to fix it. www.thehindu.com/opi...

The Hindu headline titled "Inconsistent enforcement, suppressed speech, unchecked hate mar Tamil content moderation."

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Reposted by Dhanaraj Thakur

Aliya Bhatia @aliyabhatia.bsky.social · 20d

First piece in @thehindu.com! @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social and I write about the double standard Tamil speaking users face on social media, at once facing over-moderation of their speech and also under-moderation particularly of gender and caste-based attacks. Read:

www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-e...

Inconsistent enforcement, suppressed speech, unchecked hate mar Tamil content moderation

Study reveals challenges Tamil speakers face with social media content moderation, highlighting inequities and lack of transparency.

www.thehindu.com

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Dhanaraj Thakur @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social · 21d

Good to see that our op-ed in the @thehindu.com was published today. It was written by @aliyabhatia.bsky.social and myself and based on research we did at the @cdt.org on social media moderation of user generated content in Tamil.

www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-e...

Inconsistent enforcement, suppressed speech, unchecked hate mar Tamil content moderation

Study reveals challenges Tamil speakers face with social media content moderation, highlighting inequities and lack of transparency.

www.thehindu.com

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Dhanaraj Thakur @thakurdhanaraj.bsky.social · 21d

Happy to announce our call for applications for the @cdt.org Non-Resident Fellows program (2026-27). You can find more information here: cdt.org/about/fellows/

Applications are due by October 6, 2025.

CDT's Non-Resident Fellows

These are the people that make up CDT's Fellows – and we're incredibly grateful to have them help inform our work. Take a minute and get to know them.

cdt.org

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