Nah I just think there are too few likes on that! What's wrong with people haha
I think this is genuinely very funny, pls give @cbarrie.bsky.social more likes!
by Christopher Barrie — Reposted by: Aleksandra Urman
This got two, *two*, likes and I think it's the funniest thing I've ever posted
Reposted by: Aleksandra Urman
🔥Das Genfer IT-Unternehmen Infomaniak hat Beschwerde eingelegt gegen die Verlängerung der Public Cloud-Rahmenverträge zwischen der Bundeskanzlei und Microsoft und Amazon (2025-2030). www.letemps.ch/cyber/souver...
Infomaniak fait recours contre la prolongation des contrats pour les services cloud de la Confédération - Le Temps
Les autorités fédérales ont reconduit mi-septembre pour cinq ans leur engagement avec des prestataires américains et chinois pour la gestion des données publiques de l’administration. La société genev...
www.letemps.ch
Reposted by: Aleksandra Urman
A new page in the disinformation challenge?
With sora (openai) and vibes (meta) we are looking at even lower thresholds for misleading content
So far we have learned that neither AI companies nor platforms will step up to meet the challenges when it comes to democracy.
www.npr.org/2025/10/03/n...
With sora (openai) and vibes (meta) we are looking at even lower thresholds for misleading content
So far we have learned that neither AI companies nor platforms will step up to meet the challenges when it comes to democracy.
www.npr.org/2025/10/03/n...
Kiss reality goodbye: AI-generated social media has arrived
With the launch of Sora 2, OpenAI has opened a new chapter in addictive, and some worry dangerous, AI video content.
www.npr.org
Your every reply is more depressing than the other :) not necessarily decentralised, but open. hardware I agree, search perhaps too though I am thinking of public indices/not sure what's feasible there. Re OS - well we have Linux, so there could be hope for something similar
Ok, fair enough. Then the answer was open and decentralised tech development all along, I guess :)
Also political values is the broadest thing ever. I feel like all my values these days are political one way or another, whether I like and want that or not :)
Reposted by: Aleksandra Urman, Nicolai von Ondarza
Meta’s decision to ban ads about politics, elections, and social issues on their platforms like Facebook and Instagram in the EU is now implemented.
This is the new policy. Any ad about fx elections, civil rights, economy, health, climate, immigration, or foreign policy is now (presumably) banned.
This is the new policy. Any ad about fx elections, civil rights, economy, health, climate, immigration, or foreign policy is now (presumably) banned.
Reposted by: Aleksandra Urman
The Sora team has shared how their feed works.
It prioritizes content from your network, not strangers like TikTok. It personalizes using your activity, engagement, ChatGPT history, and creator signals like follower count, with some knobs to tune it to your taste if you want to tweak the algorithm
It prioritizes content from your network, not strangers like TikTok. It personalizes using your activity, engagement, ChatGPT history, and creator signals like follower count, with some knobs to tune it to your taste if you want to tweak the algorithm
The Sora feed philosophy
Discover the Sora feed philosophy—built to spark creativity, foster connections, and keep experiences safe with personalized recommendations, parental controls, and strong guardrails.
openai.com
Yeah, I get this conflict and I don't think there is an easy solution here. I don't know, maybe start with a bit of transparency on how/when/etc these decisions are made, what's at stake. Communicate with the users a bit. But that's not how they operate either :)
If I remember correctly these were people from some legal division, so I asked how they decide which government requests to fulfill, especially in the cases listed above. And yeah either too many NDAs prevented them from talking or they genuinely didn't know, I never figured it out. Bad anyway.
And since I am in a bit of a rage posting mode, I must say I thoroughly "enjoyed" talking to Google representatives at Trust and Safety conference in Stanford last year who were either under too many NDAs or oblivious their company has been blocking apps in Russia, HK or Belarus. Because who cares.
Oh and exhibit 2 was the wrong link, should have been this www.bbc.com/news/busines...
Google pulls Hong Kong protestor game from store
Another company faces a boycott for banning an esports player who supported the protestors.
www.bbc.com
TLDR: if a big tech company needs to bow to an autocrat (or a wanna-be one), it will.
The above cases are the first that came to mind, there were more just in HK/Belarus/Russia alone. Surely there is way more in China, Iran, and really everywhere. See the great data collection effort and work done by people at applecensorship.com and googlecensorship.org
Apple Censorship
Tracking App status globally
applecensorship.com
Exhibit 5, Apple (Google does this too) removing VPN apps on the request of Russian authorities. Note, this is post 2022. english.elpais.com/internationa...
Apple quietly deletes nearly a hundred VPNs that allowed Russians to get around censorship
The multinational has removed dozens of apps, even though the Kremlin’s censorship body did not order the move. These services, half-permitted by the government, enable people in Russia to access soci...
english.elpais.com
Exhibit 4, Apple and Google both remove Navalny voting app in Russia www.reuters.com/world/europe...
Google, Apple remove Navalny app from stores as Russian elections begin
Alphabet's Google and Apple have removed jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's tactical voting app from their stores, his team said on Friday, after Russia accused the U.S. tech firms of meddling in its internal affairs.
www.reuters.com
Exhibit 3, apple (allegedly?) pressuring Telegram to remove content related to 2020 protests in Belarus www.newsweek.com/apple-censor...
Apple Is Censoring Belarus Protesters, Activists Say
"We're mostly concerned that if those criminals understand that no one can find them behind [their] mask, they'll ramp up the violence against protesters tenfold," an activist told Newsweek.
www.newsweek.com
Exhibit 2 (same as above but G, not Apple) www.npr.org/2019/10/10/7...
After China Objects, Apple Removes App Used By Hong Kong Protesters
HKmap.live has been used by pro-democracy activists to keep track of protests and police activity. Apple says it was removed from the App Store because it was being used to "endanger law enforcement."
www.npr.org
Yep, just a quick reminder this is nothing new, it's just now this practice has come to the US.
Apple and Google have been removing similar and other apps used e.g. by protesters in authoritarian contexts this whole time, a 🧵 of selected cases:
Exhibit 1, Hong Kong www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/t...
Apple and Google have been removing similar and other apps used e.g. by protesters in authoritarian contexts this whole time, a 🧵 of selected cases:
Exhibit 1, Hong Kong www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/t...
We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...
signal.org
Reposted by: Aleksandra Urman
lol, Russia's federal censor says Telegram channels with more than 10k readers are legally bound to register with the agency, which requires granting administrative access to a special government-run bot, allowing the authorities to view complete subscribers lists. t.me/rkn_tg/1658
РоскомнадZор
☝️ Регистрация каналов в Telegram. Не забывайте про обязательные этапы!
В связи с поступающими обращениями разъясняем 👇
После подачи заявления на регистрацию через портал Госуслуг необходимо обязате...
t.me
Come work with us 🚨
We are looking for a #postdoc in our @aimediademlab.bsky.social lab.
Profile: Comm sci / poli sci/ computational social science.
Great team, timely topocs, fabulous city, good conditions.
DL 🗓️ November 1
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
We are looking for a #postdoc in our @aimediademlab.bsky.social lab.
Profile: Comm sci / poli sci/ computational social science.
Great team, timely topocs, fabulous city, good conditions.
DL 🗓️ November 1
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
Vacancy — Postdoctoral researcher Communication Science at AI, Media & Democracy Lab
Do you want to be part of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab? We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a profile in communication science.
werkenbij.uva.nl
Also yes I am posting random things procrastinating on filing my reimbursements for the past month, ofc.
Also I don't remember who exactly the colleague was unfortunately, hence no direct "citation" possible :)
With the exception of COVID, since pretty much the start of my PhD at least one academic institution always owes me some reimbursement money. This loop never ends. A colleague recently suggested (jokingly) we should ask for the payback with interest, and I think it's not a bad idea at this point.
Reposted by: Aleksandra Urman, Greg Linden
The Sora thing is so bleak and shows how far we've come from AI companies pretending they did not train on copyrighted material
www.404media.co/openais-sora...
www.404media.co/openais-sora...
OpenAI’s Sora 2 Copyright Infringement Machine Features Nazi SpongeBobs and Criminal Pikachus
The main use of Sora appears to generate brainrot of major beloved copyrighted characters, to say nothing of the millions of articles, images, and videos OpenAI has scraped.
www.404media.co
Reposted by: Aleksandra Urman
OpenAI's Sora app makes it too easy for people to create misleading AI content.
OpenAI's new social app is filled with terrifying Sam Altman deepfakes | TechCrunch
OpenAI's Sora app makes it too easy for people to create misleading AI content.
techcrunch.com
by Jelena Subotić — Reposted by: Aleksandra Urman
This is so incredibly dumb and a waste of everyone’s time and money.
