Dan Frieth
Dan is interested in political policies around the world and how they impact internet users and creators. [email protected]
The FISA Surveillance Tool Is Up for Renewal, and the SAVE Act Is Riding Shotgun
Modest but meaningful surveillance reforms, warrant requirements, parallel construction limits, may die on the vine if they stay hitched to a bill the Senate won’t pass.
Chat Control: EU Parliament Blocked One Form of Mass Surveillance, But Is Pushing for Another
Parliament won the battle over mass scanning, but the version of this law that actually passes could still harm encrypted communication forever.
Florida Gives Tech Platforms Deadline for Age ID Checks
Uthmeier’s April 8 deadline gives platforms one month to build the identity surveillance infrastructure that Florida’s child-protection framing was designed to make you forget about.
House Committee Passes Child “Safety” Bills That Push National Age Verification Surveillance
The bills arrive dressed as child protection but leave behind a mandate to build the largest ID grab in American consumer history.
UAE Threatens Residents With Prison for Sharing Unverified News During Missile Strikes
The law was written before the missiles arrived, but its timing couldn’t be more useful for a government that would prefer its residents experience a war only through official channels.
Replit CEO Sues Rep. Fine Over X Block
A sarcastic joke is now the centerpiece of a First Amendment case that could add to precedent about how members of Congress use their official social media accounts.
A UK Labour Minister Just Resigned Over a Secret Plot to Silence Journalists Using a Spy Agency
Simons was accused of running a thinktank dedicated to fighting “disinformation,” then used a government intelligence body to spread it.
FTC Says Companies Can Collect Kids’ Personal Data, As Long As It’s Called “Age Verification”
The agency charged with enforcing the law that restricts children’s data collection just carved out an exception large enough to swallow the law itself.
Macron Asks Trump to Lift Visa Ban on Censorship Law Architect
Macron is asking Washington to welcome back the architect of the law that got X fined.
Newsom Backs Teen Social Media Ban After Daughter’s Birthday Party Phone Moment
The governor who couldn’t bring himself to say “put the phones down” at his own daughter’s party is now asking the state to say it for every family in California.
Zuckerberg’s “Fix” for Child Safety Could End Anonymous Internet Access for Everyone
Zuckerberg spent five hours defending Instagram’s design choices, and walked out having handed legislators and regulators their preferred blueprint for a national digital ID system.
US Plans freedom.gov Website to Host Content Banned by EU and UK Censorship Laws
The portal is Washington’s opening move in a direct confrontation with European governments over who gets to decide what their citizens can read.