California
Stories
The Algorithm Accountability Act’s Threat to Free Speech
By going after algorithms instead of posts, lawmakers seem to think they’re not going against the First Amendment.
Lawsuit Claims Google Secretly Used Gemini AI to Scan Private Gmail and Chat Data
Whether the claims are true or not, privacy in Google’s universe has long been less a right than a nostalgic illusion.
Court Keeps California’s Online ID Law Dream Alive
California’s push to verify every user’s age online inches closer to reality as the state tests the limits of privacy in the name of protection.
FBI and Twitter Met on the Eve of the Midterms
The newly uncovered email exposes a quiet intersection of government power and social media control just days before voters went to the polls.
California Opens Public Comment on Online Age Verification ID
A plan to shield kids from social media addiction could end up forcing every Californian to trade privacy for permission to speak online.
Judge Orders Tech CEOs to Testify in Case Using Algorithmic Design Rules as a New Avenue for Indirect Online Censorship Pressure
For the first time, design choices, not just direct speech, are being treated as moral acts in a court of law.
Newsom Approves New Tech Rules: Social Media Warnings, Chatbot Surveillance, Age Verification
What begins as child protection ends as an unprecedented mandate to tag, track, and watch every digital move.
California Becomes First State to Mandate Web Browsers Offer One-Click Data Sale Opt-Out Under New Privacy Law
A single click could soon silence the data brokers lurking behind every scroll and search.
California Court Rules SMUD Illegally Shared Customer Utility Data With Police
A decade-long dragnet of household energy use meets its match in a courtroom siding with privacy over profiling.
Ted Cruz Targets Government “Jawboning” of Big Tech, Vows Legislation
The senator’s sights are set against a digital speech crackdown he says is cloaked in national security.
Supreme Court Rejects Google’s Bid to Delay Play Store Reforms in Epic Games Antitrust Case
Google braces for a forced reckoning as its Play Store monopoly faces a court-mandated teardown.
YouTube to Pay Trump $24.5M in Censorship Lawsuit Settlement
YouTube cuts a check but keeps its content playbook sealed.
