Mastodawn

Age gates keep getting sold as online safety, but EFF's latest piece on California's A.B. 1043 is a sharp reminder that they can become censorship infrastructure instead.

EFF argues that these systems push more people to hand over age data, increase breach risks, harm small and open-source developers, and chill lawful speech.

Read the link below.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/ab-1043s-internet-age-gates-hurt-everyone

Privacy, free expression, and open platforms rise or fall together. Which part of the web do you think is most at risk when age-gating becomes normal?

#Privacy #DigitalRights #FreeSpeech #FreedomOfExpression #OpenSource #Decentralisation

A.B. 1043’s Internet Age Gates Hurt Everyone

Legislators do not need to sacrifice their constituents' First Amendment rights and privacy to make a safer internet, but they can address many of the harms these proposals seek to mitigate.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

WIST Quotations 46m ago

A quotation from Henry Commager

A nation which, in the name of loyalty or of patriotism or of a sincere and high-sounding idea, discourages criticism and dissent, and puts a premium on acquiescence and conformity, is headed for disaster.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1949-11-05), “What Ideas Are Safe?” Saturday Review

More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #commager #henrycommager #acquiescence #conformity #control #dissent #freespeech #freedomofspeech #freedomofthought #heterodoxy #intolerance #loyalty #orthodoxy #patriotism #security #intellectualfreedom

RΛSTΞRIZΞD DΩΩM 2h ago

On 29 March 2026, the Dutch cabinet (led by PM Rob Jetten) approved a bill allowing police to monitor public social media, collect names and messages of demonstrators - even if they’ve committed no offence. Reason: better control of protests.
Justice Minister David van Weel calls it "21st-century policing". The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) and the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights strongly criticise the proposal for lacking clear boundaries, risking mass tracking, discrimination, and threats to privacy, free speech, and the right to protest.
Now heading to Parliament. A dangerous precedent for Europe.
I want to bring this to your attention @bitsoffreedom
Article in Dutch: https://trouw.nl/binnenland/burgers-zonder-verdenking-online-in-de-gaten-houden-hard-nodig-vindt-dit-kabinet~b26b3b7e/
#Privacy #FreeSpeech #Surveillance #DigitalRights #ProtestRights

Burgers zonder verdenking online in de gaten houden? Hard nodig, vindt dit kabinet

De ministerraad is akkoord met een wetsvoorstel om de politie ‘naar de 21ste eeuw’ te brengen. Maar experts schrikken van de nieuwe mogelijkheden in die wet.

Trouw

CascaCasca95 4h ago

#SayNoToAgeVerification #Privacy #Stopchatcontrol #StopCensorship #Freespeech #ProtectOnlineAnonymity

Btw this is a post that I made on Bluesky to share with you all on Mastodon here. To summarize: Keep up the complaints about chatcontrol, real name requirements, age verification, KOSA, Age/ID verification and other shitty laws that are planned to be implemented or have been already implemented. Don't let the backlashes quiet down, warn others and feel free to share my post.

Alexjan 5h ago

"Offensive" is a sharp, fictional dive into the decay of mass media. When journalist Matteo Pagani delivers a scandalous, alcohol-fueled awards speech, he exposes the self-referential rot of the press and challenges the boundaries of political correctness. This narrative explores uncomfortable social dynamics, questioning if integrity is dead or just sold to the highest bidder. A provocative must-read for those weary of media hypocrisy.
#Offensive #MediaCritique #Journalism #FreeSpeech #Satire

𝙻𝙴𝚅𝙸

6h ago

RE: https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/116307429187383416

I'm not worried about the surveillance laws as much as I'm worried about the "bUt wE cAn mAKe iT pRivAte" camp

#ageverification #authoritarianism #SaveTheChildren #thinkofthechildren #epstein #surveillance #bigtech #government #privacy #anonymity #humanrights #FreeSoftware #freespeech #ubuntu #linux #fedora #arch #archlinux #agelesslinux #artix #whonix #tails #systemd #opensource #openknowledge #openaccess #cyberlaw #infosec

India Tech 🇮🇳 AI News 9h ago

Union minister Nitin Gadkari has filed a 50 crore INR defamation suit against YouTuber Mohan, whose phone was seized by police in Nagpur after he posted a video based on a Caravan magazine report about alleged business links. The case has raised concerns about freedom of speech and press freedom in India. https://www.medianama.com/2026/03/223-nitin-gadkari-filed-rs-50-crore-defamation-suit-against-youtuber-over-video-based-caravan-report/ #India #Tech #Policy #FreeSpeech