WATCH ALL FREE SPEECH FRIDAY EPISODES ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNELThe stated goal of the Take it Down Act is to combat non consensual intimate images (NCII), colloquially known as revenge p**n. This includes things like AI generated nude deep fakes and other explicit imagery shared without a person's consent. Cracking down on this seems great right? Sadly that's not what this law does. What the Take It Down Act *actually* does is make it so that anyone, at any time, can get content posted about them online that they don't like taken off the internet within 48 hours, no questions asked. Becca Branum, Deputy Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's Free Expression Project has been fighting this law. She joins me to break down exactly how the Take It Down Act will function and the terrifying ways the Trump administration is already planning to weaponize it. ***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.usermag.cohttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social
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24:21
Why Students Can't Stop Using ChatGPT
Students are using ChatGPT for everything. Parents are freaking out and the media is calling it the end of education as we know it. But are students really outsourcing their minds to machines? Are we witnessing the collapse of critical thinking, or are we just afraid of what change actually looks like?In this episode, I’m joined by journalist Kat Tenbarge to break down the rise of ChatGPT in schools. We talk about whether school still serves the purpose it claims to and what does academic integrity mean in a world where AI can be used for everything?***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.usermag.cohttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social
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40:32
They're trying to ban posting about abortion online
Imagine messaging a friend on Snapchat about how to get abortion pills, or tweeting about reproductive rights and getting fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's only part of what a proposed law in Texas that seeks to criminalize discussing abortion online aims to do. It's called HB5510, and it would essentially criminalize speech about abortion in emails, on websites, in social media posts, and even private messages.Jennifer Pinsof senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non profit that fights for digital civil liberties, and she's been tracking the proposed law. She joined me to talk about how the law will work, why other states might try to replicate it, and how this will affect you even if you don’t live in Texas. ***** Please buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Jessica Valenti's piece on the law's other dangers that we mentioned in this episode is here: https://jessica.substack.com/p/texas-sb-2880-abortion-travelIf you’ve had your abortion-related content taken down, shadow-banned, or otherwise suppressed by Big Tech platforms, tell us your story here: https://www.eff.org/pages/stop-censoring-abortionFollow me:Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.usermag.cohttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.socialFor more information on EFF’s work, visit EFF.orgFor digital security and privacy tips for those seeking or providing an abortion, visit https://www.eff.org/issues/reproductive-rights
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27:25
How the Media Tricks You Into Loving the Police
If you’ve ever wondered why news media obsesses over shoplifting but ignores wage theft, or why media outlets report a "shortage" of prison guards without questioning why we imprison so many people, you've probably encountered copaganda. In this episode, award-winning civil rights lawyer and author Alec Karakatsanis joins me to discuss his phenomenal new book, Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News, and to break down all the ways that our news ecosystem is polluted with pro-police PR. We talk about how copaganda shapes literally every form of media in the U.S. and warps our perceptions of safety and justice. Alec reveals how these fear-driven narratives are fueling the rise of authoritarian policies, mass incarceration, and deepening inequality. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.usermag.coSubscribe to my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorLorenz Follow me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzFollow me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social
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39:10
Undercover AI ‘College Protester’ Bots for Cops
American police departments are using secretive AI technology to create lifelike AI personas designed to interact with real people online —like protesters and activists— for intelligence gathering. This tech is becoming more popular amid crackdowns on student protests against the war in Gaza. Leaked presentations reveal AI personas posing as various individuals, from divorced activists to teenage boys, in attempts to infiltrate online communities.404 Media's Jason Koebler joins me to break down how these AI bots work, how they're being deployed, how to identify them, and what role AI plays in the future of surveillance. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.usermag.coSubscribe to my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorLorenz Follow me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz Follow me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social
Power User explores how technology and the internet are upending our lives and the world around us. Each week, tech journalist Taylor Lorenz explores everything from online fame to emerging platforms, viral phenomena, the creator economy, and much more. Tune in every Thursday for the most influential stories that Silicon Valley often ignores.
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