Category «Internet»

Censorship and repression: Proton VPN’s end of year report 2025

The past year marked another challenging one for democracy and internet freedom. A notable trend was the increasing willingness of authoritarian governments to damage their own economies and the livelihoods of citizens by implementing total internet shutdowns. Most notable, however, was the increasing threat to internet freedom in Western democracies by-and-large considered “free.” From age …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

Texting a Random Stranger Better for Loneliness Than Talking to a Chatbot

Ruo-Ning Li, Dunigan Folk, Abhay Singh, Lyle Ungar, Elizabeth Dunn, Is a random human peer better than a highly supportive chatbot in reducing loneliness over time?, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 125, 2026, 104911, ISSN 0022-1031, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2026.104911. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103126000417) Abstract: AI chatbots are increasingly embedded in social life, offering accessible companionship. While brief interactions have …

Subjects: AI, Health Care, Internet, Social Media

The Anthropic Institute

“From inside a frontier AI lab, we confront the most significant challenges about how powerful AI will impact the world around us.. The Anthropic Institute exists to understand and shape the consequences of powerful AI systems. We focus on the urgent questions that will determine whether these systems deliver the radical upsides that we believe …

Subjects: AI, Copyright, Courts, Economy, Education, Financial System, Internet, Knowledge Management

I stopped my data from being used to train AI

MakeUseOf: “I’ll be honest: I’m not thrilled about the fact that anything I’ve ever written — especially the whip-smart comments on questionable Subreddits — has probably been used to train LLMs. There’s little I can do to change that. Copyright laws are tipped in favor of AI companies because, so far, the onus is on …

Subjects: AI, Copyright, Cybersecurity, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Encyclopedia Britannica suing OpenAI for allegedly “memorizing” its content with ChatGPT

The Verge – “On Friday, Encyclopedia Britannica and dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster filed a lawsuit against OpenAI alleging that it used their copyrighted content to train its AI, then generated responses that were “substantially similar” to their content, as previously reported by Reuters. According to Britannica, OpenAI repeatedly copied its content without permission, stating, “GPT-4 itself …

Subjects: AI, Copyright, Courts, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines

The Removed DOGE Deposition Videos Have Already Been Backed Up Across the Internet

Follow-up to $21.7 Billion Blunder: New PSI Report Reveals Billions in Taxpayer Dollars Squandered by DOGE – See Also 404 Media [no paywall] – “The DOGE deposition videos a judge ordered removed from YouTube on Friday after they had gone massively viral have since been backed up across the internet, including as a torrent and …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research

Electronic Surveillance Under Scrutiny as Trump Targets Left Wing Groups as “Domestic Terrorists”

SpyTalk: “FEW NATIONAL SECURITY DEBATES HAVE RILED UP AMERICANS more than the permission Congress has given the government to eavesdrop on their private emails and phone calls. The legislation that gave these intrusive powers to the likes of the NSA and the FBI is up for renewal later this spring, and signs are that it …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Mail, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation

Why is everyone on speakerphone in public?

Ars Technica – Your phone still functions when held to your ear, people! “…Ever since people began emerging from their pandemic isolation, I’ve seen a shocking amount of public speakerphone usage. Especially—of all places—in the grocery store. I can only assume that picking out spicy hummus and chicken tikka masala at Trader Joe’s is so …

Subjects: Internet