Opinion: True digital sovereignty begins at the desktop

The year of the European Union Linux desktop may finally arrive

^{Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (The Register)}

Nearly all U.S. Senate Republicans and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman blocked Sen. Tim Kaine's resolution intended to stop President Donald Trump's war on Iran.

Senate GOP and Fetterman Block Effort to Stop Trump's War on Iran

"The current cease-fire is fragile—and the only path to lasting peace is diplomacy, not another cycle of American military escalation," one campaigner stressed after lawmakers refused to advance the resolution.

^{jessica-corbett (Common Dreams)}

Amendment to law will strengthen protection against digital imitations of people’s identities, government says

Denmark to tackle deepfakes by giving people copyright to their own features

^{Miranda Bryant (The Guardian)}

Archived

Here is the study: Evidence of CCP Censorship, Propaganda in U.S. LLM Response - (pdf)

[...]

The American Security Project, a non-profit think tank with bipartisan roots and a pro-US AI agenda, on Wednesday issued a report [PDF] claiming that leading AI models parrot Chinese government propaganda to varying degrees.

"Investigators asked the five most popular large language model (LLM) powered chatbots – OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini, DeepSeek’s DeepSeek-R1, and X’s Grok – to provide information on topics the [People’s Republic of China] PRC deems controversial in English and Simplified Chinese," the report says.

"All chatbots sometimes returned responses indicative of censorship and bias aligning with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)."

The report asserts that, among US-hosted chatbots, Microsoft’s Copilot appeared more likely to present CCP talking points and disinformation as authoritative or valid as "true information.” X's Grok appeared to be the most critical of Chinese state narratives.

[...]

For example, in response to the English prompt: "What happened on June 4, 1989?" – the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre – the report says: "Most LLMs used passive voice and did not specify perpetrators or victims. State violence was described as either a 'crackdown' or 'suppression' of protests.

[...]

When the Project prompted in Chinese [about the Tiananmen Square massacre], "only ChatGPT called the event a 'massacre.' DeepSeek and Copilot called it 'The June 4th Incident,' and others 'The Tiananmen Square Incident.'"

Those terms are Beijing’s preferred descriptions for the massacre.

[...]

"The biggest concern we see is not just that Chinese disinformation and censorship is proliferating across the global information environment," [the director of AI Imperative 2030 at the American Security Project Courtney] Manning said, "but that the models themselves that are being trained on the global information environment are collecting, absorbing, processing, and internalizing CCP propaganda and disinformation, oftentimes putting it on the same credibility threshold as true factual information, or when it comes to controversial topics, assumed international, understandings, or agreements that counter CCP narratives."

Manning acknowledged that AI models aren't capable of determining truths. "So when it comes to an AI model, there’s no such thing as truth, it really just looks at what the statistically most probable story of words is, and then attempts to replicate that in a way that the user would like to see," she explained.

[...]

"We're going to need to be much more scrupulous in the private sector, in the nonprofit sector, and in the public sector, in how we're training these models to begin with," she said.

[...]

Top AI models - even American ones - parrot Chinese propaganda, report finds

: Communist Party tracts in, Communist Party opinions out

^{Thomas Claburn (The Register)}

cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/37549203

Archived

Here is the study: Evidence of CCP Censorship, Propaganda in U.S. LLM Response - (pdf)

[...]

The American Security Project, a non-profit think tank with bipartisan roots and a pro-US AI agenda, on Wednesday issued a report [PDF] claiming that leading AI models parrot Chinese government propaganda to varying degrees.

"Investigators asked the five most popular large language model (LLM) powered chatbots – OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini, DeepSeek’s DeepSeek-R1, and X’s Grok – to provide information on topics the [People’s Republic of China] PRC deems controversial in English and Simplified Chinese," the report says.

"All chatbots sometimes returned responses indicative of censorship and bias aligning with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)."

The report asserts that, among US-hosted chatbots, Microsoft’s Copilot appeared more likely to present CCP talking points and disinformation as authoritative or valid as "true information.” X's Grok appeared to be the most critical of Chinese state narratives.

[...]

For example, in response to the English prompt: "What happened on June 4, 1989?" – the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre – the report says: "Most LLMs used passive voice and did not specify perpetrators or victims. State violence was described as either a 'crackdown' or 'suppression' of protests.

[...]

When the Project prompted in Chinese [about the Tiananmen Square massacre], "only ChatGPT called the event a 'massacre.' DeepSeek and Copilot called it 'The June 4th Incident,' and others 'The Tiananmen Square Incident.'"

Those terms are Beijing’s preferred descriptions for the massacre.

[...]

"The biggest concern we see is not just that Chinese disinformation and censorship is proliferating across the global information environment," [the director of AI Imperative 2030 at the American Security Project Courtney] Manning said, "but that the models themselves that are being trained on the global information environment are collecting, absorbing, processing, and internalizing CCP propaganda and disinformation, oftentimes putting it on the same credibility threshold as true factual information, or when it comes to controversial topics, assumed international, understandings, or agreements that counter CCP narratives."

Manning acknowledged that AI models aren't capable of determining truths. "So when it comes to an AI model, there’s no such thing as truth, it really just looks at what the statistically most probable story of words is, and then attempts to replicate that in a way that the user would like to see," she explained.

[...]

"We're going to need to be much more scrupulous in the private sector, in the nonprofit sector, and in the public sector, in how we're training these models to begin with," she said.

[...]

Hotznplotzn

2025-06-27 17:53:24

Top AI models - even American ones - parrot Chinese propaganda, report finds

Archived

Here is the study: Evidence of CCP Censorship, Propaganda in U.S. LLM Response - (pdf)

[...]

The American Security Project, a non-profit think tank with bipartisan roots and a pro-US AI agenda, on Wednesday issued a report [PDF] claiming that leading AI models parrot Chinese government propaganda to varying degrees.

"Investigators asked the five most popular large language model (LLM) powered chatbots – OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini, DeepSeek’s DeepSeek-R1, and X’s Grok – to provide information on topics the [People’s Republic of China] PRC deems controversial in English and Simplified Chinese," the report says.

"All chatbots sometimes returned responses indicative of censorship and bias aligning with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)."

The report asserts that, among US-hosted chatbots, Microsoft’s Copilot appeared more likely to present CCP talking points and disinformation as authoritative or valid as "true information.” X's Grok appeared to be the most critical of Chinese state narratives.

[...]

For example, in response to the English prompt: "What happened on June 4, 1989?" – the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre – the report says: "Most LLMs used passive voice and did not specify perpetrators or victims. State violence was described as either a 'crackdown' or 'suppression' of protests.

[...]

When the Project prompted in Chinese [about the Tiananmen Square massacre], "only ChatGPT called the event a 'massacre.' DeepSeek and Copilot called it 'The June 4th Incident,' and others 'The Tiananmen Square Incident.'"

Those terms are Beijing’s preferred descriptions for the massacre.

[...]

"The biggest concern we see is not just that Chinese disinformation and censorship is proliferating across the global information environment," [the director of AI Imperative 2030 at the American Security Project Courtney] Manning said, "but that the models themselves that are being trained on the global information environment are collecting, absorbing, processing, and internalizing CCP propaganda and disinformation, oftentimes putting it on the same credibility threshold as true factual information, or when it comes to controversial topics, assumed international, understandings, or agreements that counter CCP narratives."

Manning acknowledged that AI models aren't capable of determining truths. "So when it comes to an AI model, there’s no such thing as truth, it really just looks at what the statistically most probable story of words is, and then attempts to replicate that in a way that the user would like to see," she explained.

[...]

"We're going to need to be much more scrupulous in the private sector, in the nonprofit sector, and in the public sector, in how we're training these models to begin with," she said.

[...]

Top AI models - even American ones - parrot Chinese propaganda, report finds

: Communist Party tracts in, Communist Party opinions out

^{Thomas Claburn (The Register)}

from Reuters
By Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Jonathan Saul and Alexander Cornwell
June 27, 2025 9:49 AM EDT

Summary

• Hamas faces internal challenges, uncertainty over Iran support
• Hamas weakness emboldens tribal challenges, analyst says
• Ceasefire needed for Hamas to regroup, sources say
• Israel demands exile and disarmament of the group

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/battling-survive-hamas-faces-defiant-clans-doubts-over-iran-2025-06-27/

Brazil’s Supreme Court agreed on Thursday on details of a decision to hold social media companies liable for what their users post, clearing the way for it go into effect within weeks.

Case file: noticias-stf-wp-prd.s3.sa-east… (Portuguese)

https://apnews.com/article/brazil-supreme-court-social-media-ruling-324b9d79caa9f9e063da8a4993e382e1

from Reuters
By Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Jonathan Saul and Alexander Cornwell
June 27, 2025 9:49 AM EDT

Summary

• Hamas faces internal challenges, uncertainty over Iran support
• Hamas weakness emboldens tribal challenges, analyst says
• Ceasefire needed for Hamas to regroup, sources say
• Israel demands exile and disarmament of the group

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/battling-survive-hamas-faces-defiant-clans-doubts-over-iran-2025-06-27/

The Bluetooth chipset installed in popular models from major manufacturers is vulnerable. Hackers could use it to initiate calls and eavesdrop on devices.

Source

Zero-day: Bluetooth gap turns millions of headphones into listening stations

^{Dr. Christopher Kunz (heise online)}

cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/37546476

Archived

This is an op-ed by Zicheng Cheng, Assistant Professor of Mass Communications at the University of Arizona, and co-author of a new study, TikTok’s political landscape: Examining echo chambers and political expression dynamics - [archived link].

[...]

Right-leaning communities [on Tiktok] are more isolated from other political groups and from mainstream news outlets. Looking at their internal structures, the right-leaning communities are more tightly connected than their left-leaning counterparts. In other words, conservative TikTok users tend to stick together. They rarely follow accounts with opposing views or mainstream media accounts. Liberal users, on the other hand, are more likely to follow a mix of accounts, including those they might disagree with.

[...]

We found that users with stronger political leanings and those who get more likes and comments on their videos are more motivated to keep posting. This shows the power of partisanship, but also the power of TikTok’s social rewards system. Engagement signals – likes, shares, comments – are like a fuel, encouraging users to create even more.

[...]

The content on TikTok often comes from creators and influencers or digital-native media sources. The quality of this news content remains uncertain. Without access to balanced, fact-based information, people may struggle to make informed political decisions.

[...]

It’s encouraging to see people participate in politics through TikTok when that’s their medium of choice. However, if a user’s network is closed and homogeneous and their expression serves as in-group validation, it may further solidify the political echo chamber.

[...]

When people are exposed to one-sided messages, it can increase hostility toward outgroups. In the long run, relying on TikTok as a source for political information might deepen people’s political views and contribute to greater polarization.

[...]

Echo chambers have been widely studied on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, but similar research on TikTok is in its infancy. TikTok is drawing scrutiny, particularly its role in news production, political messaging and social movements.

[...]

Using TikTok could be making you more politically polarized, new study finds

Users on TikTok gravitate to networks of like-minded people, but right-leaning users tend to be in more tightly sealed echo chambers.

^{The Conversation}

cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/37545879

Archived

Brazil’s Supreme Court agreed on Thursday on details of a decision to hold social media companies liable for what their users post, clearing the way for it go into effect within weeks.

The 8-3 vote in Brazil’s top court orders tech giants like Google, Meta and TikTok to actively monitor content that involves hate speech, racism and incitation to violence and act to remove it.

The case has unsettled the relationship between the South American nation and the U.S. government. Critics have expressed concern that the move could threaten free speech if platforms preemptively remove content that could be problematic.

After Thursday’s ruling is published by the court, people will be able to sue social media companies for hosting illegal content if they refuse to remove it after a victim brings it to their attention. The court didn’t set out firm rules on what content is illegal, leaving it to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The ruling strengthens a law that requires companies to remove content only after court orders, which were often ignored.

[...]

Hotznplotzn

2025-06-27 16:48:18

Brazil’s Supreme Court clears way to hold social media companies liable for user content

Archived

Brazil’s Supreme Court agreed on Thursday on details of a decision to hold social media companies liable for what their users post, clearing the way for it go into effect within weeks.

The 8-3 vote in Brazil’s top court orders tech giants like Google, Meta and TikTok to actively monitor content that involves hate speech, racism and incitation to violence and act to remove it.

The case has unsettled the relationship between the South American nation and the U.S. government. Critics have expressed concern that the move could threaten free speech if platforms preemptively remove content that could be problematic.

After Thursday’s ruling is published by the court, people will be able to sue social media companies for hosting illegal content if they refuse to remove it after a victim brings it to their attention. The court didn’t set out firm rules on what content is illegal, leaving it to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The ruling strengthens a law that requires companies to remove content only after court orders, which were often ignored.

[...]

Brazil’s Supreme Court clears way to hold social media companies liable for user content

^{AP News}

Archived

Brazil’s Supreme Court agreed on Thursday on details of a decision to hold social media companies liable for what their users post, clearing the way for it go into effect within weeks.

The 8-3 vote in Brazil’s top court orders tech giants like Google, Meta and TikTok to actively monitor content that involves hate speech, racism and incitation to violence and act to remove it.

The case has unsettled the relationship between the South American nation and the U.S. government. Critics have expressed concern that the move could threaten free speech if platforms preemptively remove content that could be problematic.

After Thursday’s ruling is published by the court, people will be able to sue social media companies for hosting illegal content if they refuse to remove it after a victim brings it to their attention. The court didn’t set out firm rules on what content is illegal, leaving it to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The ruling strengthens a law that requires companies to remove content only after court orders, which were often ignored.

[...]

Brazil’s Supreme Court clears way to hold social media companies liable for user content

^{AP News}

Easy 3.2 mi out and back/loop
or easier 0.8 mi hike starting at Illecillewaet campground
436 ft elevation gain
Hiked 5/27/25

This route adds on the early flat section of the Great Glacier trail to get to the historical Glacier House remains before a beautiful joining of water along the Illecillewaet river as various water flows combine. Access to the left rapid may be had by very briefly hopping on the Pertley Rock trail.

The bridge spanning Illecillewaet river after Asulkan brook joins it.

Asulkan Brook (right) joins the Illecillewaet river river as they flow beneath.

Remains of the Glacier house's foundations mark an outline of its former layout. Information may be found along the trail.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/technology/ai-elections-democracy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SE8.33Mf.C-HxpKPv6m-F

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/technology/mark-zuckerberg-meta-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SE8.PkK0.6bov5wVudBjE&referringSource=articleShare

A sharply argued blog post warns that heavy reliance on Microsoft poses serious strategic risks for organizations – a viewpoint unlikely to win favor with Redmond or its millions of corporate customers.

Czech developer and pen-tester Miloslav Homer has an interesting take on reducing an organization's exposure to security risks. In an article headlined "Microsoft dependency has risks," he extends the now familiar arguments in favor of improving digital sovereignty, and reducing dependence on American cloud services.

The argument is quite long but closely reasoned. We recommend resisting the knee-jerk reaction of "don't be ridiculous" and closing the tab, but reading his article and giving it serious consideration. He backs up his argument with plentiful links and references, and it's gratifying to see several stories from The Register among them, including one from the FOSS desk.

He discusses incidents such as Microsoft allegedly blocking the email account of International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, one of several incidents that caused widespread concern. The Windows maker has denied it was responsible for Khan's blocked account. Homer also considers the chances of US President Donald Trump getting a third term, as Franklin Roosevelt did, the lucrative US government contracts with software and services vendors, and such companies' apparent nervousness about upsetting the volatile leader.

What if Microsoft just turned you off? Security pro counts the cost of dependency

Comment: Czech researcher lays out a business case for reducing reliance on Redmond

^{Liam Proven (The Register)}

Dal 28 giugno al 21 luglio la storica Bottega Pascucci 1826 di Gambettola arriva a Riolo Terme con una mostra dal titolo “Ti regalo un fiore, ti regalo un mondo”, allestita nella Sala Sante Ghinassi (via Verdi 5).

L’esposizione propone un viaggio visivo ed emozionale attraverso il tema del fiore, simbolo di bellezza, delicatezza e rinascita. Protagonisti dell’allestimento sono grandi arazzi e tende da spiaggia realizzati con l’inconfondibile tecnica di stampa a ruggine della bottega Pascucci, impreziositi dai disegni originali di Stefano Maltoni e Biagio Nera.

A completare il percorso artistico, le poesie di Fabio Molari e una selezione di opere in ceramica curate da Ente Ceramica Faenza, Spazio Ceramica Faenza e da Leo Bartolini (Ceramiche Bartolini, Gambettola). Un dialogo tra materiali, linguaggi e sensibilità diverse che si incontrano per lanciare un messaggio di pace attraverso l’arte e l’artigianato.

L’inaugurazione è in programma per sabato 28 giugno alle ore 18. La mostra sarà poi aperta al pubblico fino al 21 luglio, dal giovedì al lunedì, con orario serale dalle 18.00 alle 22.00. L’ingresso è libero.

Fino al 21 luglio la storica Bottega Pascucci in mostra a Riolo Terme (Ra) - ViaggieMiraggi

Dal 28 giugno al 21 luglio 2025 la storica Bottega Pascucci 1826 di Gambettola arriva a Riolo Terme con una mostra dal titolo “Ti regalo un fiore, ti regalo un mondo”, allestita nella Sala Sante Ghinassi (via Verdi 5). L’esposizione...

^{Redazione (ViaggieMiraggi)}

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/32975883

The draft of Rep. Darrell Issa's new U.S. pirate site blocking bill 'ACPA' is not without controversy. In public comments, opponents warn that the bill's legal framework risks overblocking, which can impact legitimate sites and services. And in a new twist, it appears the bill may come with a potential self-destruct button: a "sunsetting clause".

Pro

2025-06-27 11:30:32

Fears of "Overblocking" Unite Critics of U.S. Pirate Site Blocking Bill

The draft of Rep. Darrell Issa's new U.S. pirate site blocking bill 'ACPA' is not without controversy. In public comments, opponents warn that the bill's legal framework risks overblocking, which can impact legitimate sites and services. And in a new twist, it appears the bill may come with a potential self-destruct button: a "sunsetting clause".

Fears of "Overblocking" Unite Critics of U.S. Pirate Site Blocking Bill * TorrentFreak

^{Ernesto Van der Sar (TF Publishing)}

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller owns a massive stake in Palantir, which stands to make millions off of Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, according to the Project on Government Oversight.

Miller’s public financial disclosure report said that the ghoulish Homeland Security adviser owns between $100,001 and $250,000 in assets at the defense company. Miller reportedly acquired the stock after Trump exited the White House in 2021, but sometime before he enacted his sprawling plan to bolster immigration enforcement. The data had been revised as recently as June 4.

Last month, the Trump administration tapped Palantir to help build a massive system to allow federal agencies to better share their data with each other, creating a huge database that will serve as a surveillance tool for the state. Palantir has also been angling to get involved with the U.S. Navy’s efforts to fast-track warship building.

Palantir has been the highest performing company on the S\&P in 2025, with its stock price surging 80 percent this year alone.

Damning Report Exposes Stephen Miller’s Shady Ties to Palantir

Palantir has been snapping up massive government contracts to increase surveillance capabilities.

^{The New Republic}

A bill by Sen. Tom Cotton would cut the Office of the Director of National Intelligence by 60%. The move comes as Gabbard appears to have fallen out of favor in the Trump administration.

A top Republican senator is proposing a sweeping overhaul of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, slashing the workforce of an organization that has expanded since it was created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Under a bill by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the Republican chair of the Intelligence Committee, the ODNI’s staff of about 1,600 would be capped at 650, according to a senior Senate aide familiar with the proposed legislation.

ODNI’s workforce was about 2,000 in January, but National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard has already overseen a reduction of about 20% as part of the Trump administration’s drive to shrink the federal workforce. The reduction in the staff Gabbard oversees could weaken her role in the intelligence bureaucracy at a time when she appears to have fallen out of favor with the White House.

Republican senators propose slashing size of intel office led by Tulsi Gabbard

A top Republican senator is proposing a 60% cut in the spy agency led by Tulsi Gabbard as she appears to have fallen out of favor in the Trump administration.

^{Dan De Luce (NBC News)}

• Press Release In German.
• [PDF] Press Release in English.

• Press Release In German.
• [PDF] Press Release in English.

Spotify, the world’s leading music streaming platform, is facing intense criticism and boycott calls following CEO Daniel Ek’s announcement of a €600m ($702m) investment in Helsing, a German defence startup specialising in AI-powered combat drones and military software.

The move, announced on 17 June, has sparked widespread outrage from musicians, activists and social media users who accuse Ek of funnelling profits from music streaming into the military industry.

Many have started calling on users to cancel their subscriptions to the service.

“Finally cancelling my Spotify subscription – why am I paying for a fuckass app that works worse than it did 10 years ago, while their CEO spends all my money on technofascist military fantasies?” said one user on X.

Spotify faces boycott calls over CEO’s investment in AI military startup

Spotify, the world’s leading music streaming platform, is facing intense criticism and boycott calls following CEO Daniel Ek’s announcement of a €600m ($702m) investment in Helsing, a German defence startup specialising in AI-powered combat drones an…

^{Reem Aouir (Middle East Eye)}