Embrace uncertainty. Create certainty.

So-called age verification for social media is spreading across the world, framed as an effort to create a safer internet for children. In reality, age verification lays the foundation for a fully controlled internet. The age verification rush must be slowed down, and politicians need to recognize the consequences of different types of legislation and systems. Age verification is the wrong approach to fix “the social media problem” The big tech social media companies are bad. Their business model is bad; it is based on mass surveillance and manipulation, and they cooperate with governments in mapping entire populations. But age verification is fundamentally the wrong approach to preventing children from using big tech social media platforms. Introducing age verification is based on coercion; the state forces social media companies to verify their users’ identities. But the big tech social media platforms already know which of their users are children. Their business model depends on knowing this. They know how old users are, and they know exactly what type of person they are. As age verification is based on coercion, politicians could instead force platforms to stop doing the things politicians consider harmful to children, or force them to block children (again, they know who they are) from using their services. But instead, politicians seek to massively invade everyone’s privacy and undermine democratic rights on a global scale. In other words, the latter is the real objective – they do not want to protect children; they want to impose control. Slippery slope of age verification It is undeniable that age verification threatens freedom of expression, risks increasing mass surveillance, and is likely to lead to censorship. It will not only shrink the online world and reduce young people’s right to privacy (for example, if VPN services were to be restricted); but also risks becoming a significant step toward a controlled internet for everyone. Most age verification is identity verification Most countries are now considering introducing age verification systems, meaning that everyone would have to identify themselves either to the service/website they want to use or to a third party capable of linking them to their activity on that service or website. This is not age verification but identity verification, and the consequence is therefore that freedom of information is restricted (you can no longer visit regulated websites anonymously) and that you can no longer post anonymously on social media. This is a major problem in countries like the UK and Germany where the police conduct raids on people’s homes for posting content on social media that the authorities dislike. Or in the United States, where authorities are trying to pressure tech companies into revealing the identities behind accounts protesting ICE. Social media identity verification removes important tools for activists in countries where criticizing those in power is dangerous. Restrictions on app store or operating system level Some countries are looking to impose identity verification at the app store level or even within the operating system itself. This is an exciting experiment, since this is possible to circumvent using open-source operating systems. Some countries are already looking to include open-source systems. Since open-source systems cannot be controlled, politicians would ultimately need to ban devices that are not controlled by the state. The end point: telescreens like those in Orwell’s 1984, devices that both monitor you and broadcast only the information approved by the state. The Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) alternative and the EU The EU has presented its own age verification app as “completely anonymous”. The idea is to use Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) cryptography to break the link between the age credential issuer (EU governments) and the regulated services/sites. Currently, the EU app does not have ZKP functionality, contrasting Ursula von der Leyen’s claim that the app ”is technically ready to be used”. But more importantly, the app is currently designed to always function without ZKP technology; if ZKP is unavailable, the app falls back to a non-ZKP model. Even if fully developed ZKP technology could be implemented in the future, it would remain an optional extra feature that countries may choose to disable and that the EU could remove at any time. Read more on our site. mullvad.net/blog/age-verific…

First-sale doctrine is one of the oldest property rights in the common law. You buy a book, it is yours. Lend it, resell it, will it to your kids, burn it in the yard, keep it for fifty years. The seller loses all say the moment money changes hands. Federal law flipped that on its head for anything digital. Every ebook you buy ships wrapped in a lock, and DMCA Section 1201 makes breaking that lock a crime, even on books you paid for. The state did not simply fail to protect your property. The state wrote the statute that criminalizes defending it. Let people own what they buy.

Straight out of 1984: Declare an indefinite ceasefire. Claim hostilities are “terminated.” Tell Congress: War Powers Resolution clock resets. Maintain a military blockade, which is an act of war. Launch further hostilities at any time. Fight for another 60 days. (Repeat.)

It’s absurd that American authorities can purchase personal data – that they’re not allowed to gather themselves without a warrant – directly from data brokers. This violates the Fourth Amendment, and it’s time to close the data broker loophole. Today, @RepThomasMassie, @RepBoebert and @naomibrockwell at the @LudlowInstitute introduced the Surveillance Accountability Act. It requires warrants based on probable cause for all government surveillance and data access. You can read more about it at surveillanceaccountability.c…

Hey, maybe we don’t need husky anymore!

I've introduced HR 8470, the Surveillance Accountability Act, with @RepBoebert. It requires a probable cause warrant before the federal government can search your private data — even if that data is held by a third party. Warrantless searches are unconstitutional.

We're doing a short user survey to inform future Homebrew development. Please fill in as many or few questions as you can: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F…

Thomas Massie just went nuclear on Trump’s war in Iran. “Have we learned nothing from the wars … we sparked in the Middle East that racked up $8 trillion of debt in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan?” “The Secretary of State said that Israel forced … us into this war.” “And for what?” “The Constitution is clear.” “Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 … provides Congress initiatory powers of war.” “The 1973 War Powers Resolution states plainly that the President may only introduce US armed forces into hostilities pursuant to three conditions.” “One, declaration of war.” “Two, specific statutory authorization.” “Or three, a national emergency created by an attack.” “None of those conditions exist today.” “American families in my district wanna know how this is gonna help them pay for groceries.” “How does this make them any safer in their schools or in their neighborhoods?” “How does this help them pay for housing?” “A sustained war with Iran will not stabilize the region.” “It’s already ignited the region.” “It will radicalize new generations of terrorists.” “And it will send more swarms of refugees into Europe and the United States.” “We’ve already expended billions of dollars and, more solemnly, six American families must now lay to rest their sons and daughters.” “To the men and women who are engaged in combat, I sincerely thank you and I pray for your safety.” “It is for you that I wrote this resolution.” “It is for you that all of us are here on this floor working so hard to force this vote so that you will have a clear mission .. so that you will know when you achieve it, you can come home.” @RepThomasMassie @MassieforKY

The Linux community of 20 years ago would've taken one look at AB 1043 and pushed an update that limited the network speed of every machine in California to 1 kbps until it was repealed.

I love that the GOP’s new favorite authority on war powers is Nancy Pelosi. And their role model for how a president should undertake military campaigns is Barack Obama. Not sure why they think it’s good policy to emulate Pelosi and Obama instead of following the Constitution.

The Constitution isn’t optional. The point of the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement is to hassle the government. It’s supposed to be difficult to search or arrest people. That’s not a bug; that’s a feature of our American republic.

I think one of the hardest things to deal with as you get older is discovering that so many of the people you met along the way never really believed the things they claimed to believe.

I don’t know why some people can’t understand this: The fact that the government has broken the law in the past does not justify or excuse its breaking the law now. If you commit a crime, you are not exonerated by showing that someone else got away with the same crime.

The reason we adopt principles is to counter the human impulse to place short-term benefits ahead of long-term prosperity. Principles are the triumph of pragmatism over extremism.

A president who can suspend the First Amendment rights of immigrants can just as easily suspend the Second Amendment rights of citizens. If you cheer the loss of inalienable rights for those you dislike, you’re only laying the groundwork for your own demise.

Follow the Constitution. Read the bills. Stop governing by emergency. End the forever war. Cut taxes & spending. Stop borrowing trillions. No CBDC. Protect free speech. Repeal the Patriot Act & FISA 702. No qualified immunity for government officials. End civil asset forfeiture.

We have 217 signatures on the discharge petition to force a vote on legislation to release the Epstein files. We need 218. Will the 218th (final) signature be a Republican or a Democrat? It’s time for every Congressmen to support transparency and justice for the victims.

Texas is a 42 (D) / 56 (R) state. This is what competitive authoritarianism looks like.