All posts by Midnightschildren

Accountability and Representation, Internet Freedom

Media Alliance comments on Section 230

Media Alliance filed these joint comments with Global Exchange on behalf of the Protest Facebook section in the FCC’s proceeding on Section 230 of the Telecom Act.

Section 230 exempts online platforms from liability for their content. It is one of the pillars of the Internet that has allowed alternative content to thrive on the Internet. And in an era of disinformation, we are seeing the dark side of freedom from liability.

Media Alliance categorically rejects that Section 230 should be abolished or ended. Just as categorically, we believe that tempered regulation of online platforms to address the viral spread of disinformation and online hatred is called for.

Here are the comments we submitted to the FCC.

Media Alliance and Global Exchange Comments on Section 230Download
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Press Room

Oakland ready for Trump attacks if Harris joins Democratic ticket

by Julia Sulek. Originally published in the San Jose Mercury News

OAKLAND — When Joe Biden’s vice presidential search committee met with a who’s who of California Democrats on a Zoom call late last month, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf used up every second of her turn to make an urgent pitch for Kamala Harris, a self-described proud “daughter of Oakland, California.”

Schaaf has known the U.S. senator since they were both barely 30 years old and extolled her virtues as a fierce advocate for Oakland’s progressive values.

But Oaklanders know that Harris won’t be the only one in the spotlight if she’s who Biden chooses to join the Democratic ticket for the White House. The city of Oakland itself, which has been vilified by President Donald Trump as a miasma of urban horrors, will surely be in the crosshairs too.

Continue reading Oakland ready for Trump attacks if Harris joins Democratic ticket →
Internet Freedom

Amici Filed in Defense of Open Technology Foundation

Media Alliance joined an amici (friend of the court brief) filed in the case of Open Technology Foundation vs David Pack (and the Trump Administration). Trump appointee Pack disbanded the entire board of OTF which creates and maintains encrypted software tools like Signal and Lets Encrypt, an open source website security protocol.

In an early win, the board was recently temporarily reinstated, overturning an earlier decision on appeal, but the lawsuit is still winding its way through the courts for a final determination.

Continue reading Amici Filed in Defense of Open Technology Foundation →
Press Room

What Are Trump and his goons up to?

Originally published in Black Agenda Report

That’s the question I asked policing and privacy expert Tracy Rosenberg, Executive Director of Media Alliance, and coordinator of Oakland Privacy.

Ann Garrison: What do you think Trump and his goons might be up to in Portland and the cities with “liberal Democratic mayors” that he’s threatening to invade next? Is this much more than politics, an attempt to win the election with law and order extremes?

Tracy Rosenberg: Certainly, first and foremost, it is a political stunt to capture the law and order crowd and press on divides between the coastal cities and inland voters. But it’s also more sinister than that. The use of federal forces is designed to weaken local accountability by freezing out local government that constituents can reach. Portland’s mayor might not even have opposed some “help” from the feds, but he wasn’t asked. In other words, this wasn’t mutual aid. This was indeed an invasion.

Continue reading What Are Trump and his goons up to? →
Consumer Privacy

No On Prop 24

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In 2018 , an initiative headed for the ballot led to a frantic and imperfect bargaining session in Sacramento. The outcome was the only comprehensive state consumer privacy law in the country, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

As we pointed out then, CCPA, the result of the watering down of a stronger legislative proposal that had gotten marooned in the Legislature, had significant flaws. It was the best consumer privacy law in the country because it was basically the *only* consumer privacy law in the country.

Continue reading No On Prop 24 →
Accountability and Representation

Turn Up the heat on facebook

Update: The Facebook Logout begins on Wednesday November 10, 2021 and lasts until Saturday November 13, 2021.

We are sending our message. Without us, Facebook is nothing!

Artists Steuer and Davis have created a new piece of art to decorate your page after you log out.

Download the Steuer/Davis Logout graphic here.

Tag it with #TheFacebookLogout and #FireZuck.

Update: The Protest Facebook campaign is thrilled by this gift of original art from SF artist Sharon Steuer and Flora Davis. Download this poster/graphic for your Facebook mobilizing.

The artists add “Feel free to download these posters to share on social media, and/or to print out and post. Please tag with: #StopHateForProfit #FacebookHateGroups #RussianInterference #CoronavirusDisinformation #BlackLivesMatter #CambridgeAnalytica #WhenTheLootingStartsTheShootingStarts #FinePeopleOnBothSides #CitizensUnited #stopzuck. Created by Sharon Steuer <https://sharonsteuer> @sharonsteuer, and Flora Davis <https://floradavis.myportfolio.com/> @floralindadavis.To request a custom size or resolution, please send a message to sharonsteuer.com/contact“

Whether it’s racist rhetoric by Donald Trump, disinformation about the coronavirus, or lies in ads by political campaigns, Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg have failed to act. Their unwillingness to stop Facebook from being used to do harm is inflaming racial hatred and inciting human rights violations. It also has the potential to disrupt the 2020 elections.

Enough is enough! A growing chorus of organizations is calling on corporations to stop advertising on Facebook until the company changes its ways. Please join us in urging these corporations to use the power of the purse to insist that Facebook protect the public from lies, hate, and disinformation on its platform.

This toolkit tells you how to easily reach out to a baker’s dozen of major Facebook advertisers who have not yet signed on to the boycott.

  • Sample tweets 
  • Sample Facebook posts  
  • Sample email
  • Sample phone script
  • Contact information for top Facebook advertisers and their corporate HQs
Continue reading Turn Up the heat on facebook →