As we write in The Guardian this morning, the Commission’s plan to gut EU digital rules will hurt Europe’s startups and give U.S. tech an unassailable advantage, confirming Europe as a digital vassal. Piece by George Riekeles and I. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"Europe is hurtling toward digital vassalage. Under Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, EU laws to tackle tech giants have been either not applied or delayed, for fear of offending Donald Trump." - @johnnyryan.bsky.social and Georg Riekeles

Scams undermine democracies and free enterprise by eroding general mutual trust. Meta’s business model incentivizes people to financially exploit each other.

Tech companies often use statistics about the prevalence of content on their sites to make things seem small. This article is a good reminder that a small % can still be a helluvalot techcrunch.com/2025/10/27/o...

A German teen told Meta's child safety researchers his under-10 little brother had been sexually propositioned multiple times on its VR platform. Meta deleted the evidence. New internal whistleblower docs indicate that was part of a broader cover-up: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

The end of an era. Proud of the work we did together at Accountable Tech and thankful to get to work with such talented, dedicated team. We always punched above our weight. Onwards. Full @designitforus.bsky.social!

Reuters/@jeffhorwitz.bsky.social with an alarming story about the risks of unchecked artificial intelligence. One Meta chatbot led Thongbue Wongbandue to his death because Mark Zuckerberg worried his chatbots are "boring" and directed Meta to make them "romantic or sensual," even to kids.

New: I wrote about just how close the AI lobby got to its dream scenario of total deregulation, the unlikely bedfellows that mobilized against it, and the dramatic final 48 hours in which it all came together and then all fell apart. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

HERE’S WHERE WE ARE WITH THE AI MORATORIUM: They put the amendment in. They took the amendment out. They put the amendment in and they shook it all about. They did the Hokey Pokey and they turned themselves around. That’s what the Senate’s all about.

Last night, Republicans agreed to a so-called compromise on the AI moratorium. Don’t be fooled: This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and it will devastate state attempts to protect children online. That’s why I filed an amendment with @cantwell.senate.gov to strip this provision

🚨 The new AI moratorium language risks torpedoing state lawsuits against Meta, TikTok, Snap, as well as families trying cases because their children died due to social media. The moratorium is the BIGGEST gift to Big Tech. It must be stopped.

Once again, Mark Zuckerberg's proxy, Netchoice, misrepresents the popular Age-Appropriate Design Codes that have become law in four states and have been introduced in a dozen more. A good reminder of what side Big Tech is on, and it's not the side of young people.

Vermont lawmakers sponsored the Vermont Kids Code to stand up to Big Tech. It would require Big Tech monopolies to implement design and privacy settings that protect kids. These lawmakers know Big Tech is working in the shadows to stop it. Read their powerful letter: vtdigger.org/2025/06/01/v...

New from me: 260 state lawmakers from both parties and all 50 states have sent a letter calling on Congress to drop a proposed 10-year-moratorium on state-level AI regulations. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

PRESS RELEASE: Accountable Tech Statement on the Vermont Legislature’s Passage of the Age Appropriate Design Code accountabletech.org/statements/a...

Thanks @jonfavs.bsky.social and @max-fisher.bsky.social for highlighting our research that @accountabletech.bsky.social and @designitforus.bsky.social did on Instagram Teen Accounts! You can check out the full research here: accountabletech.org/research/sca...

Huge 🙌 A federal judge ruled this morning against CharacterAI, denying their motion to dismiss and indicating the case can move forward. This is a major win for the Garcia family and accountability over CharacterAI/Google. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Whenever someone points out content flaws in Meta youth accounts like our report, the company has excuses – sensitive content wasn’t most of the feed, or the test didn’t depict how young people use accounts. But these flaws continue to be replicable. Come on, Meta. mashable.com/article/inst...

Thank you, Archewell Foundation, for uplifting our study on Instagram Teen Accounts. It’s important to “allow data access for independent researchers to both assist in improving the effectiveness of safeguards and ensuring enforcement of safeguards and regulations.” archewell.org/news/safety-...

Watching the Senate cloture vote on the (highly misnamed) Genius Act and keep thinking back to a conversation I had with a Senior official in the Biden WH 4 years ago. I asked him what he thought about crypto and he said “how do you define money?” Thread:

Young people from @designitforus.bsky.social stepped up today in Manchester, Vermont, alongside community members and lawmakers in support of the Age-Appropriate Design Code currently in the Vermont Legislature. Advocates called on Governor Phil Scott to sign the bill into law when it passes!!!

The #FTCvsMeta trial exposes a disturbing truth: Instagram’s algorithms have facilitated predators’ access to our children. We need to be done asking and strip tax breaks until Meta prioritizes safety over profits. #ProtectOurKids #PlatformAccountability www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

“What should be excruciatingly clear to any parent: Instagram’s Teen Accounts can’t be relied upon to actually shield kids. The danger they face isn’t just bad people on the internet — it’s also the app’s recommendation algorithm…”

No surprises but good reflections from teen testers about what they think their peers should know about how algorithms shape their sense of what’s normal, and how bad the toxic recommendations and their feeds overall made them feel. So much education to do. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Shocker: Meta’s claim to keep teens safe from explicit or dangerous content on Instagram is bullshit www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

With millions of teens using Instagram and being automatically placed into Instagram Teen Accounts, we worked with five members of @designitforus.bsky.social to see if these accounts actually create a safer online experience. Check out what we found.

Accountable Tech asked five young people in @designitforus.bsky.social to test Instagram Teen Accounts, which are meant to protect teens online. Our participants found that these accounts don't always live up to Meta’s promises. accountabletech.org/research/sca...

Meta has spent months touting Instagram Teen Accounts as the solution to teen safety concerns. So we tested Teen Accounts. Our key findings: Instagram recommended sexual content to all of our test-teen accounts despite its promise of "sensitive content controls." Via @washingtonpost.com. /1

PRESS RELEASE: [REPORT] Instagram Teen Accounts Recommend Body Shaming, Hateful, and Sexual Content to Young Users accountabletech.org/statements/r...

Major social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and X have failed to protect LGBTQ+ users from hate and harassment, in part, because they intentionally rolled back previous safety practices, the advocacy group GLAAD said Tuesday in its annual Social Media Safety Index.

NEW: Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley is scrutinizing Meta over its handling of sexual harassment allegations, including allegations against Joel Kaplan. www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-...

“By pushing for policy and direct actions like the Meta protest, we will continue advocating for young people online and holding social media companies accountable." @designitforus.bsky.social's @zamaan.bsky.social talks about young people’s role in holding Big Tech accountable. Read more:

A huge honor to be featured in my city’s paper @chicagotribune.com (in print!). Our work taking on Big Tech includes the fight to protect my community, here in Illinois and I’m glad the work of Design It For Us here in IL is getting the recognition it deserves www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/10/m...

I was illegally fired for standing up for the American people.

Why would Amazon try and eliminate the agency in charge of consumer product safety? 🤔🤐

🚨The girls are fighting 🚨 Google is already in trouble for their monopolistic business practices. Now, Apple has hinted they may move Safari’s search to AI, ending their longstanding deal with Google. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

👀 Meta facing an antitrust case 👀 Google ruled an illegal monopoly 👀 Apple losing millions to tariffs 👀 Amazon facing tariff price increases + an antitrust case 👀 Elon’s businesses losing major $$ Big Tech billionaires are not recouping their investments in Trump. www.axios.com/2025/05/08/t...

[1/2] Last month, our Co-Founder and Executive Director @nicolegill.bsky.social joined families outside Meta’s NYC headquarters to honor children lost to social media harms. accountabletech.org/staff-post/g...

Just human stuff (h/t @zamaan.bsky.social)

For anyone keeping score, because I certainly am: Apple lost app store case Google lost search case Google lost adtech case Meta in court defending social media monopoly Amazon case moving forward

Oh good. Another Big Tech lobby shop. Because we definitely need more of those 🙄

🚨WEDS 30th April, 9 AM PST / 12 PM EST / 5 PM BST 🚨 Join carolecadwalla.bsky.social @yaeleisenstat.bsky.social @moonalice.com @zamaan_qureshi @jgo4justice.bsky.social ice.bsky.social and more for this urgent conversation. Subscribe to get the zoom link citizensreunited.substack.com/subscribe

📣 100 Days of the Broligarchy - on ZOOM In this emergency session of the Big Tech Oversight Board, we look at Trump’s first 100 days through the lens of Big Tech - the good, the bad and the Broligarchy. Wed 30th April, 9AM PST / 12pm EST / 5PM BST citizensreunited.substack.com/p/live-emerg...

This isn’t “politics.” If you break the law, you should be punished.

Honestly, our mistake. We always thought it was "Buy-OR-Bury," we're learning today that at Meta, it can also be "Buy-AND-Bury." Our bad! 🧵Thread 1/

Five Democratic Senators did not sign the letter to Trump demanding Bedoya and Slaughter be reinstated, nor did they sign this amicus: Gallego, Heinrich, Kelly, King, Ossoff

PRESS RELEASE: Accountable Tech Statement on Eastern District of Virginia’s Ruling Against Google’s Ad Tech Monopoly accountabletech.org/statements/a...

This may also be useful. It's how I explained the case in lay terms at a major antitrust conference on the eve of the trial last year. /2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnIK...

Google is an illegal monopoly x 2

Members of Congress who support high-quality journalism — and are worried about threats to it — should be celebrating the landmark ruling that finds Google guilty of maintaining an illegal monopoly over the adtech industry.