🚨 THE FINAL FOUR 🚨

We’re nearly at the end! 32 candidates have been narrowed down to a nefarious final four. But who will move on to the finals? You must decide!

🗳️ Cast your ballot: https://twsu.forms.app/wpit25-semifinals

Something that hasn't been made clear: Firefox will have an option to completely disable all AI features.

We've been calling it the AI kill switch internally. I'm sure it'll ship with a less murderous name, but that's how seriously and absolutely we're taking this.

Full thread

The fact that the 'AI industry' went from "It's not a bubble, AGI any moment now!" to "Yeah this sector is too big to fail, so we're going to need bailouts" without revolt is part of the reason things suck so much.

LG forced a Copilot web app onto its TVs but will let you delete it https://www.theverge.com/news/847685/lg-copilot-web-app-delete

The European Commission lost the Chat Control 2.0 battle over access to end-to-end encrypted data. By the summer 2026, they will be back with their next attempt: Going Dark. This time some EU member states want to include VPN services.

The Going Dark initiative, or ProtectEU as the Commission now calls it, wants to “enable law enforcement authorities to access encrypted data in a lawful manner”. This is a Chat Control 3.0 attempt.

The EU Commission and several member states are also looking for new rules on data retention. In a new ”Presidency outcome paper”, the member states discuss metadata retention: which websites you visit, and who is communicating with whom, when and how often. The ambition is “to have the broadest possible scope of application” and this time some member states also want the proposal to include VPN services.

Kdenlive 25.12 is out just in time for the holiday season. This release focuses on user experience improvements, interface polish, and lot's of bug fixes.

https://kdenlive.org/news/releases/25.12.0/

@kde

#kdenlive #videoediting #linux #video #kde #floss

Don't worry, it's gonna happen by the end of the year...

So let me get this straight. The current state of fediverse integration on Threads is that you can write posts that federate, people can read and reply to them, you can like their replies, but you can't reply back, repost, or even share the post from Threads. And that's how they're gonna leave it.

Decentralized YouTube Alternative PeerTube Adds Creator Mode

“PeerTube is a free and open source video hosting platform that serves as an alternative to YouTube. Unlike centralized platforms, it allows anyone to create their own video hosting instance while connecting with others through federation. It is dev ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/decentralized-youtube-alternative-peertube-adds-creator-mode/

#opensource #Peertube #technology

🇪🇺EU Commission seeks to extend #ChatControl 1.0, despite admitting "insufficient data" to prove efficacy. Extending it validates a failed approach. We need targeted, judicial solutions, not the perpetual renewal of "exceptional" mass surveillance! https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-register/detail?ref=COM(2025)797&lang=en

My take on “voluntary” chat control: https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/digital-house-arrest-how-the-eu-wants-to-disempower-families/

🇮🇹La Commissione vuole estendere #ChatControl 1.0 nonostante ammetta «dati insufficienti» sull'efficacia. È un approccio fallito. Servono soluzioni giudiziarie mirate, non il rinnovo perpetuo di una sorveglianza di massa nata come eccezionale. https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-register/detail?ref=COM(2025)797&lang=en

@echo_pbreyer@digitalcourage.social The link is broken. I assume you meant https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=COM:2025:797:FIN ?

This is really cool https://annas-archive.li/blog/backing-up-spotify.html

Il debito non pagato dell'intelligenza artificiale: come gli scraper LLM distruggono il contratto sociale dell'open source

Le grandi aziendi di #IntelligenzaArtificiale #LLMs hanno divorato tutti i nostri dati, ma il danno che ha arrecato alle comunità open source e della cultura libera è particolarmente insidioso. Approfittando di chi condivide liberamente, distruggono il patto che ha permesso al software libero di diffondersi a macchia d'olio.

https://www.quippd.com/writing/2025/12/17/AIs-unpaid-debt-how-llm-scrapers-destroy-the-social-contract-of-open-source.html

@eticadigitale

“Flock's ambitions go far beyond license-plate surveillance,” EFF’s @cooperq@masto.hackers.town told @404mediaco@mastodon.social. “Flock's goal isn't to catch stolen cars, their goal is to have total surveillance of everyone all the time." https://www.404media.co/flock-exposed-its-ai-powered-cameras-to-the-internet-we-tracked-ourselves/

I'm convinced GitHub is doing this to force folks to sign in. I got this on my *first* visit today. I do not sign in to GitHub.

"We don't want people scraping GitHub"

I mean sure... Microsoft wants the exclusive rights to scrape GitHub for themselves.

Monitor AI per i bagni? Benvenuti nelle nuove scuole superiori sorvegliate in America

Le scuole di tutti gli Stati Uniti stanno implementando tecnologie di sorveglianza basate sull'intelligenza artificiale, tra cui droni, riconoscimento facciale e persino dispositivi di ascolto in bagno. Ma non ci sono molti dati che dimostrino la loro efficacia nel garantire la sicurezza dei bambini.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2025/12/16/ai-bathroom-monitors-welcome-to-americas-new-surveillance-high-schools/

@aitech

Flock ha esposto le sue telecamere basate sull'intelligenza artificiale a Internet. Ci siamo tracciati da soli

"Sul mio telefono, mi vedo in tempo reale mentre la telecamera registra e trasmette in streaming live – senza password o login – sulla rete internet aperta. Entro nell'incrocio, fisso la telecamera e saluto con la mano. Nel live streaming, riesco a vedermi chiaramente."

https://www.404media.co/flock-exposed-its-ai-powered-cameras-to-the-internet-we-tracked-ourselves/

@aitech