Rob

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Rob

Rob

@Mammuthus_

Birder. Music fan. He/him.

Around the beltway Katılım Ocak 2014
534 Takip Edilen238 Takipçiler
Rob retweetledi
Ron Filipkowski
Ron Filipkowski@RonFilipkowski·
RFK Jr caught a starling at the Dulles Airport today. I don’t want to know what happened after.
Ron Filipkowski tweet media
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Rob
Rob@Mammuthus_·
This is truly terrifying
International Cyber Digest@IntCyberDigest

‼️🇺🇸 Utah is about to become the first US state to legally target VPN use as part of online age verification. The law goes into effect Wednesday, May 6, 2026. 🔴 If you are physically located in Utah, you count as a Utah user, regardless of whether you use a VPN, proxy, or any other tool to disguise your location. Websites are now legally responsible for age-verifying you anyway. 🔴 Sites that handle "material harmful to minors" are banned from sharing instructions on how to use a VPN, or from offering any means to bypass geofencing. The EFF calls this a "liability trap." Websites cannot reliably tell where a VPN user actually is, so the safest legal move is either to block every known VPN IP outright, or to force ID-based age verification on every visitor worldwide. Either path subjects millions of users to invasive identity checks, regardless of where they actually live. The Cato Institute put it bluntly. When a policy can be defeated by a privacy tool millions of people legitimately use, the policy is the problem. The collateral damage is, as always, the people who actually need VPNs: 🔴 Journalists protecting sources 🔴 Domestic abuse survivors hiding from stalkers 🔴 Activists in hostile environments 🔴 Remote workers tunneling into corporate networks 🔴 Travelers banking from abroad 🔴 Anyone who simply does not want their ISP, employer, or data brokers reading their traffic This is not staying in Utah. The UK's Children's Commissioner has called VPNs a "loophole that needs closing." France's Minister Delegate for AI and Digital Affairs has named VPNs as "the next topic on my list." The EU is rolling out age verification across all 27 member states by end of 2026, with EVP Henna Virkkunen openly admitting they have no plan for VPN bypass yet. Utah is leading by example. EFF: "Attacks on VPNs are, at their core, attacks on the tools that enable digital privacy."

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Rob retweetledi
Matthew Green
Matthew Green@matthew_d_green·
And then they come for the VPNs.
International Cyber Digest@IntCyberDigest

‼️🇺🇸 Utah is about to become the first US state to legally target VPN use as part of online age verification. The law goes into effect Wednesday, May 6, 2026. 🔴 If you are physically located in Utah, you count as a Utah user, regardless of whether you use a VPN, proxy, or any other tool to disguise your location. Websites are now legally responsible for age-verifying you anyway. 🔴 Sites that handle "material harmful to minors" are banned from sharing instructions on how to use a VPN, or from offering any means to bypass geofencing. The EFF calls this a "liability trap." Websites cannot reliably tell where a VPN user actually is, so the safest legal move is either to block every known VPN IP outright, or to force ID-based age verification on every visitor worldwide. Either path subjects millions of users to invasive identity checks, regardless of where they actually live. The Cato Institute put it bluntly. When a policy can be defeated by a privacy tool millions of people legitimately use, the policy is the problem. The collateral damage is, as always, the people who actually need VPNs: 🔴 Journalists protecting sources 🔴 Domestic abuse survivors hiding from stalkers 🔴 Activists in hostile environments 🔴 Remote workers tunneling into corporate networks 🔴 Travelers banking from abroad 🔴 Anyone who simply does not want their ISP, employer, or data brokers reading their traffic This is not staying in Utah. The UK's Children's Commissioner has called VPNs a "loophole that needs closing." France's Minister Delegate for AI and Digital Affairs has named VPNs as "the next topic on my list." The EU is rolling out age verification across all 27 member states by end of 2026, with EVP Henna Virkkunen openly admitting they have no plan for VPN bypass yet. Utah is leading by example. EFF: "Attacks on VPNs are, at their core, attacks on the tools that enable digital privacy."

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Rob retweetledi
limpkin
limpkin@acealeam·
woodcocks aren't the only ones with silly dances . enjoy this spotted sandpiper
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Rob
Rob@Mammuthus_·
@TheBirdist Too bad they didn't get you a new shirt from the band Pelican (or the band Good Flying Birds though they only have one left & it's a small)
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Taylor Lorenz
Taylor Lorenz@TaylorLorenz·
I've been reporting on this political movement for a decade & I think it's worth adding that this entire legislative effort is being driven by far right Christian fundamentalist hate groups, & in zero ways do these mass surveillance ID verification laws "crack down on big tech"
helen huiskes@helen_huiskes

New from me: A cold snap is coming for Big Tech. There's a rare bipartisan movement brewing in Congress to crack down on social media by treating it like a drug. My dive into this surge of anti-tech fervor and the young parents behind it in Congress: notus.org/technology/law…

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Rob retweetledi
Shoshana Weissmann, Sloth Committee Chair 🦥
"Practically, online bans and restrictions for children trigger age verification for everyone. Since there’s no way to prove you’re a kid, adults will instead have to prove that they are not a minor. That requires the mandatory uploading of government identification, facial age estimation (which is especially unreliable when discerning 15-year-olds from 16-year-olds), or using third-party verification (which also demands your government ID or biometric data) for all adults."
JessicaPMelugin@melugin_p

Social Media Bans Bring Problems, Don’t Work sort of sums it up stripes.com/opinion/2026-0…

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Taylor Lorenz
Taylor Lorenz@TaylorLorenz·
We can’t let California lead the U.S. into an unconstitutional social media ban that destroys privacy and harms youth. eff.org/deeplinks/2026…
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Dan Baldassarre
Dan Baldassarre@evornithology·
🗣️ FOLKS! Things are finally heating up over here at #AwesomeBirds. The migrants are trickling in and that means new songs to listen for! Do you recognize this sweet song? 🍭
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WeRateDogs
WeRateDogs@dog_rates·
This is Cooper. He tried to politely decline the blowout, but apparently it's a nonnegotiable part of his spa package. 13/10
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Hanner
Hanner@GangstHannah·
There is NO way to verify kids' age online without forcing EVERYONE to show ID to use social media and the Internet. Anyone telling you this will keep kids safe is a fucking fool. This will result in data breaches and stolen identities On top of digital ID and mass surveillance
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Dan Baldassarre
Dan Baldassarre@evornithology·
YOU GOT GAMES ON YOUR PHONE?
Dan Baldassarre tweet media
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