Uncanny Valley | WIRED WIRED Roundup: The Right Embraces Cancel Culture
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Sep 19, 2025 Manisha Krishnan, Senior Culture Editor at WIRED, lends her sharp insights on culture and tech. She and Zöe tackle this week's hottest topics, such as OpenAI's new teen safety measures and the cultural craze around Human Design. They dive into the fallout from Charlie Kirk's death, exploring how artists and creators are facing cancellations and repercussions. The conversation touches on corporate compliance and the implications of cancel culture, revealing a landscape where tech and politics collide.
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Teen Safety Raises Privacy Trade-Offs
- OpenAI's teen-safety plan raises privacy and verification dilemmas about how age will be detected and data stored.
- Automatically contacting parents or authorities for flagged content may harm vulnerable teens exploring identity or sexuality.
AI Investments Carry Local Costs
- Large AI infrastructure pledges in the U.K. may reflect geopolitical signaling as much as real investment.
- Data centers strain local resources and can disproportionately burden marginalized communities.
Digital Authoritarianism As A Service
- China's censorship ecosystem is a commercialized service sold globally, not a single monolithic firewall.
- Firms tailor surveillance and blocking tools to client governments, mirroring commercial behavior seen in Western tech.