There Are No Girls on the Internet

So much happened with Twitter. It broke, or maybe they broke it. Then they broke it more, possibly trying to fix it. It's still broken and the vibes are off. Meta launched its new Threads app into the social hole abdicated by Twitter, and 30 million people said "ok" even though Meta is a demonstrably terrible brand that chooses profit over people over and over and over again. We'll probably check it out.  The ever increasing availability of digital surveillance tools is threatening privacy in France (the police want to turn on your phone's camera), Virginia (adults need to register with a government website to view porn), and Sacramento (the Sheriff illegally shares license plate data with police in states that have criminalized abortion). Meanwhile in England, a newspaper was forced to publish a front-page apology for a sexist (but not racist!!!) article about Meghan Markle (it was racist).   Threads' privacy policy: https://help.instagram.com/515230437301944  French law: https://gazettengr.com/france-passes-bill-to-allow-police-remotely-activate-phone-camea-microphone-spy-on-people/  Sacramento Sheriff: https://news.yahoo.com/sacramento-sheriff-sharing-license-plate-133000119.html  Virginia is for lovers (not filthy perverts): https://www.wired.com/story/porn-age-checks-id-laws/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fast fashion retailer Shein’s brand trip didn’t quite go as they planned. They sent a group of influencers to China to tour their facility after a bunch of bad press, but now those influencers are facing backlash themselves, and renouncing their partnership with Shein. The whole thing raises questions about the ethics and harm of fast fashion, as well as the influencers who shill for it.   Aja Barber wrote the book on consumption. She explains why it’s about more than just Shein.   Aja is the most stylish person I know! Follow her on Patreon for sustainable style insights: https://www.patreon.com/AjaBarber   Check out Aja’s book Consumed: https://www.ajabarber.com/book   Wanna support the There Are No Girls On The Internet? Check us out on Patreon at Patreon.com/tangoti See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SCOTUS’ affirmative action ruling leaves us mad as hell; Dylan Mulvaney, the trans influencer targeted for extremist hate in the wake of a Bud Light brand partnership, returns to social media;  Canva’s AI text to image tool labels Bantu knots “unsafe;” A new lawsuits says Open AI’s ChatGPT is taking all of our data; Google and Facebook threaten to go dark on Canadian news. Facebook’s bans news in Australia is silencing activists: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/disinformed-facebooks-bans-news-in-australia-is-silencing/id1520715907?i=1000510047480 Google says it will start blocking Canadian news stories in response to new: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/29/1185087587/google-says-it-will-start-blocking-canadian-news-stories-in-response-to-new-law We had a little bit more to say in this episode, so to hear the rest of the newscast, subscribe to our Patreon: Patreon.com/tangotiSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s no denying that dating apps, social media, and smartphones have changed the way platonic, romantic, and sexual relationships play out in all of our lives. But it’s more than just that! Making meaningful friend relationships can be tough because of *everything* we’re all dealing with.   Comedian and author Lane Moore explores how we all make friendships now and her new book You Will Find Your People.    CHECK OUT LANE’S NEW BOOK: https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/you-will-find-your-people_9781419762567/   Wanna support the show and get AD FREE bonus content? Patreon.com/tangoti See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a heavy musk of Elon in this episode. He tries to redefine the word ‘cis’ to be a slur and says it will be considered harassment on his janky platform that encourages deadnaming; he inspires the CEO of Reddit to follow his lead and alienate his own users by charging for API access; and he challenges Mark Zuckerburg to an ill-advised cage match that seems like it might actually happen. RFK Jr. went on Joe Rogan’s podcast to rehash some tired old medical misinformation from 2020, then Rogan’s listeners got big mad when an actual scientist wasn’t interested in debating their nonsense. But it’s not all gloom and doom! In happier news, the two Georgia poll workers whose lives were upended by Trump and Giuliani’s baseless lies about them were finally officially exonerated. Illinois gets behind the librarians to ban book bans, and the Recording Academy takes a stand by insisting that only humans can win Grammys - not AI.  Did you follow the Oceangate tragedy? Listen to an ad free bonus episode breaking down online discourse,  conspiracy theories and right wing grievance mongering around Oceangate: https://www.patreon.com/posts/oceangate-85029090 Listen to Bridget’s episode about Ruby and Shay Freeman on Internet Hate Machine: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-one-why-trump-targeted-two-black-election-workers/id1648497305?i=1000590820764  Erin Reed’s piece on the history of the word cis https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/cisgender-is-no-more-a-slur-than Anna Merlan’s Vice piece on RFK on Rogan: https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7zz9z/spotify-rogan-rfk-vaccine-misinformation-policySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Amazon Prime's new docu series Shiny Happy People, we're given a look into the Duggars' harmful religious ideology. Eve Ettinger shares their story in the film. Eve joins to talk about their work with the Coalition for Responsible Home Education to help advocate for homeschooled kids. Listen to Eve's podcast Kitchen Table Cult: https://kitchentablecult.com/ and subscribe to their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kitchentablecultpod   SUPPORT Coalition for Responsible Home Education: https://responsiblehomeschooling.org/support-crhe/    Eve's Salon piece:  Shiny happy homeschooling: The abusive Duggar-like household is preventable, if we all take action: https://www.salon.com/2023/06/10/duggar-homeschooling-danger-reform-shiny-happy-people/   Want to support the show and get ad free content: Subscribe to the patreon: patreon.com/tangotiSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A besmirched radio host sues OpenAI over ChatGPT hallucinations of impropriety. Google rakes in ad cash from anti-choice "pregnancy crisis centers" designed to trick pregnant people. GLAAD releases its third annual Social Media Safety Index on platform safety for LGBTQ individuals (spoiler: Twitter is going backwards). More Teslas are crashing than previously realized. Majorities of GenXers and Millenials would like to travel back in time before social media existed. Read the GLAAD report, it's accessible and interesting: https://assets.glaad.org/m/7adb1180448da194/original/Social-Media-Safety-Index-2023.pdf More than half of Nintendo Switch owners are female: https://mynintendonews.com/2023/06/10/us-47-of-console-gamers-are-female-and-52-own-nintendo-switch/ Read about the lawsuit against OpenAI. Make sure to follow the link in the article to read the complaint itself, it's worth it: https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/9/23755057/openai-chatgpt-false-information-defamation-lawsuit Report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate on Google's profiteering from deceptive anti-choice "pregnancy crisis centers": https://counterhate.com/research/google-profiting-from-fake-abortion-clinics-ads/ Remember to look both ways before crossing the street, there could be a Tesla coming: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/10/tesla-autopilot-crashes-elon-musk/ GenXers and older millenials are over it with social media: https://www.fastcompany.com/90909279/gen-xers-and-older-millennials-really-just-want-to-go-back-in-time-to-before-the-internet-existed Get more bonus content ad-free and join the TANGOTI Discord chat at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tangoti See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few weeks ago in our news roundup we talked about a weird social post from Essence magazine on Viola Davis's incredible outfit at the Cannes Film Festival. Not only was her name spelled wrong, but the language just felt off, and Bridget speculated that it seemed like it was written by AI. Fast forward a few weeks, and Essence reached out to Bridget about it on Instagram! But their response was confusing, at first they admitted to being "busted" and it seemed all in good fun, UNTIL they accused her of spreading misinformation. So was it written by AI or not? Bridget explains the reasons she still thinks it was, what this says about the future role of AI in media, and why AAVE (African American Vernacular English) might be the Achilles heel of generative language models.   See a screenshot of the original post through this public Patreon link (and while you're there, sign up for more bonus ad-free content): https://www.patreon.com/posts/84517863   Check out Bridget's critically acclaimed podcast "Beef", all about epic competitions: https://ncpodcasts.com/beefSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we learned Amazon employees spied on Ring customers, YouTube is rolling back its policy about election disinfo, and Instagram is even worse than we thought (which was already very bad). In less terrible news, Twitter has a new CEO, and some low stakes drama between two Birthday Moms in the park reminds us why the Internet is great. Good news! Biden names a point person to counter extremists trying to ban LGBTQ books: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/08/1180941627/biden-pride-month-book-bans Bad News! Instagram Algorithms Boost and Connect Vast Network of Pedophiles: https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/instagram-pedophile-network-child-pornography-researchers-1235635743/  Scary news! DeSantis campaign uses AI-generated deep fake images of Trump and Fauci: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/06/desantis-ad-uses-fake-ai-images-of-trump-hugging-and-kissing-fauci-experts-say/  The ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok: https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/ The opposite of ‘Enshittification’ is ‘Embiggification’: https://youtu.be/FcxsgZxqnEg  Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino Is Teetering on the Glass Cliff: https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-linda-yaccarino-glass-cliff/  Get more bonus content ad-free and join the TANGOTI Discord chat at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tangoti See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to what’s next in technology and the internet, we’d all benefit from listening to sex workers. Dr. Olivia Snow, dominatrix and researcher at UCLA’s Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, explains why people who engage in sex work have been right about the internet all along.    ‘Magic Avatar’ App Lensa Generated Nudes From My Childhood Photos: https://www.wired.com/story/lensa-artificial-intelligence-csem/ Are You Ready to Be Surveilled Like a Sex Worker? https://www.wired.com/story/roe-abortion-sex-worker-policy/   WANT TO SUPPORT THE SHOW AND GET AD FREE CONTENT? SUBSCRIBE ON PATREON AT PATREON.COM/TANGOTI See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.