Tracy Rosenberg

AI sexualized a California 4th grader's book report. Can the state safeguard students? An incident with Adobe AI software is raising question about whether the California Department of Education can effectively patrol a new technology.

"It produced nothing resembling the Swedish children’s book character she had accurately described. Instead, using recently-added artificial intelligence, it generated sexualized imagery of women in lingerie and bikinis" #AI calmatters.org/economy/tech...

California seeks injunction to stop Amazon's alleged stifling of price competition California asked a state judge on Tuesday to stop Amazon.com from inflating prices for consumers through an alleged campaign to bully merchants not to sell goods more cheaply elsewhere.

"Bonta said his office has uncovered "countless" interactions where Seattle-based #Amazon, rivals and merchants agreed to fix prices to ensure that Amazon would not be undercut on websites such as eBay (EBAY.O), Target (TGT.N), and Walmart (WMT.O)." #antitrust www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...

‘We got hooked’: arrests on US army base spark fear of military coordination with ICE The traffic stops on a rural California base appeared routine – until immigration agents showed up. Experts and lawmakers say the incidents could violate US law

Posse Comitatus in Monterey, "“This week it may be fingering migrants to #ICE. Next week it could be picking up people with anti-Trump bumper stickers" #FortLiggett www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

MPD officer charged for misuse of Flock cameras to track someone he was dating MPD said it became aware of police officer Josue Ayala’s misuse of the cameras in December 2025.

More #ALPR stalking. "Ayala was using the cameras to track someone he was dating. He looked up the license plate of his partner more than 120 times between March 26 and May 26 of 2025. Ayala listed the reason for his search in the #Flock system as "investigation." spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee...

Mass surveillance fears push Silicon Valley city to scrap automated license plate readers Bay Area cities reassess contracts with license plate reader vendors

"Ramos drew a chilling parallel on Tuesday between the repression her parents experienced under martial law and local residents’ warnings about automated license plate readers contributing to an expanding state #surveillance in their own community" #ALPR www.mercurynews.com/2026/02/25/m...?

Justice Department withheld and removed some Epstein files related to Trump An NPR investigation finds the public database of Epstein files is missing dozens of pages related to sexual abuse accusations against President Trump.

NPR scoops that Justice Department-censored Epstein docs focus on specific allegations against Trump. www.npr.org/2026/02/24/n...

Despite police pushback, bill requiring warrant to search license plate tracking database advances Senate Bill 70 prohibits governments from accessing databases containing historical location information without a warrant, consent or exigent circumstances.

Colorado's SB-70 would prevent automated license plate reader queries by law enforcement without a #warrant. #ALPR www.9news.com/article/news...

‘It will drive you crazy’: Letters reveal what life is like inside Adelanto ICE detention center An intimate look at life inside one of California’s largest ICE detention centers – told by the people who lived it.

"Their personal accounts describe an environment of monotony, pain and severe stress as well as claims of insufficient food, water and medical care. One man described life inside #Adelanto as “torture.” www.ocregister.com/2026/02/23/i...

How many California schools are in the 3,200-foot buffer zone where the state bans new drilling? The Trump administration is suing California over a law regulating oil and gas wells close to schools, homes and other sensitive sites. How many schools stand to be impacted?

A 2020 analysis found over 2 million people in the state live within a 1/2 of an #oil or gas well. About 7.37 million live within 1 mile of a well — nearly 1/5 of the state’s population — with low-income communities and communities of color disproportionately exposed. edsource.org/2026/schools...

Celebrating the Black History of Public Access TV - Media Burn Archive Media Burn Board member Prof. Antoine Haywood reflects on the history of Black creators of Public Access Television and the vital contributions of Michael Zinzun and other Black journalists, artists,....

There is an answer to mass media and big tech exclusion, but only if we don't let #publicaccess go away. mediaburn.org/celebrating-...

Judge who allowed FBI to search Washington Post reporter’s home rips into Justice Department | CNN Politics A federal judge ripped into the Justice Department on Friday for failing to inform him of the applicability of a law intended to protect journalists from government searches and seizures when it asked...

Judge who issued #warrant for DOJ to raid the home of Washington Post Reporter is mad at DOJ for misleading him. www.cnn.com/2026/02/20/p...

There’s been a huge surge in S.F. traffic tickets — and police aren’t the reason Though San Francisco’s speed cameras only began issuing fines in the final five months of 2025, they brought traffic tickets issued in the city to levels not seen in more than a decade.

"When SF officials installed #speedcameras last year, they said the goal was to nudge drivers to be more careful, not saddle them with tickets. In 2024, San Francisco authorities issued just over 26,000 traffic tickets. In 2025, that figure increased to 122,000" www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s...

Join us on March 5 to rally on the youth in Genesis v. EPA and pack the courtroom. RSVP: bit.ly/genesishearing-rsvp Can’t attend in person? Tune in online to watch live at bit.ly/gvepa-live

News outlets ask Seventh Circuit for access to observe Indiana executions Indiana is the only state, besides Wyoming, that bars journalists from directly attending and witnessing state executions.

Indiana is one of only two US states that does not permit journalists to witness the carrying out of the #DeathPenalty in the state. www.courthousenews.com/news-outlets...

Big Tech Says Generative AI Will Save the Planet. It Doesn’t Offer Much Proof A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all.

"The report looks at more than 150 claims made by tech companies about how "#AI will serve as a net #climate benefit.” Joshi’s analysis finds that just a quarter of those claims were backed up by research, while more than a third did not cite any evidence at all" www.wired.com/story/big-te...

Martinez Refining Company hit with $10 million fine for 163 safety violations The penalty includes an additional $600,000 in mitigation payments.

Martinez Refining Company to pay $10 million in fines for pelting #Martinez residents with coke dust on multiple occasions in a deal brokered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and Contra Costa DA Diana Becton. www.eastbaytimes.com/2026/02/19/m...?

One lawyer could take down California’s abortion shield. His star client is a convicted abuser Prominent conservative attorney Jonathan Mitchell wants to build a national abortion ban through California. His client is a convicted abuser of women.

The plaintiff in the Texas abortion case seeking to extradite a CA doctor for sending #abortion pills through the mail was a serial violent abuser of the woman who asked for the pills. www.sfchronicle.com/california/a...?

Exclusive: CBP asked a California county for info on all of its property owners Customs and Border Protection has requested information on every parcel in a Southern California county, including who owns each one.

"While property records are accessible through established procedures, a sweeping request for information on every parcel raises serious questions Residents should not be left wondering how their information may be used or why it is collected.” #Borderpatrol www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...?

Journalists Arrested in Cameroon While Reporting on Trump’s Secretive Deportation Program

#Journalists and lawyers visiting American residents extradited to #Cameroon are detained and beaten by Cameroon police. #extradition #deportations www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/w...

Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses

"We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns,” according to the document from #Meta’s Reality Labs" #Facialrecognition #Smartglasses www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...

Piedmont’s first Black family sues city over century-old racial discrimination More than a century after Piedmont’s first Black family bought their home and were subjected to a racial harassment campaign, the family’s descendants are suing for damages.

"They were met with violence, lynchings, multiple bombings, and the city, in terms of their role, stood by while this violence was being perpetuated,” #Piedmont www.eastbaytimes.com/2026/02/17/p...?

They didn't just ignore audit warnings — California lawmakers quietly killed dozens of audit-backed bills State lawmakers are promising accountability after a CBS News California investigation found they failed to enact three out of four state audit recommendations. CBS News California built an audit acco...

"A CBS News California investigation found state lawmakers failed to enact roughly three out of every four state #audit recommendations" www.cbsnews.com/news/califor...

Flock Cameras Destroyed in La Mesa Amid Surveillance Backlash - San Diego Slackers [LA MESA, Calif., Mon Feb. 16] At least two Flock automatic license plate reader cameras…

Near El Cajon, whose police department is being sued by AG Bonta for liberally sharing license plate data with red states, #Flock cameras get vandalized. sdslackers.com/2026/02/16/f...

Agreements that allow local police to work with ICE skyrocket There were 1,168 agencies with officers signed up to help ICE, up from 135 during the Biden administration and 150 at the end of Trump’s first term, according to an analysis of ICE data.

"State and local police agencies and sheriffs departments potentially stand to gain between $1.4 billion and $2 billion this year if they agree to participate because of the large infusion of cash from Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill" #287G #ICE #$ www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...

City Council fires head of Berkeley’s civilian police oversight office Hansel Aguilar has led the Office of the Director of Police Accountability since 2022. His relationship with City Hall has grown frosty.

Not good stuff going on in #Berkeley. "We are the oversight body and it looks very much like some of the leaders here do not want a real oversight body.” #police www.berkeleyside.org/2026/02/09/b...

AI toy maker exposed thousands of replies to kids, senators say Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal pressed AI toy companies about child privacy in letters sent Wednesday.

"The exposed database, which was viewed by NBC News, appeared to contain thousands of Miko toys’ daily responses to children’s questions or instructions going back to December 2025" #AI #chatbots www.nbcnews.com/tech/securit...

CBP Signs Clearview AI Deal to Use Face Recognition for ‘Tactical Targeting’ US Border Patrol intelligence units will gain access to a face recognition tool built on billions of images scraped from the internet.

"The contract states that #ClearviewAI provides access to “over 60+ billion publicly available images” and will be used for “tactical targeting” and “strategic counter-network analysis,” www.wired.com/story/cbp-si...

Conversion Therapy Since 1886: A Dark History of the Discredited Practice Even though conversion therapy is psychologically damaging, the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Colorado’s ban on the practice.

As the Supreme Court is poised to overturn CO's ban on #conversiontherapy, Uncloseted takes a look at the history of orientation gender-based coercion. www.unclosetedmedia.com/p/conversion...

‘This is not supposed to happen’: Mother of man fatally shot by Alameda County sheriff’s deputies decries killing “This is already reverberating through the music community unbelievably,” the slain man’s mother said Tuesday.

"Kristina Anderson decried the killing and questioned why deputies shot her son, despite the fact he was unarmed. I can’t believe this is the country I am living in,” Kristina Anderson said. “Because this is not supposed to happen to anyone.” www.eastbaytimes.com/2026/02/10/a...?

Coalition Urges California to Revoke Permits for Federal License Plate Reader Surveillance SAN FRANCISCO – California must revoke permits allowing federal agencies such as Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to put automated license plate readers al...

Border Patrol hides license plate readers in barrels on roadways in San Diego and the Imperial Valley. California lets them. We should stop doing this. #ALPR #BorderPatrol www.eff.org/press/releas...