Belle Torek, Esq. 🇭🇹🏳️‍🌈

Time person of the year cover for 2025

I guess it's fitting that it's a reimagined, worse version of someone else's artwork

*Lil Jon Voice* States' Rights to What

looking forward to some parents suing to demand segregated schools because integration violates their religious beliefs

so at what point does this get used to wipe out evolutionary teaching in biology?

These words will stay with me (and us, as a nation) for a very long time:

The Proposed AI Moratorium Will Harm People with Disabilities. Here’s How. | TechPolicy.Press A proposed 10-year federal moratorium on state AI laws could expose people with disabilities to harm, Ariana Aboulafia and Travis Hall write.

While existing disability rights statutes do provide some legal recourse against AI-enabled discrimination, state-level regulation remains a vital avenue for harm mitigation. The proposed federal moratorium on state AI laws threatens those very protections, Ariana Aboulafia and Travis Hall write.

State Department unveils social media screening rules for all student visa applicants Applicants will be vetted for “any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.”

Every consular officer has been made a censor. www.politico.com/news/2025/06...

For Survivors Using Chatbots, ‘Delete’ Doesn’t Always Mean Deleted | TechPolicy.Press Many survivors may assume that AI platforms and chatbots offer common privacy protections, but these are not guaranteed, Belle Torek writes.

After a recent court order, OpenAI is now required to retain the very data many of its users believed to be most private. This introduces serious privacy risks, especially for vulnerable users like victims and survivors of domestic violence, Belle Torek writes. www.techpolicy.press/for-survivor...

For Survivors Using Chatbots, ‘Delete’ Doesn’t Always Mean Deleted | TechPolicy.Press Many survivors may assume that AI platforms and chatbots offer common privacy protections, but these are not guaranteed, Belle Torek writes.

After a recent court order, OpenAI is now required to retain the very data many of its users believed to be most private. This introduces serious privacy risks, especially for vulnerable users like victims and survivors of domestic violence, Belle Torek writes.

Take It Down Act: What to do if someone posts revenge porn or a deepfake of you From documenting evidence to understanding your rights, here’s what to know if someone shares your intimate images without consent — and what changes under the newly signed Take It Down Act.

If you are interested in learning more about NDII, sexually explicit digital forgeries, and the TAKE IT DOWN Act, please view this thorough and thoughtful overview presented by CCRI President and Legislative and Tech Policy Director, @maryannefranks.bsky.social www.nbcwashington.com/news/nationa...

Reading over the text, one thing sticks out immediately: it is incredibly racist toward Haitians in particular. Quoting directy: "Additionally, hundreds of thousands of illegal Haitian aliens flooded into the United States during the Biden Administration. This influx harms American communities..."

I had not seen this WSJ article from earlier this week. The 1st Amendment violation admitted in the last paragraph of this passage would be too obvious to use on a law school exam. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans

If attempted, this would constitute flagrant violations of the Privacy Act of 1974 www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/t...

Trump Seeks Extensive Student Data in Pressure Campaign to Control Harvard

In 1956, Alabama sued NAACP to give up its membership list. It wanted to identify participants in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and those who helped Black students integrate Alabama colleges. In 1958 the Supreme Court ruled in NAACP v. Alabama that the 1st Amendment protects the privacy of such info.

bluesky's trending topics: Tottenham hotspur, qatar jet, fda, scotus, tush push, gerry connolly

I'm not a songwriter or anything but the new lyrics to We Didn't Start the Fire are kinda weird, right?

Gen AI ys creatinge a real nostalgia-based market for good olde fashioned homespun human error

WATCH LIVE: Trump signs Take It Down Act, bill combating nonconsensual deepfakes and revenge porn The bill makes it illegal to “knowingly publish” or threaten to publish intimate images without a person's consent, including AI-created "deepfakes."

At 3:00 PM Eastern, the TAKE IT DOWN Act will be signed into law. The live signing can be viewed here: 1/x
www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories: A Summary of the Science What hundreds of studies reveal about the motives behind conspiracy thinking

"A new meta-analysis of 279 studies finds that belief in conspiracy theories is linked to three core psychological motives: wanting to make sense of the world, coping with uncertainty, and connecting with others."

matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/why-people...

Pulitzer Center/The Markup investigation reveals safety lapses, sexual violence on dating apps The reporters fought to access court records for the story with free legal support from an attorney they connected with through ProJourn.

A @themarkup.org @pulitzercenter.bsky.social investigation revealed the world's largest dating app company failed to crack down on users it knew were accused of sexual violence.

To tell the story, the reporters fought to access court records with free legal help they found through ProJourn.

Hot topic 1921

Anointed by AI: The Trump Pope Meme and the Expanding Liar’s Dividend | TechPolicy.Press An AI-generated meme posted by the White House raises questions about accountability, writes Belle Torek.

Just days after Pope Francis’ death, official White House accounts published an AI-generated image of President Donald Trump dressed in papal vestments. The President’s vague dismissal and the confusion it prompted among some in the public raise questions about accountability, writes Belle Torek.

Well, this is a hell of a metaphor for generative AI

DOGE & Disability Rights: Three Key Tech Policy Concerns | TechPolicy.Press It appears clear that DOGE’s underlying ableist rhetoric both informs and forecasts its work, writes Tech Policy Press fellow Ariana Aboulafia.

It appears clear that Trump and Musk’s ableist rhetoric both informs and forecasts DOGE’s work, writes Tech Policy Press fellow Ariana Aboulafia. Its violations of data privacy and expansive use of AI without proper oversight have already harmed disabled people, and will continue to do so, she says.

Give a person a fisshe and thei will eate for a daye. Teache a person to fisshe and thei will eate for a lyfetyme. Destroye the fish ponde to make a computer tell lies about fisshe, you are a Gen AI companye.

Thank you, Stevie! 🥹

Trump says ‘I don’t know’ when asked if he’s required to uphold Constitution The president also downplayed fears of a recession and spoke of potential successors when his four-year term ends in an NBC interview.

The Presidential Oath, which he has sworn to twice:

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

List — One Free Press Coalition The One Free Press Coalition publishes a monthly list of 10 most urgent cases of journalists' press freedoms under attack.

Today is World Press Freedom Day. With an increasing number of journalists receiving threats or even facing detainment for simply doing their jobs and seeking the truth, WIRED is proud to support #OneFreePress Coalition in its efforts to protect press freedom. Read more here:

U.S. press freedom falls to historical low Reporters Without Borders cites economic strains on the media as the biggest driver of press freedom declines globally.

Press freedom in the United States has hit a record low, according to the latest World Press Freedom Index published annually by Reporters Without Borders.

Take It Down Act heads to Trump’s desk Trump has pledged to sign it.

"But while critics say that’s an important issue to deal with, they worry that the Take It Down Act’s approach could be exploited to inflict harm in other ways."
www.theverge.com/news/657632/...