ICE’s Plan to Monitor Social Media 24/7

+ PewDiePieAI, sustainable abundance, MAGA influencers go solar, disappearing summer break, YT's newest teen sensation, giving birth on livestream, a plan to bathe entire cities in sunlight from space

Last year, Meta, Apple, and other big tech platforms began mass removing content and apps related to ICE. They deleted Facebook groups whose members criticized ICE agents, and forced the removal of apps from the app store that allowed citizens to report ICE in their neighborhood. Overall, it’s becoming harder and harder to criticize ICE online.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), is suing the government to fight back against these efforts. Today, Colin McDonnell, an attorney at FIRE joins me to break down FIRE’s lawsuit representing a Chicago-based Facebook group owner and an anti-ICE app founder against the government.

We discuss how DOJ and DHS officials, including Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem, successfully pressured Apple and Facebook to remove an ICE-tracking app and a Chicago-based Facebook group with nearly 100,000 members. Colin breaks down why FIRE is suing the government , whether recording law enforcement in public is protected speech or dangerous "doxing,” the threats of a secret ICE protester database, and more!! WATCH NOW!

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What I’m reading

Salish Matter Got 87,000 Fans to Go to the Mall. Then Netflix Came Calling

The teen influencer Is a YouTube sensation, Sephora success story and coming soon to a streaming device near you.- WSJ

Online Accusations in Guthrie Abduction Leave One Family ‘Scared Numb’

A fifth-grade teacher and his principal wife hid in their bedroom as dozens of people who believed he might be a kidnapper appeared on their suburban street. - NY Times

AI Will Never Be Conscious

Michael Pollan argues that artificial intelligence can do many things, it just can’t be a person. - WIRED

Kids Show Us What They’re Into, From Pokémon to Pop Stars

We gave them disposable cameras to document their stuff, in all its glittery, sporty, nerdy glory. - Bloomberg

My Life as a Sex Worker at a Nevada Brothel

Men come to me for sex, yes. But in an age of profound loneliness and disconnection, they turn out to be looking for so much more. - Esquire

All the looksmaxxers are getting personality-mogged

The newly notorious streamer Clavicular has a sharp jawline but no charisma. As his movement goes mainstream, its lack of genuine sex appeal is getting increasingly obvious. - GQ

How Chinese AI Chatbots Censor Themselves

Researchers from Stanford and Princeton found that Chinese AI models are more likely than their Western counterparts to dodge political questions or deliver inaccurate answers. - WIRED

A World Where All Is Free? That’s Elon Musk’s Theory of ‘Sustainable Abundance.’

The Tesla and SpaceX chief has told his followers that they will live in a world where robots will take care of every need and people do not have to work, in what has become his latest slogan. - NY Times

User Mag news rundown

• AIs push nuclear war in 95% of simulated war games.

• A Chinese streamer was banned after posting videos of his wife’s 23-hour childbirth to advertise diapers.

• The Pope is begging priests to stop using AI to write sermons.

• Burger King is launching an AI chatbot that will live in the headsets used by employees, and check if employees say “please” and “thank you.”

• A new app sends users a warning when it detects AI smart glasses being worn nearby.

• Inflation is on the rise again 😭.

• RFK said people who are broke should just eat liver.

• Anthropic launched a Substack newsletter called Claude’s Corner, written by AI, where the AI will be publishing “weekly essays on topics of its choosing.”

• Laura Loomer is trying to sink Tucker’s nicotine pouch brand, alleging violations of tobacco marketing laws.

  

• 4Chan knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s death 38 minutes before the rest of the world. The FBI tried to figure out how.

• PewDiePie said that he trained his own AI model and claims it outperforms ChatGPT on a coding benchmark.

• MrBeast published his worst performing video in years. (It was titled “I built 10 schools around the world.”)

• Crocs just launched a 5-episode microdrama with Hollywood power agency CAA.

• Proposals before the FCC involve mirrored satellites that could bathe entire cities in sunlight from space 24/7, in order to solar power data centers.

• The solar power industry, is now working with MAGA influencers to bolster solar power’s standing via conservative media partnerships.

  

• Teenagers don’t really get summers off anymore, they have to spend their time doing things that will make them competitive for college.

• Google sent an AI push alert with the N word in it.

• For the first time since the 1930s, more people are leaving the US than coming in.

• “Cutting-edge” AI-powered cockroaches are being created for military use.

• A video editor working for MrBeast is accused of trading on insider information on Kalshi.

• Doritos introduces high-protein chips in Nacho Cheese and BBQ flavors.

• A popular right-wing X account that called a video of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes “a masterpiece” is run by a White House staffer.

• The publisher of Out and The Advocate has bought Condé Nast’s LGBT+ publication Them.

• Anthropic is at war with the Pentagon after the AI company said they didn’t want the government using their AI to do evil things.

• Bird populations are falling much faster than previously though.

  

• Twitch streamer Pokimane is now going by her IRL name Imane.

• FedEx will refund customers for Trump’s tariffs, if there ever are any refunds.

• An AI-generated podcast network publishes 11,000 episodes a day, ripping off local media outlets.

• Netflix dropped out of the Warner Brothers Discovery bidding war, paving the way for David Ellison’s Paramount to buy it.

• Multimillionaire ‘Squatty Potty’ creator arrested in Utah for buying child pornography.

• Tampa, Florida’s airport is banning flyers from wearing pajamas and crocs.

• Texas rolled out a “Bible-infused curriculum” which is now in chaos after hundreds of errors were identified.

• Nicki Minaj’s social media is being propped up by thousands of bots, one analysis found. MAGA internet quickly melted down in response and accused the POLITICO story of being some sort of Cardi B hit piece.

  

• Vegetarians have ‘substantially lower risk of cancer, despite what MAHA people claim.

• You’ll soon be able to call a flying car via Uber app in Dubai.

• AI is set to be the defining issue for the 2026 midterm elections.

• There are probably hormone-disrupting chemicals in your headphones.

• A LEGO-style replica of JPMorgan’s new 270 Park skyscraper has an internal waitlist and is listed for $500 on eBay.

• Online gambling app Stake says influencers like Drake and Adin Ross don’t win more than the average gambler. But Bloomberg ran a year-long data investigation into Stake and Kick and found otherwise.

• A man accidentally took control of an army of robot vacuums with a PS5 controller, and could have gained access to their cameras.

• The popular animated show Smiling Friends is ending at Adult Swim.

• I’m very excited about A24’s Backrooms horror movie based on the viral YouTube videos.

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