Age-Verification Bills and Mass Surveillance

The Week in Tech is back and it’s growing. Starting this Friday, Oz will be joined by a panel of the brightest minds covering Silicon Valley. Each week, they will discuss the latest news, decode emerging trends and debate what actually matters for the future of technology and for us.

This week, TechStuff asked Taylor Lorenz, Stephen Witt and Nitasha Tiku to share a story. Nitasha catches us up on the drama unfolding between Anthropic and the Pentagon. Stephen covers another tragic case of AI psychosis with fatal consequences. And Taylor makes the case for why 'social media addiction' is a harmful framework — and how age-verification laws could lead to mass surveillance and censorship of adults and children alike.

Additional Reading: 

• Anthropic Sues Pentagon Over National Security Risk Label - The Washington Post
• Gemini Said They Could Only Be Together if He Killed Himself. Soon, He Was Dead. - WSJ 
• Congress Is Considering Abolishing Your Right to Be Anonymous Online - The Intercept 
• The world wants to ban children from social media, but there will be grave consequences for us all | Taylor Lorenz | The Guardian 

This episode contains mentions of suicide. If you or someone you know needs support, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or visit 988lifeline.org.

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