The @voiceofoc newspaper and First Amendment Coalition teamed up to force the Santa Ana City Council to revise proposed rules limiting the filming and recording of City Council meetings. #BrownAct https://voiceofoc.org/2025/01/santa-ana-officials-back-off-on-restricting-photojournalists-after-backlash/

Stanford University says they will not pursue disciplinary action against the 19 year old Stanford Daily #reporter who covered the takeover of a university building by anti-genocide protesters last year. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/stanford-drops-case-against-student-journalist-20047810.php

In a not entirely redacted ruling, Easter District of NY Court finally concludes that #Section702 NSA #surveillance of Americans is unconstitutional, although the specific evidence against the defendant will not be suppressed. https://www.aclu.org/documents/section-702-memorandum-and-order-u-s-v-hasbajrami-11-cr-00623-ldh

After a virulent fire destroyed an affordable apartment building at 22nd and Mission, the owner promised to rebuild affordable #housing. Promise broken. Sign the petition to object. https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/oppose-la-muerte-de-la-mission-the-death-of-the-mission-luxury-development-on-22nd-mission-2

"Allowing nonprofit #OpenAI to repurpose its assets to earn a profit and attract investors could set a dangerous precedent allowing #startups to enjoy the tax writeoffs of #nonprofits even when they intend to eventually become highly lucrative, capitalist enterprises" https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/01/openai-investigation-california/

Kentucky police execute a #searchwarrant for stolen lawn equipment at the wrong address and kill the homeowner at the house two doors away from the warrant address. https://www.wbir.com/article/news/crime/man-dead-after-police-shoot-in-home-wrong-house/51-52359636-a5fa-461c-80d8-d80796a23ac7

Electronic Intifada #journalist Ali Abuminah detained prior to speaking engagement in Switzerland by Swiss police for unidentified reasons. https://electronicintifada.net/content/eis-ali-abunimah-arrested-switzerland/50333

UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism pulls out of Google #news deal negotiated in Sacto. "“Our campus can’t serve as a passthrough for funds from Google and the state to local newsrooms'. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/16/california-google-journalism-uc-berkeley-00198605

Palo Alto school district becomes first in state to refuse to provide a mandated #ethnicstudies course in their high schools. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/palo-alto-school-district-kills-ethnic-studies-20040583.php?

"Instead of a #price or promotion being a static feature of a product, the same product could have a different price or promotion based on a variety of inputs—including consumer-related #data and their behaviors and preferences, and the location, time, and channels by which a consumer buys the product". https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-surveillance-pricing-study-indicates-wide-range-personal-data-used-set-individualized-consumer

"We saw how #hatespeech in Myanmar inspired genocide against the Rohingya people. We have seen hateful words inspire doxing, harassment, and violence against Haitian #immigrants in Ohio this fall. #Meta has spent years building trust and safety teams only to tear them down.” https://www.404media.co/email/3d360e43-3861-43e2-8854-ca040408f524/?

#Internet seeming to work as intended. "Chinese users on Xiaohongshu have so far welcomed American users, with some offering to teach them Chinese. In some cases, Chinese students have asked the Americans for help with their English homework". https://apnews.com/article/china-xiaohongshu-tiktok-ban-refugees-c7f440803128ef50f0ade44d16068f01

Outgoing #FCC Chair Rosenworcel dismisses 4 TV license petitions to deny. ""This agency should not be the president's speech police and this agency shouldn't be journalism's censor-in-chief," she adds. "By taking action on these four petitions - from the right and the left - we're making those principles clear." https://www.npr.org/2025/01/16/nx-s1-5262424/fcc-trump-tv-licenses-rosenworcel

While it may not be technically illegal, it is probably not a good idea to allow sitting municipal mayors to be hired to do promotional work for #surveillance companies. https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/08/flock-safety-quietly-hired-a-sitting-california-mayor-now-hes-suing-flock/

"The case arose from the 2021 seizure of Stephen Lara’s life savings during a traffic stop. Without any evidence that Lara committed a crime and without charging him with a crime, NHP handed his money to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), bypassing Nevada’s stricter #forfeiture protections. Lara had to fight for months to get his money back, exposing how police used the federal program to sidestep state laws that require higher proof to seize property". https://ij.org/press-release/nevada-court-shuts-down-police-use-of-federal-loophole-for-civil-forfeiture

"An initiative that was promoted for years as a civil ­rights cause — helping poor kids in troubled #schools — is threatening to become a nationwide money grab". #vouchers https://www.propublica.org/article/school-vouchers-ohio-church-state-tax-dollars-private-religious

Former U.S. Attorney James Reynolds who prosecuted Leonard Peltier directly asks for clemency for the man he put in prison for 46 years. https://youtu.be/jBS1edGEGQU?feature=shared

"There was substantial evidence over the years that automatic #drone geofencing contributed significantly to #aviation safety. DJI has removed the built-in #geofencing feature that automatically impedes such an incident, replacing it with warnings that the user can choose to ignore". https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/14/24343928/dji-no-more-geofencing-no-fly-zone

As Los Angeles burns, Customs and Border Patrol took the opportunity to arrest 78 people in Kern County. #CBP #Immigration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7mn3vYYgdc

Heritage Foundation plans to target #Wikipedia contributors using #facialrecognition and hacked passwords. https://forward.com/news/686797/heritage-foundation-wikipedia-antisemitism/