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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Propaganda platform PragerU is primed to capitalize on Trump's PBS cuts
Donald Trump and the GOP's move to slash more than $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's budget is putting children's educational programming offered through the Public Broadcasting Service at risk. And right-wing indoctrination platforms — in particular, PragerU — are in position to capitalize. This week, Republican lawmakers inflicted serious damage in their yearslong war on Big Bird, with passage of their Trump-backed rescissions package. In response, The Washington Post raised the legitimate question of whether American children will now be turning to vacuous and absurd web content to occupy their time, such as the popular 'Skibidi Toilet' series. It's not a far-fetched possibility. But also not the scariest. Because if conservatives have their way, more children will be educated with explicitly right-wing propaganda — like that provided by PragerU, the online content mill whose namesake, Dennis Prager, has admitted his goal is to 'indoctrinate' children with a right-wing ideology. The organization, which has faced backlash for downplaying racist atrocities like chattel slavery and the slaughter of Indigenous people, hasn't hidden its desire to overtake PBS as a provider of children's content. 'Arming parents and educators with the pro-America content they are craving — we are going toe-to-toe with massive youth media companies like PBS Kids and Disney,' PragerU said in its 2022 annual report. PragerU has already entered partnerships with states to produce educational materials. Oklahoma's far-right school superintendent, Ryan Walters, even announced this month that his state will use a new ideology test from PragerU for certification of teachers who come from states with what he called 'progressive education policies,' something he said is necessary to protect students from 'radical leftist ideology.' That gives you a sense of how well-positioned PragerU is in the conservative movement's propaganda and indoctrination plans. And the White House has done its part to promote PragerU as it has waged war on PBS, as well. The Trump administration has partnered with the platform on a 'Founders Museum' exhibit for White House visitors. As tech outlet 404 Media explained, the attraction comes complete with digital assets like this 'AI-slopified' version of John Adams, who was made to regurgitate a saying popularized by right-wing influencer — and PragerU contributor — Ben Shapiro. As 404 Media noted, the White House videos conclude with a disclaimer that says: 'This partnership does not constitute or imply U.S. Government or U.S. Department of Education endorsement of PragerU.' But that's laughable. As Trump and his allies gut PBS programming and promote this right-wing alternative, the message seems clear: 'Move over PBS, and make way for PragerU.' This article was originally published on
Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
YouTube plans to tighten creator monetisation rules amid rise in AI-generated slop
YouTube is looking to clamp down on content creators who generate revenue from 'inauthentic' videos, including mass-produced and repetitive content. The Alphabet-owned company has said it will update its YouTube Partner Program (YPP) monetisation policies on July 15, to require creators to upload 'original' and 'authentic' content. The updated monetisation policies will contain more detailed guidelines on what type of content can be monetised by creators. The move has reportedly raised concerns among YouTubers about whether it could limit them from monetising content such as reaction videos or content that contains featured clips. In response to these concerns, Rene Ritchie, YouTube's Head of Editorial and Creator Liaison, has clarified that this won't be the case. In a YouTube video posted on Tuesday, July 8, Ritchie said, 'This is a minor update to YouTube's long-standing YPP policies to help better identify when content is mass-produced or repetitive. This type of content has already been ineligible for monetisation for years and is content viewers often consider spam. Recent advancements in AI text-to-video generators have led to a surge in low-quality, AI-generated content on platforms such as YouTube. This type of content has come to be known as AI slop. This also includes authentic videos or photos that have been overlaid with AI-generated voices. It remains to be seen how YouTube's monetisation policies continue to evolve to address such content. Google, on the other hand, is also integrating its Veo 3 model in YouTube Shorts to help creators leverage its most advanced AI video generator first introduced at the tech giant's I/O 2025 developer conference a few months ago. Earlier this year, a true crime murder series on YouTube that went viral, was later discovered to be completely AI-generated, according to a report by 404 Media. Previous reports have also revealed a rise in AI-generated phishing scams, with one of them even featuring the likeness of YouTube CEO Neal Mohan to dupe victims. Several AI music channels are found to have acquired millions of subscribers. AI-generated YouTube videos about news events, like the Diddy trial, have reportedly garnered millions of views as well.
Hindustan Times
06-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Donald Trump admin building own chatbot to boost govt tech with AI tools: Report
The Trump administration is developing a new website called ' and an API meant to 'accelerate government innovation with AI,' according to 404 Media, which found a draft version of the site with code posted to GitHub. Even though Musk is no longer involved in the government and is publicly feuding with the President, the plan shows that some of DOGE's ideas are still being used.(Pexels) The project seems to be led by the General Services Administration's Technology Transformation Services, which is run by Thomas Shedd, a former engineer at Tesla, according to As per New York Times, Shedd is connected to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and has publicly supported using AI to spot fraud, review government contracts, and build 'AI coding agents' to write software for federal agencies. The draft version of uncovered by 404 Media (the live link currently redirects to the White House website), outlines three tools as part of the platform and says they are 'powered by the best in American AI.' These include an AI chat assistant, an API that connects to models from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, and a dashboard for reviewing how AI is used across agencies. According to 404, the full site was supposed to go live on July 4th. Also Read: Trump rips apart Musk in brutal attack, calls DOGE 'a monster' that may 'go back and eat Elon' Elon Musk no longer involved in the government Even though Musk is no longer involved in the government and is publicly feuding with the President, the plan shows that some of DOGE's ideas are still being used. Shedd, described as a close Musk associate, who has pushed for the GSA to 'operate like a software startup' and has promoted the use of AI tools that other agencies would be required to adopt. The draft site also mentioned plans to work with Amazon Bedrock, Meta's LLaMA, and other FedRAMP-approved vendors, though some of the AI models mentioned do not currently have official government clearance. Federal workers raised concerns Some federal workers have raised concerns about the AI project. Internal reaction has been 'pretty unanimously negative,' with employees worried about possible security issues, the risk of bugs affecting key systems, and the chance that AI could suggest canceling important contracts.
Gizmodo
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Gizmodo
‘We Live in a Surveillance State': Reddit Users Explode Over Reports of ICE's New Face and Fingerprint Scanning App
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is reportedly using a new tool called Mobile Fortify, a smartphone-based facial recognition and fingerprint scanning app that allows agents to identify people in real time using only a phone camera. The tool taps into the same biometric system used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at ports of entry. But ICE is now using it inside the U.S., in field operations across the country. According to internal ICE emails reviewed by 404 Media, the app is being deployed by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), the branch of ICE tasked with arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants. The app, reportedly called 'Mobile Fortify,' gives federal agents the power to use their phones to identify people in the field via facial recognition, a development that many online see as a horrifying leap forward for the surveillance state. The 404 Media report has ignited outrage on Reddit, where users are voicing deep concern about how far this technology could go and what it says about the direction of American governance. 'Surveillance state in full effect,' one user posted bluntly. 'The next step is to label anyone who opposes them a terrorist or criminal, strip you of any rights and probably use unconstitutional surveillance to find any dirt on you,' warned another. Others drew a straight line between mass surveillance and the erosion of civil liberties. 'We live in a surveillance state and anyone who believes otherwise reads too much Fox News,' said one user. 'Everyone mask up like it's COVID! We have already witnessed an attempted arrest and then release,' another user added. Some users offered practical resistance strategies—or at least suggestions for anonymity. 'I wonder if facial ID blocking glasses, like Reflectacles, would work on this. Apparently they block iPhone facial recognition,' said one commenter. 'Definitely wear a mask (preferably ones that hide your whole head, i.e. UV Blocking Balaclava), wear sunglasses and bring an umbrella. Also bring a flashlight, headlamp, flashlight with strobing capabilities,' wrote another. A few users expressed bitter disillusionment with the political divide over surveillance. 'Mass surveillance was something right-wingers always said they would fight against. Now that it's happening they aren't doing shit,' one user said. 'They are doing shit… they are doing the mass surveillance,' another replied, 'which is entirely made of shit.' 'They always figured that when authoritarianism came to the U.S., it would be left-wing. But since it's right-wing, they are fine with it,' added another. The most chilling posts reflected the loss of faith in institutional leadership altogether. 'Creepy. I remember noticing this at the airport a few years ago and how it felt Orwellian. I was right.' 'Wondering how long into the police state our remaining leaders will allow the country to slip before everything burns down,' wrote one user. 'We have been wholly betrayed by everyone who vowed to serve the public besides educators and emergency service workers. I have learned nothing this year that leads me to believe anyone of means gives enough fucks to stop any of this.' The growing backlash taps into long-standing fears that technologies built for border enforcement or national security are now being turned inward, aimed not just at suspects but potentially at anyone. Civil liberties groups have warned for years that biometric surveillance tools, especially those powered by AI and facial recognition, lack proper oversight and accountability and risk targeting marginalized communities. Gizmodo has reached out to ICE for comment on whether Mobile Fortify is currently in use and how the agency justifies deploying such tools in domestic operations. So far, no comment. For now, Reddit is sounding the alarm.
Axios
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Illinois officials say Texas breached abortion protection law
Illinois officials say a Texas sheriff has violated a law meant to protect people seeking abortions in the state, but all parties involved say the breach was a mistake rather than ill intent. Why it matters: In 2023, Illinois became the first state to make it illegal for law enforcement to use automated license plate readers, or ALPR, to track or penalize individuals seeking abortions or to criminalize a person's immigration status. Catch up quick: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced this month that a Texas sheriff's office searched more than 80,000 ALPR cameras in search of a woman whose family said had a self-administered abortion. Suburban Mount Prospect was one of the Illinois police departments searched. Between the lines: The Mount Prospect Police Department said in a statement it didn't know the department had opted into a feature that allowed other law enforcement agencies, including the one in Texas, to search its ALPR data. What they're saying: "I am tremendously upset that some law enforcement agencies who agreed to follow Illinois law, in order to gain access to our ALPR data, conducted illegal searches violating the trust of our community," Mount Prospect chief of police Michael Eterno said in a statement. "As disappointed as I am with these other agencies, I want to emphasize that no member of the Mount Prospect Police Department shared ALPR data in violation of the law." The other side: The license plate readers' operator, Flock Safety, says since learning of this incident in May, it has blocked 47 law enforcement agencies from accessing Illinois ALRP data if it "conducted multiple searches using reasons impermissible under Illinois law." The company also launched a tool that requires a law enforcement agency to list a reason why it's searching the database, and if it's for reasons permissible by law, such as abortion, the searcher is blocked. Zoom in: Johnson County, Texas, Sheriff Adam King told 404 Media, who first reported the story, that they were searching for the woman for her safety. "We weren't trying to block her from leaving the state or whatever to get an abortion," King told the outlet. Axios left a voicemail for the sheriff but hasn't heard back.
