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Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Yahoo
Kids are making deepfakes of each other, and laws aren't keeping up
Last October, a 13-year-old boy in Wisconsin used a picture of his classmate celebrating her bat mitzvah to create a deepfake nude he then shared on Snapchat. This is not an isolated incident. Over the past few years, there has been case after case of school-age children using deepfakes to prank or bully their classmates. And it keeps getting easier to do. When they emerged online eight years ago, deepfakes were initially difficult to make. Nowadays, advances in technology, through generative artificial intelligence, have provided tools to the masses. One troubling consequence is the prevalence of deepfake apps among young users. 'If we would have talked five or six years ago about revenge porn in general, I don't think that you would have found so many offenders were minors,' said Rebecca Delfino, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University who studies deepfakes. Federal and state legislators have sought to tackle the scourge of nonconsensual intimate image (NCII) abuse, sometimes referred to as 'revenge porn,' though advocates prefer the former term. Laws criminalizing the nonconsensual distribution of intimate images — for authentic images, at least — are in effect in every U.S. state and Washington, D.C., and last month President Donald Trump signed a similar measure into law, known as Take It Down. But unlike the federal measure, many of the state laws don't apply to explicit AI-generated deepfakes. Fewer still appear to directly grapple with the fact that perpetrators of deepfake abuse are often minors. Fifteen percent of students reported knowing about AI-generated explicit images of a classmate, according to a survey released in September by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a center-left think tank. Students also reported that girls were much more likely to be depicted in explicit deepfakes. According to CDT, the findings show that 'NCII, both authentic and deepfake, is a significant issue in K-12 public schools.' 'The conduct we see minors engaged in is not all that different from the pattern of cruelty, humiliation and exploitation and bullying that young people have always done to each other,' said Delfino. 'The difference lies in not only the use of technology to carry out some of that behavior, but the ease with which it is disseminated.' Policymakers at the state and federal level have come at perpetrators of image-based sexual abuse 'hard and fast,' no matter their age, Delfino said. The reason is clear, she said: The distribution of nonconsensual images can have long-lasting, serious mental health harms on the target of abuse. Victims can be forced to withdraw from life online because of the prevalence of nonconsensual imagery. Image-based sexual abuse has similar negative mental health impacts on survivors as those who experienced offiline sexual violence. Delfino said that under most existing laws, youth offenders are likely to be treated similarly to minors who commit other crimes: They can be charged, but prosecutors and courts would likely take into account their age in doling out punishment. Yet while some states have developed penal codes that factor a perpetrator's age into their punishment, including by imposing tiered penalties that attempt to spare first-time or youth offenders from incarceration, most do not. While most agree there should be consequences for youth offenders, there's less consensus about what those consequences should be — and a push for reeducation over extreme charges.. A 2017 survey by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), a nonprofit that combats online abuse, found that people who committed image-based sexual abuse reported the threat of jail time as one of the strongest deterrents against the crime. That's why the organization's policy recommendations have always pushed for criminalization, said Mary Anne Franks, a law professor at George Washington University who leads the initiative. Many states have sought to address the issue of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, which covers deepfakes of people under 18, by modifying existing laws banning what is legally know as child pornography. These laws tend to have more severe punishments: felonies instead of misdemeanors, high minimum jail time or significant fines. For example, Louisiana mandates a minimum five-year jail sentence no matter the age of the perpetrator. While incidents of peer-on-peer deepfake abuse are increasingly cropping up in the news, information on what criminal consequences youth offenders have faced remains scarce. There is often a significant amount of discretion involved in how minors are charged. Generally, juvenile justice falls under state rather than federal law, giving local officials leeway to impose punishments as they see fit. If local prosecutors are forced to decide between charging minors with severe penalties that are aimed at adults or declining to prosecute, most will likely choose the latter, said Lindsay Hawthorne, the communications coordinator at Enough Abuse, a Massachussetts-based nonprofit fighting against child sexual abuse. But then this throws away an opportunity to teach youth about the consequences of their actions and prevent reoffending. Charges that come at a prosecutor's discretion are more likely to disproportionately criminalize youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth, she said. Delfino said that in an ideal case, a judge in juvenile court would weigh many factors in sentencing: the severity of the harm caused by deepfake abuse, the intent of the perpetrator, and adolescent psychology. Experts say that building these factors directly into policy can help better deal with offenders who may not understand the consequences of their actions and allow for different enforcement mechanisms for people who say they weren't seeking to cause harm. For example, recent laws passed this session in South Carolina and Florida have 'proportional penalties' that take into account circumstances including age, intent and prior criminal history. Both laws mirrored model legislation written by MyOwn Image, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing technology-facilitated sexual violence. Founded by image-based sexual abuse survivor Susanna Gibson, the organization has been involved in advocating for strengthened laws banning nonconsensual distribution of intimate images at the state level, bringing a criminal justice reform lens into the debate. Under the Florida law, which took effect May 22, offenders who profit from nonconsensual intimate images distribution are charged with felonies, even if for a first offense. But first-time offenders who use intimate images to harass victims are charged with a misdemeanor; if they do it again, they then are charged with a felony. This avoids 'sweeping criminalization of people who may not fully understand the harm caused by their actions,' Will Rivera, managing director at MyOwn Image, said in a statement. South Carolina's newly passed law addressing AI-generated child sexual abuse material, meanwhile, explicitly states that minors with no prior related criminal record should be referred to family court, and recommends behavioral health counseling as part of the adjudication. A separate South Carolina law banning nonconsensual distribution of intimate imagery also has tiered charges depending on intent and previous convictions. Experts are mostly united in believing that incarcerating youth offenders would not solve the problem of image-based sexual abuse. Franks said that while her group has long recommended criminal penalties as part of the answer, there need to be more policy solutions for youth offenders than just threatening jail time. Amina Fazlullah, head of tech policy advocacy at Common Sense Media, said that laws criminalizing NCII and abusive deepfakes need to be accompanied by digital literacy and AI education measures. That could fill a massive gap. According to Stanford, there currently isn't any comprehensive research on how many schools specifically teach students about online exploitation. Since most teens aren't keeping abreast of criminal codes, AI literacy education initiatives could teach young users what crosses the line into illegal behavior and provide resources for victims of nonconsensual intimate imagery to seek redress. Digital literacy could also emphasize ethical use of technology and create space for conversations about app use. Hawthorne noted that Massachusetts's law banning deepfakes, which went into effect last year, directs adolescents who violate it to take part in an education program that explains laws and the impacts of sexting. Ultimately, Franks said, the behavior that underlies deepfake abuse isn't new, and so we do not need to rewrite our responses from scratch 'We should just stick to the things that we know, which don't change with technology, which is consent, autonomy, agency, safety. Those are all things that should be at the heart of what we talk to kids about,' she said. Like abstinence-only education, schools shaming and scaring kids about more common practices like sexting is not an effective way to prevent abuse, Franks said, and can discourage kids from seeking help from adults when they are being exploited. Franks noted that parents, too, have the power to instill in their children agency over their own images every time they take a photo. She also said there are myriad other ways to regulate the ecosystem around sexually explicit deepfakes. After all, most policy around deepfakes addresses harm already done, and laws like the federal Take It Down Act put a burden on the victim to request the removal of their images from online platforms. Part of addressing the problem is making it more difficult to create and rapidly distribute nonconsensual imagery — and keeping tools for deepfakes out of kids' hands, experts said. One avenue for change that advocates see is applying pressure on companies whose tools are used to create nonconsensual deepfakes. Third parties that help distribute them are also becoming a target. After a CBS News investigation, Meta took action to remove advertisements of so-called 'nudify apps' on its platforms. Frank also suggested app stores could delist them. Payment processors, too, have a lot of power over the ecosystem. When Visa, Mastercard and Discover cut off payments to PornHub after a damning New York Times report revealed how many nonconsensual videos it hosted, the largest pornography site in the world deleted everything it couldn't confirm was above board — nearly 80 percent of its total content. Last month, Civitai finally cracked down on generative AI models tailored around real people after payment processors refused to work with the company. This followed extensive reporting by tech news site 404 Media on the image-platform's role in the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes. And of course, Franks said, revamping the liability protections digital services enjoy under Section 230 could force tech companies' hands when it comes to liability, compelling them be more proactive about preventing digital sexual violence. A version of this article first appeared in Tech Policy Press. The post Kids are making deepfakes of each other, and laws aren't keeping up appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Yahoo
Kids are making deepfakes of each other, and laws aren't keeping up
Last October, a 13-year-old boy in Wisconsin used a picture of his classmate celebrating her bat mitzvah to create a deepfake nude he then shared on Snapchat. This is not an isolated incident. Over the past few years, there has been case after case of school-age children using deepfakes to prank or bully their classmates. And it keeps getting easier to do. When they emerged online eight years ago, deepfakes were initially difficult to make. Nowadays, advances in technology, through generative artificial intelligence, have provided tools to the masses. One troubling consequence is the prevalence of deepfake apps among young users. 'If we would have talked five or six years ago about revenge porn in general, I don't think that you would have found so many offenders were minors,' said Rebecca Delfino, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University who studies deepfakes. Federal and state legislators have sought to tackle the scourge of nonconsensual intimate image (NCII) abuse, sometimes referred to as 'revenge porn,' though advocates prefer the former term. Laws criminalizing the nonconsensual distribution of intimate images — for authentic images, at least — are in effect in every U.S. state and Washington, D.C., and last month President Donald Trump signed a similar measure into law, known as Take It Down. But unlike the federal measure, many of the state laws don't apply to explicit AI-generated deepfakes. Fewer still appear to directly grapple with the fact that perpetrators of deepfake abuse are often minors. Fifteen percent of students reported knowing about AI-generated explicit images of a classmate, according to a survey released in September by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a center-left think tank. Students also reported that girls were much more likely to be depicted in explicit deepfakes. According to CDT, the findings show that 'NCII, both authentic and deepfake, is a significant issue in K-12 public schools.' 'The conduct we see minors engaged in is not all that different from the pattern of cruelty, humiliation and exploitation and bullying that young people have always done to each other,' said Delfino. 'The difference lies in not only the use of technology to carry out some of that behavior, but the ease with which it is disseminated.' Policymakers at the state and federal level have come at perpetrators of image-based sexual abuse 'hard and fast,' no matter their age, Delfino said. The reason is clear, she said: The distribution of nonconsensual images can have long-lasting, serious mental health harms on the target of abuse. Victims can be forced to withdraw from life online because of the prevalence of nonconsensual imagery. Image-based sexual abuse has similar negative mental health impacts on survivors as those who experienced offiline sexual violence. Delfino said that under most existing laws, youth offenders are likely to be treated similarly to minors who commit other crimes: They can be charged, but prosecutors and courts would likely take into account their age in doling out punishment. Yet while some states have developed penal codes that factor a perpetrator's age into their punishment, including by imposing tiered penalties that attempt to spare first-time or youth offenders from incarceration, most do not. While most agree there should be consequences for youth offenders, there's less consensus about what those consequences should be — and a push for reeducation over extreme charges.. A 2017 survey by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), a nonprofit that combats online abuse, found that people who committed image-based sexual abuse reported the threat of jail time as one of the strongest deterrents against the crime. That's why the organization's policy recommendations have always pushed for criminalization, said Mary Anne Franks, a law professor at George Washington University who leads the initiative. Many states have sought to address the issue of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, which covers deepfakes of people under 18, by modifying existing laws banning what is legally know as child pornography. These laws tend to have more severe punishments: felonies instead of misdemeanors, high minimum jail time or significant fines. For example, Louisiana mandates a minimum five-year jail sentence no matter the age of the perpetrator. While incidents of peer-on-peer deepfake abuse are increasingly cropping up in the news, information on what criminal consequences youth offenders have faced remains scarce. There is often a significant amount of discretion involved in how minors are charged. Generally, juvenile justice falls under state rather than federal law, giving local officials leeway to impose punishments as they see fit. If local prosecutors are forced to decide between charging minors with severe penalties that are aimed at adults or declining to prosecute, most will likely choose the latter, said Lindsay Hawthorne, the communications coordinator at Enough Abuse, a Massachussetts-based nonprofit fighting against child sexual abuse. But then this throws away an opportunity to teach youth about the consequences of their actions and prevent reoffending. Charges that come at a prosecutor's discretion are more likely to disproportionately criminalize youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth, she said. Delfino said that in an ideal case, a judge in juvenile court would weigh many factors in sentencing: the severity of the harm caused by deepfake abuse, the intent of the perpetrator, and adolescent psychology. Experts say that building these factors directly into policy can help better deal with offenders who may not understand the consequences of their actions and allow for different enforcement mechanisms for people who say they weren't seeking to cause harm. For example, recent laws passed this session in South Carolina and Florida have 'proportional penalties' that take into account circumstances including age, intent and prior criminal history. Both laws mirrored model legislation written by MyOwn Image, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing technology-facilitated sexual violence. Founded by image-based sexual abuse survivor Susanna Gibson, the organization has been involved in advocating for strengthened laws banning nonconsensual distribution of intimate images at the state level, bringing a criminal justice reform lens into the debate. Under the Florida law, which took effect May 22, offenders who profit from nonconsensual intimate images distribution are charged with felonies, even if for a first offense. But first-time offenders who use intimate images to harass victims are charged with a misdemeanor; if they do it again, they then are charged with a felony. This avoids 'sweeping criminalization of people who may not fully understand the harm caused by their actions,' Will Rivera, managing director at MyOwn Image, said in a statement. South Carolina's newly passed law addressing AI-generated child sexual abuse material, meanwhile, explicitly states that minors with no prior related criminal record should be referred to family court, and recommends behavioral health counseling as part of the adjudication. A separate South Carolina law banning nonconsensual distribution of intimate imagery also has tiered charges depending on intent and previous convictions. Experts are mostly united in believing that incarcerating youth offenders would not solve the problem of image-based sexual abuse. Franks said that while her group has long recommended criminal penalties as part of the answer, there need to be more policy solutions for youth offenders than just threatening jail time. Amina Fazlullah, head of tech policy advocacy at Common Sense Media, said that laws criminalizing NCII and abusive deepfakes need to be accompanied by digital literacy and AI education measures. That could fill a massive gap. According to Stanford, there currently isn't any comprehensive research on how many schools specifically teach students about online exploitation. Since most teens aren't keeping abreast of criminal codes, AI literacy education initiatives could teach young users what crosses the line into illegal behavior and provide resources for victims of nonconsensual intimate imagery to seek redress. Digital literacy could also emphasize ethical use of technology and create space for conversations about app use. Hawthorne noted that Massachusetts's law banning deepfakes, which went into effect last year, directs adolescents who violate it to take part in an education program that explains laws and the impacts of sexting. Ultimately, Franks said, the behavior that underlies deepfake abuse isn't new, and so we do not need to rewrite our responses from scratch 'We should just stick to the things that we know, which don't change with technology, which is consent, autonomy, agency, safety. Those are all things that should be at the heart of what we talk to kids about,' she said. Like abstinence-only education, schools shaming and scaring kids about more common practices like sexting is not an effective way to prevent abuse, Franks said, and can discourage kids from seeking help from adults when they are being exploited. Franks noted that parents, too, have the power to instill in their children agency over their own images every time they take a photo. She also said there are myriad other ways to regulate the ecosystem around sexually explicit deepfakes. After all, most policy around deepfakes addresses harm already done, and laws like the federal Take It Down Act put a burden on the victim to request the removal of their images from online platforms. Part of addressing the problem is making it more difficult to create and rapidly distribute nonconsensual imagery — and keeping tools for deepfakes out of kids' hands, experts said. One avenue for change that advocates see is applying pressure on companies whose tools are used to create nonconsensual deepfakes. Third parties that help distribute them are also becoming a target. After a CBS News investigation, Meta took action to remove advertisements of so-called 'nudify apps' on its platforms. Frank also suggested app stores could delist them. Payment processors, too, have a lot of power over the ecosystem. When Visa, Mastercard and Discover cut off payments to PornHub after a damning New York Times report revealed how many nonconsensual videos it hosted, the largest pornography site in the world deleted everything it couldn't confirm was above board — nearly 80 percent of its total content. Last month, Civitai finally cracked down on generative AI models tailored around real people after payment processors refused to work with the company. This followed extensive reporting by tech news site 404 Media on the image-platform's role in the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes. And of course, Franks said, revamping the liability protections digital services enjoy under Section 230 could force tech companies' hands when it comes to liability, compelling them be more proactive about preventing digital sexual violence. A version of this article first appeared in Tech Policy Press. The post Kids are making deepfakes of each other, and laws aren't keeping up appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter.


The Hill
05-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
GOP eyes redistricting in Ohio and Texas as it looks to bolster slim majority
Republicans are eyeing potential redistricting opportunities in Ohio and Texas as they seek extra cushion to protect their thin majority in the House next year. In Ohio, redistricting laws mandate a redraw ahead of 2026 because the last map passed without bipartisan support. And in Texas, redistricting could be added to an upcoming special session agenda as the White House reportedly pushes the Lone Star State to consider redrawing to protect the party's numbers. Defending a narrow 220-212 majority, Republicans are bracing for a competitive election cycle as they look to defy traditional headwinds typically associated with the president's party in midterm years. 'I think the Speaker and party leadership look at even a handful of districts as really important, particularly if the natural trend — given the president's popularity at this point and given historic midterm conditions — means that the Republican Party starts out assuming they're going to lose a couple districts right off the bat,' said Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University who founded the database 'All About Redistricting.' 'Ohio is going to have to redraw, one way or the other. Texas is mulling whether to redraw. And there are a lot of competing pressures.' Each state redraws its maps once a decade, after the U.S. Census. But in Ohio, the lines used for the last four years are up for a redraw under a wonky state law that effectively sped up the expiration date because they didn't earn bipartisan support. Should Republicans decide to make the maps more competitive, Ohio Democratic Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Emilia Sykes, who represent Ohio's 9th and 13th Congressional Districts respectively, would likely be impacted. President Trump won Kaptur's district, which includes Toledo, by close to 7 points, while Sykes's seat, which includes Akron, was essentially tied by Trump and former Vice President Harris in 2024, according to The Downballot. Both are already competitive for Democrats, though both Kaptur and Sykes have been strong candidates despite the political terrain. 'It's no surprise that special interests in Washington and Columbus want to ignore the voters and rig the game,' Sykes campaign spokesman Justin Barasky said in a statement. Kaptur campaign political director David Zavac projected confidence over the congresswoman's election next year, while also pointing out that the state will have seen three different maps this decade alone. 'The Congresswoman looks forward to a spirited campaign next year,' Zavac said in a statement, 'but will let the GOP focus on what will surely be another messy primary ahead once they finish their illegal gerrymandering process to try and rig the maps further in their favor.' The Ohio Constitution lays out detailed rules for drawing House districts , meaning that only certain counties and cities can be divided, some of that based on population stipulations. Ahead of the required 2025 redistricting, Democrats had sought to pass an amendment to the state Constitution last year that would have reformed the redistricting process in the state, giving the party a better chance of making seats more competitive between the parties. But voters rejected the ballot measure amid confusion over the amendment language; the Ohio Ballot Board approved language that said the amendment would 'repeal constitutional protections against gerrymandering' when its supporters said the initiative stated it would do the opposite. While the redistricting process offers Republicans a unique opportunity to reconfigure better maps for its House members, it's not without its own perils. 'I do think the best pressure that could force them to do some things that are more reasonable would be Republicans in nearby districts saying, 'Don't carve up our districts, we like our [districts], we don't want them to change,'' said former state Democratic Party Chair David Pepper. In Texas, where there are no specific timing rules for re-making maps, state lawmakers are reportedly under pressure from the White House and national Republicans to consider making mid-decade changes that could help shore up GOP numbers. The state legislature just gaveled out their latest regular session, with the next not slated until 2027. But amid the chatter about redistricting, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called a special session to kick off July 21. Though redistricting isn't among the governor's official 'initial agenda' items, there's still time for the matter to be added to the docket or included in a future special session. 'The Republicans in Congress are looking at a very, very narrow majority, and they're looking for every opportunity around the country to increase that majority with things like redistricting [and] the election. They're gonna use every tool at their disposal to do that,' said Texas Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser. 'Texas is a very red state, so if they can pick up two seats or three seats, then they might give it a try. And even if it makes a seat in a very deep red state a little more competitive, so be it. I think that's some of the thinking,' he said. One Republican strategist who requested anonymity to speak candidly told The Hill that the party will be on 'offense' regardless of how either state's map shakes out ahead of 2026. A second GOP strategist pointed out that there's more Democrats – 13 – that won in Trump districts, while there's only three Republicans hailing from districts won by former Vice President Harris in 2024 overall. 'The numbers are in our favor,' the GOP strategist said. 'It's a game of inches right now.' If Republicans do decide to redraw lines in Texas, it could blunt challenges to the maps that Texas drew after the 2020 census, including an ongoing trial in El Paso in which voter advocates allege that the maps discriminate against some Black and Latino voters. The 2021 maps were already seen as shoring up Republican power in the Lone Star State, but proponents of redistricting reportedly think the GOP's 25-12 congressional edge could expand by several seats. The situation has given some lawmakers a sense of deja vu. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) was among the more than 50 state lawmakers who fled Texas for Oklahoma to deny Republicans a quorum in 2003 as the GOP revisited drawing the state's congressional lines. Texas Republicans, however, were ultimately successful at redrawing favorable lines for their party. 'It's just a total partisan power grab that's gonna completely mess with representation in Texas,' Castro, who was a freshman during the 2003 walkout, told The Hill last month. 'And I hope that cooler minds will prevail, and they'll do redistricting when they're supposed to, which is after the end of the decade.' Another layer of uncertainty is how the courts could weigh in on potential redistricting challenges. Both Texas and Ohio have conservative majorities on the state Supreme Courts, but legal challenges over redistricting from other states have been brought up to the U.S. Supreme Court. While the high court, too, has a conservative majority, it notably struck down Alabama's maps in 2023, saying they likely violated the Voting Rights Act. But while shifting voters from solidly red districts to bluer ones could make Democratic-held seats more competitive, it could similarly blunt the edge of some now-safe GOP seats. The House Democrats' campaign suggested in a statement that the predicament is a lose-lose situation for Republicans. 'House Republicans are running scared because they know they will lose the House majority next November, and their only solutions are corrupt attempts to suppress battleground voters' voices,' Madison Andrus, a spokeswoman for the House Democrats' campaign arm, said in a statement. 'Any changes they try to make to existing maps may endanger existing Republican-held seats,' she continued, 'and in an environment where the public is wildly unhappy with the Republican agenda of broken promises, they should be careful what they wish for.' Ahead of the midterms, though, that might be a risk some are willing to take to put more districts in play for Republicans. 'Republican redistricting was key to flipping the House in 2022, preserving the majority in 2024, and can help defend it again in 2026,' said Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust.


CBS News
29-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
Inside SoCal: Seafood Uncovered (6/29)
Is the seafood on your plate really what you ordered? It might not be. A Loyola Marymount University project got to the bottom of the matter and inspired change in SoCal restaurants. THE LOS ANGELES SEAFOOD MONITORING PROJECT Assistant Professor of Biology, Demain Willette, and his Loyola Marymount University students posed a simple question: "Is the seafood ordered at local restaurants really what is served on the plate?" The answer was interesting – almost half of the time, what was ordered wasn't what was served. Fish mislabeling was extremely common, but since the inception of the Los Angeles Seafood Monitoring Project, things have changed for the better. Learn more about the project and its findings at FOUND OYSTER If you've ever been curious about shucking an oyster, Chef Ari Kolender can certainly help you out. In fact, during the pandemic, his newly opened restaurant, Found Oyster (opened Fall 2019), did just that. They offered oysters to go, but with a caveat - you had to shuck them yourself. Thankfully, those days are behind us and you can belly up to the oyster bar and leave it to the pros. And don't just try the oysters, the entire menu is filled with delectables from the sea brought in fresh daily. Our favorites are the lobster roll, daily crudo and the clam chowder. Found Oyster 4880 Fountain Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90029


Boston Globe
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
‘If you're not here, you think L.A.'s burning': Trump's alarm meets city calm
'If you're not here, you think L.A.'s burning to the ground,' Joe McGuire said. 'But you come out here, you look around and you just say, 'My God, this is where I want to be.'' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Despite Trump's assertions that Los Angeles was beset by widespread lawlessness, a chaos he insisted could be quelled only by thousands of National Guard troops and Marines, the protests that have unfolded here since Friday in response to immigration raids have been mostly confined to a few downtown blocks. Advertisement They have featured sporadic violent clashes, which intensified as the sun set and organized rallies dispersed, prompting the mayor to impose a curfew for downtown Tuesday night. Overall, though, the crowds have not been especially large, and life in much of this sprawling metropolis has continued uninterrupted. On the tree-lined streets of the city's westside, joggers passed beneath blooming purple jacarandas. In northeast neighborhoods, street vendors sold fresh fruit and tacos. Kids, celebrating the start of summer break, played in parks. Retirees read newspapers outside a cafe. Advertisement Riding in open-top tour buses, visitors craned their necks to get a good look at the homes of celebrities. Revelers packed the city's Pride parade and the Hollywood Bowl's opening weekend. An around-the-clock, everywhere-all-at-once emergency this is not. 'This is a manufactured crisis with a manufactured narrative that completely misunderstands Los Angeles,' said Fernando Guerra, director of Loyola Marymount University's Center for the Study of Los Angeles. 'It is as though there's a fire in one house and someone is claiming that the entire town is burning down.' That doesn't mean Angelenos aren't aware of what's happening. On the contrary, many stridently oppose the Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown, fearing for themselves, their families, or their neighbors. But Los Angeles is huge, and even as a feeling of foreboding lingers, the protests triggered by the ICE raids have hardly impeded daily routines. The city is roughly 500 square miles and could hold more than 20 Manhattans within its bounds. Los Angeles County is even larger and, with nearly 10 million residents, would be the country's 11th most populous state. In portraying the pandemonium as total, Trump and his allies are furthering several political goals, Guerra said. The president is showcasing his anti-immigration policies, communicating his willingness to upend longstanding norms, and bolstering his persistent argument that Democratic-led cities are out of control. 'If you ever wanted a playbook on how to dominate the national narrative, this is it,' Guerra said. 'He's met all his objectives.' For a reality check, he added, compare the events of recent days with past moments of upheaval. The 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police drew far larger crowds here, and the 1992 riots after the beating of Rodney King left an extensive trail of damage across the Los Angeles area. Advertisement And the latest demonstrations weren't even the biggest of the year locally, nor were they the first to shut down parts of the 101 freeway. Officials maintain that a typical police response — which might include mutual aid from the state, county, or neighboring cities — would have been sufficient. 'We've all been, in Los Angeles, a part of a grand experiment to see what happens when the federal government decides they want to roll up on a state, roll up on a city and take over,' Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, told reporters recently. In the same news conference, she took pains to underscore that the most significant confrontations between protesters and police were isolated to a relatively small area. 'Unfortunately the visuals make it seem as though our entire city is in flames, and that is not the case at all,' Bass said. 'And I think it's important to say that.' At the Griffith Observatory, those visuals didn't fool Lynn Counts, who had just arrived from Illinois a couple hours before. She and her family saw the headlines but decided to make the trip anyway. Her impression after driving the distance from Los Angeles International Airport? An overreaction. 'We're from Chicago,' she said. 'So we've seen plenty of stuff like that.' Peter Pastore of Toronto has been in Los Angeles for nearly a week, sightseeing while his son competed in a Tetris tournament. Best he can tell, Trump is just back to picking a fight with California, a favorite punching bag. His family hasn't noticed anything amiss. Advertisement 'It's really no big deal,' Pastore said. The only thing that has made him nervous during the trip: his lifelong earthquake phobia. In the neighborhood of Silver Lake, Tera Uhlinger and her 12-year-old schnauzer, Mason, were lounging in the grass next to the area's reservoir. Like other residents, she has been fielding concerned messages from out-of-town friends and family. 'I think people who don't live in L.A. think that it's kind of like any other city,' she said. Instead, it's diffuse, spread out, a multiplicity of diverse places and people. Uhlinger — a writer, actor, and Reiki practitioner — has been feeling the dissonance lately. She has been dismayed by the immigration raids, but the protests have felt a world apart. Her focus has been on Mason, who is recuperating from a back injury. 'We're a few miles from the protest right now,' Uhlinger said. 'But I'm a million miles away, sitting in the park, giving my dog attention.'