Tootfinder

The Senate succeeded in advancing legislation Tuesday to force Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iran war,
Since Trump ordered the attack on Iran at the end of February, Democrats have forced repeated votes on war powers resolutions that would require him to either gain congressional approval for the war or withdraw troops.
Republicans had been able to muster the votes to reject those proposals,
-- but Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy
— fresh off a primary election loss in…

Senate advances bill aimed at ending Iran war as Cassidy, after primary loss, flips to support it
The Senate advanced legislation Tuesday that seeks to force President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iran war, as a growing number of Republicans defied the president's wishes.

#idw EU Commission’s draft legislation on #pesticides: European re-searchers highlight the risks
The European Commission intends to reform key provisions governing the approval of pesticides through a new legislative package. Scientists from 27 European research institutions point out that the “

EU Commission’s draft legislation on pesticides: European re-searchers highlight the risks

Outstanding news out of Nebraska for homeschooled kids. This legislation prevents "reactive withdrawals" for 14 days & blocks perpetrators with specific convictions of crimes against children from homeschooling. Congratulations to CRHE on getting this legislation passed.
https://

"The Copyright Office Doesn’t Need More Politics—Or More Power."
"Congress Just Rushed Through A Disastrous Copyright Office Overhaul"
https://www.techdirt.com/2026/06/18/congress-just-rushed-through-a-disast…

"The move comes as the American Petroleum Institute and Republicans in Congress push legislation in the U.S. to shield the oil and gas industry from climate accountability."
New Zealand Moves to Ban Tort Liability for Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Damage - Inside Climate News
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19052026/new-zealand-amends-climate-law-protects-polluters/

Bernie Sanders proposes legislation to create a sovereign wealth fund financed via a one-time 50% stock tax on AI companies that reach $200M in annual AI sales (Joey Cappelletti/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/bernie-sanders-ai-publ…

Bernie Sanders unveils plan for public ownership of AI companies
Sen. Bernie Sanders is proposing a plan to give Americans ownership stakes in the country’s largest artificial intelligence companies. The legislation shown first to The Associated Press would impose a one-time 50% tax on the stock of major AI companies and place those shares into a sovereign wealth fund overseen by an independent commission. Sanders estimates the fund would be worth roughly $7 trillion and provide annual payments to Americans. While the idea of public ownership of AI compani…

Investigators have discovered that the European Commission bowed to the demands of Big Tech lobbyists that the environmental impact of individual datacentres be kept out of the public eye.
https://www.…

EU bowed to Big Tech lobbying to keep datacentre impact secret
Investigators have discovered that the European Commission bowed to the demands of Big Tech lobbyists that the environmental impact of individual datacentres be kept out ...

“The new legislation, expected later this year, would give ministers a fast-track route for introducing draft laws to align with future European standards designed to ensure a single market in the trade of goods and services.
The new powers would apply to agreements they are planning with the EU on food standards, carbon pricing for industry and electricity trading.
New rules would be introduced as "secondary" legislation, which receives less scrutiny and gives MPs a mo…

UK could adopt EU single market rules under new legislation
The move has raised questions over parliamentary scrutiny of future rules to deliver planned EU deals.

The nation’s largest public four-year university may soon be barred from replacing faculty with generative AI
as a bill backed by a union of professors comes nearer to reaching the governor’s desk.
Few examples exist of the California State University’s attempting to replace faculty labor with generative AI tools,
but the faculty union wants to prevent such efforts from ever getting off the ground.
The bill so far has garnered no opposition from lawmakers and may clear…

Cal State faculty push to prevent AI tools from replacing them as schools and staff experiment
The union representing California State University professors is contesting the system's use of artificial intelligence tools and backing legislation that would protect their jobs from the technology.

This x1000.
For every "[corporate] social media harms kids because" comment, I see the exact same concern for adults that we're doing NOTHING about.
Facebook has literally promoted a genocide in Myanmar, but for some reason they're still in business and probably promoting another genocide somewhere. How many kids got butchered in that massacre? These toxic cesspools of hate are a problem for ALL age groups, but targeting kids is only pretending to do something a…

Legislation cares a lot about information #security these days. When do we laws that keep companies from tainting security's public reputation by demonstrably abusing it for their own commercial interest against the interests of consumers?
Just one example: Bank uses proprietary hardware over #WebAuthn

Ranking Member Raskin Introduces Legislation Establishing Independent Commission on Presidential Capacity (House Committee on the Judiciary)
https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ranking-member-raskin-introduces-legislation-establishing-independent-commission-on-presidential-capacity
http://www.memeorandum.com/260414/p114#a260414p114

Government just prematurely ended debate on Bill C-22
The federal government decided to use a so-called “guillotine” time-limit all further clause by clause on Bill C-22 to just 30 minutes.1 This will block ANY committee debate that scrutinizes the dangerous surveillance powers in Part 2 of the bill.2
The government wants to jam Bill C-22 today, and vote it through the House tomorrow (June 19). We’re calling on MPs of all parties to refuse to advance Part 2 without full committee…

Stop the Surveillance State: Stop Bill C-22!
🚨 Bill C-22 forces every Canadian internet provider, messaging app & cloud service to build surveillance backdoors and store a year of your data. Foreign state hackers exploited similar legislation in the US. Shut the backdoor: https://openmedia.org/StopC22 #BillC22

Guardrails Alliance, a super PAC that raised $5M, launches to advocate for AI safety legislation and counter pro-industry lobbying, running ads for Alex Bores (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/tec…

New Super PAC, the Guardrails Alliance, Aims to Rally Tech Workers to Help Limit A.I.
The Guardrails Alliance, which has raised $5 million, is positioning itself as a populist effort that will take on the pro-A.I. interests trying to influence this year’s elections.

"same punishments as those convicted of crimes such as sexual battery, solicitation of prostitution, or aggravated stalking"
Georgia protesters could face severe penalties under new legislation - Cobb Courier
https://cobbcountycourier.com/2026/04/georgia-protesters-could-face-severe-penalties-under-new-legislation/

It's fun to be actively fighting Bilal Mahmood's legislation that would strip $500 million in voter-approved funds for affordable housing over the next five years, all to give a tax cut to the rich, and see that Garry Tan called Mahmood "too progressive."
The billionaire/VC class in SF are not reasonable people we can work with. They must be defeated.
#sfpol

So I’m actually with Apple on their stance on the EU having very bad legislation on the Siri AI thing.
The EU is good at being relatively proactive at making legislation protecting consumers, but some of these laws also backfire and/or are just badly written or interpreted.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/06/due-to-dma-siri-ai-delayed-in-eu-for-ios-27-and-ipados-27/

Docs show how the UK's Society of Media Lawyers lobbied government officials to push back on anti-SLAPP legislation, arguing it will enable abuse by the press (Democracy for Sale)
https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/how-lawyers-to-the-super-rich-strang…

How lawyers to the super-rich strangled Labour's Slapp bill
Exclusive: Lawyers who have acted for Russian oligarchs, Michelle Mone and Jeffrey Epstein lobbied government into stalling long-promised libel reform.

Venezuela’s new mining law could spell disaster for the Amazon, critics warn https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/venezuelas-new-mining-law-could-spell-disaster-for-the-amazon-critics-warn/

Venezuela’s new mining law could spell disaster for the Amazon, critics warn
Venezuela is close to passing a law to update the country’s mining regulations and attract private investment in gold, silver, coltan and other minerals. But advocacy groups say the law may end up exacerbating deforestation and pollution in mining areas where environmental damage is already an issue. The legislation is part of a broader effort […]

The right wing think tank "Manhattan Institute", is in the midst of a yearlong campaign to pass state-level legislation
reclassifying minor crimes like vandalism, blocking a roadway, or trespassing during a protest as felonies that would carry 18-month prison sentences as punishment.
The push to criminalize forms of nonviolent disobedience as a form of terrorism comes amid a broader Trump administration effort to crack down on leftist organizations, causes, and social m…

The Manhattan Institute Helped Kill DEI. Now It’s Coming for Protests
The right-wing think tank is actively pushing “civil terrorism”—increasing penalties for minor crimes committed while people engage in constitutionally protected free speech.

kegsbreath and the orange mistake humiliate the US while hurting people in their elective war.
And @fetterman.senate.gov can't be bothered to stop them.
https://www.wesa.fm/politics-government/2026-05-14/fetterman-democrat-war-iran

Pa. Sen. Fetterman only Democrat to vote against limiting Trump's war in Iran
The war powers legislation ultimately failed to advance 49-50, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to oppose it, yet the close tally reflected growing unease with Trump's war.

2026 Chatbot Legislation Tracker
https://fpf.org/blog/2026-chatbot-legislation-tracker/
@…
Co-authored by Rafal Fryc With nearly 100 chatbot…

What if the US #Congress passed legislation (you remember when that used to happen, right?) that nationalized all #AI servers and all the traffic between them. I know, not gonna happen, but maybe a lunatic president could issue an edict to make it so.

Guthrie doubles down on data center energy legislation (Manuel Quiñones/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/06/10/congress/guthrie-doubles-down-on-data-center-energy-legislation-00955860
http://www.memeorandum.com/260610/p67#a260610p67

AI learns language from skewed sources. That could change how we humans speak – and think
It seems the #threats from #AI are many and varied. And the legislation addressing dangers from AI seemed to focus on an AI intent on killing off humans, rather than the myriad problems we are slowly identifying - mu…

AI learns language from skewed sources. That could change how we humans speak – and think
It seems the #threats from #AI are many and varied. And the legislation addressing dangers from AI seemed to focus on an AI intent on killing off humans, rather than the myriad problems we are slowly identifying - mu…

Even though I'm not running for re-election this November, I still get one more filing period for new legislation in September for my potential successors to pick up from me, so I'm still attempting to keep my legislation ideas repository at least somewhat up-to-date:
#NHPolitics

In and of itself these bills are a good thing, but it seems bad that that we're essentially letting landlords off the hook and expecting tenants to make this investment in solar power. It should be treated like other appliances, such as ovens and refrigerators, that we expect landlords to provide. Furthermore, it's not apparent that this legislation forces landlords (or HOAs for that matter) to allow for these systems to be installed.

In this week's roundup we look at how South Korea’s record-breaking data breach fine is threatening to become a geopolitical stand-off, India turning to self-driving tech to tackle its shocking accident statistics and TSMC’s worries about water supplies for its Taiwanese chip factories.

Coupang fine causes rumbles in Washington – Asian Tech Roundup
Welcome to Computing's weekly roundup of tech news in Asia. This time we look at how South Korea’s record-breaking data breach fine is threatening to ...

NY passes legislation requiring news orgs to provide disclosures on content substantially or wholly produced by AI; the bill awaits the governor's signature (Lucas Manfredi/The Wrap)
https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/public-policy-legal…

New York Passes Legislation Requiring AI Disclosures in News Content
Backed by SAG-AFTRA and the WGA, the NY FAIR News Act regarding AI use in media now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk for signature.

An Incomplete List of Successful Anti-Data Center Legislation https://www.404media.co/an-incomplete-list-of-successful-anti-data-center-legislation/

French MPs are preparing to vote on a law that treats criticism of Israel as antisemitic and widely expands the scope of terrorism legislation. 
Lawmakers will debate the bill informally dubbed Yadan’s Law
– in reference to the MP who proposed the bill, Caroline Yadan
– on 18 April. 
Under current law, “direct” incitement to terrorism is punishable by five years in prison and a €75,000 fine.
The bill would expand that to “implicit” incitement or glorification of …

French MPs to Vote on Bill That Would Treat Anti-Zionism As Terrorism
French MPs are preparing to vote on a law that treats criticism of Israel as antisemitic and widely expands the scope of terrorism legislation. 

Here’s a petition by MP Jenny Kwan to the House of Commons to withdraw Bill C-22
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-7416
Simply:
1) Withdraw the bill
2) Don’t collect & retain metadata
3) Don’t wea…

The year is 2026 and people still understand GDPR so fucking badly that my daughter's school has just emailed me to say that they require my written consent to transfer data about her to the new school she is going to in September, something the school is in fact *required* to do under section 9 of The Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2005

OpenAI's disavowal of a liability shield in Illinois SB 3444 bill and endorsement of a stronger SB 315 suggest it is open to meaningful AI safety legislation (Transformer)
https://www.transformernews.ai/p/is-openai-changing-its-tune-on-ai-laws-…

Is OpenAI changing its tune on AI laws?
Transformer Weekly: US-China talks, AI executive order, and Anthropic’s $900b valuation

Venezuela’s new mining law could spell disaster for the Amazon, critics warn
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/venezuelas-new-mining-law-could-spell-disaster-for-the-amazon-critics-warn/

Venezuela’s new mining law could spell disaster for the Amazon, critics warn
Venezuela is close to passing a law to update the country’s mining regulations and attract private investment in gold, silver, coltan and other minerals. But advocacy groups say the law may end up exacerbating deforestation and pollution in mining areas where environmental damage is already an issue. The legislation is part of a broader effort […]

“Many IDPs (internally displaced persons) have relocated from states such as Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Kansas, and Idaho due to anti-trans legislation, threats to personal safety, and barriers to healthcare and legal recognition,”
Trans people fleeing Texas and Florida head to Seattle | Advocate.com
https://www.advocate.com/news/seattle-trans-refugee-crisis

Thomas Massie, 55, is already the exception to the rule of Republican politics.
While others have capitulated and genuflected to the president over the past decade, eliciting comparisons with a personality cult,
the seven-term congressman with a libertarian bent has emerged as ever more defiant.
He voted against Trump’s sprawling tax and spending cuts bill; co-authored legislation compelling the justice department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files;
sought to revoke…

Senate eyes vote on updated housing affordability legislation (Katherine Hapgood/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/06/15/congress/senate-housing-affordability-bill-00962103
http://www.memeorandum.com/260615/p77#a260615p77

Parts of this bill seem poorly thought out. I like this:
"Slow Streets Speed Limits. Cities that have already adopted a slow streets program would gain the authority to set lower speed limits on those streets by ordinance or resolution, without having to first conduct an engineering and traffic survey, a process that can be time-consuming and costly."
Then again, we could road-diet slow streets to reduce the design speed today if we had political will.

Buffy Wicks Pushes Legislation to Cut Red Tape for Transformational Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects - Streetsblog California
AB 1976 would impact a lot of projects including pedestrian malls, neighborhood greenways, safe routes to schools projects, and more.

Maryland passed a bill directing half of the state government's ad money to local news outlets, with a few exceptions; it is slated to take effect October 1 (Rebuild Local News)
https://www.rebuildlocalnews.org/maryland-

Maryland Legislature Passes the Nation’s First State Advertising Set-Aside for Local Newsrooms
The legislation, backed by bipartisan support, will require state agencies to direct 50 percent of their advertising budgets to eligible local news outlets and mandate public reporting of their ad spending.

The UK should treat its information environment as a form of critical democratic infrastructure to help combat the growing threat of misinformation and AI-generated content.
https://www.

UK must protect information system as democratic infrastructure, report warns
The UK should treat its information environment as a form of critical democratic infrastructure to help combat the growing threat of misinformation and AI-generated content, ...

Do you solve that by banning Utah residents from using your website? 🤷‍♂️
"Utah's Online Age Verification Amendments, formally Senate Bill 73, take effect on May 6, making the state the first in the U.S. to explicitly target VPN use as part of age verification legislation."
https://www.tomshardware.com/software/vpn/utah-becomes-first-us-state-to-target-vpn-use-with-age-verification-law

The President and his lickspittles in Congress are introducing legislation to shield fossil fuel companies from liability for their intentional and knowing actions to emit GHGs, fully aware of the damage, destruction and death that would cause.
Please, if you live in California, write you congress people and tell them to oppose this legislation. It's easy, I just did it using this action network link:

Tell California Congressmembers: No Immunity for Big Oil
As climate disasters like wildfires, floods, and heatwaves grow more extreme, communities around the country are seeking to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable. The State of California and eight local municipalities in California are currently suing Big Oil companies for climate damages. Big Oil companies have known for decades the harm their products would cause to the global climate, yet have continued to lie to the public and policymakers to delay climate action for their profit. …

The President and his lickspittles in Congress are introducing legislation to shield fossil fuel companies from liability for their intentional and knowing actions to emit GHGs, fully aware of the damage, destruction and death that would cause.
Please, if you live in California, write you congress people and tell them to oppose this legislation. It's easy, I just did it using this action network link:

Tell California Congressmembers: No Immunity for Big Oil
As climate disasters like wildfires, floods, and heatwaves grow more extreme, communities around the country are seeking to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable. The State of California and eight local municipalities in California are currently suing Big Oil companies for climate damages. Big Oil companies have known for decades the harm their products would cause to the global climate, yet have continued to lie to the public and policymakers to delay climate action for their profit. …

Trump is pressuring lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act voter suppression bill
by attaching it to housing and foreign intelligence surveillance legislation currently pending before Congress.
The SAVE America Act would take a giant leap towards the Trump administration’s goals of wresting control of elections away from states.
It would also potentially disenfranchise millions of voters through its provisions requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voter registrati…

Trump seeks passage of SAVE America Act via housing and FISA bills
Trump is still hoping he can save the anti-voter SAVE America Act by attaching it to other bills pending in Congress.

While this is another example of the far right's naked assault on ecosystem and geophysical system stability, the scramble for copper, gold and silver is driven largely by the ever increasing demand for electrical goods, including renewable energy capture systems.
Argentina approves Milei's bill that eases protections for glaciers despite environmental backlash

Argentina approves Milei's bill that eases protections for glaciers despite environmental backlash
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s Congress on Thursday approved a bill promoted by libertarian President Javier Milei that eases protections on glaciers to facilitate investments in mining for metals — a move that environmental groups vow to challenge in courts. The legislation, approved by the Senate in February, was passed with 137 votes in favor, 111 against and […]

Me when I meet literally anyone who lives in District 6: Have you considered running for supervisor? Did you know there's still time to file? Can I cover your filing fee?
(This a-hole is running for re-election unopposed when there are parts of the district like Western SoMa that are actually quite progressive)
http…

S.F. supe Matt Dorsey says he’d have deserved being evicted for drug-use, as his legislation now proposes
S.F. supervisor Matt Dorsey says that he feels that, had he used drugs in supportive housing, he should have been evicted to the street.

First off, I’m HAPPY with the EU replaceable batteries legislation, but the number of people who are like “ha ha! This will get Apple, who screw people on batteries!”
C’mon y’all:
IPhone XS Pro Max ($999 new, 8 year old phone)
Apple replacement: $89
iFixit battery: $34
That’s what, $55 labor?

The U.S. House of Representatives offered a rare rebuke of ‌President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agenda on Thursday
as a handful of Republicans joined Democrats to vote to extend temporary protections for 350,000 Haitians living in the United States.
The House voted 224-204 in ⁠favor of legislation allowing Haitians to remain eligible for
"Temporary Protected Status" for three years
after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security terminated t…

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has given the green light for a major collective action against Apple to proceed, allowing consumer group Which? to bring damages claim on behalf of around 38.5 million UK iPhone and iPad users.

UK tribunal greenlights £3bn claim against Apple iCloud
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has given the green light for a major collective action against Apple to proceed, allowing consumer group Which? to bring ...

London's Met Police calls on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable and says it is sharing data with Apple to build a "global picture" of stolen devices (Yang Tian/BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg4dey905yo

Met Police calls on tech firms to make stolen phones unusable
Sir Mark Rowley has asked the home secretary to introduce legislation forcing companies to publish data on stolen devices.

The Price is Right: Responsible Uses of Personal Data in Pricing
https://fpf.org/blog/the-price-is-right-responsible-uses-of-personal-data-in-pricing/
@…

A group of Democratic senators
and one Republican, as well as two Democratic House committees,
sent letters Monday to the National Science Foundation
asking it to reverse course on its plan to dismantle a sprawling ocean monitoring network,
with House lawmakers going further and accusing the agency of acting illegally.
The Ocean Observatories Initiative is a network of more than 900 ocean sensors built at a cost of $386 million.
Over the last decade it has…

Lawmakers push to stop Trump dismantling of ocean observatory project
Lawmakers are demanding the National Science Foundation stop dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $386 million ocean monitoring network being wound down under President Donald Trump's administration. House Democrats on two committees call the action illegal. Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley says he's drafting legislation to freeze the removal of instruments until a full scientific review is completed. The National Science Foundation directed the removal of most of the system’s instru…

Polish lawmakers pass legislation imposing prison sentences of up to five years for "trash streaming" of violent crimes, gambling promotion, and more (Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-tel

Canada introduces the Safe Social Media Act, a bill that would ban social media for children under 16 and establish safety standards for AI chatbots (Maria Cheng/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/canada-int…

Oddly enough the only way to share easily (by clicking a box "Share on Mastodon") is confined to one instance (mastodon.social)
I hope someone notices this and changes how we work
We need to stop Bill C-22 and we need to stop it now. That’s going to require your MP hearing from as many constituents as possible before this bill moves further. Please share this campaign with your friends and family today!

Stop the Surveillance State: Stop Bill C-22!
🚨 Bill C-22 forces every Canadian internet provider, messaging app & cloud service to build surveillance backdoors and store a year of your data. Foreign state hackers exploited similar legislation in the US. Shut the backdoor: https://openmedia.org/StopC22 #BillC22

"The Star collected 4,242 decisions and directives from municipal websites across Ontario, either as existing PDFs *or by converting text versions into PDFs*" (emphasis mine) and then analyzed the text using an LLM. Points for using LLMs for what they're meant to be used for, but requiring input be in PDF format instead of plain text is *insane*.

Push for raw milk intensifies across the US, despite illness outbreaks and scientists' warnings (Associated Press)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/29/health/raw-milk-legislation-outbreak?Date=20260430&Profile=CNN
http://www.memeorandum.com/260429/p158#a260429p158

Maine Is Close to Passing a Moratorium on New Datacenters https://www.404media.co/maine-datacenter-construction-bill-ld-307/

It should be illegal to draft legislation without consulting the demographics it's expected to impact, I know this sounds like a 12 year olds idea of govt but I don't care you know why this would be a gnawing issue for me.

OpenAI releases the Child Safety Blueprint tackling AI-enabled child sexual exploitation, focusing on updating legislation and improving detection and reporting (Lauren Forristal/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/08/open

OpenAI releases a new safety blueprint to address the rise in child sexual exploitation | TechCrunch
OpenAI's new Child Safety Blueprint aims to tackle the alarming rise in child sexual exploitation linked to advancements in AI.

Utah has made it nearly impossible for residents to hold fossil fuel companies legally accountable for climate damages
in a move one advocacy group described as putting
“profits for the biggest polluters over communities”, with other states expected to follow suit.
The new state legislation comes as part of a push from big oil and its political allies
– including groups tied to rightwing impresario Leonard Leo
– for legal immunity in red statehouses and Congress…

"How Viktor Orbšn laid traps to stop his successor from running #Hungary"
"The country’s current leader has put loyalists in key public institutions who will be able to thwart the budgets and legislation of any new prime minister. "
Let's cross fingers
https://www.politico.eu/article/viktor-orban-laid-traps-stop-successor-running-hungary/

Senate Democrats announced plans last week for new legislation to restore the independence of Stars and Stripes, including mandating a civilian publisher (Max Tani/Semafor)
https://www.semafor.com/article/05/21/2026/democrats-move-to-restore-…

Exclusive: Democrats move to restore military paper’s independence
The new legislation from Senate Democrats aims to insulate Stars and Stripes from the Trump administration’s efforts to assert control.

EU warns that VPNs are being used to bypass online age-verification systems, calling their use "a loophole in the legislation that needs closing" (Alex Lekander/CyberInsider)
https://cyberinsider.com/eu-calls-vpns-a-loophole-that-needs…

EU calls VPNs “a loophole that needs closing” in age verification push
The European Parliamentary Research Service has warned that VPNs are increasingly being used to bypass online age-verification systems.

The EU is set to fine Google a record amount for favouring its own services in search. At the same time, Google is turning search into an AI‑driven “experience”.
Hard to see how keeping users inside that interface won’t collide with the same rules.

Brussels moves toward record fine against Google search business
German media reports that the EU Commission is limbering up to issue Google with a record fine for breaching the Digital Markets Act. It’s unlikely ...

📌
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:igcqklsgm24noy7iu6bcdnko/post/3mmfjilpvgs2w

Zoë Irene 😷❤️🦈 (@getcaughtliving.bsky.social)
A friend (looking at you @clausgv.bsky.social) just sent me this and it's SO GOOD!! 🙌🏼👏🏼 I think it's good inspiration for writing your submission to the awful defining woman and man bill. 😁🔥 Submission link to that amendment bill is found here: https://www3.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/54SCSSC_SCF_9E8E8A14-A51C-4567-AB33-08DE9053A7D1/legislation-definitions-of-woman-and-man-amendment-bill

OpenAI announces partnerships to combat election misinformation, offering cybersecurity products to state officials and backing legislation to curb deepfakes (Maria Curi/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2026/05/27/openai-cyber-misinformation-defenses-elections

Exclusive: OpenAI readies cyber, misinformation defenses ahead of elections
OpenAI is offering its cybersecurity products to state officials and backing legislation ahead of elections in the U.S. and globally.

EU legislation allowing voluntary CSAM scanning by tech and social media companies expired April 3 after lawmakers failed to agree on the terms of an extension (Sam Clark/Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/tech-firms-enter-legal-limbo-over-child…

Tech firms enter legal limbo over child abuse scanning
Scanning private online spaces for child abuse material becomes illegal in Europe on Saturday.

On Capitol Hill,
Sen. Bernie Sanders
and Reps. Pramila Jayapal
and Debbie Dingell
have repeatedly introduced the
👉Medicare for All Act.
While support for the bill among elected Democrats and the US public has grown,
the legislation hasn’t progressed in either chamber,
which are both narrowly controlled by the GOP.
However, “we may face a once-in-a-generation opportunity to legislate on healthcare in 2029,” notes the letter.
While the…

'Now Is the Time to Organize,' Says Medicare for All Coalition | Common Dreams
As Americans struggle with high prices and corporate greed under Trump and Republicans in Congress, a major coalition is arguing that now is the time to organize for Medicare for All.

FPF on the Securing and Establishing Consumer Uniform Rights and Enforcement Over Data (“SECURE Data”) Act
https://fpf.org/press-releases/fpf-on-the-securing-and-establishing-consumer-uniform-rights-and-enf…

Two House lawmakers unveil bipartisan AI legislation that would override some state AI laws and require top AI developers to implement risk-management plans (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/04/obernolte-trahan-ai-bill-lands-on-the-…

"Democrats peeled away their support after it was amended to allow the president to “designate an alternative site for the Museum within 180 days” of the measure’s enactment. The legislation notes that the museum’s location will be designated as the South Monument site, located on the National Mall.
The amended measure also includes a transgender ban’’
House rejects bill for Smithsonian Women's History Museum
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5890090-smithsonian-womens-museum-bill/

Two weeks after Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) announced she will be seeking reelection in Florida’s new 20th Congressional District,
four Black Democratic candidates competing in the race are hoping to stop her from winning the nomination in a district that has historically been represented by a Black lawmaker.
Democrats were surprised by the senior Democrat’s move,
which followed Gov. Ron DeSantis signing legislation that redrew the state’s congressional maps in an…

Black Democrats Are Scrambling to Find Someone to Run Against Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Several Black candidates are coordinating to defeat the senior House Democrat who decided to run for reelection in a historically Black district.

The White House's latest effort to enact legislation that would preempt state AI laws stalls as multiple Democrats dismiss the proposal as a partisan play (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/03/trumps-partisan-ai-pitch-stalls-on-…

On Tuesday, Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan threatened to “flood the zone” with immigration agents if states like New York attempt to limit coordination with federal immigration agencies.
In his opening keynote at the Border Security Expo, an annual conference bringing together law enforcement, government, and private contractors in Arizona, Homan said,
“What’s going to happen with places like New York, [where] people want to pass this ridiculous legislation not to work with us?

Trump’s Border Czar Threatens to “Flood” New York With ICE Agents
“I don’t take well to threats,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in response.

Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski,
fed up with being kept in the dark on combat operations,
is quietly drafting legislation that would force Congress to take a potentially explosive vote
on whether to formally authorize using military force against Iran.
Such a move signals deep fractures within GOP ranks just months before midterms.
"Ms. Murkowski described the move on Thursday as an act of desperation
to try to put some parameters around the o…

Fed-up Senate Republican may trigger explosive vote to rein in Trump
Sen. Lisa Murkowski may throw down the gauntlet, taking aim squarely at the Trump administration's Iran war, according to a report.The Alaska Republican, fed up with being kept in the dark on combat operations, is quietly drafting legislation that would force Congress to take a potentially explosive...

As US lawmakers struggle to pass online safety laws, LA and New Mexico juries take the lead, holding social media companies accountable for harming young users (Cecilia Kang/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/technology/social-media-verdi…

Juries Take the Lead in the Push for Child Online Safety
A pair of verdicts held social media companies accountable for harming young users, highlighting a growing backlash as Congress struggles to pass legislation.

The US Senate passed legislation to fund Donald Trump’s controversial immigration crackdown early on Friday morning,
ending a partial government shutdown that has lingered since February.
The 52-47 vote on funding for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
passed with no Democratic support at 5am,
after a marathon session of votes to knock down proposed amendments.
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only …

US kid safety groups say they didn't know OpenAI had entirely funded the Parents & Kids Safe AI Coalition to promote CA legislation until after it was announced (Emily Shugerman/The San Francisco Standard)
https://sfstandard.com/2026/04/01/openai-ai-kids-safety-coa…

Kids groups say they didn’t know OpenAI was behind their child safety coalition
‘A very grimy feeling’: OpenAI quietly helped build a “‘parents and kids”’ AI safety group. Some members quit when they found out.

House Republicans, with the help of four Democrats, voted Thursday to approve legislation that would
slash nutrition assistance for millions of young children and pregnant and postpartum women,
even as food prices continue to rise nationwide and earlier GOP cuts to federal aid take hold.
In a 213-210 vote, largely along party lines, House lawmakers passed an appropriations bill that would fund the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other agencies for the coming fiscal …

House GOP, With Help of 4 Dems, Votes to Take Food Aid From Millions of Women and Kids | Common Dreams
"While working families struggle to feed their families, Republicans are cutting funding for fruit and vegetable vouchers for women, infants, and children," said Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro.

Internet age verification proposals restrict the fundamental rights of young people to speak to each other and to access information.
They also force all internet users,
not just those under a certain age,
to upload private data
—like a face scan or passport
—in order to access a website or service.
In considering the vast scope of privacy issues pertaining to the collection, storage, and sharing of this personal information,
the problems of age veri…

Internet Age-Gates Are a Growing Global Threat
The internet is an essential resource for young people and adults to access information, explore community, and find themselves—both inside countries and across continents. Yet governments around the world continue to introduce and implement legislation requiring all online users to verify their ages before accessing the digital space.

If the "SAVE act" passes most people registering to vote would have to present documents in person at an elections office, including people who vote by mail.
Advocacy groups that oppose the legislation say that the bill would crush voter registration efforts ahead of this year’s elections.
The bill would create new penalties for election officials who register applicants who have not presented documentary proof of citizenship.
Opponents say that provision could pot…

What’s in the Voting Bill That Republicans Are Pushing to the Senate Floor
Legislation that would force voters to prove they are U.S. citizens is being debated on the Senate floor this week.

Illinois Legislature passes SB 315, a bill requiring annual independent third-party safety audits of leading AI companies; the bill heads to the governor's desk (Jared Perlo/NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/illinois-legislatu…

Illinois Legislature passes historic AI bill that would require third-party safety audits
The measure, SB315, goes beyond legislation from California and New York regulating America’s largest AI companies. It still needs to be signed by the governor.

Lawmakers and lobbyists say the Trump administration has lobbied against legislation that would regulate AI in at least six Republican-led states (Amrith Ramkumar/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday announced he will soon introduce legislation that would give the American public
“a direct ownership stake” in the largest artificial intelligence companies in the U.S.
by establishing a sovereign wealth fund, which would ensure everyone benefits from the rapidly advancing technology.
Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote in a New York Times op-ed that his
"American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act" would create the new fund by imposing a one-time,…

Sanders Sovereign Wealth Fund Plan Would Give US Public 'Direct Ownership Stake' in AI Giants | Common Dreams
Sen. Bernie Sanders said his new bill would "guarantee that the trillions of dollars potentially generated by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us—not simply to make the richest people in the world even richer."

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez plan to introduce legislation to pause new data center construction until AI safeguards are in place (Maria Curi/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/25/sanders-aoc-data-center-moratorium-bill

Sanders and AOC unveil data center moratorium bill
Sanders and AOC are staking out one of the most aggressive AI policy positions yet this Congress.

Senators Adam Schiff and John Curtis introduce bipartisan legislation to ban sports betting on CFTC-regulated prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket (Krystal Hur/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.

The ruling from the US supreme court destroying one of the last pillars of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA)
marks the end of a long and painstaking campaign to roll back civil rights legislation
by two titans of the court’s rightwing majority,
Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
The duo have chipped away at what has been called the crown jewel of the civil rights movement.
Wednesday’s ruling in
"Louisiana v Callais"
is the fifth ma…

As US lawmakers struggle to pass online safety laws, LA and New Mexico juries take the lead, holding social media companies accountable for harming young users (Cecilia Kang/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/technology/social-media-verdi…

Juries Take the Lead in the Push for Child Online Safety
A pair of verdicts held social media companies accountable for harming young users, highlighting a growing backlash as Congress struggles to pass legislation.

Turkey's parliament passes a bill requiring social media and online game companies to restrict access for children under 15, following a school shooting (Andrew Wilks/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/turkey-social-medi…

Turkish lawmakers pass bill to restrict social media for children under 15
State-run media says Turkish lawmakers have passed a bill that includes restricting access to social media platforms for children under 15. The legislation is the latest in a global trend to protect young people from dangerous online activity. Its passage late Wednesday comes a week after a 14-year-old boy killed nine students and a teacher at a middle school in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey. Police are investigating the online activity of the perpetrator in a bid to uncover his motivation for…