A lot has changed since we created AI ethics guidelines for newsrooms. Here’s what you need to know now; Poynter, June 26, 2025

 Jennifer Orsi, Poynter ; A lot has changed since we created AI ethics guidelines for newsrooms. Here’s what you need to know now

"More than a year ago, the Poynter Institute published a “starter kit” for newsrooms to create their own ethics policies for using artificial intelligence in their journalism. AI use in newsrooms has grown swiftly since then — and gotten more complex — and the team behind the starter kit has just published a new update,adding more information for visual journalism and for those developing products in newsrooms.

“One of the biggest things we heard over the last year was, the editorial guidelines are great, but what do you visual teams do? What is allowed there?” said Poynter faculty member and MediaWise director Alex Mahadevan, who helps lead Poynter’s AI work. “And people building these products — chatbots and such — what are their ethical obligations?”...

Much of the new material was devised and workshopped during Poynter’s second Summit on AI, Ethics and Journalism, which took place in New York City in April, this time in partnership with The Associated Press. 

Poynter published its first guidelines in March 2024, and refined them further following its first AI Summit in St. Petersburg in June 2024. Much has changed in AI use in journalism since then, Poynter leaders said.

“Before we published these guidelines, most of the newsrooms that I talk to were avoiding AI, thinking that no good could come from it,” said Kelly McBride, Poynter senior vice president and chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership. “Many newsrooms are now doing tiny experiments, and many more are contemplating adding AI to their workflows.”"

Trump attacks Watergate laws in massive shift of ethics system; The Washington Post, June 21, 2025

Naftali Bendavid, The Washington Post; Trump attacks Watergate laws in massive shift of ethics system

"Then-Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman was 32 when, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, she voted in 1974 for three articles of impeachment against President Richard M. Nixon. She spent the next few years as part of a Congress that passed wave after wave of laws to rein in future presidents.

A half-century later, Holtzman, a New York Democrat, is watching as President Donald Trump takes aim at post-Watergate reforms on transparency, spending, conflicts of interest and more. By challenging and disregarding, in letter or in spirit, this slew of 1970s laws, Trump is essentially closing the 50-year post-Watergate chapter of American history — and ushering in a new era of shaky guardrails and blurred separation of powers.

“We didn’t envision this,” Holtzman said. “We saw Nixon doing it, but he hadn’t done it on this vast a scale. Trump is saying, ‘Congress cannot tell me what to do about anything.’”...

This broad rejection of the post-Watergate laws underlines the country’s shift from an era focused on clean government and strict ethics to the rise of a president whose appeal stems in part from his willingness to violate such rules and constraints.

“There has been a collapse, at least temporarily, of the kind of outrage and ethical standards that were prevalent during the days of Watergate,” said Richard Ben-Veniste, who headed the special counsel’s Watergate Task Force."

Two men jailed for life for supplying car bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia; The Guardian, June 10, 2025

Juliette Garside, The Guardian ; Two men jailed for life for supplying car bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia

[Kip Currier: It's encouraging to see that justice can occur, even in places and situations where corruption is deeply entangled and seemingly intractable. I vividly remember learning from The Guardian's reporting about the horrific car bomb murder of courageous investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta in October 2017:

The journalist who led the Panama Papers investigation into corruption in Malta was killed on Monday in a car bomb near her home.

Daphne Caruana Galizia died on Monday afternoon when her car, a Peugeot 108, was destroyed by a powerful explosive device which blew the vehicle into several pieces and threw the debris into a nearby field.

A blogger whose posts often attracted more readers than the combined circulation of the country’s newspapers, Caruana Galizia was recently described by the Politico website as a “one-woman WikiLeaks”. Her blogs were a thorn in the side of both the establishment and underworld figures that hold sway in Europe’s smallest member state.

Her most recent revelations pointed the finger at Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and two of his closest aides, connecting offshore companies linked to the three men with the sale of Maltese passports and payments from the government of Azerbaijan.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/16/malta-car-bomb-kills-panama-papers-journalist

As mentioned in the 2017 article, Galizia was reporting about corruption that involved the Maltese government at the time. Journalists like Galizia risk -- and all too often lose -- their lives to expose corruption and promote public awareness and accountability for wrongdoing.

These intrepid reporters also shed important light on the ways that the wealthy, powerful, and famous are frequently able to circumvent laws and ethical standards that apply to everyone else, as was revealed by the Panama Papers investigation.

Non-profit groups like Transparency International are committed to exposing corruption and promoting democracy and accountability:

We are Transparency International U.S. (TI US), part of the world’s largest coalition against corruption. We give voices to victims and witnesses of corruption, and work with governments, businesses, and citizens to stop the abuse of entrusted power.

In collaboration with national chapters in more than 100 countries, we are leading the fight to turn our vision of a world free from corruption into reality. Our U.S. office focuses on stemming the harms caused by illicit finance, strengthening political integrity, and promoting a positive U.S. role in global anti-corruption initiatives. Through a combination of research, advocacy, and policy, we engage with stakeholders to increase public understanding of corruption and hold institutions and individuals accountable.

https://us.transparency.org/who-we-are/]

My forthcoming Bloomsbury book Ethics, Information, and Technology (January 2026) examines the corrosive impacts of corruption. It also explores organizations like Transparency International that report on and educate about corrupt practices, as well as efforts to root out public trust-damaging activities and positively influence and change organizational cultures where corruption exists.

Corruption is often intertwined, too, with other ethical issues like conflicts of interest, censorship, research misconduct, misinformation and disinformation, counterfeit goods and deficits of transparency, accountability, data integrity, freedom of expression, and free and independent presses, which are critically assessed and considered in the book.]

[Excerpt]

"Two men have been sentenced to life in prison for supplying the car bomb that killed the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta eight years ago.

The sentencing on Tuesday of Robert Agius and Jamie Vella, reported to be members of the island’s criminal underworld, marked a significant step in the long campaign to bring those charged with Caruana Galizia’s murder to justice.

Her death in October 2017 sparked outrage across Europe and embroiled Malta’s governing party in accusations of a coverup, ultimately leading to the resignation of the then prime minister, Joseph Muscat.

Prosecutors have brought charges against seven people, including a millionaire businessman who is still awaiting trial."

Government AI copyright plan suffers fourth House of Lords defeat; BBC, June 2, 2025

 Zoe Kleinman , BBC; Government AI copyright plan suffers fourth House of Lords defeat

"The argument is over how best to balance the demands of two huge industries: the tech and creative sectors. 

More specifically, it's about the fairest way to allow AI developers access to creative content in order to make better AI tools - without undermining the livelihoods of the people who make that content in the first place.

What's sparked it is the Data (Use and Access) Bill.

This proposed legislation was broadly expected to finish its long journey through parliament this week and sail off into the law books. 

Instead, it is currently stuck in limbo, ping-ponging between the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

A government consultation proposes AI developers should have access to all content unless its individual owners choose to opt out. 

But 242 members of the House of Lords disagree with the bill in its current form.

They think AI firms should be forced to disclose which copyrighted material they use to train their tools, with a view to licensing it."

The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It; The New York Times, May 14, 2025

Kashmir Hill , The New York Times; The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It

"When ChatGPT was released at the end of 2022, it caused a panic at all levels of education because it made cheating incredibly easy. Students who were asked to write a history paper or literary analysis could have the tool do it in mere seconds. Some schools banned it while others deployed A.I. detection services, despite concerns about their accuracy.

But, oh, how the tables have turned. Now students are complaining on sites like Rate My Professors about their instructors’ overreliance on A.I. and scrutinizing course materials for words ChatGPT tends to overuse, like “crucial” and “delve.” In addition to calling out hypocrisy, they make a financial argument: They are paying, often quite a lot, to be taught by humans, not an algorithm that they, too, could consult for free."

‘Fight back’: journalist taking Trump administration to court calls for media to resist attacks; The Guardian, May 5, 2025

Kate Lamb, The Guardian; ‘Fight back’: journalist taking Trump administration to court calls for media to resist attacks

 "Now, she finds herself pushing against fascistic tendencies in her adopted home. “I grew up in 80s Indonesia where there was no press freedom and newspapers had to be careful what they printed to avoid government closure,” she says. “Could the US backslide that far? Not if enough people resist, and that’s why I’m fighting back.”

Her lawsuit, backed by Reporters Without Borders and four unions, argues the Trump administration, through the actions of the defendants, USAGM, and the government’s special adviser Kari Lake, are attempting to unlawfully dismantle VOA’s operations because they deem it contrary to the government’s agenda.

Widakuswara argues that Trump’s executive order is a violation of press freedom, the first amendment, and laws to prevent executive overreach, with VOA funding approved by Congress, not the president."

Ministers to amend data bill amid artists’ concerns over AI and copyright; The Guardian, April 30, 2025

Eleni Courea and Dan Milmo , The Guardian; Ministers to amend data bill amid artists’ concerns over AI and copyright

"Ministers have drawn up concessions on copyright changes in an attempt to appease artists and creators before a crucial vote in parliament next week, the Guardian has learned.

The government will promise to carry out an economic impact assessment of its proposed copyright changes and to publish reports on issues including transparency, licensing and access to data for AI developers.

The concessions are designed to mollify concerns in parliament and in creative industries about the government’s proposed shake-up of copyright rules."

We Already Have an Ethics Framework for AI; Inside Higher Ed, April 25, 2025

 Gwendolyn Reece, Inside Higher Ed; We Already Have an Ethics Framework for AI

"We need to develop an ethical framework for assessing uses of new information technology—and specifically AI—that can guide individuals and institutions as they consider employing, promoting and licensing these tools for various functions. There are two main factors about AI that complicate ethical analysis. The first is that an interaction with AI frequently continues past the initial user-AI transaction; information from that transaction can become part of the system’s training set. Secondly, there is often a significant lack of transparency about what the AI model is doing under the surface, making it difficult to assess. We should demand as much transparency as possible from tool providers.

Academia already has an agreed-upon set of ethical principles and processes for assessing potential interventions. The principles in “The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research” govern our approach to research with humans and can fruitfully be applied if we think of potential uses of AI as interventions. These principles not only benefit academia in making assessments about using AI but also provide a framework for technology developers thinking through their design requirements."

When was the last time AI made you laugh? Scenes from the 2025 Summit on AI, Ethics and Journalism; Poynter, April 11, 2025

TyLisa Johnson, Poynter ; When was the last time AI made you laugh? Scenes from the 2025 Summit on AI, Ethics and Journalism

"This year’s Summit on AI, Ethics and Journalism, led by Poynter and The Associated Press, unfolded over two days in New York City’s financial district at the AP’s headquarters.

Here’s a brief summit recap through images:"

Pentagon cuts off Hegseth town hall webcast after transparency pledge; Navy Times, February 7, 2025

 Stephen Losey, Navy Times; Pentagon cuts off Hegseth town hall webcast after transparency pledge

"The Pentagon cut off a webcast of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first town hall with troops and department employees Friday as soon as questions began, and shortly after Hegseth promised to be transparent with service members and the public.

Hegseth delivered about 15 minutes of opening remarks, which touched on issues such as grooming standards, readiness, border security and the administration’s desire to root out diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the military, before opening the floor to questions...

The broadcast ended less than two minutes after Hegseth pledged to be open with service members and the public.

“I appreciate the service so many of you give,” Hegseth said. “I know so many people watching. It’s the honor of a lifetime to come alongside you. No one will work harder. No one’s going to be more — attempt to be more transparent with the American people and with you.”

When asked a follow-up question about why the department stopped broadcasting when questions began, the Pentagon’s press office said, “The [defense secretary’s] opening remarks were televised to allow a larger audience. The Q&A portion was open to in-person participants only.”

It does not appear the Pentagon broadcast any portion of town halls held by Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin.

However, the Pentagon did not indicate in its Friday morning email announcing Hegseth’s town hall that the questioning portion would not be broadcast. The webpage with the town hall feed originally indicated the broadcast was scheduled to run for about an hour and a half...

Hegseth said one of his top priorities is “restoring the warrior ethos,” before harshly criticizing the Pentagon’s previous focus on improving diversity in the ranks.

“I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is, ‘Our diversity is our strength,’” Hegseth said. “I think our strength is our unity. Our strength is our shared purpose, regardless of our background, regardless of how we grew up, regardless of our gender, regardless of our race. In this department, we will treat everyone equally, we will treat everyone with respect and we will judge you as an individual by your merit and by your commitment to the team and the mission.”

The Trump administration views diversity, equity and inclusion programs — referred to as DEI — as efforts to divide the military instead of uniting it, Hegseth said.

But the Pentagon’s initial efforts to comply with the administration’s DEI orders have been rocky."

Rubio named acting director of another US government agency: report; Fox News, February 6, 2025

Danielle Wallace Fox News; Rubio named acting director of another US government agency: report

"Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was tapped as the acting director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) just days ago, is taking on another new role in President Donald Trump's new administration. 

Rubio is now also serving as the acting director of the U.S. Archives, ABC News reported,citing a high-level official. Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

Trump signaled last month his intention of replacing the now-former national archivist Colleen Shogan, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, during a brief phone interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt. The National Archives notified the Justice Department in early 2022 over classified documents Trump allegedly took with him to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office. That would later result in an FBI raid, and Trump being indicted by former special counsel Jack Smith. However, Biden nominated Shogan to run the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) later in 2022, and the Senate confirmed her the following year.

The source told ABC News that Rubio has been the acting archivist since shortly after Trump was sworn in as the 47th president last month."

Trump’s firing of independent watchdogs raises concerns about government fraud and ethics; PBS News, January 27, 2025

Laura Barrón-López , Shrai Popat, PBS News; Trump’s firing of independent watchdogs raises concerns about government fraud and ethics

"In another sweeping move of his second term, President Trump fired more than a dozen inspectors general, the non-partisan watchdogs appointed to protect against abuses of power, waste and mismanagement across federal agencies. White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López discussed the impact with Glenn Fine, former inspector general for the Department of Justice."

Ethics watchdog issues conflict of interest warning to Musk’s Doge agency; The Guardian, January 23, 2025

David Smith, The Guardian ; Ethics watchdog issues conflict of interest warning to Musk’s Doge agency

"A leading ethics watchdog has issued warnings to Donald Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk and the “department of government efficiency” (Doge), an agency Trump has stated he will create, claiming its use of encrypted messaging apps potentially violates the Federal Records Act (FRA).

American Oversight, which uses litigation to obtain public records and expose government misconduct, argues that Musk’s leadership of Doge raises “significant ethical concerns about potential conflicts of interest”, given his business empire and the substantial impact that Doge could have on federal agencies.

The warnings stem from reports that members of Doge, which aims to carry out dramatic cuts to the US government, are using the encrypted messaging app Signal with an auto-delete feature, which could hinder the preservation of official records."

How Jeff Bezos can stop the bleeding at the Washington Post; The Guardian, January 17, 2025

Margaret Sullivan , The Guardian; How Jeff Bezos can stop the bleeding at the Washington Post

"More than 400 newsroom staffers at the Washington Post pleaded with the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, this week to do something about their beloved paper’s rapid – and very public – decline.

“We are deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions that have led readers to question the integrity of this institution, broken with a tradition of transparency, and prompted some of our most distinguished colleagues to leave, with more departures imminent,” an extraordinary letter to Bezos read in part, as first reported by NPR’s David Folkenflik. It was signed by some of the Post’s most respected names, including the investigative reporter Carol Leonnig and the unofficial dean of DC politics writers Dan Balz.

I feel their pain and join their cause. I was proud to work at the Washington Post for six years, until 2022, as the paper’s media columnist. My ties to the paper go back much further; it was the Post’s Watergate reporting that piqued my interest, as a teenager, in journalism and (along with a whole generation of other young people) drew me into a lifelong career. I know and admire many reporters, editors, photographers, videographers, designers and others at the paper, and doubt I’ll ever give up my subscription...

Bezos may not care. The billionaire who bought the paper for $250m in 2013 has been in supplication mode to Donald Trump for months. One of the world’s richest individuals, Bezos seems more interested in palling around with the likes of fellow billionaire Elon Musk.

But let’s say he does care, for reasons that may span the spectrum from preserving his own place in history to defending press rights to improving the Post’s red-drenched bottom line.

What could he do, immediately, to stem the bleeding?

First, he should show up – soon – to hold a town hall with the newsroom, answer questions and take the heat. Do it on the record...

Second, he should clearly state – publicly – that he understands the importance of editorial freedom and pledge not to interfere with it. And he should communicate that he gets the importance of the Post’s history and mission, and that he will support it.

Third, he should dump his handpicked publisher, Will Lewis, from whom many of these problems originate. Lewis, a British journalist who hails from the world of Rupert Murdoch, is far from a paragon of journalistic excellence or good judgment. His appointment has been rejected by the body of the Post (and, eventually, by its readers); to put it mildly, the graft didn’t take. Recognizing that, and immediately beginning a search for a more suitable replacement, would be a huge – and essential – step in the right direction.

All of this should be transparent to the public, in keeping with how the Post has conducted itself for many years. It’s a core value."

Opinion | Trump’s Nominees Falsely Say I’m Censoring Conservatives — So They Want to Censor Me; Politico, January 5, 2025

 STEVEN BRILL , Politico; Opinion | Trump’s Nominees Falsely Say I’m Censoring Conservatives — So They Want to Censor Me

"Last week, The Washington Post published an article detailing how NewsGuard, whose journalists rate the reliability of news sources, has become the target of incoming Trump administration regulators and far-right Republicans in Congress. They are accusing me and my NewsGuard colleagues of being part of some left-wing conspiracy — or “cartel” in the words of the incoming chairs of both the FCC and the FTC. Our cartel is supposedly aimed at censoring conservative websites and their associated social media and video platforms.

What we actually do is provide consumers and businesses with our journalists’ assessments of the professional standards of thousands of news websites, assigning them reliability scores based on apolitical, journalistic factors — like accuracy, transparent correction policies and honest headlines. Advertisers, for example, can use these reliability scores to make sure their computerized placements of online ads avoid running alongside Russian disinformation, health care hoaxes or other content that could embarrass their brands. Consumers who subscribe to our browser extension can also see those ratings when they pull up an article or scroll through a Facebook or X feed.

If you click the link to the Post article, you’ll see that the reporters compiled a chart of our 0-100 point ratings for a sample of 20 news sites. It plainly demonstrates that we give high and low ratings to liberal and conservative sites alike, because the nine criteria we use to tally the point score have nothing to do with politics. After all, is there a liberal or conservative way to have a transparent policy for admitting and correcting errors or having headlines that accurately reflect what’s delivered in the story?"

New Course Creates Ethical Leaders for an AI-Driven Future; George Mason University, December 10, 2024

Buzz McClain, George Mason University; New Course Creates Ethical Leaders for an AI-Driven Future

"While the debates continue over artificial intelligence’s possible impacts on privacy, economics, education, and job displacement, perhaps the largest question regards the ethics of AI. Bias, accountability, transparency, and governance of the powerful technology are aspects that have yet to be fully answered.

A new cross-disciplinary course at George Mason University is designed to prepare students to tackle the ethical, societal, and governance challenges presented by AI. The course, AI: Ethics, Policy, and Society, will draw expertise from the Schar School of Policy and Government, the College of Engineering and Computing(CEC), and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS).

The master’s degree-level course begins in spring 2025 and will be taught by Jesse Kirkpatrick, a research associate professor in the CEC, the Department of Philosophy, and codirector of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center. 

The course is important now, said Kirkpatrick, because “artificial intelligence is transforming industries, reshaping societal norms, and challenging long-standing ethical frameworks. This course provides critical insights into the ethical, societal, and policy implications of AI at a time when these technologies are increasingly deployed in areas like healthcare, criminal justice, and national defense.”"

A new study seeks to establish ethical collecting practices for US museums; The Art Newspaper, October 29, 2024

Annabel Keenan , The Art Newspaper; A new study seeks to establish ethical collecting practices for US museums

"As calls for the restitution of looted objects spread across the industry, the Penn Cultural Heritage Center (PennCHC) at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia is launching a study that will examine collecting policies and practices at US museums and encourage transparency and accountability in the sector. Launching today (29 October), the “Museums: Missions and Acquisitions Project” (dubbed M2A Project for short) will study over 450 museum collections to identify current standards and establish a framework for institutions to model their future practices...

The PennCHC has been supporting ethical collecting since its founding in 2008, including working closely with local communities in countries around the world to identify and preserve their cultural heritage. “US museums have historically acquired objects that were removed from these countries illegally or through pathways now considered inequitable,” says Richard M. Leventhal, the executive director of the PennCHC and co-principal investigator for the M2A Project. “The M2A Project is asking a very simple set of questions about these types of objects: Are US museums still acquiring them? And if so, why? Recent seizures of looted property and calls to decolonise collections force us to reconsider whether acquisitions best serve the missions of museums and the interests of their communities.”

The M2A Project evolved from the PennCHC’s Cultural Property Experts on Call Program that launched in 2020 in partnership with the US Department of State’s Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee to protect at-risk cultural property against theft, looting and trafficking. Through this programme, the PennCHC collaborated with more than 100 museums and universities to study and document the trade in illicit artefacts."

Panel Reminds Us That Artificial Intelligence Can Only Guess, Not Reason for Itself; New Jersey Institute of Technology, October 22, 2024

Evan Koblentz , New Jersey Institute of Technology; Panel Reminds Us That Artificial Intelligence Can Only Guess, Not Reason for Itself

"Expert panelists took a measured tone about the trends, challenges and ethics of artificial intelligence, at a campus forum organized by NJIT’s Institute for Data Science this month.

The panel moderator was institute director David Bader, who is also a distinguished professor in NJIT Ying Wu College of Computing and who shared his own thoughts on AI in a separate Q&A recently. The panel members were Kevin Coulter, field CTO for AI, Dell Technologies; Grace Wang, distinguished professor and director of NJIT’s Center for Artificial Intelligence Research; and Mengjia Xu, assistant professor of data science. DataBank Ltd., a data center firm that hosts NJIT’s Wulver high-performance computing cluster, was the event sponsor...

Bader: “There's also a lot of concerns that get raised with AI in terms of privacy, in terms of ethics, in terms of its usage. So I really want to understand your thoughts on how we ensure that AI systems are developed and deployed ethically. And are there specific frameworks or guidelines that you would follow?”...

Wang: “Well, I always believe that AI at its core is just a tool, so there's no difference for the AI and say, lock picking tools. Now, picking tools can open your door if you lock yourself out and it can also open others. That's a crime, right? So it depends on how AI is used. From that perspective, there's not much special when we talk about AI ethics, or, say, computer security ethics, or the ethics related to how to use a gun, for example. But what is different is, as AI is too complex, it's beyond the knowledge of many of us how it works. Sometimes it looks ethical but maybe what's behind it is amplifying the bias by using the AI tools without our knowledge. So whenever we talk about AI ethics, I think the most important one is education if you know what AI is about, how it works and what AI can do and what AI cannot. I think for now we have the fear that AI is so powerful it can do anything, but actually, many of the things that people believe AI can do now can be done in the past by just any software system. So education is very, very important to help us to demystify AI accordingly, so we can talk about AI ethics. I want to emphasize transparency. If AI is used for decision making, if we understand how the decision is made, that becomes very, very important. And another important topic related to AI ethics is auditing if we don't know what's inside. At least we have some assessment tools to know whether there's a risk or not in certain circumstances. Whether it can generate a harmful result or is not very much like the stress testing to the financial system after 2008.”

Book Bans Live on in School District Now Run by Democrats; The New York Times, October 27, 2024

Dana Goldstein, The New York Times; Book Bans Live on in School District Now Run by Democrats

"What is clear is that many Pennridge parents are exhausted with the political battles that inflamed communities nationwide during the Covid-19 pandemic. They have reached a new political equilibrium, where some changes have become part of the firmament of public education, especially the expectation that parents will have visibility into all that their children are learning and reading at school — and some measure of a veto...

Aubrie Schulz, 16, a junior at Pennridge High School, said she had been frustrated by the limited offerings in the high school library. But as adults argued over gender, sex and race, she noted that what occurred in the library or classroom had only a narrow effect on students.

“We can get all the information on our phones,” she said."

On X, the Definition of ‘Blocking’ Is About to Change; The New York Times, October 21, 2024

Sandra E. Garcia , The New York Times; On X, the Definition of ‘Blocking’ Is About to Change

"A lot has changed on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter since Elon Musk bought it two years ago. The company, renamed X, is on the verge of yet another major shift, with changes coming for what happens when one user blocks another.

The block function, a powerful tool which makes your account effectively invisible to anyone of your choosing, will soon let those people see what you are posting. The difference, according to a thread posted by X’s engineering account, is that blocked users will not be able to engage with the post in any way...

The overall sentiment from users, however, is that the impending change to the block feature will allow for more abuse."