Some good news!
Google has decided to end its ludicrous program to let political spam land straight in our Gmail inboxes:
wapo.st/3wprzbN
Last fall, I called on Google to stop throwing ALL GMAIL USERS UNDER THE BUS just to score political points
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Geoffrey A. Fowler
@geoffreyfowler
Tech Columnist . On Mastadon at @geoffreyfowler@federated.press, Instagram at and email at Geoffrey.Fowler@washpost.com
San FranciscoJoined March 2009
Geoffrey A. Fowler’s Tweets
#Taliban buys blue ticks, declares Elon Musk is "making Twitter great again"
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Curious about a potential touchscreen Mac?
Well, there are many Windows and Chrome touchscreen laptops on the market now.
Some people love them. Most people don't buy them.
Should you?
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big news for font freaks: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department & replaced by Calibri. Secretary Blinken sent a cable to all embassies today directing staff not to send him any more papers with Times New Roman. Subject: "The Times (New Roman) are a-Changin"
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Ewwww, but also ohh!
Can a severed finger unlock a phone?
More answers to your digital security questions in today's Tech Friend newsletter by .
Sign up, it's free from and its great!
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Just a reminder that journalists from NYT, CNN, WaPo remain locked out of their Twitter accounts after Elon Musk banned them.
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Eye-opening that ChatGPT isn't very good at accurately explaining privacy policies.
Helping us wade through them seems like it could be a pretty good use for AI!
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ChatGPT misleads its users about privacy and consent. Here's how 
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As Twitter suspends city services running on its infrastructure, maybe the question we should ask is "Why did we trust our services to privately owned platforms in the first place?" Excellent piece by sarasholder of Bloomberg:
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It appears Twitter has now removed the grey check from the parody Congressman.
Twitter has not replied to my request for comment.
Not even a thanks for flagging, y'all?
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Rep. Nunn is a new member of Congress.
My understanding is the old Twitter would have had folks in the actual Capitol setting up accounts and ensuring members launched with everything they needed.
What has been the experience this week with new Twitter?
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The owner of the parody Congressman account, who reached out to me, told me Twitter didn't try to verify the account with him before awarding the grey check.
I reached out to Rep. Nunn's office and Twitter for comment.
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More evidence Twitter verification isn't verifying much:
It just gave a grey check for government to a fake Congressman
Account even says Parody. Real has no check
I wrote about getting verified as a fake Senator: wapo.st/3VHo2Qg
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Latest for : John Deere has signed another memo of understanding meant to throw farmers a lifeline when it comes to repairing their Deere equipment. Repair advocates say it’s not enough—and it’s very likely meant to discourage actual legislation
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NEW: "I don't want us to have to go through a bunch of deaths from insecure technology," said CISA director Jen Easterly in an interview on the sidelines of CES, regarding threats to consumers/infrastructure exacerbated by hastily shipped products.
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ICYMI this weekend: I spoke to several tech workers who were recently laid off along with hundreds of thousands of others across the industry. Here's what their plight has looked like and how they're faring.
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In today's Tech Friend newsletter, my pal says I live in a nerd paradise with pointless garbage gadgets.
I call her a crusty old lady muttering about why anyone needs ice boxes.
Come for fun, stay for advice on how to avoid a dumb smarthome:
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Why does Apple's VR headset reportedly have some distinct similarities to Magic Leap's? I asked , founder of Magic Leap about that and more. The short answer is we haven't had any big technological breakthroughs in AR/VR in a very long time.
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Twitter has now suspended my test account,
But it hasn't addressed the questions I raised in my column about how its systems protect users. wapo.st/3VHo2Qg
What is the "manual authentication" process that accounts go through before getting a blue check?
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Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice ... and we clearly have no reason to trust Twitter.
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A @washingtonpost reporter was once again able to create a verified account impersonating me. Twitter has failed another test of trust. It is an absolute joke that @elonmusk can't implement a functioning verification regime—but we aren't laughing. washingtonpost.com/technology/202
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Oops! I did again, :
I created a Twitter account pretending to be (with his permission) and applied for Blue “verification.”
And once again, Twitter took my $8, asked zero questions and gave the fake account a blue checkmark.
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“Made in China” comes with baggage for Facebook
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NEW: Facebook has spent the last several years bashing China. Now it needs it factories to make hardware.
Via Me & @cdcshepherd
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NEW: The legal weed industry used to be full of promise. Now, for many, it’s crumbling.
“We are witnessing massive insolvency, especially on the West Coast.”
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Check out ’s excellent feature in the on shadowbanning. Some of the most even handed writing I’ve seen on this topic.
You can also find a couple quotes from me in there and my work at 😎
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"Shadowbanning" is real, and conservatives aren't the only ones affected.
Social media companies owe it to their users to stop obscuring and denying it, argues persuasively.
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Here’s my paper on “reduction techniques” that Geoff mentioned: “Do Not Recommend”
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This isn’t just a partisan concern.
Thanks to for bringing clarity on “reduction,” as well as CDT’s for his research and many other scholars who’ve taken users seriously.
As said “There is this looming threat of being invisible."
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Social media should tell us exactly when & why they reduce our reach, and give us tools to appeal.
said Twitter will get something like this.
IG just rolled out an Account Status page for pro accts that reveals if you're “recommendable.”
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Big tech plays semantics to avoid directly talking about shadowbanning. In 2020, IG's head said it's “not a thing.”
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Ok, the term is imprecise. But social media companies do all reduce people’s megaphones without telling them.
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I asked @mosseri this question, knowing full well how he was going to respond.
There you have it guys. Again.
Shadowbanning is not a thing.
#SMSpouses
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In my column, meet a teacher who appeared to be shadowbanned on IG after promoting a class called “Raising anti-racist kids through art.” Her audience dropped 90%.
Did her posts suddenly become boring? Or does IG have a problem with "anti-racist"?
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1 in 10 Americans suspect they’ve been shadowbanned, according to a survey.
When , & I put out calls, we heard from people living on the margins: Black creators, sex educators, fat activists & drag artists.
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New :
is right about this much: Shadowbanning is real.
It’s time for social media companies to come clean about when and how they reduce people’s reach—and who it really hurts.
Spoiler: It’s not just conservatives.
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California & Oregon: Did you get an #earthquake alert on your phone last night?
I wrote about ’ Shake Alert tech and how to get it: wapo.st/3YDYINx
Getting an alert in SF for a quake near the Oregon border felt a little aggressive (even if it was a 6.4 mag)
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NEW: Twitter's suspensions of prominent journalists were internally labeled "direction of Ella," referring to Ella Irwin, Twitter's Trust and Safety head who has carried out many of Musk's orders.
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if we all get banned, find me on vacation
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Journalists suspended from Twitter so far tonight:
• (WaPo)
• (WaPo)
• (NYT)
• (CNN)
• (Mashable)
• (The Intercept)
• (freelance)
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There is no hope for Twitter if it overreacts to whatever the boss finds unwelcome.
People and institutions that value free expression cannot stand for the unwarranted account suspensions of journalists.
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For more incredible technology coverage from my now-suspended colleague Drew Harwell, go to
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