Pokemon Go can be a fun game for adults and kids alike. It can also be a tool for criminals and predators. The State of New York doesn’t want that tool to happen. New York bans Pokemon from registered sex offenders.
This is under the jurisdiction of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. This new law forbids registered sex offenders on parole from playing any online game, especially Pokemon Go. Governor Cuomo wrote Niantic, Pokemon Go’s developers. He called on Niantic to prevent offenders from signing up. NY State Senators Jeffrey Klein and Diane Savino came up with this law. They toured neighborhoods in which registered sex offenders lived. They discovered many Pokemon Go stops. Senators Klein and Savino worry registered sex offenders can use the ‘lure’ part of the game to entice children and underage teens. So, Senators Klein and Savino created a bill banning registered sex offenders from Pokemon Go, and all online games. This new law has it’s controversies. Cuomo insists this law will only affect the 3,000 registered sex offenders on parole. Some critics argue the law won’t be effective. Some argue this could be the start to online gaming censorship.
It do see Cuomo, Klein and Savino’s concern. In Missouri, robbers used the Pokemon Go lure app. But it wasn’t to get Pokemon points. They used the lure app to jump innocent people and rob them of their possessions. If robbers can do it, what’s to stop child predators from this kind of evil? Fortunately, I haven’t heard of any registered sex offender stooping this low. But if this law keeps children safe, then pass it and above all, enforce it! Just keep the law’s focus where it needs to be. This is not an excuse to trample on the rights of innocent New York citizens. Do you think this law is the right course of action?
Erdogan’s government shut down many media agencies. This includes 45 newspapers, 16 TV stations, three media corporations, and dozens of radio stations. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and You Tube are also affected. Not only that, over 100 Turkish media members have been arrested and detained. These shutdowns include Internet services. In one morning alone, Turkish authorities detained 50 media members. They worked for Zaman newspaper. Prosecutors insisted that media organization be shut down. Zaman is rumored to have ties to Muslim cleric?Fethullah Gulen. Gulen is one of Erdogan’s biggest rivals and toughest critics. Erdogan blames Gulen for organizing the coup attempt. Gulen lives in Pennsylvania, due to a voluntary exile. Erdogan wants the US to extradite Gulen back to Turkey. Gulen denies any involvement. Human rights groups condemn this media shutdown. An Amnesty International director called this censorship a crackdown of freedom. She said, “Rather than stifling press freedom and intimidating journalists into silence, it is vital that Turkish authorities allow the media to do their work…”.
This is part of Erdogan’s purge. In the last several days, over 50,000 people have lost their jobs. Thousands have been arrested. They’re reports of torture, rape, humiliation, even mass graves being prepared. This is why Turkey needs free media, more than ever. This is why Turkey needs free Internet, more than ever. Once we allow Erdogan and his henchmen shut off free media, then we’re in trouble. That gives Erdogan the opportunity to do whatever he wants to whomever he wants. We need freedom of the press and the Internet to keep the Erdogans of the world accountable. We need to use our voice against censorship, especially online censorship. And another thing…why is much of the world keeping silent about this?
Leslie Jones, star of the new Ghostbusters and Saturday Night Live, signed off Twitter due to many abusive tweets that came her way. Some are so racist and sexually offensive I won’t dare quote them. Jones fought back. She reported some of her abusers. But the more she did that, the more vicious the tweets got. Not only did Jones sign off, she called for action. She calls for stronger guidelines to crack down on hate speech. She urged fellow Twitters to report hate speech. In her final tweets Jones said, “I didn’t do anything to deserve this. It’s just too much. It shouldn’t be like this. So hurt right now.” Some Twitter users were found out and suspended permanently. A Twitter spokesperson vows his company will do more to fight Twitter abuse. One suspended Twitter user is Breitbart editor and conservative commentator?Milo Yiannopoulos. Yiannopoulos denied any abuse.??Milo Y. claims his suspension was politically based. He criticized Twitter. Yinnopoulos said he was targeted because he was a conservative. He even hinted he’s part of a left-wing witch hunt.
It shouldn’t take a celebrity to remind us about proper social media etiquette. Twitter should not be a place to spit venomous hatred. And cowards hide behind fake names and pictures to spew it. That’s the real tragedy here. I’d like to see one of those abusers confront Jones face to face. But we have to be careful when we say, ‘curb hate speech’. Milo Y. may have a point. Let’s not turn hate speech into a witch hunt. How can we crack down on abusive tweets without interfering with free speech? I’ve seen some of the tweets Jones got. Some are really vile and perverse. That has no place on Twitter. But if someone doesn’t like Ghostbusters, and posts a constructive criticism about the movie, that should not be censored. Let’s be respectable about it. Will this case make Twitter a safer place? Or is this an attempt to stifle our First Amendment rights?
The political convention season is underway. But the real stars of the show aren’t the speakers or celebrities. They’re not the first ladies, as Milania Trump proved during her speech. The real stars may be the hackers, like hacker Guccifer 2.0.
Allegedly, Guccifer 2.0 hacked the Democratic National Committee’s servers. The leaked documents talked about the Iran nuclear deal of last summer. They listed generous celebrity campaign donors, like director Stephen Spielberg. They found their way to The Hill. The Hill is an online media publication devoted to politics. The hacker gave The Hill juicy information, like their political strategies and Democrat National Convention secrets. The documents contain a list of ‘wobbly Democrats’. These are Democrats who weren’t exactly keen on the Iran nuclear deal. A lot of prominent Democrats made this list. The documents includes names and addresses of donors. These donors are powerful people, from Hollywood actors to tech leaders. Elon Musk is on that list. These aren’t the only document Guccifer 2.0 provided. Last week, more documents were released, allegedly by Guccifer 2.0. They include research on Sarah Palin. Don’t take these hacks and documents as the stone cold truth. We don’t even know if Guccifer 2.0 is real. What country is he/she from? Some say Russia. Others say Romania.
This is what I mean. The hackers may steal the show by what information they leak. I will admit: Guccifer’s information isn’t exactly earth-shattering. We know the donor names are Democrat supporters. We know not every Democrat was on board with the Iran nuclear deal. However, it could determine who Hilary Clinton’s running mate could be (or could not be). But I am curious what this alleged hacker has on Trump supporter Sarah Palin. Don’t be naive. We all know Guccifer isn’t the only hacker out there. It’s scary enough Guccifer isn’t even American. What other trouble and dirt can hackers stir up this election season?
Last night, some Turkish military leaders and personnel tried to overthrow Turkey’s government in a coup. It was a night of gunfire, air raids, and bombs. The coup failed. By the end, 161 were dead, 1,440 were wounded and over 2,800 were detained. Tukey’s President?Recep T Erdogan promises harsh penalties for those who took part in this coup.
What does this have to do with social media? At least three main social media sites, Facebook, You Tube and Twitter, were blocked during this night of chaos. Turkey Blocks is an online freedom watchdog in the country. At approximately 11pm Ankara and Istanbul time, these social media sites were unresponsive. Vimeo and Instagram kept going. The shutoff only lasted 90 minutes. The US State Department acknowledged the block. Those with loved ones in Ankara were urged to reach out by phone, email, or text message. Live streaming services like Twitter’s Periscope and Facebook’s Facebook Live went unscathed. Speaking of Facebook, they didn’t report on the blocks. You Tube did. Local citizens used live streaming services to capture this uprising. A lady named Hazel caught an air raid. She used Periscope to broadcast it to the world. Someone named BM Grad caught footage of a helicopter opening fire.
Erdogan claims to be anti-social media. Yet Erdogan wasted little time using Twitter. He sent tweets condemning the coup attempt. He urged Turkish citizens to fight the coup attempt by any means necessary. I’m rather impressed by social media showing during this crisis. From what I’ve read, Erdogan isn’t exactly the biggest fan of Internet freedom. But this was a night when a government overthrow attempt was made. That’s serious business. Yet only three major social media sites went down. And that was only for a short period of time. Other media sites stayed up. They caught this historic event and broadcast it to the world. There has been several coups in recent decades. The most recent was in 1997. But this is the first Turkish coup of the social media era, and online freedoms remained in place, for the most part. How would you grade Turkey’s Internet freedoms during this crisis?
Silicon Valley often leans left politically. So Donald Trump gets little love there. There was the iPhone San Bernadino controversy. Trump sided with the Feds. He said scathing things about Apple. That got him even less love. There’s a circulated letter about Trump today. It’s by no means an endorsement.
This letter is composed and signed by 140 tech leaders and entrepreneurs. The letter says a Trump presidency will be a disaster for tech innovation. This letter criticized Trump’s positions on immigration. ?They highlighted Trump’s desire to build a border wall. They criticized him on Internet freedoms. Trump proposes possible Internet shutdowns for security reasons. They criticized him on technology infrastructure. They say his policies are too few and far between. The signers insisted they weren’t speaking out for their respective companies. They only spoke for themselves. This statement says it all. And it’s in the letter: “We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity, and a level playing field. Donald Trump does not.” Ouch! Did it get cold in here? Signers included Tumblr CEO David Karp, Twitter Product VP Josh McFarland, Ebay Founder?Pierre Omidyar,?Zynga Founder Mark Pincus, Yelp CEO?Jeremy Stoppelman, and Apple Co-founder Steve?Wozniak.
With that being said, Donald Trump has some Silicon Valley allies. Remember Peter Thiel? He’s the PayPal co-founder who stood up for Hulk Hogan. He openly supports Trump. Rumor has it Thiel will speak at next week’s convention. I’m sure there are other tech Trump supporters. They’re just being silent right now. In previous presidential elections, tech leaders quietly donated funds to various candidates, parties, and conventions. But never have this many tech leaders came out swinging against a certain presidential candidate. Like I said before, this has to be the most contentious election in my lifetime. Nobody is neutral. Not even Silicon Valley. Why aren’t more Trump tech supporters speaking out? Are they afraid of getting ostracized by the anti-Trump crowd?
*Disclaimer: I am not here to endorse or openly support any presidential candidate. I simply observe, report and critique tech trends to the best of my ability.
