Kat Lo
@lolkat.bsky.social
Internet Researcher, Producer for hbomberguy
Research: online moderation/abuse, misinfo, Trust & Safety, mental health, social media reporting/escalation channels. Prev: @Instagram @Intel @MSFTResearch
Research: online moderation/abuse, misinfo, Trust & Safety, mental health, social media reporting/escalation channels. Prev: @Instagram @Intel @MSFTResearch
Reposted by Kat Lo
This is, of course, a fascinating thread from Kate asking why Google is effectively cannibalizing its own market for both digital ads on third party properties and search ads, by effectively taking away the incentive to click through to third party sites. I have a theory as to why they're doing it.
So this ad revenue metric is indicative of such a fascinating and weird set of business decisions by Google to inexplicably kill of SEO-- and I honestly don't get how they think this is going to pay off for them in the long run.
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Stereogum says Google's switch to AI Overviews reduced its ad revenue by *70 percent* www.theverge.com/entertainmen...
November 18, 2025 at 9:26 PM
This is, of course, a fascinating thread from Kate asking why Google is effectively cannibalizing its own market for both digital ads on third party properties and search ads, by effectively taking away the incentive to click through to third party sites. I have a theory as to why they're doing it.
Reposted by Kat Lo
After 404 Media's months-long reporting and pressure from lawmakers, the data broker owned by the U.S.’s major airlines will now shut down a program in which it sold access to hundreds of millions of flight records to the government and let agencies track peoples’ movements without a warrant.
November 18, 2025 at 9:39 PM
After 404 Media's months-long reporting and pressure from lawmakers, the data broker owned by the U.S.’s major airlines will now shut down a program in which it sold access to hundreds of millions of flight records to the government and let agencies track peoples’ movements without a warrant.
Reposted by Kat Lo
The GUARD Act may look like a child-safety bill, but in practice it’s an age-gating mandate that could impose a mass censorship and surveillance regime on nearly every public-facing AI chatbot. Tell Congress to oppose the GUARD Act today. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
A Surveillance Mandate Disguised As Child Safety: Why the GUARD Act
A new bill sponsored by Sen. Hawley (D-MO), Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Britt (R-AL), Sen. Warner (D-VA), and Sen. Murphy (D-CT) would require AI chatbots to verify all users’ ages, prohibit minors
www.eff.org
November 16, 2025 at 4:58 PM
The GUARD Act may look like a child-safety bill, but in practice it’s an age-gating mandate that could impose a mass censorship and surveillance regime on nearly every public-facing AI chatbot. Tell Congress to oppose the GUARD Act today. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
Reposted by Kat Lo
If women are underrepresented in STEM, it's at least partly because men like this offer mentoring, then embarrass themselves by assuming their mentees must be into them, then decide the best solution is to cut ties, which sends the signal to other faculty that the mentee must not be good enough.
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 16, 2025 at 12:13 AM
If women are underrepresented in STEM, it's at least partly because men like this offer mentoring, then embarrass themselves by assuming their mentees must be into them, then decide the best solution is to cut ties, which sends the signal to other faculty that the mentee must not be good enough.
Reposted by Kat Lo
First 1 hr 20 minutes of the next video is up on Patreon if you're into that sort of thing
November 14, 2025 at 11:19 AM
First 1 hr 20 minutes of the next video is up on Patreon if you're into that sort of thing
Reposted by Kat Lo
This Pope's subtweet game is strong
November 1, 2025 at 7:05 PM
This Pope's subtweet game is strong
Reposted by Kat Lo
Our new, rebranded website is live. 🚀
🤓: and, look at that -- it's federated blackskyweb.xyz/.well-known/...
🤓: and, look at that -- it's federated blackskyweb.xyz/.well-known/...
Build Community Online with Decentralized Tools | Blacksky
Decentralized tools to build community online. The intercommunal net where communities govern, pool funds and stay safe on their own terms.
blackskyweb.xyz
October 1, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Our new, rebranded website is live. 🚀
🤓: and, look at that -- it's federated blackskyweb.xyz/.well-known/...
🤓: and, look at that -- it's federated blackskyweb.xyz/.well-known/...
Cool cool cool let's continue to make it a casual endeavor to find all the information you need to radically violate the safety and privacy of anybody whose words or existence makes you personally angry.
New: Last night in the Senate, Ted Cruz blocked a bill that would have prevented data brokers from selling personal data on anyone in the United States, and not just federal lawmakers and government officials.
Ted Cruz blocks bill that would extend privacy protections to all Americans | TechCrunch
The Texas senator blocked a bill that would have prevented data brokers from selling personal data on anyone in the United States, and not just federal lawmakers and government officials.
techcrunch.com
October 1, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Cool cool cool let's continue to make it a casual endeavor to find all the information you need to radically violate the safety and privacy of anybody whose words or existence makes you personally angry.
Reposted by Kat Lo
The writers of the most recent Mission: Impossible movie, which I watched on an airplane, seem more capable of understanding the world-rending implications of AI tools like this than the people making it and that makes me sad
OpenAI employees are very excited about how well their new AI tool can create fake videos of people doing crimes and have definitely thought through all the implications of this
October 1, 2025 at 12:13 AM
The writers of the most recent Mission: Impossible movie, which I watched on an airplane, seem more capable of understanding the world-rending implications of AI tools like this than the people making it and that makes me sad
Reposted by Kat Lo
pretty sure the award for worst Dem response to "the current moment" is Amy Klobuchar saying we need to repeal Section 230 because the man who shot Charlie Kirk used the Internet
September 16, 2025 at 10:00 PM
pretty sure the award for worst Dem response to "the current moment" is Amy Klobuchar saying we need to repeal Section 230 because the man who shot Charlie Kirk used the Internet
Reposted by Kat Lo
Conspiracy theories follow familiar patterns, repeating the same tropes over and over again, so that when a new event happens, the theorists can interpret that event through the same old corrupted frame… and blaming science for diseases has been an old, worn-out story, since long before Covid.
Both Bhattacharya and Makary helped promote a movie at the end of last year that says SARS2, Ebola, HIV, and Lyme are all lab leaks, that Moderna engineered SARS2, that vaccines cause “turbo cancer”, and more… very right today’s weird politics was put ahead of science long ago.
August 2, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Conspiracy theories follow familiar patterns, repeating the same tropes over and over again, so that when a new event happens, the theorists can interpret that event through the same old corrupted frame… and blaming science for diseases has been an old, worn-out story, since long before Covid.
It’s wild to see how platforms big and small grapple with the new UK requirements for age verification. It looks like a lot of small platforms who can’t afford the expensive verification services end up choosing more ethical, privacy-preserving, and transparent approaches to verifying their users.
July 31, 2025 at 11:34 PM
It’s wild to see how platforms big and small grapple with the new UK requirements for age verification. It looks like a lot of small platforms who can’t afford the expensive verification services end up choosing more ethical, privacy-preserving, and transparent approaches to verifying their users.
Reposted by Kat Lo
Update from itchio: Free NSFW content will be reindexed, Stripe points the finger at banks.
Looks like it’s time to also call our banks
Looks like it’s time to also call our banks
July 31, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Update from itchio: Free NSFW content will be reindexed, Stripe points the finger at banks.
Looks like it’s time to also call our banks
Looks like it’s time to also call our banks
It’s wild that face scanning for age verification is not only a common practice but it’s basically legally required for platforms to comply.
The danger of applying this universally is ☠️, seeing the Tea breach doxxing everybody who verified with ID & face scans further eroding access to anonymity.
The danger of applying this universally is ☠️, seeing the Tea breach doxxing everybody who verified with ID & face scans further eroding access to anonymity.
people saying "glad I'm not on spotify," the website you are presently on is doing the same thing. they're required to by UK law now
July 30, 2025 at 5:56 PM
It’s wild that face scanning for age verification is not only a common practice but it’s basically legally required for platforms to comply.
The danger of applying this universally is ☠️, seeing the Tea breach doxxing everybody who verified with ID & face scans further eroding access to anonymity.
The danger of applying this universally is ☠️, seeing the Tea breach doxxing everybody who verified with ID & face scans further eroding access to anonymity.
Reposted by Kat Lo
getting my phrenology checked by my laptop camera before I can listen to WAP, a future I always wanted www.404media.co/spotify-uk-a...
Spotify Is Forcing Users to Undergo Face Scanning to Access Explicit Content
Submit to biometric face scanning or risk your account being deleted, Spotify says, following the enactment of the UK's Online Safety Act.
www.404media.co
July 30, 2025 at 3:10 PM
getting my phrenology checked by my laptop camera before I can listen to WAP, a future I always wanted www.404media.co/spotify-uk-a...
Reposted by Kat Lo
ok but imagine Jackie Chan fighting all the members of the polycule in and around this thing
Behold, per inbox, "the first ever bed design[ed] for non-monogamy": first of all, I'd say all beds work for non-monogamy; second, good god look at it
May 18, 2025 at 1:22 AM
ok but imagine Jackie Chan fighting all the members of the polycule in and around this thing
Reposted by Kat Lo
'The paper, published in PLOS Biology, warns that as AI makes data mining more accessible, and large language models can help write papers, “manufactured publications [could] outnumber legitimate publications in certain data-driven fields”.' 2/2
Explosion of formulaic research articles, including inappropriate study designs and false discoveries, based on the NHANES US national health database
The combination of AI and national health databases offers opportunities, but may also be exploited by unethical agents. This study shows that there has been an explosion of formulaic research article...
journals.plos.org
May 12, 2025 at 6:43 AM
'The paper, published in PLOS Biology, warns that as AI makes data mining more accessible, and large language models can help write papers, “manufactured publications [could] outnumber legitimate publications in certain data-driven fields”.' 2/2
Reposted by Kat Lo
'Artificial intelligence tools designed to speed up the research process by helping to extract data have led to a flood of “low-quality” research papers that threaten to damage the “foundations of scientific rigour”, according to a new study.' 1/2
Flood of AI-assisted research ‘weakening quality of science’
Wave of ‘low-quality’ papers threatening to overwhelm journals and peer reviewers, preventing them from assessing more meaningful research
www.timeshighereducation.com
May 12, 2025 at 6:43 AM
'Artificial intelligence tools designed to speed up the research process by helping to extract data have led to a flood of “low-quality” research papers that threaten to damage the “foundations of scientific rigour”, according to a new study.' 1/2
favorite genre of linkedin bro-posting
Sun Tzu: when u fight a battle its usually good if u are going to win
Guy with an MBA: this ancient wisdom is blowing my mind
Guy with an MBA: this ancient wisdom is blowing my mind
February 8, 2025 at 7:24 AM
favorite genre of linkedin bro-posting
Reposted by Kat Lo
Archivists are working to identify and save thousands of datasets disappearing from Data.gov
🔗 www.404media.co/archivists-w...
🔗 www.404media.co/archivists-w...
January 30, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Archivists are working to identify and save thousands of datasets disappearing from Data.gov
🔗 www.404media.co/archivists-w...
🔗 www.404media.co/archivists-w...
Reposted by Kat Lo
Meta has told employees that they're laying off 5 percent of staff on Feb. 10, sources tell me & @mikeisaac.bsky.social @sheeraf.bsky.social. Layoffs are coming after employees have pushed back on new content moderation rules.
January 14, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Meta has told employees that they're laying off 5 percent of staff on Feb. 10, sources tell me & @mikeisaac.bsky.social @sheeraf.bsky.social. Layoffs are coming after employees have pushed back on new content moderation rules.
I’ll miss the era of human-generated slop
January 12, 2025 at 7:20 AM
I’ll miss the era of human-generated slop
Reposted by Kat Lo
Something to consider when mainstream Dems start getting mad at Big Trans all over again
The Harris and Trump campaigns both found that the best testing Trump ad wasn't any transgender spot but rather a video of Harris saying "Bidenomics is working" www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
January 11, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Something to consider when mainstream Dems start getting mad at Big Trans all over again
Reposted by Kat Lo
NEW: I've obtained internal Meta docs revealing an array of sample posts that are now allowed under new hate speech rules. Examples include calling children "trannies," “Jews are flat out greedier than Christians," and “immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of shit”
theintercept.com/2025/01/09/f...
theintercept.com/2025/01/09/f...
Leaked Meta Rules: Users Are Free to Post “Mexican Immigrants Are Trash!” or “Trans People Are Immoral”
Facebook now allows attacks on immigrants and trans people, and posts like “Mexican immigrants are trash!” and “I’m a proud racist.”
theintercept.com
January 10, 2025 at 12:48 AM
NEW: I've obtained internal Meta docs revealing an array of sample posts that are now allowed under new hate speech rules. Examples include calling children "trannies," “Jews are flat out greedier than Christians," and “immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of shit”
theintercept.com/2025/01/09/f...
theintercept.com/2025/01/09/f...
Reposted by Kat Lo
Master doc of mutual aid groups helping people and animals on the ground in LA. Please share docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
MALAN Fire & Wind Storm Resources
docs.google.com
January 9, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Master doc of mutual aid groups helping people and animals on the ground in LA. Please share docs.google.com/spreadsheets...