Rebecca Williams
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rebeccawilliams.info
Rebecca Williams
@rebeccawilliams.info
11K followers 3.1K following 1.8K posts
Writer, lawyer, artist exploring how technology and power shape one another.
Privacy @ACLU.org, Board @MuckRock.com, Teaching @Pratt.edu.
🌐 rebeccawilliams.info Signal: rebecca.411
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rebeccawilliams.info
Awful
What is the harm? She explained: For their part (and by contrast), the plaintiffs have shown they will suffer concrete injuries if the Government's Passport Policy is immediately enforced; namely, they will be unable to obtain passports with sex markers that match their gender identity. The District Court found that this is a significant harm, noting that transgender people who encounter obstacles to obtaining gender-congruent identity documents are almost twice as likely to experience suicidal ideation, and report more severe psychological distress, than transgender people who do not face such barriers. In addition, the current record demonstrates that transgender people who use gender-incongruent passports are exposed to increased violence, harassment, and discrim-ination. For example, one of the plaintiffs, AC Goldberg, who is a transgender and intersex person, asserts that he has been sexually assaulted by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers conducting searches on his body. Another plaintiff, Chastain Anderson, attests to having been strip searched when traveling with identity documents that do not match her current gender expression. Another, Zaya Perysian, has been subjected to invasive patdowns by TSA agents to confirm her gender after they observed the disjunction between her female gender expression and the male sex marker on her passport. And two others, Ashton Orr and Ray Gorlin, have been accused of presenting fake identity documents, and were forced to out themselves as transgender and nonbinary to TSA agents.
November 7, 2025 at 12:54 AM
rebeccawilliams.info
what if technology wasn't something that was done to us, but instead something that we do?
And while we cast our ballots alone, we chose hope together. Hope over tyranny. Hope over big money and small ideas. Hope over despair. We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible. *And we won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do.*
November 6, 2025 at 12:41 AM
rebeccawilliams.info
I made some art
November 5, 2025 at 3:23 AM
rebeccawilliams.info
"the Data (Use and Access) Act received Royal Assent" bums me out (the UK is doing a lot w Digital ID right now)
September 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
yeah, I've seen Weapons
September 16, 2025 at 5:18 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
Truth Social & Rumble as the social media icons; def not Bluesky.
Title card of LIVE President Trump speech after Charlie Kirk’s death featuring right wing affiliated social media only.
September 11, 2025 at 3:21 AM
rebeccawilliams.info
reduced is true
September 11, 2025 at 3:07 AM
rebeccawilliams.info
adding this to the board
September 10, 2025 at 1:07 AM
rebeccawilliams.info
posting a summary of Umberto Eco's "Ur-Fascism" characteristics here for no reason
1) the cult of tradition 2) the rejection of rationalism 3) the cult of action, distrust of intellectualism 4) the rejection of analytical criticism 5) the appeal against the intruders 6) the appeal to frustrated/fearful middle class 7) the obsession with a plot against the people 8) the building-up & tearing-down of national enemies 9) the principle of permanent struggle 10) mass elitism - nationality as ultimate privilege 11) the cult of heroic death 12) machismo 13) notion that leader incarnates the will of the people 14) newspeak
September 6, 2025 at 4:30 AM
rebeccawilliams.info
Post a meme made by you
August 31, 2025 at 5:48 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
Summer 2025 Meta Glasses Headlines
• mashable.com Meta forges ahead with facial recognition for its Al glasses Are big tech companies embracing surveillance over privacy? By Cecily Mauran on May 8, 2025 Privacy is out, surveillance tech is in. Credit: Craig 404media.co A CBP Agent Wore Meta Smart Glasses to an Immigration Raid in Los Angeles JASON KOEBLER • AUG 7, 2025 AT 3:36 PM Video obtained and verified by 404 Media shows a CBP official wearing Meta's Al glasses, which are capable of recording and connecting with Al. WIRED AMY FRANCOMBE AUG 25. 2025 7:00 AM Meta Has Already Won the Smart Glasses Race By securing a billion-dollar stake in the world's largest eyewear maker with a massive retail footprint, Meta is building both a moat and a launchpad, leaving Google trailing and Apple way behind.
August 28, 2025 at 11:57 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
you know what the opposite to all this is? (Hint: it's not USDS) it's local, democratic, organizing
Flyer for NYC DSA Artists Against AI - Tech/AI Justice Reading Group Aug 30 Fyler for Circuit Breakers Conference NYC Oct 18 & 19
August 26, 2025 at 2:12 AM
rebeccawilliams.info
cyberlibertarianism for the dictator/brand
• americabydesign.gov To attract the best talent of our time. To update today's government to be an Apple Store like experience: beautifully designed, great user experience, run on modern software.
August 24, 2025 at 11:33 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
I know I must draw a potemkin village with a large sharpie now
Potemkin village Concept illustration of a Potemkin village, with building facades meant to convey the illusion of a settlement that does not actually exist. (less)
August 24, 2025 at 10:58 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
Tomorrow! There’s a Zoom option, will I make a zine in time? We will see.
August 15, 2025 at 2:09 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
my less good image making
August 12, 2025 at 11:28 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
This will make it harder for groups like the @ACLU.org to organize public comment campaigns. Cutting off this access limits organizing power and is another step in a wave of anti-democratic, techno-fascist measures.

news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4486...
A Tell HN: Regulations.gov Comments API is shutting down on Friday 9 points by sadmiralakbar 22 hours ago | hide | past | favorite | 1 comment Subject: Regulations.gov API Date: August 11, 2025 at 10:15:00 AM EDT To: undisclosed-recipients:; Good morning, If you are on this distribution list, you have previously been approved to use the POST method for the Regulations.gov API. This is used by third parties to aggregate and electronically submit comments on behalf of a group or constituency. As of Friday, the POST method will no longer be allowed for all users with the exception of approved use cases by federal agencies. Any attempted submissions will result in a 403 error response. We apologize for not being able to provide advanced notice. I wanted to reach out to the impacted API key holders as early as possible. We are in the process of updating the references to our POST API on Regulations.gov and https://open.gsa.gov/api/regulationsgov/. Please note that your groups and constituencies can still submit comments through our web user interface on Regulations.gov.
August 12, 2025 at 4:44 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
I did this today and it felt very natural; this is next Saturday by the way www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/bur...
August 11, 2025 at 3:21 AM
rebeccawilliams.info
this will change and is what I have come up with laying down on the couch, all suggestions and inspiration welcome
Al Policy 1. You will never be required to use Al. 2. I will not use Al to grade your work. 3. Work created with generative Al will not be your most moving or well-researched. It won't change people, you won't be proud of it, and for the purposes of this course, given its middling quality, it will likely lead to a lower grade. See Rubric. 4. Information as a human right relies on the trust built from provenance, fact-checking, and citation. If you use Al, trace its claims to a primary source, cite it, and be accountable for the information you pass on. This, too, can affect your grade. See Attribution Policy.
August 8, 2025 at 12:40 AM
rebeccawilliams.info
I am finding inspiration via @leaton01.bsky.social @megsmith.bsky.social @josephfasano.bsky.social

📌 docs.google.com/document/d/1...
FOR A STUDENT WHO USED AI TO WRITE A PAPER Now I let it fall back in the grasses. I hear you. I know this life is hard now. I know your days are precious on this earth. But what are you trying to be free of? The living? The miraculous task of it? Love is for the ones who love the work. AI The use of artificial intelligence tools (especially generative Al like ChatGPT for text or Stable Diffusion for images, or Github Copilot for code) is ethically complicated and in many cases falls under the plagiarism policy. My goal for you in this course is that you develop your own tech ethics, including Al. Here are a few starting points for us: • I will not require you to use Al, even to test or challenges its capabilities. • You may not use generative Al for day-to-day assignments, where you're meant to experiment with technologies, build things, break things, and reflect on the process. Those are all activities that can only be productive if you do them yourself from start to finish. • You may choose to use such tools for your final project, if you discuss it with me in advance. I'll want to see that you understand both the benefits and the drawbacks of the tool you choose, as well as that you're engaging with it critically in process and product. • Editing tools like Grammarly are permitted for your regular writing assignments, but please know that I'm not assessing those for grammar and spelling (so long as I can understand the point you're making). Instead, I'm looking for thoughtful engagement with your experience of the tool or website and with the themes and questions we're addressing in class.
August 7, 2025 at 11:15 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
the roll out age verification in the UK has clearly been devastating (clear examples of censorship & discrimination, & they’re scanning young people’s faces) but if platforms are also now blocking VPN workarounds that’s the end of the ability to “freely travel” online
August 6, 2025 at 5:43 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
you should donate to @archive.org at archive.org/donate we will need it more and more to keep our bearings web.archive.org/web/diff/202...
r/Destiny 5 hr. ago Join saabarthur # Top 1% Poster Article 1 Sections 9 and 10 Removed from Official Congress.gov Website Political News/Discussion constitution.congress.gov Open T 221 32 & Share Bapingin • 4h ago What's the point? Surely they don't think they can change the constitution by editing a website,
August 6, 2025 at 4:37 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
the legislative branch controls Congress.gov & they’re updating the site, it seems very plausible it was an error or it was hacked maybe; but because everything is so wild now & there seems to be only branch of gov it’s hard to know what to believe
Our Future Plans The Library of Congress and the Congressional Research Service (CRS) are undertaking a multi-year project to modernize the Constitution Annotated. CRS attorneys are in the process of revising the content to better enhance its educational value to a broader audience and to reflect the most recent Supreme Court terms. This significant overhaul will be underway over the next few years and as a result, parts of the website are still being developed. Note also that the website content may not match the bound edition and supplement insert exactly. The Questionable Authority @questauthority.bsky.social I'm reading this as "Yeah, we got DOGEd." ua Library of Congress • @librarycongres... • 1h It has been brought to our attention that some sections of Article 1 are missing from the Constitution Annotated (constitution.congress.gov) website. We've learned that this is due to a coding error. We have been working to correct this and expect it to be resolved soon. August 6, 2025 at 12:16 PM @ Everybody can reply through section 8. In a perfect world I'd first assume a software bug, then an accident, then incompetency. In the current political climate, ... I don't even know what to think.
August 6, 2025 at 4:32 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
the 404 page for the constitution website being a half painted George Washington is actually really chic
August 6, 2025 at 4:25 PM
rebeccawilliams.info
this is sweet, you wouldn't teach your child to scan their face on a site they didn't trust, would you? (I wouldn't.)

from: law.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...
Rather than make unwanted disclosures, many readers confronted by a publisher's age authentication request will leave the publisher's service and not complete the authentication process. This U-turn is called a "bounce." 120 Readers' tendency to bounce will be worse for startup publishers who have not yet earned readers' trust. 121 Section II.A.3 will revisit the bounce issue. Also, governments around the world want people to think twice before sharing sensitive biometric information due to the information's immutability if stolen. Mandatory age authentication teaches them the opposite lesson. Given the stakes of providing the disclosures required to age-authenticate, the reader's choice of whether to authenticate or bounce is complicated and nuanced. Most minors are still developing the cognitive and analytical skills needed to make these decisions wisely. Yet, segregate-and-suppress laws will force minors to make these decisions constantly, with potentially significant negative consequences for making a bad choice. Thus, if the policy goal is to protect minors online because of their potential vulnerability, then forcing minors to constantly decide whether or not to share highly sensitive information with strangers online is a policy
August 4, 2025 at 2:22 AM