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Suicide, violence, and going underground: FOSTA’s body count
Maybe you've noticed a sudden flood of updates to Terms and Conditions recently from the internet services you use. A close look at those agreements will show that many are GDPR related, but some are most definitely not. Welcome to the culture of fear, ushered in by the passing of FOSTA-SESTA.
Dutch police seize revenge porn site Anon-IB
Dutch police have seized revenge porn site Anon-IB, Motherboard reports. The site currently redirects to a Dutch police force website with an image stating, "Cybercrime teams from the Dutch police have seized the Anon-IB forum in an ongoing investigation concerning criminal offenses. More information concerning this investigation will be made available on April 26, 2018 on www.politie.nl." A spokesperson for Politie -- the Dutch police force -- told Motherboard that no Anon-IB administrators had been arrested yet but some users of the site had been brought in.
Pornhub hasn't been actively enforcing its deepfake ban
Remember how Pornhub said it was banning AI-generated deepfake videos? They're still a problem months later. BuzzFeed News "easily" found over 100 of the non-consensual videos by searching for obvious keywords like "deepfake" and "fake deep," nearly all of them explicitly mentioning their deepfake status in the title or the uploader's username. The clips had been around for a while, too, as they had hundreds of thousands or even millions of views. Some videos surfaced in home page recommendations.
You don't need a Facebook account to use Bumble
You don't need a Facebook account to sign up for Bumble anymore. Starting tomorrow, you can use your phone number to register for a new account on the dating app, according to Wired. Like Tinder, Hinge and countless other apps and services, Bumble streamlined the process of setting up a profile and adding photos by offering Facebook as a login option. Last week Tinder users had trouble logging in due to a glitch with Facebook privacy settings.
FOSTA-SESTA's real aim is to silence sex workers online
The US' latest attempt to silence sex workers and people working in the adult-entertainment industry has been a huge success. Just weeks after FOSTA-SESTA was passed, the bill has begun to chill free speech across the internet. A number of websites have had to either shut down or actively distance themselves from the notion that they support sex work. And the problem is only going to get worse as time goes on.
Tinder suffers sign-in problems following Facebook's privacy changes
Virtual romance has run into a momentary setback -- Tinder has confirmed reports that many users can't sign into its dating service. Those affected are frequently stuck in a login loop where they're asked for extra Facebook permissions, only to be sent back to the original Facebook sign-in request when they tap the relevant button. Others have had success signing in, but have reported losing all their messages or matches. Suffice it to say that this is worrying if you've had your eyes on someone special.
A looping GIF could soon be your next Tinder profile pic
Tinder's latest addition is one cribbed from relationship-minded competitor Hinge. The dating app is testing out a feature called "Loops" in Canada and Sweden, which are essentially two-second repeating GIFs that you can add to your profile.
Congress just legalized sex censorship: What to know
One week ago, the worst possible legislation curtailing free speech online passed and sex censorship bill FOSTA-SESTA is on its way to be signed into law by Trump. Hours after the announcement, everything from the mere discussion of sex work to client screening and safe advertising networks began getting systematically erased from the open internet. Thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of women, LGBTQ people, gay men, immigrants, and a significant number of people of color lost their income. Pushed out of safe online spaces and toward street corners. So were any and all victims of sex trafficking that law enforcement might've been able to find on the open internet.
Ashley Madison attempts to regain the public’s trust
Ashley Madison, the website for "married dating", wants the public to know that it's changed its ways. It's been a little under three years since the dating service for extra-marital affairs was hacked by a group calling itself the Impact Team, exposing the personal data and billing information of over 30 million customers -- including users who spent $19 on a "paid delete" option for their accounts.
Craiglist blocks personal ads to protest anti sex-trafficking law
The passing of the controversial, ham-handed Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA-FOSTA) has prompted Craigslist to close its personals section. The bill is designed to punish websites with criminal sanctions if they are seen to be facilitating sex work, as a personals ad could be. Unfortunately, the legislation is drawn so poorly that any website that connects people could be targeted. Which is what has prompted Craigslist to act, with all links in the area now pointing to a short statement.
Facebook search briefly suggested sexual content involving kids
Yesterday, Facebook users reported that the website's search function began suggesting autofills of their searches that included sexually explicit phrases. After typing "videos of," the predictive search feature suggested phrases like "videos of sexuals" and "videos of little girl giving oral." Facebook users posted screenshots of their searches on Twitter. According to the Guardian, users also reported other search suggestions that strayed from those typically offered by Facebook search like "zodwa wabantu videos and pics," which refers to a South African celebrity, and "cristiano ronaldo hala madrid king video call."
What we saw at SXSW Interactive
It's not every day you get to see Elon Musk, his brother and Westworld co-creator Jonathan Nolan host a sing-along in front of a sold-out audience at the Moody Theater, but this week, we did. SXSW Interactive is coming to a close, so we're packing up and looking back at all the wild things we experienced, saw and ate.
I built a vibrator at SXSW
Crave is trying to open up the conversation about female sexual pleasure. The company sells beautifully designed vibrators in a range of styles, from the $60 stainless-steel Bullet to the $150 Duet, a discreet and powerful vibe packed with a variety of pulsing combinations. There's even the Vesper, a slim, stainless-steel vibrator that dangles from a delicate chain and doubles as a necklace -- "designed for beautiful experiences in public and private," as Crave describes it.
Pornhub's owner reveals its age verification tool for the UK
Pornhub owner Mindgeek has unveiled what might become the default gatekeeping tool for porn in the UK. AgeID will ask porn site visitors to create an encrypted login that verifies their age across any compatible site, saving them from having to prove they're 18 or older every time they want to view some racy material. The system will draw on third-party age verification companies, but Mindgeek promises that AgeID won't store any personal info -- it'll only keep "standard technical data" to prevent fraud as well as that protected login.
How 'sex trafficking' just opened the censorship floodgates
In a 388 to 25 vote Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed legislation that makes websites criminally responsible if they can be seen as facilitating sex work. It still needs to get through the Senate, but with his daughter's endorsement, Trump is anticipated to sign it. Along with its maddening misconceptions about preventing sex trafficking and helping victims, FOSTA-SESTA incorrectly defines sex work and sex trafficking as one thing.
Playboy drops ridiculous copyright suit against Boing Boing
Earlier this month, a federal judge had dismissed a lawsuit that Playboy brought against Boing Boing, stating that the court is "skeptical that plaintiff has sufficiently alleged facts to support either its inducement or material contribution theories of copyright infringement." Yesterday, Playboy released a statement that it won't refile the case.
All-you-can-stream VR porn will cost you $25 per month
VR porn is many things, but cheap isn't one of them. Just like conventional movies, you're going to pay a pretty penny to own anything that isn't free. For VRPorn.com, the solution is obvious: turn virtual smut into a subscription service. It's launching a Premium service that, for $25 per month, provides "hundreds" of videos and games from over 25 studios. That makes your Netflix subscription seem like a bargain in comparison, but the company is clearly betting that it'll justify itself after a few views.
CamSoda’s RubGrub is a pizza-ordering button for your vibrator
CamSoda, an adult entertainment platform, announced a new product this week that aims to satisfy you in a number of ways. The RubGrub is a 3D-printed button attachment made to fit on a Lovense Nora vibrator. And the idea is that when you're done using the Nora, all you'll have to do is tap the button and the RubGrub will order you a large pizza. It's essentially an Amazon Dash Button meant to fulfill your post-coital cravings. However, it orders you a Domino's pizza, so I hope the time spent with the Nora was more satisfying than your dinner will be.
The best vibrators
By Bianca Jarvis This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. Until the 14th, you can also follow Wirecutter's special Valentine's Day deals, covering everything from candles to high-end chocolates to NSFW items, on their Sweetest Deals page. After 75 hours of research—including reading hundreds of reviews of 55 best-selling models, interviewing sex researcher Debra Herbenick and five other experts, crowdsourcing opinions from enthusiasts, and analyzing data from seven testers who tried eight different models—as well as six months of follow-up testing, we've concluded that the cordless Magic Wand Rechargeable is the best vibrator for most people.
Reddit bans the 'deepfake' AI porn it helped spawn
That didn't take long. Hot on the heels of Twitter, Reddit has updated its rules to expressly ban AI-generated "deepfake" porn. Where it previously had a single rule forbidding porn and suggestive material involving minors, it now has two -- and it's clear that you're not allowed to post "depictions that have been faked." You also can't post regular imagery of others with the goal of producing fake nonconsensual porn.
