Welcome to the podcast from 404 Media where Joseph, Sam, Emanuel, and Jason catch you up on the stories we published this week. 404 Media is a journalist-owned ...
We start this week with Emanuel's rundown on the DeepSeek situation, the Chinese-made AI that has rocked stock markets and the wider AI industry. After the break, Sam explains how metadata in U.S. government memos lists Project 2025 members as the memo authors. In the subscribers-only section, Jason and Sam explain how GitHub is showing the U.S. government's purging of information in real time.
YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=351BmM2SaXY
DeepSeek Mania Shakes AI Industry to Its Core
Memos to Federal Employees Were Written By People With Ties to Project 2025, Metadata Shows
Trump’s Administration Is Taking Down Sites About Gender Identity All Over the Internet
GitHub Is Showing the Trump Administration Scrubbing Government Web Pages in Real Time
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55:45
Pornhub Exec Discusses Pulling Out of the South, Trad Wives, and Feet Pics
On this special guest episode of the 404 Media Podcast, Sam talks to Alexzandra Kekesi, VP of Brand and Community at Pornhub. Kekesi started in her current role in August 2023, after working for Pornhub and its parent company for more than a decade. She joined us from Montreal, where Pornhub is headquartered. They discuss the stigma facing the adult industry, Luigi Mangione porn, the trad wife to feet pics pipeline, and algorithms that shut you down for showing side boob. Kekesi also breaks down Pornhub’s choice to pull out of states in more than a third of the U.S., following regressive age verification laws.
Pornhub Sees Surge of Interest in Tradwife Content, ‘Modesty,’ and Mindfulness
Pornhub Is Now Blocked In Almost All of the U.S. South
Age Verification Laws Drag Us Back to the Dark Ages of the Internet
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54:25
TikTok and the Tech Oligarchy
We start this week with the TikTok ban: how we got here, what happened, and, most importantly, why it means we need more decentralized services. Jason runs us through it. After the break, Joseph breaks down a site called GeoSpy which is marketing geolocation technology to the cops. In the subscribers-only section, we all scroll through an archive of old Nokia (yes, Nokia) designs. Good stuff in there.
YouTube version: https://youtu.be/DOXnpENi8Sg
02:27 Decentralized Social Media Is the Only Alternative to the Tech Oligarchy
The U.S. Wants to Ban TikTok for the Sins of Every Social Media Company
27:31 The Powerful AI Tool That Cops (or Stalkers) Can Use to Geolocate Photos in Seconds
Nokia’s Weird Y2K Designs Show the Future We Could Have Had
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50:00
Total Chaos at Meta
We've got much more on what is happening inside Meta with the company's recent speech policy changes. Jason runs us through it. After the break, Joseph explains how thousands of apps have been hijacked to steal your location data, possibly without the app developers' knowledge. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about various stories intersecting with the LA fires, such as Amazon delivery drivers and AI images.
YouTube version: https://youtu.be/ItOENEWAy3s.
‘It’s Total Chaos Internally at Meta Right Now’: Employees Protest Zuckerberg’s Anti LGBTQ Changes
Meta Deletes Trans and Nonbinary Messenger Themes
Candy Crush, Tinder, MyFitnessPal: See the Thousands of Apps Hijacked to Spy on Your Location
Online Behavioral Ads Fuel the Surveillance Industry—Here’s How
People Think AI Images of Hollywood Sign Burning Are Real
An Amazon Delivery Confirmation Photo Is the Last Time a Palisades Resident Saw Her Burnt Down House
‘We’re Fine’: Lying to Ourselves About a Climate Disaster
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55:35
Meta Goes Mask Off
We're back! And holy moly what a start to the year. We just published a bunch of stories. First, Jason talks about blowback inside Meta to its new board member, and Meta's subsequent censoring of those views. We also chat about those mad Meta AI profiles. After the break, Sam explains why Pornhub is blocked in most of the U.S. south. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph talks about why the government is planning to name one of its most important (and at risk) witnesses.
YouTube version: https://youtu.be/avuq1NXe6DM
Facebook Deletes Internal Employee Criticism of New Board Member Dana White
Meta's AI Profiles Are Indistinguishable From Terrible Spam That Took Over Facebook
Pornhub Is Now Blocked In Almost All of the U.S. South
Government to Name ‘Key Witness’ Who Provided FBI With Backdoored Encrypted Chat App Anom
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Welcome to the podcast from 404 Media where Joseph, Sam, Emanuel, and Jason catch you up on the stories we published this week. 404 Media is a journalist-owned digital media company exploring the way technology is shaping–and is shaped by–our world. We bring you unparalleled access to hidden worlds both online and IRL through investigative reporting, smart blogging, and breaking news. At 404 Media you’ll read, and hear, stories you can’t find anywhere else written by journalists who are leading experts on their beats. Subscribe to 404 Media at 404media.co to gain access to an ad-free version of this podcast, as well as a bonus podcast episodes. Subscribers are the bedrock of building a sustainable business for our journalism.
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