Today’s links
Spying on kids to save kids from spying is very, very stupid: First they came for the VPNs.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: RIP Darwin’s tortoise; ISPs conspire to create copyright jail; Waxy v fair use; Broken Windows is BS; Google is a machine-learning company; “Writing the Other”; Canadian wealth-tax.
Upcoming appearances: Toronto, NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, London, Edinburgh, Sydney, Melbourne, Brighton, London, South Bend.
Recent appearances: Where I’ve been.
Latest books: You keep readin’ em, I’ll keep writin’ ’em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I’ll keep writin’ ’em.
Colophon: All the rest.
Spying on kids to save kids from spying is very, very stupid (permalink)
The literature on harms to kids from online platforms is complex and nuanced, rife with people citing small, ambiguous studies as iron-clad evidence that kids are being destroyed by the internet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ype6c6DdHQY
It’s a weird coalition of anti-Big Tech campaigners (who are rightly angry at the platforms’ callous disregard for user welfare) and Heritage Foundation-backed culture warriors (who think that if their kids aren’t exposed to LGBTQ content they won’t come out as queer). While there’s plenty these groups disagree about, they share one consensus: there should be a “minimum age” for certain kinds of internet use.
The problem is, there’s no such thing as “age verification” for the internet. What we call “age verification” is actually mass surveillance, so invasive and pervasive that it makes the ad-tech industry’s commercial surveillance look like some kind of cypherpunk darknet pirate utopia:
https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/14/bellovin/#wont-someone-think-of-the-cryptographers
“Age verification” means that everyone who does anything online will have to submit to fine-grained tracking and recording of all their online activities. This nightmare is the surveillance advertising industry’s fondest dream, a world where it’s literally illegal to avoid their tracking, all in the name of saving kids…from them!
So it’s not just a weird alliance of anti-Big Tech crusaders and the conspiratorial right that’s pushing for age verification — they are unwitting allies of the very tech industry they think they’re fighting. Those tech industry insiders are fully aware that an “age verification” mandate is really a way for the government to teach every child how to use a VPN. They’re also fully aware that the next move is to ban VPNs:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2217934/vpn-ban-table-july-labour
Tech bosses are the ones sitting on our shoulders saying, “Go ahead, swallow that fly — it’ll be fine. And if you do have to swallow a spider afterward, well, that’ll surely be the end of it”:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/19/shes-dead-of-course/#consensus-hallucination
Behind them is a long line of caliper-wielding grifters who claim they can use your phone’s camera to distinguish a child who is 17 years, 364 days old from an adult who’s just turned 18:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/facial-age-estimation
It’s beyond farce. After all, whatever harms you believe the internet is inflicting on kids — and there’s absolutely some kids who are being harmed by their internet use — those harms all start with surveillance. Your kids can’t be targeted by algorithms without the surveillance data that’s being used to target them. They can’t be funneled into pro-anorexia content or extreme misogyny forums without that funnel being primed by commercial spying.
Why do tech companies spy on your kids? The same reason your dog licks its balls: because they can, and no one stops them:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/10/ice-tech/#foreseeable-outcomes
America hasn’t updated its consumer privacy laws since 1988 (when Congress banned the disclosure of your VHS rentals). The EU has the GDPR, but it also has Ireland, the country where all GDPR cases against Big Tech go to die, because any tax haven inevitably becomes a crime haven:
https://pluralistic.net/2025/10/31/losing-the-crypto-wars/#surveillance-monopolism
Other countries have privacy laws to varying degrees, but are grossly outmatched by US tech giants, who have fused with the Trump regime, to the extent that Trump will impose penalties on your country if you attempt to regulate his tech companies — he’ll even have your top officials cut off from the internet in retaliation:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/04/04/digital-subjugation/#greenlands-next
Any attempt to save kids from online harms should start with saving kids from online surveillance, but that’s the opposite of what we’re doing today. After decades of failing to pass and enforce privacy controls for the internet, those same governments are breaking all land-speed records to pass “age verification” laws that make privacy illegal:
https://bsky.app/profile/rebeccawilliams.info/post/3moviqzdit22z
The fact that these bills have the firm backing of the tech industry’s most controlling, most spying companies tells you everything you need to know about them:
https://web.archive.org/web/20260315022337/https://tboteproject.com/
Kids are being harmed by online spying, and so are the rest of us. Whether you think that the algorithm made Grampy go Qanon or you’re suspicious that online surveillance data was used to deny you a loan, a job, or a lease, you should want privacy:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/06/privacy-first/#but-not-just-privacy
Online surveillance is being used to raise the prices you pay and lower the wages you’re offered:
https://pluralistic.net/2026/04/06/empiricism-washing/#veena-dubal
And the same data that’s being used to “verify age” today will be used by ICE tomorrow to figure out who to round up for a concentration camp:
https://www.wired.com/story/ice-asks-companies-about-ad-tech-and-big-data-tools/
You can’t protect kids from online surveillance by spying on them. You just can’t. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to get you to swallow a fly so they can sell you a spider, a bird, a cat, and an ICE chud in a gaiter, Oakleys and plate carrier (beneath which lurks a stick-and-poke Totenkopf tattoo).
Hey look at this (permalink)
AI doomerism is misplaced. Here’s what it will take to pop the bubble https://www.salon.com/2026/06/22/ai-doomerism-is-misplaced-heres-what-it-will-take-to-pop-the-bubble/
Visa and Mastercard: The Original Gangsters of Electronic Collusion https://www.thesling.org/visa-and-mastercard-the-original-gangsters-of-electronic-collusion/
Visa and Mastercard: The Original Gangsters of Electronic Collusion https://www.thesling.org/visa-and-mastercard-the-original-gangsters-of-electronic-collusion/
Has it happened yet? https://hasithappenedyet.org/
Has it happened yet? https://hasithappenedyet.org/
Platform-Controlled Search and Distortions in Attention Allocation https://tinbergen.nl/discussion-paper/6496/26 – 035-vii-platform-controlled-search-and-distortions-in-attention-allocation
Platform-Controlled Search and Distortions in Attention Allocation https://tinbergen.nl/discussion-paper/6496/26 – 035-vii-platform-controlled-search-and-distortions-in-attention-allocation
Object permanence (permalink)
#20yrsago Darwin’s tortoise dead at 176 https://web.archive.org/web/20060704143750/http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060623/od_afp/australiaanimal_060623102146;_ylt=Ave_b4Ps2r9TGXqs5nZIVIoFO7gF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGVna3NhBHNlYwNzc3JlbA–zoo
#15yrsago Major US ISPs set to limit repeat infringers with throttling, limiting access to 200 websites, and copyright reeducation school https://web.archive.org/web/20111105225114/http://news.cnet.com/8301 – 31001_3 – 20073522-261/exclusive-top-isps-poised-to-adopt-graduated-response-to-piracy/
#15yrsago Why fair use doesn’t work unless you’ve got a huge war-chest for paying lawyers https://waxy.org/2011/06/kind_of_screwed/
#15yrsago Model net neutrality rule for municipalities https://web.archive.org/web/20110626114610/http://envisionseattle.org/2011/06/model-net-neutrality-ordinance-for-seattle.html
#15yrsago Campus hookups: college sex isn’t new, but hookups are different https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/06/21/the-promise-and-perils-of-hook-up-culture/
#15yrsago A Brief History of the Corporation: understanding what an attention economy is and where it comes from https://ribbonfarm.com/2011/06/08/a-brief-history-of-the-corporation-1600-to-2100/
#15yrsago Eliza: what makes you think I’m a psychotherapeutic chatbot? https://www.filfre.net/2011/06/eliza-part-1/
#10yrsago Broken Windows policing is nonsense https://www.nyc.gov/assets/oignypd/downloads/pdf/Quality-of-Life-Report-2010 – 2015.pdf
#10yrsago How it feels to be under DDoS attack https://www.oreilly.com/radar/ddos-emotions/
#10yrsago 2016: the first presidential election in 50 years without Voting Rights Act protections https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/welcome-to-the-first-presidential-election-since-voting-rights-act-gutted-179737/3/
#10yrsago Google is restructuring to put machine learning at the core of all it does https://web.archive.org/web/20180530051703/https://www.wired.com/2016/06/how-google-is-remaking-itself-as-a-machine-learning-first-company/
#10yrsago Misconfigured database exposes sensitive data for 154 million US voters https://dailydot.com/politics/154-million-voter-files-exposed-l2
#10yrsago To understand the Trump campaign, study real-estate developer hustle https://web.archive.org/web/20161028030522/https://storify.com/KC_EDM/trump-is-running-his-campaign-like-a-real-estate-d
#10yrsago Writing the Other: intensely practical advice for representing other cultures in fiction https://memex.craphound.com/2016/06/23/writing-the-other-intensely-practical-advice-for-representing-other-cultures-in-fiction/
#1yrago The case for a Canadian wealth tax https://pluralistic.net/2025/06/23/billionaires-eh/#galen-weston-is-a-rat
Upcoming appearances (permalink)
Toronto: The Sovereignty Debate (IAB Canada’s State of the Nation), Jun 23 https://iabcanada.com/state-of-the-nation-2026
Toronto: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI (Osler Records/Type Books), Jun 23 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-book-launch-and-talk-tickets-1991501299998
Toronto: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI (Osler Records/Type Books), Jun 23 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-book-launch-and-talk-tickets-1991501299998
NYC: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI with Jonathan Coulton (The Strand), Jun 24 https://www.strandbooks.com/cory-doctorow-the-reverse-centaur-s-guide-to-life-after-ai.html
NYC: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI with Jonathan Coulton (The Strand), Jun 24 https://www.strandbooks.com/cory-doctorow-the-reverse-centaur-s-guide-to-life-after-ai.html
Philadelphia: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI with David Williams (Fitler Club/Philadelphia Citizen), Jun 25 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-book-event-tickets-1990110326559
Philadelphia: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI with David Williams (Fitler Club/Philadelphia Citizen), Jun 25 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow-book-event-tickets-1990110326559
Chicago: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI with Rick Perlstein (Exile in Bookville), Jun 26 https://exileinbookville.com/events/50628
Chicago: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI with Rick Perlstein (Exile in Bookville), Jun 26 https://exileinbookville.com/events/50628
London: Idler Festival, Jul 11 https://www.idler.co.uk/festival/
London: Idler Festival, Jul 11 https://www.idler.co.uk/festival/
Edinburgh International Book Festival with Jimmy Wales, Aug 17 https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/the-front-list-cory-doctorow-and-jimmy-wales
Edinburgh International Book Festival with Jimmy Wales, Aug 17 https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/the-front-list-cory-doctorow-and-jimmy-wales
Sydney: The Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Aug 23 – 24 https://festivalofdangerousideas.com/cory-doctorow/
Sydney: The Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Aug 23 – 24 https://festivalofdangerousideas.com/cory-doctorow/
Melbourne: Enshittification at the Wheeler Centre, Aug 25 https://www.wheelercentre.com/events-tickets/season-2026/cory-doctorow-enshittification
Melbourne: Enshittification at the Wheeler Centre, Aug 25 https://www.wheelercentre.com/events-tickets/season-2026/cory-doctorow-enshittification
Brighton: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI with Carole Cadwalladr (Brighton Dome), Sep 8 https://brightondome.org/whats-on/LSC-cory-doctorow-the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai/
Brighton: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI with Carole Cadwalladr (Brighton Dome), Sep 8 https://brightondome.org/whats-on/LSC-cory-doctorow-the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai/
London: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI with Riley Quinn (Foyle’s Picadilly), Sep 9 https://www.foyles.co.uk/events/enshittification-cory-doctorow-riley-quinn
London: The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI with Riley Quinn (Foyle’s Picadilly), Sep 9 https://www.foyles.co.uk/events/enshittification-cory-doctorow-riley-quinn
South Bend: An Evening With Cory Doctorow (Notre Dame), Oct 6 https://franco.nd.edu/events/2026/10/06/an-evening-with-cory-doctorow/
South Bend: An Evening With Cory Doctorow (Notre Dame), Oct 6 https://franco.nd.edu/events/2026/10/06/an-evening-with-cory-doctorow/
Recent appearances (permalink)
How to Mess with Big Tech Oligarchs (Fighting Fascism) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-mess-with-big-tech-oligarchs-w-cory-doctorow/id1888647397?i=1000773711479
Reverse Centaur with Angie Coiro (Kepler’s Books) https://www.youtube.com/live/cWN6XBa73xA
Reverse Centaur with Angie Coiro (Kepler’s Books) https://www.youtube.com/live/cWN6XBa73xA
How to Think About AI Before It’s Too Late (Galaxy Brain) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPQNPJ0CEPo
How to Think About AI Before It’s Too Late (Galaxy Brain) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPQNPJ0CEPo
The future of world governance, with Kim Stanley Robinson (UN Independent Expert on International Order) https://www.youtube.com/live/wJvBvYdaAMY
The future of world governance, with Kim Stanley Robinson (UN Independent Expert on International Order) https://www.youtube.com/live/wJvBvYdaAMY
How to Think About Artificial Intelligence (KUER) https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2026 – 06-16/cory-doctorow-on-how-to-think-about-artificial-intelligence
How to Think About Artificial Intelligence (KUER) https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2026 – 06-16/cory-doctorow-on-how-to-think-about-artificial-intelligence
Latest books (permalink)
“Canny Valley”: A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce