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MEDIA BITS AND BYTES – AUGUST 19, 2025  
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August 19, 2025
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_ Tech and politics _

, Nick Anderson/The Contrarian

 

* Big Tech’s AI Offensive
* The ICE Alert App
* From MAGA to Meta
* Trump Helps Tech Moguls Evade the Law
* Without CPB, Docs for Broadcast Are on Hold
* Washpost Exodus
* Groups Tell FCC: End Media Mergers
* Christian Militias Recruit on Instagram
* In China: Appropriating Snow White for Women’s Rights
* ESPN vs Spike Lee and Colin Kaepernick

BIG TECH’S AI OFFENSIVE
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By Marty Hart-Landsberg
Reports from the Economic Front

We need to seize the moment and begin building organized
labor-community resistance to the unchecked development and deployment
of AI systems and support for a technology policy that prioritizes our
health and safety, promotes worker empowerment, and ensures that
humans can review and, when necessary, override AI decisions. 

THE ICE ALERT APP
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By Sam Wolfson
The Guardian

IceBlock offers real-time alerts about the presence of agents –
while fiercely guarding the anonymity of its users. Within two months,
the app had soared on the charts in Apple’s app store – prompting
the US homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, to attack the app and
its founder, claiming they were “obstructing justice”. 

FROM MAGA TO META
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By Ryan Adamczeski
The Advocate

The man Meta has appointed to help address “ideological and
political bias” in artificial intelligence is a conservative
influencer who believes that pesticide turns children LGBTQ+. Robby
Starbuck, a failed filmmaker turned failed congressional candidate,
has been appointed as an AI bias advisor at Meta with the goal of
making the company's chat bot less “woke.” 

TRUMP HELPS TECH MOGULS EVADE THE LAW
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By Rick Claypool
Public Citizen

The Trump administration is ending federal enforcement against
lawbreaking by Big Tech corporations. Parroting President Trump’s
complaints about “weaponized” government, tech executives oppose
protections for consumers, investors, and the public. Their goal: to
derail enforcement by federal agencies charged with protecting
Americans from their misconduct. It’s working.

WITHOUT CPB, DOCS FOR BROADCAST ARE ON HOLD
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By Anthony Kaufman
Independent Documentary Association

With the defunding and impending closure of the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting, independent documentaries have become the latest targets
of relentless attacks on local economies, small businesses, and public
information. Many documentaries in production have been affected,
either left unfunded or adrift in terms of their future distribution.

WASHPOST EXODUS
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Media and Democracy Project

The Bezos agenda is now apparent—to defang a once-great lion of the
Fourth Estate into a weakened watchdog of Trump’s fascist assault on
America. Columnist Ruth Marcus’s resignation from _The Washington
Post_ was an act of courage and leadership. Courage is contagious and
since then other newsroom personnel have departed the paper.

PRESS FREEDOM GROUPS TELL FCC: END MEDIA MERGERS
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Free Press

Media owners argue that increased mergers and acquisitions are
necessary for their companies to compete in a dynamic and increasingly
online media ecosystem. They say mergers create so-called
“synergies” that allow them to reach a broader audience with more
efficiency. In practice, this has translated to newsroom layoffs and
closures and the spread of “news deserts” across the country.

CHRISTIAN MILITIAS RECRUIT ON INSTAGRAM
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By Tess Owen
Wired

An emerging guard of paramilitary activists are using social media and
edgy aesthetics to build a new brand of anti-government, Christian
nationalist militias.

IN CHINA: APPROPRIATING SNOW WHITE FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS
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By He Qitong
Sixth Tone

A dark AI‑crafted retelling of the Disney classic by Beijing-based
screenwriter Wen Jing has captivated millions on social media,
sparking debate over women’s roles in fairy tales and modern
society.

ESPN VS SPIKE LEE AND COLIN KAEPERNICK
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The Guardian

Director Spike Lee’s multi-part documentary series for ESPN Films
about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sparked a
national debate when he protested racial injustice nearly a decade
ago, will not be released, the filmmaker and ESPN said. The
network’s decision to drop the series comes as the Trump
administration has sued broadcasters that reported critically on the
president. 

* Big Tech
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* artificial intelligence
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* ICEBlock
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* Make America Great Again
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* Meta
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* Robby Starbuck
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* Donald Trump
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* Corporation for Public Broadcasting
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* documentaries
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* The Washington Post
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* Jeff Bezos
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* Free Press
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* FCC
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* Christian nationalists
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* Instagram
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* China
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* Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
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* women's rights
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* espn
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* Spike Lee
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* Colin Kaepernick
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