How YouTube’s rules are used to silence human rights activists

Radio waves from Earth have reached dozens of stars 

Sponsored by National Reconnaissance Office The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Weaponizing content moderation 06.24.21 Good morning! Today: how YouTube's rules are being used to scrub human rights activists' videos from the internet, and a new study estimates 75 stars have been swept by human-made radio waves. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. How YouTube’s rules are used to silence human rights activists   Patchy availability: For over a week now, one corner of YouTube used by Kazakh dissidents and close observers of human rights in Xinjiang has been only intermittently available. On June 15, the YouTube channel of “Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights” was “terminated for violating YouTube’s community guidelines.” A few days later, the channel was reinstated without explanation. Then, several days after that, 12 of the channel’s earliest videos disappeared from its public feed.  Some background: The channel publishes video testimonies from family members of people imprisoned in China’s internment camps in Xinjiang. To ensure the credibility of these statements, people show proof of identity. For years, these videos have not been a problem, at least not from YouTube’s perspective.  That changed last week. YouTube claimed it took videos down over concerns the people identified in them might be harassed. Then it took down some more videos, claiming they were in violation of its violent criminal organizations policy. What’s going on? Read the full story. —Eileen Guo Radio waves from Earth have reached dozens of stars The news: Roughly 1,700 stars are in the right position to have spotted life on Earth as early as 5,000 years ago. They were found using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission. The big questions: With thousands of exoplanets already found orbiting other stars in our universe, could we have already seen life on other planets come and go? Might they have seen us? Humans have been sending out radio waves for roughly 100 years, and the new study found that human-made radio waves had already swept over the 75 closest stars on their list. More study needed: Much of our own solar neighborhood is still unexplored, but there are multiple missions underway to map it. Read the full story.    —Tatyana Woodall  We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Artist Adele Renault is a master of all things feathery.   + A man built a village for the mice in his garden.   + I don't normally care much about celebrities' houses but Cara Delevingne's LA pad is just so mad it's impossible to look away.   + How to make tortillas.   + A panda in Tokyo has given birth to two cubs. Sponsor Message Innovate with NRO Research & Development Funding The National Reconnaissance Office Director's Innovation Initiative (DII) program funds cutting-edge scientific research in a high-risk environment to discover innovative concepts that transform overhead intelligence capabilities for future national intelligence needs. The program seeks the brightest minds and breakthrough technologies from industry, academia, national laboratories, and U.S. government agencies. Learn more about NRO R&D funding. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Early sequences of covid-19 were deleted from a database a year ago This is an impressive bit of sleuthing—and adds to the evidence that the virus was circulating much earlier than we thought. (NYT $)   + The Delta variant is hugely dangerous for the unvaccinated. (New Yorker $)   + EU officials are warning that it will account for 90% of all cases come late August. (NYT $)   + What we know about Delta. (NYT $   + The UK reported 16,000 new covid-19 cases yesterday, the biggest daily number since February. (The Guardian)   + What makes it so infectious? (TR)  2 Antitrust bills are inching through Congress This will be a long, hard slog. (WSJ $)   + Why these bills are struggling to move forward. (The Verge)  3 How to survive a tornado 🌪️ Don't try to run. Seek shelter. (Wired $)   4 How astronauts deal with the boring parts of being in space 🧑‍🚀 Mundane stuff like shaving and brushing your teeth is just slightly more complicated up there. (TR)   + There's currently no way to do your laundry in space. That might be about to change. (Fast Company)  5 How can we stop air conditioners from warming up the planet? This question is becoming increasingly urgent, as we buy more and more of them. (Scientific American $)   + The Pacific Northwest is about to be hit with a historic heatwave. (Axios)  6 John McAfee has been found dead in a Spanish prison cell He was facing extradition to the US, and most probably years in jail over tax charges. (AP)   7 Are Twitter trolls mentally ill? You shouldn't diagnose from afar, but it is hard to avoid the conclusion. (UnHerd)   8 This once-millionaire is still refusing to sell his Dogecoin Hodl (hold on for dear life) is a rallying cry in the crypto community. (NBC)   + From crypto to meme stocks, the appetite for risky bets still hasn't reduced. (NYT $)  9 The microbiologist who flushed out thousands of doctored scientific images This is nothing short of a heroic effort. (New Yorker $)   10 AI still struggles with the concept of "same" or "different" Even top-notch AI is still dumber than ducklings or bees. (Quanta) A special offer just for you.  Get unlimited access to MIT Technoloogy Review, plus 2 months FREE, when you subscribe today. It's time to make MIT Technology Review your go-to resource for thought-provoking insights, analysis and news about the world of technology. Subscribe now and save. Quote of the day "F*** school, F*** cheer, F*** softball, F*** everything." —A Snapchat post Brandi Levy wrote when she was 14, which led to this week's US Supreme Court ruling that schools can't regulate students' speech off-campus. Top image credit: AP PHOTO | DAKE KANG Please send tortillas to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up today Join our Global Panel (free membership) As a member, you'll be asked to take part in research programs and executive surveys on technology topics. In return, you'll get exclusive news in bimonthly newsletter and access to our quarterly Global Insights report. Apply today   Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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