New from 404 Media: Telegram has handed U.S. authorities data on thousands of its users. An absolutely massive spike in data turn overs after the arrest of Telegram CEO Durov. Was ~100 impacted users to U.S. authorities in October. Now 2253.

404 Media

Telegram Hands U.S. Authorities Data on Thousands of Users

The number of data requests fulfilled by Telegram skyrocketed, with the company providing data to U.S. authorities on 2,253 users last year.

pretty interesting musk can remotely unlock cybertrucks

404 Media

Elon Musk Uses Cybertruck Explosion to Show Tesla Can Remotely Unlock and Monitor Vehicles

Surveillance capabilities used and justified by extreme circumstances often trickle down to be used on lesser crimes.

New from 404 Media: with 2025 rolling in, Pornhub is now blocked in almost all of the U.S. south. Age verification bills like these beyond are regressive at best, and actively harmful at worst, push people to sites with less moderation

404 Media

Pornhub Is Now Blocked In Almost All of the U.S. South

As of today, three more states join the list of 17 that can't access Pornhub because of age verification laws.

Some people have asked that 404 Media moves from a magic link system (to login you are emailed a link to click) to a user/password system. We're four journalists trying to spend as much time as possible doing journalism. We don't want your password

404 Media

We Don’t Want Your Password

Some people don't love our magic link logins. But the best way for us to protect your password is to never ask for it.

New from 404 Media: the Secret Service admits it never actually checked if people really consented to being tracked by a location monitoring tool, like it claimed. Under a section saying what steps had it taken to ensure consent, the agency wrote "None"

404 Media

Secret Service Admits It Didn’t Check if People Really Consented to Being Tracked

Emails viewed by 404 Media show that the Secret Service did not verify that location data it was tracking people with was actually collected with c...

New from 404 Media: An entity claiming to be United Healthcare is sending bogus copyright claims to internet platforms to get Luigi Mangione fan art taken off the internet

404 Media

Copyright Abuse Is Getting Luigi Mangione Merch Removed From the Internet

Artists, merch sellers, and journalists making and posting Luigi media have become the targets of bogus DMCA claims.

New from 404 Media: nearly a *dozen* aircraft near New Jersey/JFK have reported people shining lasers at them Tuesday during ongoing drone panic, according to ATC audio we listened to. Serious danger to people "We are getting lasered" Audio here:

404 Media

“We Are Getting Lasered”: Nearly a Dozen Planes Lasered Last Night During New Jersey Drone Panic

Air traffic control audio reviewed by 404 Media shows 11 aircraft near New Jersey reporting people shining lasers at them during the ongoing drone ...

Person makes website that lets you take selfies through NYC's network of traffic cameras. NYC Department of Transportation sends cease and desist. Creator sticks the cease and desist to a pole and holds it up to one of the cameras to take a photo of it

404 Media

Traffic Camera 'Selfie' Creator Holds Cease and Desist Letter in Front of Traffic Cam

Traffic Cam Photobooth lets you take a capture from NYC surveillance camera. The city's Department of Transportation does not like that.

New: YouTube is rolling out AI-generated replies for creators to more easily respond to their comments. But sometimes they're completely nonsensical, wrong, or weirdly intimate. Lazy Game Reviews told us the automated comments come across as "tone deaf"

404 Media

YouTube “Enhances” Comment Section With AI-Generated Nonsense

YouTube’s rollout of AI tools shows nonsensical AI-generated audience engagement and AI slop thumbnails.

New from 404 Media: Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg has rage quit a Wordpress community Slack after court injunction. “It's hard to imagine wanting to continue to working on WordPress after this,” he wrote in that Slack

404 Media

WordPress CEO Rage Quits Community Slack After Court Injunction

Automattic is ordered to undo several of the actions of its CEO Matt Mullenweg in its ongoing legal battle with WP Engine. “It's hard to imagine ...