16 Billion Leaked Passwords!?

Dear Citizen,

Don’t stress out or anything, but… 16 billion Facebook, Google and other passwords and credentials were leaked! It seems like, as Forbes continues to report out their findings from researchers, this massive leak is the result of multiple bad actors. (Cybernews is also on the case) 

The 16 billion leak hasn’t been picked up on yet by mainstream outlets in the way you might expect. The largest data breach ever to be. But WIRED has verified the original reporting from last month, which had the breach at a modest 184 million. 

Bottom line: Get your password security *$^# together now! Here’s a quick guide. 

And here’s what else to read, watch and do this week.

# ONE READ: Zuck’s Grooming Machine # 

Our one read this week is an urgent, infuriating essay from Laura Bates at The Guardian, Misogyny in the Metaverse. Bates writes that “graphic sexual content, bullying, abuse and threats of violence are rife in the metaverse – and the NSPCC says a huge proportion of online grooming offences take place on Meta-owned products.” She writes,

Less than two hours after I first entered the metaverse, I saw a woman’s avatar being sexually assaulted. When I approached her to ask her about the experience, she confirmed: “He came up to me and grabbed my ass.”

“HAVE YOU BEEN ASSAULTED IN THE METAVERSE?” I wrote.

The response was near instantaneous. “Yeah, many times,” someone shouted. “I think everybody’s been assaulted in the damn metaverse,” one woman replied immediately, in a US accent.

Bates goes deep into Meta’s culpability, and the risks we face trusting them in any way with our digital future. Read the piece in full here:

Misogyny in the metaverse: is Mark Zuckerberg’s dream world a no-go area for women?

Graphic sexual content, bullying, abuse and threats of violence are rife in the metaverse – and the NSPCC says a huge proportion of online grooming offences take place on Meta-owned products. Is it too late to change course?

The GuardianLaura Bates

A bonus read this week: If you missed it, give a few minutes to Manasa Narayanan’s stunning interview with an ex-Palantir employee, 'Inside Palantir: Profits, Power & The Kill Machine'.

Inside Palantir: Profits, Power & The Kill Machine

We spoke to a former Palantir employee, now turned critic, agitator and educator speaking out against the tech company.

Citizens ReunitedManasa Narayanan

# ONE WATCH: Darkness! Confusion! The Internet! # 

Our friends over at the Contrarian hosted a terrific conversation between Jen Rubin and Bill Braniff, Executive Director of the Polarization and Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University (great name!) about the evolving nature of misinformation, and how we differentiate between different types of bad information. Watch the conversation here:

Misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation: Bill Braniff on the darkness and confusion in our online environment

“I don’t think we have our 21st-century sea legs underneath us yet when it comes to navigating the information environment.”

The ContrarianJennifer Rubin

# ONE ACTION: Go Beyond your Physical Body # 

A lighter action this week: Play around on The Box, a (satirical) website selling the world’s “first deepfake wearable” for women. Be sure to check out “The Box for Intimacy,” and choose your box today. 

The Box — The World’s First Anti-Deepfake Wearable

Feel safe in public again. Our elegant, full-size wearable has you covered.

The BoxThe Box Team

That’s it for this week. 

Team Citizens

*PS - Join our Signal Chat if you haven’t already!