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Alec is a technologist, writer & security consultant who has worked in host and network security for more than 30 years, with 25 of those in industry.
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If you read 1 thing about Social Media Bans this week, it should be Rod Wilson’s magisterial letter to the WSJ; extract, text & link below

2026-03-01 02:14:12

“Bans feel decisive, but they avoid the harder truth: The digital environment isn’t temporary, and adolescence can’t be postponed until it becomes convenient for adults. We aren’t raising children for a world without algorithms. We are raising them for a world shaped by artificial intelligence, public visibility and constant comparison. Removing access doesn’t build resilience, judgment or self-regulation. It simply delays the moment those skills are required, often until parental influence has weakened. History shows that prohibition rarely produces maturity.”


https://www.wsj.com/opinion/if-the-kids-are-online-we-should-be-involved-9c6fd4da

If the Kids Are Online, We Should Be Involved

Attention, discipline and judgment are learned at home.

Feb. 26, 2026 11:36 am ET

The global rush to ban teenagers from social media is emotionally understandable — and strategically shortsighted (“Social-Media Bans for Youth Gain Momentum Worldwide,” Page One, Feb. 19).

Bans feel decisive, but they avoid the harder truth: The digital environment isn’t temporary, and adolescence can’t be postponed until it becomes convenient for adults. We aren’t raising children for a world without algorithms. We are raising them for a world shaped by artificial intelligence, public visibility and constant comparison. Removing access doesn’t build resilience, judgment or self-regulation. It simply delays the moment those skills are required, often until parental influence has weakened. History shows that prohibition rarely produces maturity.

Teens need adults who are willing to set clear boundaries, enforce consequences, teach digital literacy and model disciplined use of technology themselves. They need schools that teach attention as a skill. They need policymakers who demand transparency and guardrails from platforms that monetize adolescent engagement.

The real issue isn’t whether teenagers have access to social media. The issue is whether we are willing to do the work of raising them within it. A ban transfers responsibility outward, to governments and corporations. But attention, discipline and judgment are learned at home. If we want contributing adults rather than digitally dependent ones, we should focus less on shielding teenagers from the modern world and more on forming them to navigate it.

Rod Wilson

Seal Beach, Calif.

The Wyoming GRANITE Act, America’s first-ever foreign censorship shield bill, has PASSED the Wyoming House of Representatives, 46-12! | Preston Byrne

2026-02-24 13:18:00

If Wyoming pass such a law then the chances of it being replicated at a federal level are greatly increased:

“BREAKING: the Wyoming GRANITE Act, America’s first-ever foreign censorship shield bill, has PASSED the Wyoming House of Representatives, 46-12!

On to the Wyoming Senate!”

“Google and Apple today announced that testing of encrypted RCS messaging between Android and iPhone is now underway” | Yay, more end-to-end encryption!

2026-02-24 05:15:46

My understanding is that the RCS E2EE test is available globally, except for China & France.

Yes, really.

https://9to5google.com/2026/02/23/google-messages-encrypted-rcs-iphone/

Google and Apple today announced that testing of encrypted RCS messaging between Android and iPhone is now underway […] In the iOS Messages app, green bubbles will be prefaced by “Text Message · RCS | [lock icon] Encrypted” at the center of the screen.


On Google Messages, it will be the same lock icon, just like messages to Android users. […] To test, the iPhone must be running iOS 26.4 beta 2, with this available on supported carriers.

Thought for the day: Online Safety and Age Verification

2026-02-23 21:25:01

The Online Safety Act has made the United Kingdom the least-safe place to develop and build software to connect people, online.

US Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy explains that maybe age verification is not about child protection

2026-02-23 21:20:40

[…] Child protection is a goal we share, but anyone who wants to force you to identify yourself to the government as a precondition for querying or speaking on the internet has other goals in mind.