The Bad Science Behind Jonathan Haidt's Call to Regulate Social Media
Only 22 of the 476 studies in The Anxious Generation contain data on either heavy social media use or serious mental issues among adolescents, and none have data on both.
Science & Technology
Harvard Global Cooling Geoengineering Experiment Halted
Activists oppose research on how to safely deploy an emergency cooling system for the planet.
Photo: The Kid Who Beat Tetris
Willis Gibson, 13, became the first Tetris player to trigger a "kill screen."
FBI Agent Says He Hassles People 'Every Day, All Day Long' Over Facebook Posts
"It's just an effort to keep everybody safe and make sure nobody has any ill will," he claimed.
FDA Aims To Stifle Medical Innovation Again
After botching COVID test approvals, the Food and Drug Administration wants power over thousands of other tests.
Parents Don't Want Schools to Confiscate Kids' Phones
A new survey highlights how fear-based parenting drives phone-based childhoods.
The Best of Reason: Don't Let E.U. Bureaucrats Design Americans' Tech
Some Democrats want to mimic Europe's policies on phone chargers and more.
America's Drone Industry Is Trying To Ban the Competition
Chinese camera drones are the most popular worldwide. American drone manufacturers argue that's a national security threat.
Blaming Tech for Teen Troubles
Jonathan Haidt’s clever, insufficient case against smartphones.
More on Coercion, Social Media, and Freedom of Speech: Rejoinder to Philip Hamburger
Prof. Hamburger continues to conflate coercion and voluntary choice.
Abridgement, Coercion, and Freedom of Speech: Reply to Philip Hamburger
Prof. Hamburger is wrong to argue that the use of the word "abridgment" implies that noncoercive government persuasion directed at social media firms violates the First Amendment.
Biden's Antitrust Case Against Apple Is Truly Stupid
Plus: A listener asks about the absurdity of Social Security entitlements.
Ron DeSantis Signs Social Media Age-Verification Bill
The law would require platforms to use invasive measures to prevent most teenagers under 16 from making social media accounts and bar all minors from sexually explicit sites.
The Absurd Apple Antitrust Lawsuit
If you fail to see a problem with Apple's actions, you may not be an overzealous government lawyer.
Stop Your Car From Spying on You
Modern cars are smartphones on wheels, but with less protection for your data.
Dating Apps Are Horrible. A Colorado Bill Would Make Them Worse.
The problem is the users, not the apps.
How 1990s Libertarians Laid the Groundwork for Cryptocurrency
Economist Friedrich Hayek inspired an early foray into electronic cash.
Photo: A Private Moon Landing
Odysseus became the first private spacecraft to have a successful soft moon landing—kind of.
European Union's AI Law Will Heavily Regulate a Technology Lawmakers Don't Understand
And in the process, it will stifle innovation and competition.
Enhanced Games Head Rebuts Biden: Performance Enhancements in Sports Are 'Inevitable'
Just stop it. Let elite athletes honestly choose to use performance enhancements or not.
Truth Social Can Be Yours
Plus: NYC squatters, sex differences and chess ability, trouble at the ACLU, and more...
Review: How Ray Trapani Scammed the Crypto World and Got Away With it
Netflix's Bitconned explores Centra Tech's scammy business dealings.
The Supreme Court Should Reject Clandestine Government Censorship of Online Speech
The Biden administration’s social media meddling went far beyond "information" and "advice."
'Hamstringing the Government': A Viral Narrative Distorts Ketanji Brown Jackson's Understanding of Free Speech
If partisans have one thing in common, it's confirmation bias.
The Best of Reason: After a Century, the Federal Tea Board Is Finally Dead
Imported tea was required for decades to pass a literal taste test before it could be sold in the United States.
Supreme Court Says Officials Who Block Critics on Social Media Might Be Violating the First Amendment
The justices established guidelines for determining whether that is true in any particular case.
Court Should Focus on Coercion in Murthy v. Missouri
The government is entitled to try to persuade social media to take down posts, but not to coerce them to do so.
SCOTUS Ponders Whether the Biden Administration Coerced Social Media Platforms To Censor Speech
Several justices seemed concerned that an injunction would interfere with constitutionally permissible contacts.
The CCP Sucks. So Does Banning TikTok.
Plus: A listener asks about Republicans and Democrats monopolizing political power in the United States.
Pornhub Pulls Out of Seventh State
The company leaves Texas over an “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous” age-verification law.
Bloodbath
Plus: Space dining, Russian elections, Bernie Sanders' 32-hour workweek, and more...
The New York Times Again Worries That Free Speech Endangers Democracy
The newspaper portrays the constitutional challenge to the government's social media meddling as a conspiracy by Donald Trump's supporters.
Don't Let E.U. Bureaucrats Design Americans' Tech
Some Democrats want to mimic Europe's policies on phone chargers and more.
The Government Doesn't Want You To See the Unused Space Force Logos
It took the Air Force four years to release redacted records of its quest to create spiffy new uniforms for the newest branch of the military.
Banning TikTok Would Give the Feds Way Too Much Power
"It's a disturbing gift of unprecedented authority to President Biden and the Surveillance State," said Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.).
Algorithm Not for Sale
Plus: Kamala Harris' abortion clinic visit, Karl Marx's hypocrisy, CDC data struggles, and more...
Abortion Pill Studies Retracted: Politics or Science?
"Following the science" as the Supreme Court considers the safety and efficacy of medical abortions.
TikTok's Opponents Want Chinese-style Censorship in America
Instead of freeing Americans from censorship, the TikTok bill would tighten the U.S. government's control over social media.
YouTube Algorithm Steers People Away From Radical Content
Another blow to the idea that algorithms are driving our political dysfunction.
The Best of Reason: The Future of Immigration Is Privatization
New immigration pathways are letting private citizens welcome refugees and other migrants—and getting the government out of the way.
FIRE Highlights the Blatant Hypocrisy of State Officials Who Decry Government Meddling With Social Media
Even as they attack the Biden administration's crusade against "misinformation," Missouri and Louisiana defend legal restrictions on content moderation.
Lawsuit Hobbles Utah's Plan To Mandate Age Verification Online
"Laws like this don't solve the problems they try to address but only make them worse," says a Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression attorney.
Alabama Governor Signs Bill Protecting IVF Treatments
After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos were children, legislators scrambled to protect in vitro fertilization clinics.
Rand Paul's Bill Would Require NIH Scientists To Disclose Royalties They Receive From Drug Companies
The Royalty Transparency Act passed unanimously out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday.
Dear Government: Stop Trying To Make TikTok Bans Happen
A new bill would ban TikTok and give the president power to declare other social media apps off limits.
Nate Silver: Libertarians Are the Real Liberals
"People are not in politics for truth-seeking reasons," argues the data journalist and author of On The Edge: The Art of Risking Everything.
