Social Media
Alone Together in the Pandemic
How we lost our social spaces and how we found them again
Face Mask Volunteers DIY Their Own Kind of Division of Labor
Making masks, face shields, and other protective equipment is the bottom-up, COVID-19 version of rolling bandages or knitting socks for the troops.
It's Hard To Take Either Side in Trump's Twitter Spat Seriously
The president promises penalties he has no power to impose, while the company promises moderation it cannot deliver.
What Should We Do If YouTube Censors on Behalf of the Chinese Communist Party?
Technological—not political—solutions will secure true freedom of speech online
Australian Court Rules Media Outlets Are Responsible for Facebook Users' Comments
Online censorship is coming, and it’s going to be bad news for everybody.
Trump's Illegal, Impossible Plan to Teach Twitter a Lesson
Plus: unrest in Minneapolis, Twitter labels Trump tweet, and more...
Trump's Executive Order on Twitter Is a Total Mess
Plus: the weird new battle lines on warrantless surveillance, more CDC incompetence, Minneapolis on fire, and more…
Sanders Delegates Banned From Bashing Biden on Social Media
Plus: "Obscene" cartoonist gets probation, U.S. teen births plummet, a reopening win in Ohio, and more...
Supreme Court Won't Hear Suit Saying Facebook Helped With Hamas Attack
Hamas "used and relied on" Facebook "as among its most important tools to facilitate and carry out its terrorist activity," the plaintiffs claimed.
Sen. Josh Hawley Is the Ultimate Karen
Karen wants to speak to your manager. The senator from Missouri wants to become your manager.
New Facebook Oversight Board Will Handle Tricky Moderation, but Will It Value Free Speech?
Mark Zuckerberg can't please the anti-tech populists on the left and the right, no matter what he does.
Georgia High School Students Expelled for Racist TikTok Video Had Their Free Speech Rights Violated
The video was appalling, but it does not constitute a safety threat.
Don't Get Fooled by Fake Photos of Coronavirus Lockdown Protests
Plus: Drudge challenges Trump on traffic claims, France taxes links, COVID-19 in Ohio prisons, and more...
Texas Teen Booked on Terror Charge for COVID-19 Snapchat Video
She posted on social media about deliberately spreading the disease, but she's not actually sick.
U.K. Media Lobby Wants Government To Force Advertisers to Support Coronavirus Coverage
Desperate for revenue, online outlets try to use a crisis to overrule their customers’ judgment.
When an Epidemic Spreads, So Do Rumors
The biggest thing our institutions could do to stop the spread of COVID-19 misinformation would be to spread less misinformation themselves.
COVID-19 Reminds Us: Social Media Is Good, Actually
Will coronavirus help rehabilitate tech's rep?
Senators Push Sneaky Anti-Privacy Bill
The EARN IT is an attack on encryption masquerading as a blow against underage porn.
No, Google Didn't Violate Tulsi Gabbard's First Amendment Rights, Federal Judge Rules
"Google is not now, nor (to the Court's knowledge) has it ever been, an arm of the United States government," wrote District Judge Stephen Wilson.
A New Book Reveals Facebook's Problems Started Way Before the 2016 Election
In Facebook: The Inside Story, even Steven Levy’s most generous conclusions about the tech giant are still pretty damning.
PragerU's Attempt To Violate YouTube's 1st Amendment Rights Shot Down By 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
The conservative nonprofit Prager University alleged the company should not be allowed to place its videos on "Restricted Mode."
Taylor Lorenz Makes Sense of Online Culture for the Rest of Us
The New York Times technology reporter is revealing how social media is encouraging individual expression.
Twitter's New 'Deceptive Video' Labeling Plan Immediately Abused To Attack a Silly Joke Ad from Bloomberg
Nobody is being misled by this obviously joking debate clip. But this sort of ginned-up outrage will be used to target political opponents.
Newspaper Lobbyists and Encryption Foes Join the Chorus Against Section 230
How the press learned to stop worrying and love censorship.
Does South Park Encourage Political Apathy and Moral Superiority?
Critics say the long-running satiric cartoon has created "a generation of boys" who are smug and disengaged.
U.K. 'Celebrates' Its New Freedom From the E.U. by Pushing Massive Online Censorship Orders
Government wants to force social media platforms to accept a “duty of care” to protect users from whatever they deem harmful.
Elizabeth Warren Absolutely Wants the Government To Punish Facebook for Spreading Disinformation
"We need to stop this generation of big tech companies from profiting off of lies to the American people," the candidate told PEN America.
Lindsey Graham Wants to Use Mistrust of Big Tech To Destroy Your Right to Online Privacy
Online platforms would have to "earn" speech protections by compromising encryption—all in the name of fighting child porn.
Elizabeth Warren Wants To Make It a Crime To Give Out Fake Info About Voting
When politicians call to punish “disinformation,” we should worry about what that definition encompasses.
How a Fake Rationing Scare Highlighted the Absurdity of California's Actual Water Policies
No, Californians aren't banned from showering and doing laundry on the same day. But the fact that so many people believed that lie says something about how insane the state's real water laws are.
Molly Jong-Fast on Trump's Impeachment, Democratic Candidates, and Why Twitter Is Great
"I don't think you should do Twitter if you think you're better than Twitter."
Joe Biden Wants To Destroy Free Speech on Social Media
Biden tells the New York Times he would revoke Section 230 protections and hold Facebook (and other sites) liable for their content.
Writer Meghan Daum Thinks You Need To Toughen Up
"If 2018 was the year that the concept of 'cancel culture' went mainstream, then 2019 may be the year that cancel culture cancels itself."
Leftist YouTuber ContraPoints Explains Why Cancel Culture Mobs Should Drop the Pitchforks
"I have no faith left in call-out vigilante justice."
The 2010s: When the Media Lost Their Gatekeepers
Media theorist Marshall McLuhan's work best explains how the world changed in the 2010s—and what we can expect in the decade ahead.
Can Jack Dorsey Reinvent the Internet by Making Twitter More Like Email?
The case for a technical free speech fix
Right To Be Forgotten
Sharyn Rothstein's sharp new play is a smart and timely look at how to balance free speech and privacy in a wired age.
Ro Khanna Hopes This Bill Will Pave the Way to Repealing FOSTA
Since FOSTA passed in 2018, "sex workers have faced increased violence" and "have been forced onto the streets," the California congressman says.
Here's What Happens When a Government Demands a 'Fake News' Label on Social Media
Singapore ordered Facebook to attach a "false information" message to a news story written by a government critic.
Does It Matter That Impeachment Enthusiasts Are Lousy on Foreign Policy?
The Reason Roundtable panelists ask: Why so many hawks in the anti-Trump clump?
Sacha Baron Cohen's Anti-Facebook Rant at the ADL Summit Was Pure Moral Panic
The comedian thinks misleading information on social media is ruining society. That's a bit rich, coming from him.
Joe Biden Has Officially Joined the Misguided Crusade Against Online Free Speech
In comments to CNN on Monday night, Biden expressed a willingness to smash Section 230 in order to settle a feud his campaign is having with Facebook. That's a terrible idea.
