Progressives Are Ditching Free Speech To Fight 'Disinformation'
From limits on liability protections for websites to attempts to regulate the internet like a public utility, these proposals will erode Americans' right to express themselves.
Social Media
Shrinkflation Is Real—and It's Largely Biden's Fault
The president criticized companies for selling "smaller-than-usual products" whose "price stays the same." But it was his and his predecessor's spending policies that caused the underlying issue.
Shoshana Weissmann: Online Age Verification Rules Are Unconstitutional and Ineffective
"None of these laws prevent kids from viewing anything. They just prevent kids from posting," argues Shoshana Weissmann.
Kids Have First Amendment Rights Too, Federal Judge Reminds State Lawmakers
Banning people under age 16 from accessing social media without parental consent "is a breathtakingly blunt instrument" for reducing potential harms, the judge writes.
Why Are Teens Depressed? It's Not Social Media.
Maybe the problem for teens isn't screens, but what they are replacing.
Nanny State Social Media Mandates Are No Substitute for Effective Parenting
Throughout Republican-run Western states, lawmakers are passing legislation that treats adults as if they are children.
Was Amazon 'Free to Ignore' White House Demands That It Suppress Anti-Vaccine Books?
The Biden administration's interference with bookselling harks back to a 1963 Supreme Court case involving literature that Rhode Island deemed dangerous.
AI Versus Age-Verification Laws
AI tools churning out images of fake IDs could help people get around online age-check laws.
Trump's Terrible, Popular Tariffs
Plus: A listener asks if it should become the norm for all news outlets to require journalists to disclose their voting records.
He Was Arrested for Making a Joke on Facebook. A Jury Just Awarded Him $205,000 in Damages.
The verdict vindicates the constitutional rights that Louisiana sheriff's deputies flagrantly violated when they hauled Waylon Bailey off to jail.
Mark Zuckerberg Is Not a Murderer, Mr. Senator
Republicans and Democrats are using emotional manipulation to push an agenda of censorship.
Florida's Youth Social Media Ban Is an Affront to Freedom
Don't let a moral panic shut everything down.
She Was Arrested for Her Journalism. A Federal Court Says She Can't Sue.
Priscilla Villarreal, also known as "Lagordiloca," has sparked a debate about free speech and who, exactly, is a journalist.
An Instagram Star Walks the Fine Line Between Self-Creation and Snake Oil
Social media influencer Caroline Calloway might not be a reliable narrator, but Scammer is an honest memoir nevertheless.
Utah Would Rather Repeal Social Media Age Check Law Than Defend It In Court
Laws like Utah's would require anyone using social media to prove their age through methods such as submitting biometric data or a government-issued ID.
Yes, Biden Absolutely Told Coal Miners To Learn To Code
Where are the misinformation czars and the mainstream media fact-checkers now?
Guarantors of Poverty
Plus: Chatbots vs. suicidal ideation, Margot Robbie vs. the patriarchy, New York City vs. parents, and more...
Jon Ronson: Why We Went So Crazy During COVID Lockdowns
The Things Fell Apart host explains how a 1988 quack medical concept inspired George Floyd's death in 2020 and how Plandemic rewrote Star Wars.
Why We Went Crazy During COVID Lockdowns
The Things Fell Apart host Jon Ronson explains how a 1988 quack medical concept inspired George Floyd's death in 2020 and how Plandemic is basically a rewrite of Star Wars.
Filterworld Is a Confused Critique of Algorithms
It's Super Size Me for internet intellectuals.
Democratic Attorneys General Support Censorship
In an amicus brief filed in Murthy v. Missouri, they ignore basic tenets of First Amendment law in order to quash online speech they don't like.
Parents, Not Government, Should Control How Kids Use Social Media
Free societies generally leave these matters to individuals and families.
The World Economic Forum Is Begging You To Trust the Science
"There has been a deliberate attempt to inflame the public against experts," warned one Davos panelist.
Want to Use Social Media? Utah Wants You to Hand Over Your ID.
A new lawsuit is challenging a Utah law that requires age verification to use social media and forces minors to get their parents permission first.
AI Fraud Act Could Outlaw Parodies, Political Cartoons, and More
The bill is broad enough to target a Saturday Night Live skit lampooning Trump, a comedic impression of Taylor Swift, or a weird ChatGPT-generated image of Ayn Rand.
The Big Flaws in That Study Suggesting That China Manipulates TikTok Topics
The errors are so glaring that it's hard not to suspect an underlying agenda at work here.
Social Media Censorship and The First Amendment
Stanford's Jay Bhattacharya debates St. John University's Kate Klonick on the federal government's role in social media censorship.
The Paradoxical Freedom of Tradwife TikTok
"It's not really a movement. Nobody is pushing it. People are just living it."
Social Media Censorship: Jay Bhattacharya vs. Kate Klonick
Stanford's Jay Bhattacharya debates St. John University's Kate Klonick on the federal government's role in social media censorship.
Cato Amicus Brief in the Texas and Florida Social Media Cases
The brief urges the Supreme Court to reverse its badly misguided precedent in Pruneyard v. Robins.
Jeff Kosseff: Why False Speech Deserves First Amendment Protections
The former journalist defends misinformation in the Trump era and explains why so many journalists are against free speech.
Thank You, Reason Donors, for a Huge Webathon Success
The webathon is technically over, but if there's one thing journalists understand, it's procrastination.
Judge Halts Montana's First Amendment-Violating TikTok Ban
The ban, scheduled to take effect on January 1, is likely unconstitutional in multiple ways, the judge held.
Nikki Haley's Crazy Plan to Require Verification on Social Media
The 2024 GOP candidate has proposed something blatantly unconstitutional.
'A Tyranny of the Minority': Why This College Dropout Wants To Cancel Cancel Culture
"Being a true free speech champion does require that you defend speech that even you disagree with," says libertarian Rikki Schlott.
These Public Officials Blocked Critics on Social Media. Was That Constitutional?
The Supreme Court considers whether and when banishing irksome constituents violates the First Amendment.
Prosecutors Turn Their Extortion Racket Against Facebook and Instagram
The propensity of prosecutors to jump to conclusions before all the evidence is in is very destructive—and nothing new.
Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott: The Canceling of the American Mind
“We've taught young people that any of their missteps or any of their heterodox opinions are grounds to tear them down. That's no way to grow up.”
Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott: The Canceling of the American Mind
“We've taught young people that any of their missteps or any of their heterodox opinions are grounds to tear them down. That's no way to grow up.”
The Bipartisan Urge To Control Online Speech
Democrats and Republicans are united in thinking their political agendas trump the First Amendment.
The Best of Reason: True Crime Distorts the Truth About Crime
Popular podcasts and shows portray crime as salacious and sexy, failing ordinary victims in the process.
SCOTUS Will Decide When the Government's Social Media Meddling Violates the First Amendment
The justices agreed to consider whether the Biden administration's efforts to suppress online "misinformation" were unconstitutional.
Disinformation Reporter Ben Collins Failed To Correct the Gaza Hospital Story
Perhaps the Walter Cronkite Awards ought to have slightly higher standards?
New York's Online Hate Speech Law Raises Serious First Amendment Concerns
Even content creators outside of New York would feel its effects.
Helicopter Parenting Hurts Your Kids' Mental Health
Social media overuse among teens may be a symptom, not the cause, of their distress.
The Social Media Moral Panic Won't Help Teens
We should all be skeptical that the same government that can't balance a budget can revamp the dominant form of modern communications and boost young people's self-esteem.
Defenders of the Florida and Texas Social Media Laws Contradict Themselves
If Facebook et al. are pushing a "radical leftist narrative," why don’t they have a constitutional right to do that?
