Cronyist Journalism Measure Could Prompt Facebook To Ban News
Plus: ACLU sides against religious freedom, abortions after Dobbs, and more...
Social Media
Rep. Khanna on Twitter, Free Speech, and the Hunter Biden Story
A Democratic member of Congress laments how Twitter handled the New York Post's reporting on Hunter Biden's laptop.
What Twitter's Suppression of the Hunter Biden Laptop Story Tells Us About the Media
Plus: The editors consider a listener question on the involuntary hospitalization of the mentally ill.
New York Forces Websites To Monitor 'Hateful' Speech. A New Lawsuit Says This Violates the First Amendment.
"The state of New York can't turn bloggers into Big Brother, but it's trying to do just that," said FIRE attorney Daniel Ortner.
Elon Musk and Matt Taibbi Reveal Why Twitter Censored the Hunter Biden Laptop Story
The Twitter Files are interesting but contain few true surprises. A mix of incompetence and partisanship got the site in trouble.
Elon Musk Enforces Twitter's Ban on 'Hateful Conduct' As Critics Predict a Flood of Bigotry
The "free speech absolutist" is maintaining some content restrictions while loosening others.
Kanye's Suspension Shows Musk Twitter Might Look a Lot Like…Old Twitter
Plus: Freedom's Furies, SCOTUS to take up student loan forgiveness plan, and more...
Twitter Is More Like a Traveling Circus Than a Public Square
It's a private company. Its owner can do what he chooses, even if it seems crazy.
U.K.'s Awful Internet Bill Becomes a Bit Less Hostile to Free Speech
At a dangerous moment for the free exchange of ideas, civil libertarians can tally a win.
Twitter Quits the Biden Administration's Ham-Handed Crusade Against COVID-19 'Misinformation'
Elon Musk's rescission of the platform's prior policy, which forbade dissent from official guidance, is consistent with his promise of lighter moderation.
China's Lockdown Protests Show Why You Shouldn't Let Government Weaken Encryption, Anonymity
Too many Western governments want to follow in the footsteps of authoritarians when it comes to tech privacy.
Mystified by Mastodon? We're Here To Help.
Mastodon might not be the future of decentralized social media, but it can’t hurt to check it out as Twitter implodes.
Free Speech on Twitter? Not If Europe Has a Say
EU officials threaten to make their restrictive content rules a global standard.
New FTX CEO Describes 'Complete Failure of Corporate Controls' in Scathing Court Filings
Plus: Twitter is alive and well, the U.K. considers unprecedented tax hikes, and more...
Presidents Bush and Obama Mistakenly Think We Need Their Warnings About Disinformation
Thanks, but we lived through the lies of their administrations that they used to sell us war and intrusive government meddling in health care.
Reports of Facebook's Immortality Are Greatly Exaggerated
Critics have said for years that Facebook is a monopoly that can only be killed by federal regulation. Meanwhile, the platform bleeds users, its stock price is plummeting, and it just announced its first-ever round of layoffs.
Impersonators Are Already Running Amok Under New Twitter Rules
Plus: "you can't spoil what's already rotten," inflation stayed high in October, Election 2022 takeaways, and more...
Elon Musk Owns Twitter, So the Rules Are Going To Be Whatever He Wants
If the bird site's new owner wants to protect free speech, he should focus on resisting government requests to remove content.
U.S. Voters Are 'Vulnerable' to 'Foreign Manipulation,' No Matter How Inept, The New York Times Warns
Journalists who sound the alarm about Russian propaganda are unfazed by the lack of evidence that it has a meaningful impact.
This Court Case Could Make It a Crime To Be a Journalist in Texas
Priscilla Villarreal found herself in a jail cell for publishing two routine stories. A federal court still can't decide what to do about that.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Claims Elon Musk Is Targeting Her Twitter Account
Plus: Congress remains too cautious about marijuana, myths about independent contractors, and more...
Reddit Is Not Guilty of Sex Trafficking, Says Court
In a post-FOSTA world, Section 230 still protects websites from lawsuits over criminal sexual conduct by their users.
Senator Dick Durbin Doesn't Understand the First Amendment
On Tuesday, the senator erroneously claimed that "free speech does not include spreading misinformation."
Livestream: Homeland Security's Backdoor Social Media Speech Regulation
Livestream with Nick Gillespie, Robby Soave, and Zach Weissmueller
Twitter Was Toxic Long Before Musk Took Over
Plus: Hate speech is free speech, tax gap is stable, and more...
Twitter Was Already a Hellscape Even Before It Was Set Free
Plus: For Halloween, the editors describe what scares them most about politics and government right now.
DHS Still Policing Disinformation Despite Dissolving Disinformation Governance Board
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI regularly report misinformation and disinformation to tech companies for potential removal.
Musk Says He Bought Twitter 'To Help Humanity,' Pledges Not To Let It Become a 'Free-for-All Hellscape'
Plus: Charlottesville cracks down on city employee speech, judge dismisses "blackout challenge" lawsuit against TikTok, and more...
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against TikTok Over Child's Death in Blackout Challenge
In his dismissal order, the judge cited Section 230, the law protecting websites from liability for user-generated content.
The U.K. Competition Authority 'Wins,' but Consumers Lose
U.K. regulators shut down Meta/GIPHY deal in favor of their own “approved buyer.”
Midterm Polling, PayPal, and Patellas
Plus: The editors consider Ye and social media, then field a question about the TARP bailouts during the 2008 fiscal crisis.
A North Carolina School District Wants To Ban 'Furry' Costumes
Despite acknowledging that "the costume issue is small," the Iredell-Statesville School Board is suggesting banning animal costumes in response to online rumors.
Social Media Interaction Does Not Improve Political Knowledge, but It Does Polarize Us
Two new studies say there's no evidence of political learning on social media, but it does increasingly teach us to hate our opponents.
PayPal Says It Won't Fine Users $2,500 for Misinformation, but It Will Fine Them for 'Intolerance'
"Sounds like a good reason to think twice about using PayPal," writes Eugene Volokh.
What Biden's Weed Plan Really Means
Plus: lawsuit targets Roblox and Discord, 24 million immigration cases in backlog, and more...
FIRE Podcast on Free Speech and the Texas Social Media Law
The podcast is a debate between legal scholar Brad Smith and myself.
New Biden Weapons Package for Ukraine 'Increases the Danger of a Direct Military Clash,' Says Russian Ambassador
Plus: Musk's Twitter purchase may be back on, global deflation may be looming, and more...
Elon Musk Buying Twitter Is Not the End of the World
Regular people are not so terminally online.
Mocking the Police Is Not a Crime
A First Amendment case prompts The Onion to explain how parody works.
Supreme Court To Hear 2 Cases About Social Media Moderation and Liability for Terrorism
Does Section 230 shield YouTube from lawsuits about recommendations? Can Twitter be forced to pay damages over the terrorists it hasn’t banned?
New Zealand P.M. Jacinda Ardern Peddles Government Censorship to an International Audience
The world’s politicians offer a friendly reception to attacks on free speech.
YouTube Says Giorgia Meloni Video Was Removed in Error, Restores It After Inquiry
"Upon careful review, we determined this video is not violative of our Community Guidelines and have reinstated it," said a YouTube spokesperson.
A Parodist Asks SCOTUS To Let Him Sue the Cops Who Arrested Him for Making Fun of Them
The 6th Circuit ruled that qualified immunity prevented Anthony Novak from vindicating his First Amendment rights.
For Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Political Stunts Are More Important Than Substance
Who cares if it’s legal if it generates politically advantageous outrage and attention?
Subreddit Gets Users To Call Texas Gov. Greg Abbott a 'Little Piss Baby' To Defy Content Moderation Law
Reddit users are protesting Texas' H.B. 20, which forces social media platforms to host speech they find objectionable.
Germany's Criminalization of Online Offensiveness Shows the Perils of Weakening the First Amendment
A crackdown on insults, hate speech, and misinformation punishes dissenters who express themselves in ways that offend government officials.
