Big Mother Is Watching
What does it mean to grow up under constant parental surveillance?
Technology
Crashing Through the Snow: The Grim Sarcasm Behind 'Jingle Bells'
Thanks to technological progress, cars are much safer than one-horse open sleighs.
4 Years After the FCC Repealed Net Neutrality, the Internet Is Better Than Ever
Plus: Pfizer's new pill prevents severe disease from the omicron coronavirus variant, Boston University has a bizarre Title IX training module, and more...
What Technology Can Learn From Biology
Can humans design products that assemble (and disassemble) themselves?
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If you love our content, please consider making a donation to help pay for the work of our team.
Facebook Fact-Checkers Are Stifling Open Debate
It's true that some users spread lies on social media. But this can’t be solved by partisan “fact-checking."
What Is Web3 and Why Is Everyone Suddenly Talking About It?
Meet the new hype cycle about new tools for online decentralization.
Why Does Bernie Sanders Think Billionaires Should Get Out of Space?
Today's highly successful space race "is not something for two billionaires to be directing," says Sanders, who favors the government spending taxpayer money to do the same damn thing (but more slowly).
Let's Not Have a Bunch of Posturing Politicians Decide How Online Algorithms Should Work
The latest bill to “fight big tech” could turn your online experience into a miserable slog.
Amy Klobuchar and Tom Cotton's Big Tech Anti-Monopoly Bill Exempts Their Preferred Firms
Plus: Much ado about Big Bird, one neat trick for fixing Facebook (do nothing), and more...
Are Kids Stealing Because TikTok Made It Seem Cool, or Is the 'Devious Licks' Freakout Yet Another Adult-Led Moral Panic?
TikTok's "devious licks" trend has earned the company and its teen users plenty of scorn. But what's actually going on?
Welcome to the Metaverse
Facebook's rebrand signals that the widely scrutinized company retains lofty ambitions.
If You Think Facebook Is Full of Dubious Outrage-Bait, Wait Til You See the Company's Critics
A business model where outrage is exploited for clicks describes both social media and the news media.
Netflix Says Algorithm Is Protected by First Amendment in 13 Reasons Why Suicide Lawsuit
Is a required content warning or algorithm change a violation of the First Amendment?
Appeals Court Rules Social Media Companies Not Liable for Pulse Nightclub Shooter's Radicalization
"The plaintiffs failed to make out a plausible claim that the Pulse massacre was an act of 'international terrorism' as that term is defined in the ATA."
There Would Be a Lot More Good News if Government Would Get Out of the Way
"The quality of life we have even during COVID is so much higher than anything humanity experienced, and it's only going to get better."
After Becoming the Oldest Man To Visit Space, William Shatner Makes an Emotional Case for Private Space Tourism
Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule carried the 90-year-old former Star Trek actor and three crewmembers 66 miles above the Earth's surface.
The First Semiconductor Trade War
What Reagan's tariffs in the '80s can teach us about today's foreign-made semiconductors
Instagram's Effect on Teens Gives Congress the Latest Pretext To Put Tech on Trial
Plus: California can't limit private prisons, Yellen dismisses bank privacy concerns, and more...
As Facebook Crumbles, the Case for Breaking It Up Is Weaker Than Ever
The site is clearly in trouble and the government doesn't need to step in.
Everybody Is Wrong About Big Tech
Robby Soave doesn't like it when social media deplatforms users, but the far bigger threat comes from lawmakers on a mission.
Robby Soave: Today's Bipartisan Tech Panic Is Yesteryear's Freakout Over Video Games
The Reason senior editor argues that attempts to break up tech giants and rein in social media are based on flawed arguments.
The New York Times Is Wrong About the 'Myth of Big Tech Competence'
Still, Facebook should not have allowed its VIPs to flout the rules it claimed applied to everyone.
A Win for Devin Nunes in Lawsuit Over Journalist Ryan Lizza's Tweet
Plus: "The endless catastrophe of Rikers Island," studies link luxury rentals and affordable housing, and more...
Let's Play Horseshoe Theory
Extremists on the left and the right are much closer to each other than either side would like to admit.
GoDaddy Shuts Down Web Hosting for Pro-Life Organization's Abortion Whistleblowing Site
Pro-lifers and pro-choicers have one thing in common: a passion for snitching
Reddit's Messy Fight Over COVID Misinformation
Denizens of the popular online forum protested the spread of COVID misinformation, but the company rightly wouldn't cave to their demands. It still cracked down on 55 subreddits in the end.
Amazon Pressures FCC To Deny SpaceX's Satellite Internet Plan
Powerful companies attempting to get government agencies to suppress competition means consumers could lose out.
40 Ways Things Are Getting Better
"What has gotten materially better in America in, say, the last twenty years?" So! Much!
Chinese Regulators Tell Kids They Can't Play More Than 3 Hours of Video Games a Week
The government appoints itself the nation's parent.
Cuomo Replacement Kathy Hochul Says New York's Real COVID Death Toll Is 12,000 Higher Than Cuomo Claimed
Hochul’s office reports that some 55,400 people have died of the coronavirus in New York, much higher than the 43,400 claimed by Cuomo, who left office Monday.
Roger Pielke Jr.: We Are Successfully Adapting To Climate Change
The findings of the newest IPCC report on the future of the planet—called a "code red" for humanity—have been wildly distorted.
TikTok 'Hatescape' Hype Ignores Important Details
A new analysis reportedly showing a huge proportion of TikTok content is racist tells us nothing about the overall prevalence of extremist and bigoted content on the app.
The Taliban Is No Excuse To Crack Down On Secure Tech
Breaking encryption technologies always makes us less safe, no matter what the justification.
Net Neutrality Is Far From Necessary
Remember, the "open internet" that regulatory rules purportedly preserve emerged from a world without net neutrality rules.
China's New Data Privacy Law Doesn't Protect People Against the Biggest Threat: The Government
The law just addresses use of individuals' data by private companies, carving out exceptions for government harvesting of data.
Why OnlyFans Is Double-Crossing Sex Workers
Plus: FTC revives antitrust suit against Facebook, Planned Parenthood pushes back against Montana abortion laws, and more...
Governments Love a Media Cartel—As Long as They're in Control
Friday A/V Club: Some people are against concentrated media power. Some just want to bend it to their will.
YouTube Has the Right To Shut Down Rand Paul. That Doesn't Mean It Should.
Big tech platforms should encourage debate, not forbid it.
Rubio Bill Would Make Tech Companies Disclose Government Interference
Plus: Congress' gift to Big Tech companies, infrastructure bill costs, and more...
NLRB Recommends Amazon Warehouse Workers Vote Again on Whether To Unionize
In April, workers in Bessemer, Alabama, voted 2-to-1 not to unionize. Now they may be asked to recast their votes.
China's Big Tech Crackdown Shouldn't Be Cheered by Antitrust Fans in the West
An onslaught of antitrust and data-security crackdowns have threatened the country's biggest ride-sharing platforms, cryptocurrency exchanges, and messaging services.
Trump's 'Big Tech' Lawsuits Are Ludicrous
Market power does not make a private company the equivalent of a government agency.
Libertarian History/Philosophy
Dave Smith on Big Tech Censorship, Lockdowns, and Running for President
The comedian and podcaster talks about running for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination and his beef with Reason.
Big Tech, Watchdog Groups, and Law Enforcement Join Forces To Purge Extremists
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube will expand their use of a central database that compiles extremist content for coordinated de-platforming.
The Case for Beaming Internet Into Cuba
The technological hurdles might be too difficult to overcome, but it's worth trying.
Elizabeth Warren Says People Are Struggling and Jeff Bezos Hasn't Pitched In Enough
Bezos pitched in by creating an online marketplace of cheap consumer goods that people can get delivered to their homes in two days flat.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai Is Right: Companies That Dominate Today May Be Gone Tomorrow
Today's antitrust activists forget that big companies with significant market share come and go.
