Public and Private Sectors Clash on Contact Tracing
Apple and Google’s API promises to put privacy first. State health authorities have other ideas.
Technology
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.
Twitter Is Shifting to Remote Work. Will Other Firms Follow?
Will changes to how many of us work outlast the pandemic?
Sen. Josh Hawley Is the Ultimate Karen
Karen wants to speak to your manager. The senator from Missouri wants to become your manager.
Working From Home May Be a Permanent Feature of the Post-Pandemic World
That has interesting implications for where people will base themselves in the future.
Prager University and Tulsi Gabbard Lose Censorship Suits Against Google
Forcing Google to behave like a public utility would probably not serve the interests of those demanding that designation—or the rest of us.
This App Protects Privacy While Tracing COVID-19 Infections
Stanford researcher Tina White and the new nonprofit Covid Watch are committed to protecting both individual rights and public health.
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.
Will Americans Actually Use Contact Tracing Apps?
Apps that track users are being hyped as the way to lift lockdowns. But there are reasons to be skeptical.
Cellphone-Tracking Can Help Fight the Pandemic Only If Governments Resist Their Snoopy Instincts
Contact tracing might offer hope for slowing the spread of the pandemic—or fulfill every Big Brother-ish fear privacy advocates have ever raised.
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...
No, Rep. Ilhan Omar: Amazon's Decision To Fire Three Workers Isn't a 'National Disgrace'
The congresswoman claimed that Amazon is "refusing to provide basic protective equipment to workers." That's not true.
Hospital Technicians Ignore Copyright Law to Fight COVID-19
They trade tips and manuals through a decentralized information-sharing network. Biomedical technicians say it's the fastest and easiest way to get life-saving information.
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.
No, 5G Is Not Spreading Coronavirus. That Doesn't Even Make Sense.
These theories are dumb. Destroying 5G infrastructure is not going to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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.
Zoom Is Keeping Pandemic-Stricken America Connected. Cue Congress's Tech Panic.
Plus: Court upholds Texas abortion ban, Americans say they're choosing to stay at home, a doctor's view on hydroxychloroquine, and more...
How Coronavirus Is Kickstarting the 21st Century
A global pandemic has done what 30 years of internet manifestoes never accomplished: a mass migration into our screens.
How Techies Ignored the Bureaucrats and Helped the COVID-19 Response
They were mocked for sounding the alarm. Now they're the ones providing the solutions.
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.
Should the Government Break Up Companies Like Amazon and Facebook? A Soho Forum Debate
Law professors Tim Wu and Richard Epstein went head to head at a live event.
Should the Government Break Up Big Tech? A Soho Forum Debate
Tim Wu vs. Richard Epstein on whether antitrust laws should be applied to firms like Amazon and Facebook.
The EARN IT Act Is the New FOSTA
The new bill takes aim at internet freedom and privacy under the pretense of saving kids.
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.
'Conservatives Will Cease To Exist Online': CPAC Speakers Fret About the Tech Bogeyman
Some panelists at the conservative conference want to give the government more power over social media.
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.
Encryption Foes in Washington Won't Give Up
Government officials keep trying to make us expose our data to them—and the criminals who ride on their coattails.
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.
George Hotz: Fully Self-Driving Cars Are a 'Scam' and Silicon Valley 'Needs To Die'
The hacking wunderkind thinks Big Tech's approach won't work. He built a $999 autonomous driving system that runs on a smartphone.
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.
