Australia's Confused Tech Regulators Are Cracking Down on Google for Using Links
If the new trustbusters get their way, tech platforms might be forced to pay money to traditional news outlets for the privilege of linking to their content.
Technology
Innovators Are Crafting Decentralized Social Media Alternatives. Will App Stores Pull Them Down?
How can we build a culture that welcomes alternative tech?
Be Skeptical of Stories About TikTok 'Benadryl Challenge' Overdoses
One very sketchy story about an Oklahoma City teen’s tragic death has gone viral.
How Are Social Media Companies Supposed To Handle Government-Sponsored Misinformation?
Plus: Joseph Kennedy losing in Massachusetts, the White House is preparing an eviction moratorium, and more...
Feds Finally Give Amazon Permission for Drone Deliveries in the U.S.
America has been lagging behind other countries.
Melania Trump Wows With Lackluster Speech on Second Night of Republican National Convention
Plus: the RNC is a case study in why Big Tech is good, the GOP's libertarian purge, and more...
Big Tech Is Not a Big Threat to Conservative Speech. The RNC Just Proved It.
While cable news outlets cut away from the convention, social media platforms offered unrestricted access.
Mike Godwin, the Creator of Godwin's Law, Is Suing Trump Over His TikTok Executive Order
"I know what moral panics look like; they look kind of like this."
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Donates $10 Million to Ibram X. Kendi, Who Wants To Make Racism Unconstitutional
"This research will inform and fuel much needed and overdue policy change."
Would Other Countries Trust a U.S. Government-Controlled Silicon Valley?
We don’t trust state-controlled companies in China. Would it be different if we did more of the controlling?
Anti-Tech Warriors Are Coming for Your Food Delivery Apps
Plus: Good news on COVID-19 immunity, court nixes California ammunition ban, and more...
Democrats Hate Facebook. Republicans Want To Ban TikTok. The Bipartisan Backlash Against Big Tech Is Here and It's a Disaster.
Even as Americans rely on tech more than ever, our early-pandemic truce with the industry is officially over.
Greg Gutfeld's Self-Help Book for Haters of Self-Help (Who Love To Drunk-Tweet)
Fox News host's The Plus is a funny yet serious argument about making politics matter less in your life.
Colorado Cop Says He Didn't Mean 'KILL THEM ALL' Literally
Colorado Springs Police Sergeant Keith Wrede insists he was just "going crazy" to Metallica and doesn't want protesters to die.
Trump's TikTok, WeChat Ban Won't End Up Blocking Fortnite and League of Legends
An ambiguous presidential order affecting a Chinese company connected to several popular video games sows confusion.
Trump Is Trying To Take Away Americans' Access to Popular Apps by Executive Order
Plus: the latest unemployment numbers, Biden apologizes for comment on diversity, Ohio governor gets flip-flopping COVID-19 results, and more…
Blocked and Reported
Hosts Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal dissect the latest in internet outrage, employing humor, nuance, and a healthy appreciation for absurdity.
How the Government Created RCA
A century before its threats against TikTok, Washington pried a different media company out of foreign hands.
Democrats Sharpen Tech Antitrust Messaging at Historic House Hearing
This isn't a debate about consumer needs. It's all about political control.
Ted Cruz Isn't the Only Politician Talking Nonsense About Tech Companies and Election Integrity
Unpacking TikTok freakouts, mail-in voting controversies, and money printers going brrr, on the Reason Roundtable podcast.
What Should Have Happened at the Big Tech Antitrust Hearing
Siri, what color is the kettle?
Microsoft May Save TikTok From Trump's Clutches, After President Proposes Ban on Chinese Video App
Plus: U.S. small business relief checks went to Chinese companies, teen charged in massive Twitter hack, and more...
The Extremely Online Are Less Informed About Political News, More Informed About Conspiracy Theories
Plus: Congress moves forward on encryption backdoors, largest school districts aren't reopening, and more...
Congress Wants To Regulate Big Tech. They Still Don't Understand It.
Plus: Trump suggests election delay, and more...
Congress Used the Antitrust Hearing To Peddle Petty Grievances Against Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
The scary monopoly power on display Wednesday was the federal government's.
A Congressman Asked Mark Zuckerberg Why Facebook Censored Donald Trump Jr., but That Was Twitter
"I think you might be referring to what happened on Twitter."
'The President's Speech Police': Trump Pushes Forward With Regulating Bias Online
Plus: The EARN IT Act is "a wolf in sheep's clothing," Joe Biden's "Agenda for Women," and more...
Twitter Boots 7,000 QAnon Conspiracy Theorists
Plus: Congress rejects demilitarization of police, Jorgensen polling at 3 percent, and more...
The Army Tries To Use Esports as a Recruiting Tool, Gets Trolled, Grabs the Banhammer
By kicking out critics on Twitch and Discord, is the military running afoul of the First Amendment?
Telemedicine Abortion Gets Green Light From Federal Court
Plus: "Heartbeat law" ruled unconstitutional, introducing the Atlas of Surveillance, Brave New World reimagined, and more...
How China's Clamp Down on Hong Kong Could Affect the Global Internet
Will tech companies resist orders to cooperate with demands for information to root out dissidents?
Facebook Civil Rights Audit Signals Bad News for Free Speech
Plus: Controversy around "open debate and toleration" letter, grim economic forecasts, and more...
Lindsey Graham's Terrible Anti-Privacy 'EARN IT' Act Passes Senate Committee
This isn't a bill about fighting child porn. Don't fall for it.
Why Is California Targeting the Tech Firms That Drive Its Economy?
There's no need to pity successful companies or grant them special deals, but state officials shouldn't be so blinded by an anti-corporate ideology that they drive businesses away, either.
Devin Nunes Can Sue Cow Account but Not Twitter, Says Judge
Plus: Time to cancel U.S. propaganda outlets, Twitch sued over sexy women, new Assange indictment, social-justice symbolism, and more...
NBC Said Google Is Demonetizing The Federalist for Spreading Fake News; Google Says the NBC Report Is Fake News
The NBC News Verification Unit sadly did not live up to its name.
Public and Private Sectors Clash on Contact Tracing
Apple and Google’s API promises to put privacy first. State health authorities have other ideas.
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…
