San Francisco Wants to Require Companies To Get Permits Before Rolling Out 'Emerging Technology'
The city's Board of Supervisors has proposed creating an Office of Emergent Technology to regulate new inventions using public spaces.
Technology
Students Build Virtual Reality Massage Parlor for Cops
You know, to "fight human trafficking."
The Economy Keeps Growing, but Americans Are Using Less Steel, Paper, Fertilizer, and Energy
Good news! We’re getting more while using less.
Can Vegetarianism Stop Climate Change?
Eating meat doesn't have as big of an impact on the environment as you've been told.
Trump Brazenly Suggests Ukraine, China Should Do Opposition Research for His 2020 Campaign
Plus: Why you think all your friends get their news on Facebook, the trade-offs that come with higher minimum wages, a modest proposal for AOC, and more...
Should the Government Regulate Deepfakes? We Asked People on Venice Beach
Deepfakes don't pose a novel threat, and they have many exciting applications that would be stymied by legal restrictions.
The E.U. Orders Global Censorship of Comments Calling Austrian Politician a 'Corrupt Oaf'
Is there room for the entire world on this slippery slope?
How To Fix Social Media and Democracy
The creator of "Godwin's law" about Hitler analogies has a bold new vision for free expression, online and off.
Trump Is the Problem, With or Without Twitter
If people think cancel culture sucks now, just wait until the government gets involved.
Joker Director Todd Phillips Says Woke Scolds and Twitter Mobs Killed Comedy
"Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture."
The Decentralized Web Is Coming
Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Twitter are in the federal government's crosshairs, but the technology necessary to undermine their dominance may already exist.
The Babylon Bee Satirizes the Absurdities of American Politics
Snopes doesn’t seem to get the joke.
Why Does the Popular Social Media App TikTok Have Almost No Hong Kong Protest Footage?
The company's Chinese ownership may have something to do with it.
Should You Be Able To Leave Facebook With All of Your Connections?
When online privacy faces off against portability
Facebook Says Its New Digital Currency Will Be 'Open to Anyone.' That's Not True.
Besides, the regulators are already licking their chops.
Josh Hawley Says Libertarians Who Defend Tech Are Enamored with Power. He Should Look in the Mirror.
The populist senator's campaign against social media addiction is unscientific and anti-freedom.
Corey Lewandowski, House Democrats Clash During Wild Trump Impeachment Prelude Hearing
Plus: Screen addiction is not really a thing and New Mexico embraces tuition-free college.
Saturday Night Live Fires New Cast Member Shane Gillis for Using Offensive Language
Comedy, meet cancel culture
New York's Liquor Authority Wants Uber Eats to Get a Liquor License
Proposed regulations would require food delivery apps to cut fees or be added to restaurants' liquor licenses.
Feds to YouTube: No More Cookies for Children!
The Federal Trade Commission's settlement with YouTube will cripple online video functionality.
Should Amazon (and Google, and Facebook) Be Canceled by Antitrust Law?
Donald Trump, Elizabeth Warren, and "hipster antitrust" scholars and activists say big tech companies need to be broken up. Economist Tom Hazlett says they're wrong.
YouTube Is Not the Government
Conservatives who argue that the video platform is constrained by the First Amendment are forsaking their constitutional principles.
PragerU's Lawsuit Against Google Seeks To Rewrite the First Amendment
It flies in the face of precedent.
Neal Stephenson Wants To Tell Big Stories
An economist and a science fiction author discuss cryogenics, mythology, philanthropy, fragmentation, and simulation.
Bitcoin at 10
A new book aims to chronicle the digital currency's ideological origins.
Free Speech Defenders Warn Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez That She Is Violating the Constitution by Blocking Critics on Twitter
The same First Amendment principles that apply to the president also apply to the congresswoman.
Secret Memos Show the Government Has Been Lying About Backpage All Along
Sealed memos fought over in federal court last week show authorities have known for years that claims about Backpage were bogus.
Beto O'Rourke Proposes Plan to Punish Tech Companies for Failing to Censor Hate Speech
The move would violate the First Amendment.
The Government Wants a 'Red Flag' Social Media Tool. That's a Terrible Idea.
The FBI is looking for companies to comb through social media posts and pinpoint possible threats ahead of time. Think of it like a meme-illiterate Facebook-stalking precog from Minority Report.
Privacy-Friendly Fashion for a Surveillance-State Age
You can literally wear your principles on your sleeve while baffling facial recognition technology.
Is YouTube Discriminating Against Both Conservatives and LGBT Videos? Two Lawsuits Say Yes.
Trying to get the government involved in what sort of videos online platforms promote or hide is going to end badly.
James Alan Fox: There Is No Evidence of an 'Epidemic of Mass Shootings'
The nation's leading scholar of mass shootings explains how media coverage of horrific events such as El Paso and Dayton stoke unwarranted fear and anxiety.
Democrats Join Trump in Seeking Balance by Policing Speech
The constitutional amendment they support, like the president’s plan to regulate social media, trusts the government to moderate our political debate.
Trump's Social Media Executive Order Would Let Unelected Bureaucrats Police Online Speech
It would essentially be a Fairness Doctrine for the internet.
No Probable Cause Required for Cops To Access User Data From Popular Apps
Only three states require police to obtain a warrant before requesting private user data from companies.
Next Round of Tariffs Will Be $1 Billion Tax Increase on Smartphones, TVs, Tablets, and More
Thanks to the trade war, Americans are already importing fewer laptops, speakers, and other electronic items—and paying a higher price for the items they do buy. A bigger hit is coming.
6 Terrible New Tech Bills in Congress
While expressing concern for free speech and privacy, lawmakers are seriously threatening both.
Free Speech on the Internet Continues to Confuse Everyone
Plus: 8chan called before Congress, data privacy bill hits a snag, and more...
How Libertarians Should Respond to Mass Shootings
Plus: the budget deal, GOP retirements, and the latest front in the trade war.
Cloudflare, Not the Government, Should Decide Whether It Wants to Do Business with 8chan
Companies should forced neither to help spread offensive speech nor to suppress it.
A New Front in Trump's War on Amazon
Plus: Thousands of troops leaving Afghanistan, TV networks sue streaming site Locust, Gabbard calls Harris response "pathetic," and more...
Josh Hawley: What Has Technology Done for Us Lately?
The senator leading an anti-tech crusade in Congress is being willfully ignorant of all the ways technology has improved humanity in recent decades.
Josh Hawley Wants to Ban YouTube's Autoplay Feature in the Name of Fighting Social Media Addiction
The Missouri senator thinks wasting time on Instagram is a problem so big that only the federal government can solve it.
Cops Can't Take a Joke? The First Amendment Doesn't Care
Plus: Behind the bipartisan war on internet speech, New York "decriminalizes" pot (but you'll still get fined), and more...
Section 230 Is the Internet's First Amendment. Now Both Republicans and Democrats Want To Take It Away.
From Josh Hawley to Kamala Harris, online free speech is under attack.
