TikTok Isolationism
Plus: New Yorkers favor decriminalizing prostitution. An academic inquiry into "body counts." AI chatbots everywhere. And more...
Social Media Didn't Kill Charlie Kirk
Plus: Trump says he "may let [TikTok] die," the SoHo Forum debates paying for sex, the administration calls birth control "abortifacients," and more...
Pirate Porn Study Finds No Difference in Sexual Attitudes After Seeing X-Rated Video
Plus: Indiana's abortion speech ban in court, AI as normal technology, getting carried away by Epstein conspiracies, and more.
The Federal Trade Commission Goes After Pornhub
Plus: Nepal bans social media platforms and kills protesters, MAGA's war on the tech industry intensifies, and more...
Sex Ed Classes Can't Teach 'Gender Ideology' If States Want Federal Funds
Plus: Court refuses to break up Google, Epstein victims speak at the Khanna/Massie press conference, a shift in young men's views on porn
Smartphone Study Authors Say Phones Should Be Regulated Like Alcohol and Tobacco
Parental responsibility? What parental responsibility?
Bluesky Blocks Mississippi Users
Age verification laws are already coming for Americans’ access to free speech.
Is Conscientiousness Cratering? It Depends on How You Twist the Data.
Despite those viral charts you may have seen, conscientiousness among young people doesn't actually seem to be in "freefall."
The Anti-Porn Crusade Comes for Online Games
Activists pressure payment processors, who in turn pressure game marketplaces. The result? A whole lot of video games and visual novels are disappearing.
Hotel Sex Trafficking Suit Can Proceed, Inviting Hotels to Profile and Harass Guests
Can a hotel be guilty of sex trafficking just because it didn't surveil its customers enough?
10 Examples of Absurd Fallout From the U.K.'s Online Safety Act
The measure is putting up roadblocks for people who want to read about world news, listen to music on Spotify, chat on Discord, play video games, find information about quitting smoking, or join antimasturbation groups.
Alabama's Porn Tax Starts Soon
Websites are being told to create "Material Harmful to Minors tax accounts."
'Subway Surfing' Death Suit Against TikTok, Meta Further Chips Away at Section 230
Norma Nazario blames her son's death on social media algorithms.
MAGA's Epstein Files Fight Shows the Long Tail of QAnon
Like sex trafficking panic more broadly, the Epstein files are a useful political tool—as long as they remain hidden.
Missouri Harasses AI Companies Over Chatbots Dissing Glorious Leader Trump
AI chatbots failed to "rank the last five presidents from best to worst, specifically regarding antisemitism," in a way that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey likes.
Warning: These Social Media Rules Will Erode Civil Liberties
Plus: Pittsburgh lowers prostitution penalty, FSC v. Paxton, the Diddy verdict, and more…
A Second Sexual Revolution?
Talking with Carter Sherman about hookup culture, the sex recession, and her new book.
Abortion Rates Keep Rising After Dobbs
Strict abortion bans do not seem to be seriously stopping abortions.
Federal Prosecutors Are Starting To Sound Like Campus Activists About Sex and Consent
With the OneTaste case, the Department of Justice has embraced infantilizing ideas about women, consent, and coercion.
FTC Pivots From Competition to Children
The result is the same: attacks on tech companies and attempts to violate Americans' rights.
A First Amendment Right To Preach Orgasm?
As the prosecution rests in the OneTaste case, the defense lays out the free speech implications if the government succeeds.
How Palantir Is Expanding the Surveillance State
If you think the government will only use these tools to track illegal immigrants, think again.
Is Buying OnlyFans Content Now Illegal in Sweden?
Swedish authorities voted to criminalize the purchase or procurement of online sex acts, in a move targeting customers of webcam platforms and sites like OnlyFans.
ICE Helps Round Up Sex Workers in Florida
In Operation Fool Around and Find Out, 244 "human trafficking" arrests, but no human trafficking.
Men Caught In Prostitution Sting Aren't Sex Traffickers, Massachusetts High Court Says
But the ruling suggests prostitution clients could be convicted of sex trafficking in other circumstances.
At 'Orgasmic Meditation' Trial, Feds Can't Find a Clitoris—or Evidence of Forced Labor
The government has been putting sexuality, sexual labor, and unorthodox ideas about sex on trial.
Republicans Want To Redefine Obscenity
A new bill would ban sharing visual content that might "arouse" or "titillate."
California Sex Trafficking Fight Erupts Over Punishment for Soliciting Minors
Democrats did the right thing, got attacked for it, then caved.
The Bad Data Backing Josh Hawley's Attack on Abortion Pills
A new study being used to call for mifepristone restrictions relies on vague and dubious definitions of drug-related complications.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act's Good Intentions Don't Make Up for Its Bad Policy
Congress just approved a new online censorship scheme under the auspices of thwarting revenge porn and AI-generated "nonconsensual intimate visual depictions."
Will Florida Teens With Sexually Transmitted Diseases Have To Tell Their Parents Before They Can Get Treatment?
These bills would require exactly that—and a lot more.
Fewer People Support Censoring False Information Online
Support for suppressing "violent content" has also dropped.
Does Tween Tech Study Prove Jonathan Haidt Right?
Nope, but it does show how complicated the issue is.
Can a Pop Song Violate Children's Rights?
In Colombia, a court claims the answer is yes. Could that happen here?
Cambridge Brothel Case: What's the Point?
Abandoning the "sex slave" narrative exposes the hollowness at the center of cases like this.
Study: Kids With Smartphones Are Less Depressed, Anxious, Bullied Than Peers Without Them
A large new study finds smartphone ownership positively correlated with multiple measures of well being in 11- to 13-year-old kids.
Can Trump Broker a TikTok Sale Before the April 5 Deadline?
The president seems optimistic. It's not clear why.
Don't Count on Quitting Social Media To Make Your Life Better
A new meta-analysis finds “no significant effects of social media abstinence interventions on positive affect, negative affect, or life satisfaction.”
These States Are Moving in the Wrong Direction on Prostitution Laws
Twelve states are considering harsher punishments for soliciting sex.
Everyone Is Wrong About RFK Jr. and Cellphones
There's no strong evidence that cellphones cause cancer. There also isn't strong evidence that cellphones cause teen depression.
FBI Failed To Spot Faked Evidence in Case Against Alleged Orgasm Cult
Journals allegedly written by the government's star witness in 2015 were not authentic, prosecutors now say.
Virginia Courts Won't Split Ownership of Divorced Couple's Embryos
"The unique nature of each human embryo means that an equal division cannot conveniently be made," writes a Virginia judge.
Study: Age-Verification Laws Don't Work
At least not if the goal is keeping minors from viewing porn.
A Sex Worker Called 911 In Distress. Cops Came to Her Hotel Room and Shot Her.
Linda Becerra Moran died on February 27 after nearly three weeks on life support. On Sunday, the LAPD released video of her being shot.
The Oscars Loved Anora. Did Sex Workers?
Anora has won five Oscars, ample praise, and some criticism.
