YouTube Has the Right To Shut Down Rand Paul. That Doesn't Mean It Should.
Big tech platforms should encourage debate, not forbid it.
Facebook's Taliban Policy Could Delete a Lot More Than Just Pro-Taliban Content
Plus: Biden won't budge on Afghanistan, the link between cruise ship vaccine passports and free speech, and more...
The Biden Administration Is Pushing Social Media Platforms To Expand Their Definition of Intolerable COVID-19 'Misinformation'
Online censorship by proxy undermines the ordinary process for checking claims and counterclaims.
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.
Biden Is Trying to Impose Online Censorship by Proxy
The administration’s public pressure campaign against COVID-19 "misinformation" cannot be reconciled with its avowed respect for freedom of expression.
Biden Wants To Punish Facebook for the Government's Own Vaccine Failures
Federal health bureaucrats should stop scapegoating social media.
No, Biden, Facebook Isn't Killing People
Also, regulation is (still) not the answer to online misinformation.
Experts Warn Accurate News Articles Are Misinformation if They Support Conservative Views
The existence of politically biased websites is not a crisis.
Biden Charges Facebook With Homicide, While His Surgeon General Recommends 'Legal and Regulatory Measures' To Suppress COVID-19 'Misinformation'
Speech is protected by the First Amendment even when it discourages vaccination.
The Government Should Stop Telling Facebook To Suppress COVID-19 'Misinformation'
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki wants the social media site to ban 12 specific anti-vaccine accounts.
The Case Against Imposing Common Carrier Restrictions on Social Media Sites
The rationales for doing so are weak, and would create a dangerous slippery slope, if accepted.
Trump's Class Action Lawsuit Against Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube Is an Absurd Farce
It will fail, and fail badly.
How Big Business Uses Big Government To Kill Competition
Corporations can afford robots. Their competitors often cannot.
The Campaign Against 'Extremism' Looks Like an Attack on Speech
Efforts against violence are turning into restrictions on ideas.
The FTC Fails To Prove Facebook Is a Monopoly
Plus: Retaliatory action in Syria, developments with the delta variant, Clarence Thomas on marijuana, and more...
Major Anti-Tech Antitrust Package in Congress Moves Forward
Taken together, these six measures would have a major impact on the way we shop, chat, and otherwise go about our business online.
Using Facebook Actually Reduces Ethnic Tension, New Study Finds
People fret about online echo chambers, but offline echo chambers can be just as strong—or stronger.
The Bipartisan Antitrust Crusade Against Big Tech
How reactionary politicians are using monopoly concerns as cover to pursue pre-existing political agendas
Get Ready for Another Big Deplatforming Debate, Because Facebook Is Tweaking Its Rules Again
Plus: Prosecutors are big lobbyists for new crime bills, Biden floats compromise on corporate taxes, and more...
Tech Groups Sue To Stop Ron DeSantis' Assault on Online Free Speech
“The Act is so rife with fundamental infirmities that it appears to have been enacted without any regard for the Constitution,” the lawsuit reads.
Prince Harry's First Amendment Aversion Is Funny; the Governments That Agree Are Scary
We expect British royals to favor muzzling commoners, but too many lawmakers feel the same way.
Facebook's Oversight Board Was Right To Ban Trump
It's a working model for non-state governance in cyberspace that is vastly preferable to government control of social media.
John Samples: Facebook's Oversight Board Was Right To Uphold Trump Ban
A member of the board (and a Cato Institute vice president) defends the controversial decision to kick the former president off the social media platform.
Both the Left and the Right Are Exaggerating the Threat Posed by Facebook
Facebook can't kill, jail, or tax you. It can only stop you from posting on Facebook.
Florida Legislators Exempt Their Favorite Companies From Social Media Bill
"It's very obvious that nobody involved in [the bill] consulted a First Amendment lawyer," says TechFreedom's Berin Szóka.
Oversight Board Upholds Facebook's Initial Suspension of Trump, but Says Company Must Reassess
"At the time of Mr. Trump's posts, there was a clear, immediate risk of harm."
Marco Rubio Echoes the Chinese Tyrants He Supposedly Hates
If you're going to attack Mark Zuckerberg for cozying up to Xi Jinping, maybe you should try harder not to sound like a Chinese dictator.
Josh Hawley's Dangerous 'Trust-Busting' Bill
Hawley’s legislation would give officials more room to unilaterally punish business behaviors they personally don’t like.
Justice Thomas Wonders When Supreme Court Will Have To Consider Social Media's Private Deplatforming Power
A moot case about Trump blocking tweets leads to concerns that tech companies have too much control over speech.
Congress Grilling Tech Companies on COVID-19 Misinformation Is a Bit Rich
What about the federal government's own health experts?
Perhaps Facebook Supports Section 230 Reform Because It Could Make Big Tech Even More Powerful
Even minor tweaks to the law could shore up Mark Zuckerberg's dominance.
Government Censorship Is the Worst Cancel Culture of All
Politicians on the right and the left are coming for your free speech.
The Texas Bill That Prohibits Social Media Censorship Is a Mess
The whole thing is arguably voided by Section 230.
Facebook Restores News Links in Australia After Getting Some Concessions
Big outlets get subsidies. The government still gets to pick winners and losers.
Everybody's Wrong About the Facebook/Murdoch Standoff in Australia
This tech/media fight down under is not about democracy or monopolies. It’s about ad revenue.
The Facebook "Oversight" Board
You may have seen stories about the operation of Facebook's new and innovative "Supreme Court." Don't believe 'em.
'That System Is Being Used Against You': Edward Snowden Makes the Case for Internet Privacy. Is He Right?
Online companies might not be as nefarious as you think.
Maryland's Legislature Just Imposed a New Tax on Digital Advertising by Overriding Gov. Larry Hogan's Veto
The first-in-the-nation tax is an expensive and regressive policy that's also possibly unconstitutional.
Mike Masnick: In Defense of Section 230 and a Decentralized Internet
Techdirt's founder wants to give end users, not politicians and tech giants, more control over what we can say and see online.
Ron Paul Says He's Been Locked Out of His Account, but Facebook Says It Was a Mistake
No one has a right to a Facebook platform, but purges can and should be criticized.
Congress Targets Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google for Being Popular
After a 16-month investigation into the big four tech companies, it seems the most that congressional busybodies can accuse them of is routine business practices and having popular services.
Are These Vulgarity-Spouting Birds a Threat to Democracy?
Aaron Reynolds is just trying to make people laugh, but his content may have been flagged on Instagram for interfering with the election.
Suppressing 'Hate Speech' on Social Media Drives Users to New Platforms
The more that big social media companies act like they can control what people say, the more competition they encourage.
FTC and State Prosecutors Join Antitrust Dogpile on Facebook
Plus: Sexual misconduct at the FBI, Tulsi Gabbard and Mike Lee don't understand the First Amendment, and more...
Are These Effin' Birds From Canada Fucking With American Democracy?
Aaron Reynolds, the creator of "Swear Trek" and "Effin' Birds," talks about living and dying by Instagram's algorithms.
