Influencers Are Here To Stay—Now It's Time To Modernize Labor Laws
A TikTok ban could devastate thousands of independent workers, but the real challenge lies in modernizing labor laws to support the new economy.
Internet
CPS Is Investigating an Influencer Because Her Son Flinched in a Video
Hannah Hiatt isn't the first parent to face child welfare investigations sparked by an internet mob.
Control Freaks Use Brian Thompson Murder To Peddle 'Ghost Gun' Bans
More laws couldn’t have stopped the crime and won’t stop people from making their own weapons.
Which Way, FCC—Build or Stagnate?
Marc Andreessen’s call to build clashed with Washington’s regulatory mindset.
D.C. Circuit Court Upholds TikTok Ban, Prioritizing 'National Security' Over Free Speech
The popular but beleaguered social media app will have until January 19 to find an American buyer or be banned.
Are Humans Abandoning the Physical World in Favor of Smartphones?
The Extinction of Experience condemns digital technology but the book is full of contradictions and cherry-picked examples.
Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's Beef With NewsGuard Is Legally Dubious and Empirically Shaky
The company, which says it takes an "apolitical approach" to rating news outlets, faces regulatory threats and a congressional probe because of its perceived bias against conservatives.
The New FCC Chairman's Agenda Contradicts Conservative Principles
Brendan Carr’s plans for "reining in Big Tech" are a threat to limited government, free speech, free markets, and the rule of law.
Trump's Pick To Run the FCC Wants To Restrict the Editorial Discretion of Social Media Platforms
"Reining in Big Tech," Brendan Carr says, requires scrapping liability protections and restricting moderation decisions.
Texas Bill Takes Aim at Online Speech About Abortion Pills
Abortion battles are becoming tech policy battles.
Courts Are Coming for Digital Libraries
A federal court recently said the Internet Archive is not protected by fair use doctrine.
A Bad Election for Sex and for Tech
No matter who wins, we can expect bad policies surrounding sex and especially surrounding technology.
How the Feds Destroyed Backpage.com and Its Founders
By prosecuting the website's founders, the government chilled free speech online and ruined lives.
Montana's Porn Age Verification Law Is Headed to Court
"Invoking the innocence of children is not...a magic incantation sufficient for legislatures to run roughshod over the First Amendment rights of adults."
Chinese Hackers Used U.S. Government-Mandated Wiretap Systems
A backdoor for anybody is a backdoor for everybody.
Watch Now: Classified: The War on Backpage.com
Reason's new documentary is now streaming on the video platform CiVL. I hope you'll watch.
Hillary Clinton Wants To Repeal Section 230
Her comments are a reminder that this free-speech protection is far from safe.
'Yeah, I'm a "Perv" Too!'
Plus: Republicans seem likely to blow another winnable race, New York City's COVID czar attended pandemic raves, and more...
We Still Live in the Physical World
The digital world has not effaced our humanity, no matter what social critics like Christine Rosen say.
Google Goes On Trial (Again) Today
Democrats' aggressive antitrust agenda threatens to upend Google's ad tech business—and make U.S. markets less free.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's Arrest Is Part of a Global War on Free Speech
Governments around the world seek to suppress ideas and control communications channels.
Is Pavel Durov the Next Julian Assange?
The Telegram co-founder may become a free-expression martyr for the terrible crime of enabling permissionless speech.
Putin and the Ayatollah Wanted To Censor This App. Now It's Macron's Turn.
French police arrested Telegram founder Pavel Durov for failing to control his social media and messaging app.
In Venezuela, Digital Freedom Is a Threat to Dictators
Now more than ever, people’s freedom lies in their ability to communicate and access information with privacy and security.
Censoring the Internet Won't Protect Kids
Sen. Rand Paul makes the case against the Kids Online Safety Act.
Age Check Laws Are a 'Back Door' to Banning Porn, Project 2025 Architect Says in Hidden Camera Video
"We'd have a national ban on pornography if we could, right?"
Can Nostr Make Twitter's Dreams Come True?
Twitter's founder says Nostr is “100 percent what we wanted”—an open, ownerless network.
Won't Somebody Think of the Influencers?
The rush to crack down on the young people making money on TikTok misses the real causes and possible effects of the social media influencer boom.
Federal Court Rules That Google Illegally Maintained a Monopoly
Google is "the best," the court says. But being on top is dangerous.
KOSA Moves Forward in Congress, Threatening Free Speech and Encryption
Only Sens. Paul and Wyden are expected to vote "no" on Tuesday. Power to stop KOSA now resides with the House.
Senate To Vote on Web Censorship Bill Disguised as Kids Safety
The Kids Online Safety Act would have cataclysmic effects on free speech and privacy online.
Cops Threaten To Take Kids From Family Terrorized by Anti-Christian Reddit Group
Online trolls weaponized child protective services against J.D. and Britney Lott and their eight children.
Trump Promises To Get Rid of Bad Regulations. Can He Deliver?
Growth of regulation slowed under former President Trump, but it still increased.
J.D. Vance Thinks Lina Khan Is Doing a Great Job
We're looking at four more years of anti-tech and anti-business antics from the FTC no matter who wins this November.
FTC Opens a Backdoor Route to Age Verification on Social Media
In a "novel" order concerning the app NGL, the agency takes aim at online anonymity and at minors on social media.
The MTV News Archive Is Gone—and That's OK
I wrote for the .com culture site in its heyday. I don't mourn its disappearance.
Biden and Trump Are Both Disastrously Wrong About Tariffs
Yes, cheap imports hurt some American companies. But protectionist trade policy harms many more Americans than it helps.
The Man Who Hated Rules
Hacktivist-journalist Barrett Brown sets out to settle scores in his new memoir.
Why the Media Covered for Biden
Plus: A listener asks whether Bruce Springsteen's song Born in the U.S.A is actually patriotic.
Judges Block Indiana and Mississippi Age Verification Laws for Porn, Social Media
And the Supreme Court agrees to weigh in.
A Law Professor's Beef With a First Amendment 'Spinning Out of Control': Too Much Speech of the Wrong Sort
Even as he praises judicial decisions that made room for "dissenters" and protected "robust political debate," Tim Wu pushes sweeping rationales for censorship.
Social Media Moderation Is Speech, Says Supreme Court
The Court is remanding these two cases for more analysis—but it made its views on some key issues clear.
The TikTok Ban Is a Blueprint for More Social Media Censorship
China's free speech record is bad, but the federal government's isn't so great either.
Why Has Joe Biden's $42 Billion Broadband Program Not Connected One Single Household?
The senior Republican FCC commissioner blames progressive politics, while lawmakers and telecom companies blame bureaucratic red tape.
Baltimore Brings Back Controversial Cellphone Hacking System
A year after a court told Maryland police that Cellebrite searches were too broad, Baltimore quietly resumed using the software.
