Internet
California Wants To Punish Social Platforms for Aiding and Abetting the First Amendment
Another entry into the "algorithms are magic" school of imposing liability on tech companies.
Supreme Court Declines To Address Section 230 in Two Cases for This Term
Weakening or removing Section 230 would not fix the problems of social media, and in fact it could make things worse.
Whoops—Ohio Accidentally Excludes Most Major Porn Platforms From Anti-Porn Law
Ohio lawmakers set out to block minors from viewing online porn. They messed up.
Can We Please Stop Romanticizing Pre-Smartphone Life?
A lot of anti-tech—or anti-Gen Z—screeds only work by romanticizing the past while pathologizing the present and projecting damage on strangers.
Michigan Anti-Porn Bill Would Criminalize ASMR, Written Erotica, and Even Nonsexual Depictions of Trans People
Under the law, transgender people writing about their gender identity online could face 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
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...
What the Messages on the Bullets of Charlie Kirk's Assassin Mean
The phrases are a mix of anti-fascist sentiments and irony-poisoned internet memes.
TikTok's Revolutionaries
Plus: Poland invokes Article 4, zoning code has a problem with orgies, 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...
More Age Verification Fallout: Artist Blogs Blocked, Porn Data Leaked, Traffic Boosts for Noncompliant Sites
Unintended—but entirely predictable—consequences abound!
Bluesky Blocks Mississippi Users
Age verification laws are already coming for Americans’ access to free speech.
What If TikTok Therapists Are Making People Less Happy?
Lena Dunham's new show is a send-up of internet therapy culture.
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.
Kids Don't Want Screens—They Want Freedom
A new poll finds that children crave real-world play with friends, not more screen time. But we’ve made that nearly impossible.
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."
Capitalism Isn't Why You're Unhappy
Some young adults blame "capitalism" for just about everything. But it's only a convenient scapegoat.
The U.K. Keeps Threatening To Censor American Tech Companies
X has begun restricting content related to Gaza for its U.K. users, and Reddit has implemented age-verification measures to view posts about cigars.
Californians Can Now Buy Ammunition Online Just Like Free Americans
Golden State ammunition restrictions have been voided for violating the Second Amendment.
Digital Nomads Are Getting Caught in the War on Tourism
Countries are welcoming remote workers with digital nomad visas—while cracking down on the very lifestyle that makes nomadism possible.
Legislation Will Not Protect Kids Online
New laws aimed at protecting kids online won’t work, and could even make things worse. Parents, not politicians, are the best defense against digital dangers.
Heavy-Handed Legislation Targets AI-Generated Replicas of Voices and Images
The NO FAKES Act imposes censorship, threatens anonymity, and regulates innovation.
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.
Courts Are Quietly Taking Over the Internet
The next generation of online platforms is being shaped less by engineers and entrepreneurs and more by regulators and courts—and they’re very bad at it.
Antitrust Remedies Against Google Would Punish Consumers, Not Protect Them
Forcing the sale of Chrome or banning default agreements wouldn’t foster competition—it would hobble innovation, hurt smaller players, and leave users with worse products.
The App Store Freedom Act Compromises User Privacy To Punish Big Tech
The bill "raises the risk of malware," warns one tech expert.
Fewer Than 3 Friends
Plus: Growth forecasts slashed, Pravda time, fentanyl seizures, and more...
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."
Are We Still Living in 1999?
A new book argues that late-20th-century lowbrow culture created the modern world.
Fewer People Support Censoring False Information Online
Support for suppressing "violent content" has also dropped.
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.”
Signal Chat Controversy Is an Endorsement of Encryption Software
Popular encryption apps are probably secure if government officials rely on them.
Federal Judge Tosses Defamation Lawsuit Against NewsGuard
The self-styled watchdog site ranks news outlets' reliability, which has rankled those on both the right and left.
The Truth About Brazil's Rumble Ban
Justice Alexandre de Moraes has shut down Rumble in Brazil, using the same dubious legal arguments that led to the blocking of X and Telegram.
The Cold War Broadcasting Apparatus Should Shut Down
Dissidents resisting authoritarian regimes should be independent of the United States—and so should their media sources.
Georgia Antidoxing Bill Could Criminalize Everyday Criticism
The bill is a "law against criticism of any kind," according to a lawyer who testified against it.
Study: Age-Verification Laws Don't Work
At least not if the goal is keeping minors from viewing porn.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr Wants More Control Over Social Media
Carr advocates greater control over social media by federal regulators, despite a reputation for supporting free speech.
Google Is Big. Does That Make It a Monopoly?
To understand the federal government's case against Google Search, you need to understand the different visions over monopoly and government power.
How the FCC's 'Warrior for Free Speech' Became Our Censor in Chief
Brendan Carr has a clear record of threatening to suppress constitutionally protected speech.
