Fight the Soft Totalitarianism of Social Media Cooperation with Government
With big tech helping government officials to control the sharing of information, we need to support alternatives to undermine their censorious efforts.
Internet
The World Wide Web Just Won't Grow Up. Good?: Reason Roundup
Plus: Reason web-culture coverage past...introducing the millennial presidential candidate...another Seattle "sex trafficking" case based on nonsense
The E.U. Wants to Censor 'Terrorist Content' Online. What Could Go Wrong?
There's no room for errors and online platforms face huge fines, likely encouraging overly broad takedowns.
Feds Used a Secret Database to Track Journalists Covering the Migrant Caravan: Reason Roundup
Plus: Facebook says it's pivoting to privacy, and congressional Democrats want to "save the internet."
Why Parents Shouldn't Flip Out Over Too Much Screen Time: Podcast
Jordan Shapiro's The New Childhood boldly embraces technological innovation and the interconnected world it's creating.
More Americans Have High-Speed Internet Access Than Ever
Preliminary FCC report claims the number of Americans with high-speed connections grew by 20 percent in 2017.
A Guide to Surviving Your 15 Minutes of Hate
Here's how to navigate America's newest ritual.
Last Year Saw 'Furthest-Reaching Attempt to Censor Online Speech' Since the 1990s, Say FOSTA Challengers
As the lawsuit against FOSTA hits appeals court, three essays about the law that everyone should read.
Google Says E.U. Copyright Plans Will Kill Citizens' Online News Access
Big publishers want new sources of revenue. But trying to force license fees for linking will backfire.
4 Cases That Show the Scope of Services, Speech, and Conduct Protected by Section 230
Gun buyers, gay lovers, cannabis customers, and Yelp users are just a few of the groups that benefit from this federal law.
How the Internet Is Now Making Us Less Free: Reason Roundup
Plus: FDA greenlights new 23andMe test, Kamala Harris gets the Onion treatment, and nobody likes Trump's new shutdown salve.
'Drop Gangs' the Latest Evolution in Darknet's Avoidance of Law Enforcement
Online black markets shift faster than police can respond
Roku Bans Alex Jones, InfoWars from Streaming Platform
Yes, the paranoid lunatic is a mega-troll, but the beauty of new media means never having to engage stuff you find awful or offensive.
The 'Fake News' Epidemic Was…Fake News
It's "important to be clear about how rare this behavior is on social platforms," researchers say.
Suit Against Grindr Over Harassment Is Part of a Trending Assault on Internet Freedom
On Monday, a federal appeals court considered Grindr's guilt in a case involving app-based impersonators.
How Should Facebook (and Twitter, and YouTube, and…) Decide What Speech To Allow?
Social media platforms have every right to do whatever the hell they want, but they shouldn't really do much speech policing at all.
On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Bot
Less than 60 percent of online traffic is actually generated by humans. But is that really a problem?
Silicon Valley May Rue the Day it Called for Government Intervention Against Microsoft
Facebook, Google, Apple, and others are now facing the sort of regulatory and antitrust animus once leveled at Bill Gates' company.
Stossel: Does Silicon Valley Manipulate Users?
New film The Creepy Line argues that tech giants sometimes silence conservatives and try to steer America left.
One Year Ago Today, the FCC Killed the Internet
But if you're reading this, you know that's not true.
Google Hearings Force the Question: Do We Really Want 'Regulation by Federal and State Governments' of 'Today's Disruptive Technologies'?
Obama Defense Secretary Ash Carter wants to bring back the Cold War's Office of Technology Assessment. Why?
New York City Wants to Make It Illegal to Send a Sexy Pic Without Affirmative Consent
It's been dubbed "NYC's Anti-Airdrop Dick Pic Law," but the bill is much broader than that.
Tumblr Says It's Banning Porn. This Will Not End Well.
Research shows a fifth of its users seek out sexual images. But the sharing site is now part of a massive media conglomerate.
Expect More Conservative Purges on Social Media If Republicans Target Section 230
Killing Section 230 would only lead web platforms to ban even more speech.
Facebook and Big Tech Discover That Political Friends Are Fickle Friends
As Facebook's supposed ideological allies unfriend the social media giant, the tech industry is learning that there are no permanent allegiances in politics.
Facebook Supported 'Sex Trafficking' Law FOSTA to Cozy Up to Republican Critics: Reason Roundup
Plus: Trump endorses sentencing reform and Bitcoin's value continues to fall.
Federal Judge Advocates Jury Nullification After Being Shocked by Overzealous Child Pornography Prosecution
It just makes sense to let jurors know about their already established power to exercise discretion over bad laws and ill-considered prosecutions.
How Blockchain Can Build Trust—and Reduce Government's Power: Podcast
Q&A with Alex Winter, whose new documentary, Trust Machine, explores the radical potential of blockchain to decentralize just about everything.
No, Feds Can't Force Backpage Founders to Give Up Longtime Lawyers, Rules Judge
The ruling is a major win for Backpage founders James Larkin and Michael Lacey, as well as a strike against government overreach.
Facebook Hack Another Warning Sign Against Online Centralization
The bigger the company, the bigger the target.
Dissent and Disarray in Putin's Russia
The authoritarian president's hold on power may be shakier than it looks.
California Imposed Its Own 'Net Neutrality' Law. The Feds Aren't Happy About It.
The Justice Department is suing to stop the state's restrictive new internet law.
The European Union Wants to Control the Internet—and You
How a risk-averse bureaucracy across the ocean may decide what you say and do online.
Google and Privatized Authoritarianism
The tech giant appears willing to do almost anything to win access to the vast Chinese market.
Brett Kavanaugh Fans Try to Attack His Accuser, Go After the Wrong Christine Ford
The perils of poorly sourced stories
E.U. Passes Censorship-Inducing Online Copyright Regulations
Online platforms will be subjected to a costly, easily-abused system that will likely pull down legal content.
The Problem With Prohibitions on Electronic Contraband Like 3D-Printed Gun Designs
The urge to suppress runs up against targets which have no form, shape, or fixed location, and can be infinitely reproduced.
Trump Doesn't Like What People See When They Search 'Trump News'
Threatened regulations on "fake news" would be an attack on press freedom
Trump Says His Crummy Google Results May Be a Crime: Reason Roundup
Plus: "Sheriff Joe" Arpaio faces voters again, states go after sexual-assault NDAs, and Louisiana florists fight licensing exams.
The Senate Accused Them of Selling Kids for Sex. The FBI Raided Their Homes. Backpage.com's Founders Speak for the First Time.
An inside look at how indie media veterans James Larkin and Michael Lacey became the targets of a federal witchhunt.
Surprise! The Ban on Digital Sex Ads Didn't Work
Plus: digital privacy concerns down 11 percent since 2015
George Gilder Is Excited about Life After Google and You Should Be Too: Podcast
The tech visionary makes the case that today's online giants will be massively disrupted because we'll tire of their walled gardens.
Gun Control Becomes Speech Control
People appalled by Cody Wilson's firearm fabrication software tend to forget about the First Amendment.
Jinx the Anarchist Sex Worker Goes to Washington
Representatives of the oldest profession were on Capitol Hill fighting FOSTA and SESTA, with our online freedoms hanging in the balance.
Markets in Assassination? Everybody Panic!
A long-awaited prediction market comes online. Cue the freakout.
The Framers Did Not Know From 3D-Printed Guns. So How Can They Be Covered by the Second Amendment?
A former congressman suggests that homemade plastic guns can be banned because they did not exist in 1791.
Pepe the Frog Meets the Copyright Cops
When alt-right activists adopted this amphibian as their own, were they stealing a cartoonist's property or exercising free speech?
