Judge Tosses Biometric Data Suit Against X
X's child porn detection system doesn’t violate an Illinois biometric privacy law, the judge ruled.
Internet
WARNING: You Won't Like This New Label
Plus: Ex-NSA chief joins forces with OpenAI, conscription squads hunt Ukrainian draft-dodgers, and more...
Australian Censors Back Down, Highlighting the U.S. as a Free Speech Haven
Officials suspend efforts to force X to suppress the world’s access to video of a crime.
Ending Section 230 Would Kill the Internet as We Know It
Don’t unleash censors; restrain them more!
The Worst Section 230 Bill Yet
New bipartisan legislation would sunset Section 230 after next year.
The Best of Reason: The Future of Porn Is Consensual Deepfakes
OnlyFans lets women distribute their own porn. Artificial intelligence will give them even more control.
The Future of Porn Is Consensual Deepfakes
OnlyFans let women distribute their own porn. Artificial intelligence will give them even more control.
TikTok Asks Court To Declare Ban Unconstitutional
Congress is "silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate," the company argues.
Backpage: A Blueprint for Squelching Speech
How the Backpage prosecution helped create a playbook for suppressing online speech, debanking disfavored groups, and using "conspiracy" charges to imprison the government's targets
These States Want You To Show ID To Watch Porn Online
At least eight states have already enacted age-verification laws, and several more are considering bills.
FCC Set To Reinstate Net Neutrality Rules That Seem More Unnecessary Than Ever
Net neutrality rules have been instituted and repealed multiple times in the past 15 years, and yet internet use has thrived in each scenario.
China's Retribution
Plus: Homework liberation in Poland, Orthodox rabbi tells students to flee Columbia, toddler anarchy, and more...
Adult Entertainment Group Asks Supreme Court To Block Texas Age-Verification Law
"Profound irreparable harm flows from the Act's chilling of adults' access to protected sexual expression," the filing reads.
New Privacy Rights Act Exempts Government and Gives More Power to the FTC
An interview with Consumer Choice Center Deputy Director Yaël Ossowski.
Social Media Platforms Have Property Rights Too
The push to regulate social media content infringes on rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.
States Keep Passing Unconstitutional Age-Verification Laws for Porn Sites
Kentucky's governor signed a law last week that could require porn sites to ask for users' government IDs before allowing access to adult material.
Republicans Split on Whether FBI Should Be Able To Snoop Without a Warrant
A Section 702 reauthorization moving through Congress could actually weaken privacy protections.
The Bad Science Behind Jonathan Haidt's Call to Regulate Social Media
Only 22 of the 476 studies in The Anxious Generation contain data on either heavy social media use or serious mental issues among adolescents, and none have data on both.
Hamburger Responds: Prof. Somin Repeats His Errors
Round 3 in the debate between Hamburger and Somin over the First Amendment and Murthy
Ron DeSantis Signs Social Media Age-Verification Bill
The law would require platforms to use invasive measures to prevent most teenagers under 16 from making social media accounts and bar all minors from sexually explicit sites.
Stop Your Car From Spying on You
Modern cars are smartphones on wheels, but with less protection for your data.
Dating Apps Are Horrible. A Colorado Bill Would Make Them Worse.
The problem is the users, not the apps.
Online Sports Betting Giants Place Their Bets Against Growing Rivals
Online sports betting companies are using the same legal playbook that once threatened their operations to eliminate competitors.
Pornhub Pulls Out of Seventh State
The company leaves Texas over an “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous” age-verification law.
TikTok's Opponents Want Chinese-style Censorship in America
Instead of freeing Americans from censorship, the TikTok bill would tighten the U.S. government's control over social media.
YouTube Algorithm Steers People Away From Radical Content
Another blow to the idea that algorithms are driving our political dysfunction.
Lawsuit Hobbles Utah's Plan To Mandate Age Verification Online
"Laws like this don't solve the problems they try to address but only make them worse," says a Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression attorney.
Dear Government: Stop Trying To Make TikTok Bans Happen
A new bill would ban TikTok and give the president power to declare other social media apps off limits.
DeSantis Vetoed a Social Media Age-Verification Law, but That Doesn't Mean He Won't Sign a New One
A law forcing kids off social media sites is still likely coming to Florida.
Texas Sues Pornhub for Failing to Check IDs
A federal judge in an ongoing case called the porn age-check scheme unconstitutional. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton doesn't seem to care.
Texas and Florida Say the First Amendment Must Be Sacrificed to Save It
Supreme Court arguments about two social media laws highlight a dangerous conflation of state and private action.
The Best of Reason: Why Are Teens Depressed? It's Not Social Media.
Maybe the problem for teens isn't screens, but what they are replacing.
Most Justices Seem Skeptical of the Florida and Texas Social Media Laws
The Supreme Court seems inclined to recognize that content moderation is protected by the First Amendment.
Texas and Florida Want the Supreme Court To Bless Their Unconstitutional Social Media Laws
Both states are trying to force tech companies to platform certain sorts of speech.
Shoshana Weissmann: Online Age Verification Rules Are Unconstitutional and Ineffective
"None of these laws prevent kids from viewing anything. They just prevent kids from posting," argues Shoshana Weissmann.
Kids Have First Amendment Rights Too, Federal Judge Reminds State Lawmakers
Banning people under age 16 from accessing social media without parental consent "is a breathtakingly blunt instrument" for reducing potential harms, the judge writes.
PROTECT Act Could Require Removal of All Existing Porn Online
Sen. Mike Lee's "technological exploitation" bill also redefines consent.
Why Are Teens Depressed? It's Not Social Media.
Maybe the problem for teens isn't screens, but what they are replacing.
New Report Measures Attempts to Impose, and Evade, Internet Repression
Interest in virtual private networks provides insights into a global battle over digital freedom.
NSA Purchases Internet Metadata To Spy on You Without a Warrant
A new letter from Sen. Ron Wyden (D–Ore.) reveals that the agency admitted the practice nearly three years ago but would not allow him to reveal it.
An Instagram Star Walks the Fine Line Between Self-Creation and Snake Oil
Social media influencer Caroline Calloway might not be a reliable narrator, but Scammer is an honest memoir nevertheless.
Utah Would Rather Repeal Social Media Age Check Law Than Defend It In Court
Laws like Utah's would require anyone using social media to prove their age through methods such as submitting biometric data or a government-issued ID.
Feds Will Try Backpage Co-Founder Michael Lacey for a Third Time
It's a frightening reminder of how far the government will go to get their way—and to warn tech companies against platforming speech it doesn't like.
Filterworld Is a Confused Critique of Algorithms
It's Super Size Me for internet intellectuals.
Parents, Not Government, Should Control How Kids Use Social Media
Free societies generally leave these matters to individuals and families.
William Penn Statue Reversal Shows Positive Power of Social Media
In an era when X (formerly Twitter) is blamed for all the ills of the world, here's a case where it did good.
The Big Flaws in That Study Suggesting That China Manipulates TikTok Topics
The errors are so glaring that it's hard not to suspect an underlying agenda at work here.
