How To Build Your Own Internet in 2026
AI slop and enshittification are making the public social commons unbearable. The alternative pathways are more accessible than you think.
Internet
Rand Paul Turns Against Section 230, Citing YouTube Video Accusing Him of Taking Money From Maduro
After Google refused to take down a video of him, the Kentucky senator suggested upending the legal framework undergirding the internet for three decades.
Florida Governor Candidate Proposes 50 Percent Tax on OnlyFans Creator Revenue
"I will not allow a generation of smart and capable young women to sell their bodies online," said Republican gubernatorial hopeful James Fishback.
Study: Short-Form Video Isn't Rotting Your Brain
A recent meta-analysis concerning short-form video, mental health, and attention spawned a lot of tech panic. Did critics even read the study?
The TRUMP AMERICA AI Act Is Every Bit As Bad As You Would Expect. Maybe Worse.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s latest is an anti-tech omnibus, combining years' worth of dangerous policy ideas into one big, bad bill.
Deplatforming Backfired
Progressive censors failed to suppress our political demons. It's finally time to confront them.
Shein Can't Sell Sex Toys Unless It Checks IDs, French Court Says
Laws requiring porn platforms to age-check visitors are becoming "a Swiss army knife for the government."
Porn Sites Must Block VPNs To Comply With Indiana's Age-Verification Law, State Suggests in New Lawsuit
It's an insane—and frighteningly dystopian—interpretation of the law.
Did the Internet Break Our Sense of Reality?
Katherine Dee examines how living online reshapes attention and behavior and makes the case for a more grounded, realistic way of using digital tools.
Nepal's Socialist Government Banned Social Media, So Activists Plotted a Revolution—on Discord.
The country's transition leader was selected not at the ballot box but on a 100,000-person Discord chat.
The Free Market Can Connect Rural America Faster Than the Government
Private innovation is connecting rural America faster than Washington’s $42 billion broadband program.
X Gets Fined
Plus: Netflix buys Warner Bros., the tradlife really can be yours, baby slop on YouTube, gender insanity in Oklahoma, and more...
SCOTUS Tackles Illegal File Sharing, Internet Music Piracy, and Copyright Law
Plus: It’s webathon time.
Lawmakers To Consider 19 Bills for Childproofing the Internet
KOSA is back, along with more than a dozen other bills that will erode free speech and privacy in the name of protecting kids.
People Like Having Too Much Content, Says Swiss Study on Information Abundance
Plus: FTC loses Facebook case, building a fertility abundance agenda, ICE staffer arrested in underage sex sting, and more...
Moral Panic About Rough Sex Gives Way to Censorship in the UK
British regulators and lawmakers are hot on a measure that would make possessing or publishing strangulation porn a crime.
'Genes Matter,' Says Scientist Studying Social Media and Mental Health
The study found only small links between social media use and users' well-being.
The CHAT Act Won't Protect Kids, But it Might Break the Internet.
By forcing government ID verification for AI tools, Congress risks censoring everyday digital services and driving young Americans to unsafe overseas platforms.
This Company Makes 65 Percent of the Wi-Fi Routers in U.S. Homes. The Government Wants To Ban Them.
Just like with TikTok, lawmakers may soon ban a popular consumer product over fears of what it could potentially be used for.
Congress Investigates TeaOnHer App for Letting Men Post About Women Without Their Consent
It sounds like something niche feminist bloggers might have taken up 10 years ago. But this is being led by Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
Can Eating More Protein Fix Our Digital Malaise?
As digital life overtakes culture, physical bodies are becoming more important than ever.
Pennsylvania Lawmakers Propose Titty Tax
Plus: It's not illegal to protest while dressed as a giant penis. DHS seeks OpenAI data. And more...
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.
