The U.K. Government's Latest Encryption Fearmongering Relies on Child Sex-Trafficking Panics
British police want greater surveillance powers and they’re willing to destroy everybody’s cybersecurity to get them.
Moral Panic
Let's Not Have a Bunch of Posturing Politicians Decide How Online Algorithms Should Work
The latest bill to “fight big tech” could turn your online experience into a miserable slog.
Are Kids Stealing Because TikTok Made It Seem Cool, or Is the 'Devious Licks' Freakout Yet Another Adult-Led Moral Panic?
TikTok's "devious licks" trend has earned the company and its teen users plenty of scorn. But what's actually going on?
No One Is Wasting Their Ecstasy on Your Kids' Halloween Candy
The myth of the candy poisoner
The Vain Search for Marijuana in Trick-or-Treat Bags
Police are still pushing this discredited scare, but it seems fewer people are falling for it.
As Facebook Crumbles, the Case for Breaking It Up Is Weaker Than Ever
The site is clearly in trouble and the government doesn't need to step in.
People Have Been Panicking About New Media Since Before the Printing Press
Politicians and activists claim social media is turning us into zombies. But new technologies have been greeted with skepticism since the dawn of time.
Robby Soave: Today's Bipartisan Tech Panic Is Yesteryear's Freakout Over Video Games
The Reason senior editor argues that attempts to break up tech giants and rein in social media are based on flawed arguments.
Why OnlyFans Is Double-Crossing Sex Workers
Plus: FTC revives antitrust suit against Facebook, Planned Parenthood pushes back against Montana abortion laws, and more...
Abigail Shrier Worries Teenage Gender Transitions Lead to 'Irreversible Damage'
The controversial author on her acclaimed and condemned book, being deplatformed, and the future of free expression in an increasingly polarized marketplace of ideas
A Victory for Trans Teens as Supreme Court Declines To Hear Appeal in Bathroom Case
The refusal leaves in place a federal court decision favoring trans students' right to insist on accommodation.
Tennessee Orders Private Businesses To Warn About Possible Trans People in the Bathrooms
Fearmongering culture panic leads to a new dumb low.
In a Year of Wild Conspiracy Theories, Super Bowl Sex Trafficking Is a Classic
Plus: A reminder that censorship backfires, Wyoming city considers ban on "performance prostitution," and more...
Goodbye, Trump. Hello, War on Domestic Terror.
Plus: Biden pushes 8-year path to citizenship, Parler is back, Josh Hawley's book finds new publisher, and more...
Florida Masseuse Ordered to Pay $31,573 After 'Soliciting' Robert Kraft To 'Commit Prostitution'
Charges against Kraft were (rightfully) dismissed. The women he patronized now have criminal records.
Florida Drops Prostitution Case Against Robert Kraft, Still Pursues Charges Against the Women He Paid
Plus: DHS wants to ban some immigrants from getting four-year degrees, Louisiana cop who claimed attack admits he shot himself, and more...
Be Skeptical of Stories About TikTok 'Benadryl Challenge' Overdoses
One very sketchy story about an Oklahoma City teen’s tragic death has gone viral.
Trump Warns America: 'Biden's America' Will Look Like Trump's America
Plus: Alice Marie Johnson's RNC speech, Twitter bans bots pretending to be disillusioned black Democrats, and more...
Mike Godwin, the Creator of Godwin's Law, Is Suing Trump Over His TikTok Executive Order
"I know what moral panics look like; they look kind of like this."
American Airlines Reportedly Accused a Black Social Worker of Kidnapping the White Child In Her Care. Now She's Suing.
Never mind the court order showing the child as a dependent in her care.
Sen. Josh Hawley Says He 'Took on an Asian Trafficking Ring' and 'Freed a Dozen Women in Sex Slavery.' That's Not True.
As a state attorney, the young GOP senator oversaw raids of more than a dozen massage parlors, but he didn’t secure a single sex trafficking conviction.
Scary Stories About Vaping Aren't Helping Anyone
Feel free to reject the advice of this terrible new book.
Anti-Porn Groups Target Websites' Ability to Accept Credit Card Payments
We've seen this before...
The Myth of the Bleach-Drinking Masses
Plus: states start opening up, Libertarian Party nominating convention on hold, and more...
The EARN IT Act Is the New FOSTA
The new bill takes aim at internet freedom and privacy under the pretense of saving kids.
The CDC's Shift From Vaping to COVID-19 Highlights the Crucial Differences Between Real and Metaphorical Epidemics
The agency's scaremongering about e-cigarettes undermined its credibility on the eve of a true public health crisis.
Marijuana Vaping Madness Is Reaching 'Reefer' Proportions
A new generation of marijuana prohibitionists is reviving old talking points with vaping products substituting for joints.
U.K. 'Celebrates' Its New Freedom From the E.U. by Pushing Massive Online Censorship Orders
Government wants to force social media platforms to accept a “duty of care” to protect users from whatever they deem harmful.
The War on Porn Is Back
Conservatives hope to renew their old alliance with radical feminists.
Massage Parlor Panic
A potent combination of puritanism, racism, and political opportunism is putting Asian masseuses and the people who support them in needless danger.
What the Porn Industry Thinks of the New War on Porn
GOP attacks on internet smut are heating up, but the porn industry has more practical threats to worry about.
Super Bowl Sex-Trafficking Myths Return
And they're just as wrong and dangerous this time around.
Anti-Vaping Panic Will Kill More People Than it Saves
E-cigarettes are under attack, but they are a safer way to consume nicotine than conventional smoking, says Jacob Sullum.
Tide Pods, Nazis, and Bees: The Top 10 Moral Panics of the 2010s
We found a lot of things to worry about over the past 10 years.
Baltimore Mayor Says Men in White Vans Are Snatching Young Girls for Sex Trafficking
"It's all over Facebook."
Ashley Judd and Seth Meyers Say They Want to Help Sex Workers. They Could Start by Shutting Up.
Plus: climate change defamation suit can proceed, trade deal inches forward, and more…
'We Vape, We Vote' Crowd Got Through to Donald Trump, Advisors Say
Plus: Joe Biden still thinks weed might be a "gateway drug," D.C. sex work decriminalization bill won't get a vote, and more...
The Vaping Crisis Is a Moral Panic Led by Anti-Smoking Crusaders
Anti-smoking advocacy groups have a long history of exploiting shoddy science for political gain.
Restrictions Make Vaping the Next Lucrative Product Line for Cigarette Smugglers
High taxes and tight restrictions have handed huge chunks of the tobacco market to criminal networks. Why would vaping be any different?
Everyone Is Getting Joker Wrong
Plus: sex discrimination before SCOTUS today, Warren stands by pregnancy firing claim, and more...
Don't Narc on Kids' Nerf Guns Unless You Want Potentially Tragic Confrontations
America may be safer than ever, but residents of the Land of the Free seem set on raising their children in a climate of fear.
Another Multiracial Family Falsely Accused of Sex Trafficking While Flying
Plus: Juul targeted for smoking cessation claims, federal budget deficit tops $1 trillion, and more...
The FBI's Infamous List of 'Known Terrorists' Is Ruled Unconstitutional
Plus: millennials are buying homes after all, protecting Pinterest from anti-vaxxers, and more...
'I'm Radioactive'
Journalist Jonathan Kaiman is one of the least famous, least powerful men to be brought down by the #MeToo movement. A year later, the fallout continues.
Acts of Politically Motivated Violence Are Already Illegal. Making 'Domestic Terrorism' a Federal Crime Won't Help
A domestic terrorism law is bound to threaten liberty more than it hampers terrorists.
Selling Drugs to Sex Workers Could Be Human Trafficking Under the Senate's New 'PROTECT Act'
The bipartisan bill says "using drugs or illegal substances to cause a person to engage in a commercial sex act" or in any kind of labor counts as human trafficking.
