KOSA Moves Forward in Congress, Threatening Free Speech and Encryption
Only Sens. Paul and Wyden are expected to vote "no" on Tuesday. Power to stop KOSA now resides with the House.
Internet
Senate To Vote on Web Censorship Bill Disguised as Kids Safety
The Kids Online Safety Act would have cataclysmic effects on free speech and privacy online.
Cops Threaten To Take Kids From Family Terrorized by Anti-Christian Reddit Group
Online trolls weaponized child protective services against J.D. and Britney Lott and their eight children.
Trump Promises To Get Rid of Bad Regulations. Can He Deliver?
Growth of regulation slowed under former President Trump, but it still increased.
J.D. Vance Thinks Lina Khan Is Doing a Great Job
We're looking at four more years of anti-tech and anti-business antics from the FTC no matter who wins this November.
FTC Opens a Backdoor Route to Age Verification on Social Media
In a "novel" order concerning the app NGL, the agency takes aim at online anonymity and at minors on social media.
The MTV News Archive Is Gone—and That's OK
I wrote for the .com culture site in its heyday. I don't mourn its disappearance.
Biden and Trump Are Both Disastrously Wrong About Tariffs
Yes, cheap imports hurt some American companies. But protectionist trade policy harms many more Americans than it helps.
The Man Who Hated Rules
Hacktivist-journalist Barrett Brown sets out to settle scores in his new memoir.
Why the Media Covered for Biden
Plus: A listener asks whether Bruce Springsteen's song Born in the U.S.A is actually patriotic.
Judges Block Indiana and Mississippi Age Verification Laws for Porn, Social Media
And the Supreme Court agrees to weigh in.
A Law Professor's Beef With a First Amendment 'Spinning Out of Control': Too Much Speech of the Wrong Sort
Even as he praises judicial decisions that made room for "dissenters" and protected "robust political debate," Tim Wu pushes sweeping rationales for censorship.
Social Media Moderation Is Speech, Says Supreme Court
The Court is remanding these two cases for more analysis—but it made its views on some key issues clear.
The TikTok Ban Is a Blueprint for More Social Media Censorship
China's free speech record is bad, but the federal government's isn't so great either.
Why Has Joe Biden's $42 Billion Broadband Program Not Connected One Single Household?
The senior Republican FCC commissioner blames progressive politics, while lawmakers and telecom companies blame bureaucratic red tape.
Baltimore Brings Back Controversial Cellphone Hacking System
A year after a court told Maryland police that Cellebrite searches were too broad, Baltimore quietly resumed using the software.
Judge Tosses Biometric Data Suit Against X
X's child porn detection system doesn’t violate an Illinois biometric privacy law, the judge ruled.
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.
