Full disclosure: this blog post was not written with just the best prose and policy prescriptions in mind. There was something else I considered, something shared by everyone from the smallest of bloggers to the New York Times: how to optimize ranking in Google’s search algorithm. As Google is the dominant search engine that people […]

Tomorrow, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss censorship, the suppression of news articles, and the companies’ handling of the 2020 presidential election. Last time Dorsey and Zuckerberg were brought in to the Senate to testify, the hearing turned into an opportunity for some […]

Media organizations and social media platforms approached preparing for the 2020 presidential election as if they were going to war. Informed by COVID-19 misinformation conspiracies, demands from both sides of the political aisle to adjust their content moderation policies, and at least four years of orchestrated political misinformation campaigns, our mainstream media and social media […]

On October 20, Twitch streamers woke up to find that thousands of their videos had been permanently, and without advance notice, wiped from the platform. Not only did Twitch blatantly violate the law (leaving it vulnerable to user lawsuits), the incident also shows how the Digital Millennium Copyright Act fails utterly at protecting individual speech […]

In 2016, Facebook, Twitter, and other digital platforms were used as they were designed — to help content go viral — but for destructive purposes. Misinformation that ramped up during the election cycle was not just coming from within the United States, but from a coordinated influence campaign wherein Russian bots produced and disseminated disinformation […]

Historically, the internet is a “best efforts” service. Subscribers knowingly accept the risk of outages at any time as a condition of using the network. Today, access to reliable broadband has become an essential cornerstone of the economy, education, and public safety. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased our reliance on broadband even further while regulated […]

Yesterday’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Section 230 — six days before the national election — could have been about what responsibility platforms have in addressing foreign attempts to interfere in our election. It could have been about the degradation of local news. It could even have been a good faith debate about the merits […]

Right around the time that Malcolm in the Middle started airing, I discovered the concept of emancipation. My rebellious teen self dreamed of calling it quits from my parents. Fortunately, my parents firmly squashed this notion, and I was left with the consolation prize of blaring the chorus to the show’s theme song — “you’re […]

My morning routine usually consists of waking up, checking my email, making coffee, and signing on to a Zoom meeting. While I do this, my Mom is also on Zoom teaching her class and my Dad is on a conference call. These things typically happen without any hiccups and we usually think nothing of it. […]

After seven hearings and more than 200 interviews, will Big Tech finally be held accountable by Congress? The House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee launched its blockbuster report this week, summarizing the findings of a year-long bipartisan investigation into Big Tech’s market power. Leading the charge to reform and regulate Big Tech, Chairman David Cicilline joined […]