How Ranking and Recommendation Algorithms Influence How We See the World
Have you ever stumbled on a random video because of autoplay? Have you ever wondered why some items appear on your news feed or in search results while others d…
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Is TikTok out of time? Experts mull implications of ban
"“I am not aware of the app collecting more or qualitatively different data than other social media platforms. I do think TikTok has become the latest ligh…
The Senate’s twin threats to online speech and security
This is a cruel summer. The COVID-19 toll increases daily. Millions are out of work and risk losing their homes. The senseless loss of Black lives continues des…
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Should you delete TikTok? Only if you’re also going to delete Facebook
"Richard Forno, director of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s cybersecurity graduate program, contends that TikTok is no more or less invasive…
Covid-19 should spark a reexamination of trade secrets’ stranglehold on information
As the world struggles to confront the Covid-19 pandemic, how to handle access to trade secrets — information that is valuable because others do not know it — i…
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Police Are Buying Access to Hacked Website Data
"Riana Pfefferkorn, associate director of surveillance and cybersecurity at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, told Motherboard in an email, &qu…
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2020 Elections, COVID-19 Create Misinformation Opportunities
"While there’s a lot individuals can do to identify misinformation and reduce their role in spreading it, the main culprits are Twitter, Facebook and other…
Techdirt Podcast Episode 248: The Most Serious Threat To Section 230
Attacks on Section 230 are relentless and coming from all sides — so we've got another podcast all about the attempts to ruin the most important law on the…
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The EARN IT Act Threatens Our Online Freedoms. New Amendments Don’t Fix It.
On July 2, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a full-committee hearing at which it made significant changes to the pending EARN IT Act bill, S.3398, about whic…
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Is the U.S. Senate Trying to Steal Your Privacy While No One is Looking?
"Wide-ranging in its focus, an analysis from Riana Pfefferkorn of Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society shows that it “isn’t just aimed at Apple, Goog…
Free Speech And Hate Speech: Another Reckoning For Social Media Companies
Coca Cola, Target and other major companies have recently limited or stopped advertising on Facebook. Those boycotts are part of a campaign designed to pressure…
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Making Sense of EARN IT & LAED Bills' Implications for Crypto
"Given that many US government leaders have led decades-long history of opposition to private use of digital encryption, cybersecurity and privacy advocate…