In June 2022, Google suspended engineer Blake Lemoine from his work in artificial intelligence. Having previously assisted with a program called the Language Models for Dialog Applications (LaMDA), Lemoine was placed on leave after publishing confidential information about the project. … Continue reading
Over the course of 2020, the previously minor social media application Parler rose to national prominence. The site served as a smaller, right-leaning mirror to Twitter, attracting an audience that included (among others) both U.S. senators and QAnon conspiracy theorists. … Continue reading
On May 28, President Donald Trump issued an executive order charging federal agencies to “consider taking action … to prohibit unfair or deceptive acts” by social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. At issue is Section 230 of the Communications … Continue reading
Tony Wang, the general manager of Twitter, declared in 2012 that the company was “neutral as to the content” of speech, noting “[we] like to say that we are the free speech wing of the free speech party.” The same … Continue reading
The 1990s and early 2000s saw the rise of a new form of online-only marketplace. Companies like Amazon, eBay, and Craigslist became household words by providing familiar services from the convenience of a computer monitor. In 2004, Backpage.com joined the … Continue reading
On November 21, the Federal Communications Commission announced plans to revisit its Obama-era internet regulations. It seems likely that the resulting vote will repeal the policies often referred to as net neutrality. The name is, perhaps, misleading; to support net … Continue reading
