Section 230, a key law protecting free speech online since its passage in 1996, has been the subject of numerous legislative assaults over the past few years. The attacks have come from all sides. One of the latest, the SAFE… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Commentary’
Coded Resistance: Freedom Fighting and Communication
It’s nearing the end of Black History Month, and that history is inherently tied to strife, resistance, and organizing related to government surveillance and oppression. Even though programs like COINTELPRO are more well-known now, the other side of these kinds… Read More ›
Facebook's Latest Proposed Policy Change Exemplifies the Trouble With Moderating Speech at Scale
Hateful speech presents one of the most difficult problems of content moderation. At a global scale, it’s practically impossible. That’s largely because few people agree about what hateful speech is—whether it is limited to derogations based on race, gender, religion,… Read More ›
Amazon Ring’s End-to-End Encryption: What it Means
Almost one year after EFF called on Amazon’s surveillance doorbell company Ring to encrypt footage end-to-end, it appears they are starting to make this necessary change. This call was a response to a number of problematic and potentially harmful incidents,… Read More ›
The Old Media and the New Must Work Together to Preserve Free Speech Values
EFF Civil Liberties Director David Greene delivered the following as a keynote address on March 6, 2020, at the Media Law and Policy in the Digital Age: Global Challenges and Opportunities symposium hosted by Indiana University’s Center for International Media… Read More ›
It’s Not 230 You Hate, It’s Oligopolies
As we continue to hear calls to repeal or change Section 230, it appears that many people have conflated a law that affects the tech giants (among many others) with Big Tech as a whole. Section 230 is not a… Read More ›
End Two Federal Programs that Fund Police Surveillance Tech
The new administration can do two things immediately that would help stop some of the more nefarious ways that police departments get surveillance technology. It should further roll back the infamous 1033 program of the National Defense Authorization Act, which… Read More ›
For Many, the Arab Spring Isn't Over
Ten years ago today, Egyptians took to the streets to topple a dictator who had clung to power for nearly three decades. January 25th remains one of the most important dates of the Arab Spring, a series of massive, civilian-led… Read More ›
Twitter and Interoperability: Some Thoughts From the Peanut Gallery
Late in 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey floated “Project Blue Sky,” a plan for an interoperable, federated, standardized Twitter that would let users (or toolsmiths who work on behalf of users) gain more control over their participation in the Twitter… Read More ›
Face Surveillance and the Capitol Attack
After last week’s violent attack on the Capitol, law enforcement is working overtime to identify the perpetrators. This is critical to accountability for the attempted insurrection. Law enforcement has many, many tools at their disposal to do this, especially given… Read More ›