Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Category Archives: Censorship

Here’s When You Should Use Tor Instead of a VPN

How-To-Geek: “If you’ve been looking into the different ways to browse anonymously, two terms will come up regularly: VPNs and Tor. However, when you compare these two, you’ll quickly see that they have very different use cases. To figure out when you should use Tor rather than a VPN, let’s first go over how they… Continue Reading

Growing network of conservative groups is fueling a surge in book bans

The New York Times: “Traditionally, debates over what books are appropriate for school libraries have taken place between a concerned parent and a librarian or administrator, and resulted in a single title or a few books being re-evaluated, and either removed or returned to shelves. But recently, the issue has been supercharged by a rapidly… Continue Reading

Twitter’s Rivals Try to Capitalize on Musk-Induced Chaos

The New York Times $: “New start-ups and other social platforms sense opportunity as Twitter grapples with changes from Elon Musk, its new owner…A race is on to dethrone Twitter and capitalize on the chaos of its new ownership under Elon Musk, the tech mogul who bought the social media company for $44 billion in… Continue Reading

An Uncensored Library Created in Minecraft Defies Authoritarianism

Indubitably Odin: “Censored articles from around the world find refuge in this massive Minecraft map. Reporters Without Borders is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. In order to expand upon this goal, the organization has turned to an unlikely source: the video game… Continue Reading

Tracing Twitter from Its Roots as a Protest Tool to Elon Musk’s Acquisition

Crimethinc: The Billionaire and the Anarchists Tracing Twitter from Its Roots as a Protest Tool to Elon Musk’s Acquisition – “…But Twitter did not simply spring, fully formed like Athena, from the head of company co-founder Jack Dorsey. In fact, it was a modest refinement of a model already demonstrated by TXTmob, the SMS text… Continue Reading

The Uncensored Library

The Uncensored Library: “In many countries, websites, social media and blogs are controlled by oppressive leaders. Young people, in particular, are forced to grow up in systems where their opinion is heavily manipulated by governmental disinformation campaigns. But even where almost all media is blocked or controlled, the world’s most successful computer game is still… Continue Reading

Elon Musk’s ‘hardcore’ management style: a case study in what not to do

Via LLRX – Elon Musk’s ‘hardcore’ management style: a case study in what not to do: Professor Libby Sander explains why as a case study in how to implement organisational change, Elon Musk’s actions at Twitter will go down as the gold standard in what not to do. Among other things, the evidence shows successful… Continue Reading

A Small Town Librarian Spoke Against Censorship. Then the Dark Money Came for Her.

The New York Times: “Amanda Jones is a librarian. This summer, worried that her town might try to ban books, she spoke up at a public library board meeting about the importance of a diverse collection and preserving young people’s access to books with sexual health content and L.G.B.T.Q. themes. A few days later, she… Continue Reading

The 50 most banned books in America

CBS News: “During the 2021-2022 school year, more than 1,600 books were banned from school libraries. The bans affected 138 school districts in 32 states, according to a report from PEN America, an organization dedicated to protecting free expression in literature.  And the number of bans are only increasing yearly.  Texas and Florida lead the nation… Continue Reading

Freedom on the Net 2022: Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet

“Global internet freedom declined for a 12th consecutive year as more governments erected digital barriers designed to censor dissent and monitor users, according to a report released today by Freedom House. The study finds that more than three-quarters of the world’s internet users now live in countries where authorities punish people for exercising their right… Continue Reading

Martin-Quinn Scores – Ideology of every Supreme Court

“Measuring the relative location of U.S. Supreme Court justices on an ideological continuum allows us to better understand the politics of the high court. In addition, such measures are an important building blocking of statistical models of the Supreme Court, the separation of powers system, and the judicial hierarchy. This website contains the so-called “Martin-Quinn”… Continue Reading

Threats to the US Midterm Elections Have Been Building for Years

Freedom House – The festering problems that erupted after the last presidential election are still unresolved. “As the United States heads toward midterm elections on November 8, the political environment remains haunted by the coup attempt that culminated in a violent attack on the Capitol in January 2021. Social and mainstream media are overrun with… Continue Reading