The real-world mayhem many predicted for the 2020 election never quite materialized. But there has been plenty of online mayhem before and after – much of it on Facebook. With powerful forces sowing confusion and chaos across every major platform, our collective rage, mistrust, and anxiety just keeps on burning... Read more
By Justin Sanders
There are so many big pleasures we miss about going to movie theaters – the popcorn, the velvety seats, the camaraderie – that it’s easy to overlook the small ones, like movie posters. But the life-sized posters lining the walls at the cinema are an intrinsic part of the movie-going... Read more
It’s been a long, tough year – and yes, we are as tired of hearing that sentiment as you are. That is why we suggest taking a much-deserved break from, well, the world this Thanksgiving and just living your best life for a few days. If you are anything like... Read more
By Ruth Vitale
YouTube is losing the battle against toxic content. A recent Wired article details the algorithmic tweaks that YouTube implemented after the 2017 mass-shooting in Las Vegas sparked a wave of false-flag videos on its platform. The terrible behavior of some of its users following a national tragedy compelled YouTube to embark on nothing... Read more
It’s official: On October 20, the Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to “stop Google from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices.” From making itself the default search engine on billions of mobile devices to then making its own products “undeletable” on those devices, Google has... Read more
By Justin Sanders
In July, The New York Times reported on an organization called the Global Antitrust Institute (GAI), a think tank funded by the likes of Google and other Big Tech heavyweights. Its goal, per the newspaper: to wine and dine, cajole, pamper, and influence government officials around the world who enforce competition laws. Offering opulent... Read more
ALL TIMELINE UPDATES August 18, 2004 A Catchphrase Is Born Google makes its unofficial corporate motto, “Don’t Be Evil,” part of the public record, devoting an entire section to the catchphrase in their public offering prospectus. “We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served—as shareholders and... Read more
By Ruth Vitale
Talk about out of touch. Big Tech’s house is in shambles, shaken by scandals, and people all over the world are creating pressure to fix Silicon Valley’s lack of accountability. Yet the industry and its allies keep trying to duck the question and shift the blame. They will not stop... Read more
By Justin Sanders
You might think that the jobs of actor and doctor are colossally, incompatibly different. That not only do they have nothing to do with each other, but that each is rife with its own tremendous challenges and time commitments. “Surely,” you might be thinking, “it’s difficult enough pursuing just one of these... Read more
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results, then Google and the Internet Archive (IA) are clearly driving creatives insane. For those who may not be familiar with the Internet Archive, it is the nonprofit entity that congratulated itself for making... Read more