Headlines

Why the alt-right can’t build an alt-internet

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 22:56:45 +0000

One of the biggest pressure points for anti-racist activists right now is domain registrars like GoDaddy, which sell addresses that point web users toward a site. While anyone can hook up a server to the internet, domain name sales are regulated by the multinational organization ICANN, which hands off management of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) to organizations called registries.

Boston authorities should not have blocked media from covering protest

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 22:56:10 +0000

While plenty of media commentators and politicians lauded the efforts of Boston politicians and the Boston Police Department to keep the peace Aug 19 during a extreme-right-wing rally and massive counter protests, they failed at protecting the media’s right to cover a newsworthy event.

Digital media veteran Ross Levinsohn takes over the LA Times as it fires top editors

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 22:55:41 +0000

Digital media veteran Ross Levinsohn takes over the LA Times as it fires top editors

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Trump ramping up for 2020 reelection, reportedly eyeing Zuckerberg as a threat

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:39:08 +0000

President Donald Trump is methodically building a 2020 reelection campaign machine, shunting aside doubts about his viability for a second term as controversy consumes the early months of his administration.

Remarks of FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly Before the Americans for Prosperity's 2017 Defending the American Dream Summit

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:38:40 +0000

Shortly before the inauguration, I outlined four general areas where actions could be taken to reinvigorate investment,

Can Anyone Stop Trump’s FCC From Approving a Conservative Local News Empire?

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:38:03 +0000

President Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission, under chairman Ajit Pai, has been clearing the way for a merger between Sinclair Broadcasting and Tribune Media, two television companies that together own hundreds of local news stations.

The very dirty history of on-demand video technology

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:37:18 +0000

The very dirty history of on-demand video technology

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President Trump to Deliver First Primetime Policy Speech Aug 21

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:37:14 +0000

President Trump to Deliver First Primetime Policy Speech Aug 21

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Verizon Gigabit LTE Trial Breaks the Gigabit Speed Barrier

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:37:02 +0000

Verizon Gigabit LTE Trial Breaks the Gigabit Speed Barrier

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How Hate Groups Forced Online Platforms to Reveal Their True Nature

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:06:12 +0000

These platforms draw arbitrary boundaries constantly and with much less controversy — against spammers, concerning profanity or in response to government demands. These fringe groups saw an opportunity in the gap between the platforms’ strained public dedication to discourse stewardship and their actual existence as profit-driven entities, free to do as they please.

Behind the Bluster of Steve Bannon’s War Cry

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:05:17 +0000

In a conversation with Peter J. Boyer of The Weekly Standard, Steve Bannon said, “I have my hands back on my weapons,” the most important being his conservative website, Breitbart News — a “machine” he promised to “rev up” for what the site’s editor-at-large Joel Pollak described in a hashtag on Twitter as “#War.”

Breitbart has lost nearly 2,600 advertisers

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:04:43 +0000

Breitbart has lost nearly 2,600 advertisers

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Highly ideological members of Congress have more Facebook followers than moderates do

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:04:38 +0000

The most liberal and conservative members of the 115th Congress have attracted more Facebook followers than moderates, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis.

Why Tech Giants Like Google and Amazon Are Spending Big On TV Ads

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:03:42 +0000

In recent months, industry pundits sat up and took notice when online advertising giant Google started doubling down on its TV advertising investment.

Cambridge University Press Bows to China Censors

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:03:14 +0000

Cambridge University Press Bows to China Censors

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Machines Taught By Photos Learn a Sexist View of Women

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:02:50 +0000

Machines Taught By Photos Learn a Sexist View of Women

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Behind the unlikely success of PolitiFact and the Truth-O-Meter

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:02:45 +0000

Behind the unlikely success of PolitiFact and the Truth-O-Meter

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Boston ‘free speech’ rally ends early amid flood of counterprotesters; 27 people arrested

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:40:30 +0000

Tens of thousands of counterprotesters crammed Boston Common and marched through city streets Aug 19 in efforts to drown out the planned “free speech” rally that many feared would be attended by white-supremacist groups.

Voter suppression is the civil rights issue of this era

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:39:49 +0000

For in this new civil rights era, voting rights for broad swaths of Americans — minorities, the young and the old — are again imperiled and under attack.

Enough is Enough

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:38:59 +0000

These are not normal times. The man in the White House is reckless and unmanageable, a danger to the Constitution, a threat to our democratic institutions.

Online Sleuths Are Outing Racists, But Should They?

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:38:17 +0000

Shortly after Aug 12’s white nationalist march through Charlottesville, outraged internet users took to social media to call out some of the participants in the march.

Despite Disavowals, Leading Tech Companies Help Extremist Sites Monetize Hate

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:37:52 +0000

Because of its “extreme hostility toward Muslims,” the website Jihadwatch.org is considered an active hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. The views of the site’s director, Robert Spencer, on Islam led the British Home Office to ban him from entering the country in 2013. But its designation as a hate site hasn’t stopped tech companies — including PayPal, Amazon and Newsmax — from maintaining partnerships with Jihad Watch that help to sustain it financially.

Why the ACLU is adjusting its approach to “free speech” after Charlottesville

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:36:44 +0000

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had sued the city of Charlottesville (VA) to allow the Unite the Right rally to happen downtown. And now, it had happened, and blood had been spilled.

President Trump blasts 'dishonest Fake News reporting' as he ends vacation

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:36:04 +0000

President Donald Trump blasted the news media ahead of his return to Washington on Sunday after a 17-day working vacation.

Head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement: We don’t use stingrays to locate undocumented immigrants

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:35:38 +0000

The acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency charged with deportations, has confirmed in a new letter that it does not use cell-site simulators, also known as stingrays, to locate undocumented immigrants.

Supreme Court asked to nullify the Google trademark

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:34:59 +0000

Is the term "google" too generic and therefore unworthy of its trademark protection? That's the question before the US Supreme Court.

Jerry Lewis, Mercurial Comedian and Filmmaker, Dies at 91

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:31:54 +0000

Jerry Lewis, Mercurial Comedian and Filmmaker, Dies at 91

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Dick Gregory, 84, Dies; Found Humor in the Civil Rights Struggle

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:31:49 +0000

Dick Gregory, 84, Dies; Found Humor in the Civil Rights Struggle

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Crowded TV Marketplace Gets Ready for Three Tech Giants

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:31:43 +0000

Crowded TV Marketplace Gets Ready for Three Tech Giants

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Stephen Bannon’s Path From Breitbart to the West Wing, and Back

Robbie McBeath — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:31:38 +0000

Stephen Bannon’s Path From Breitbart to the West Wing, and Back

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