Opinion

The internet, COVID-19, and the open society

BY BRET SWANSON One promise of the internet was to lower barriers. It would obliterate the distance limitations of geography and the gatekeeping functions of big media, big business, big academia, and big government. At first, it did this through

Foreign Policy

Brazil’s political institutions clash over COVID response

BY RYAN C. BERG Brazil recently surpassed a grim statistic: 100,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus, which barrels on in the second worst outbreak in the world. Under increasing pressure at home — over 30 impeachment motions have been introduced by opponents in Congress

Commerce

Democrats don’t make a case for regulating Big Tech

BY MARK JAMISON In a recent blog post, I wrote that July’s House Judiciary Committee hearing featuring Big Tech CEOs from Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google turned into two hearings: one for Democrats, who largely want to control the companies’ business models and

Health and Wellness

An old friend

BY NORBERT RUG An old buddy stopped by my house the other day. He came over because I got in touch with him due to a series of challenges I had personally taken on. This task was to contact an

Technology

Facebook is trying to alter your mood

In a shocking revelations exposed in The Atlantic, Robinson Meyer writes that Facebook administered studies that aim to alter users’ mood by virtue of the content that is funneled into their newsfeed. From his article, Everything We Know About Facebook’s Secret Mood Manipulation Experiment,