Media Regulation | Reason Archives (original) (raw)
Why the Media Covered for Biden
Plus: A listener asks whether Bruce Springsteen's song Born in the U.S.A is actually patriotic.
Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 7.8.2024 5:39 PM
Read the FCC's Crank Mail About Saturday Night Live
One viewer said it should be illegal to take the Lord's name in vain on TV—and that was one of the more coherent complaints.
Matthew Petti | 4.15.2024 10:19 AM
Progressives Are Ditching Free Speech To Fight 'Disinformation'
From limits on liability protections for websites to attempts to regulate the internet like a public utility, these proposals will erode Americans' right to express themselves.
Steven Greenhut | 2.16.2024 7:30 AM
The Battlefields of Cable
How cable TV transformed politics—and how politics transformed cable TV
Jesse Walker | 8.15.2023 8:00 AM
Gigi Sohn Withdraws FCC Nomination Due to Politics, Policy, and Police Pressure
While Sohn’s record raises ethics and judgment questions, some attacks against her lacked merit.
David McGarry | 3.8.2023 3:05 PM
District Court Halts New York Law Forcing Online Platforms To 'Respond' to 'Hateful' Speech
"Today's decision is a victory for the First Amendment that should be celebrated by everyone who hopes to see the internet continue as a place where even difficult and contentious issues can be debated and discussed freely," said one attorney.
Emma Camp | 2.16.2023 2:00 PM
Britain Wants To Jail Social Media Managers Who Don't Censor to the Government's Liking
Tech firm operators may face criminal charges if children who use their platforms encounter too much “harmful content.”
Scott Shackford | 1.17.2023 2:35 PM
Brickbat: You Can't Say That
Charles Oliver | 1.5.2023 4:00 AM
Brickbat: Royal Disaster
Charles Oliver | 12.30.2022 4:00 AM
No, You Don't Have a First Amendment Right To Get Your Speech Aired on Cable News
On Tuesday night, Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington made the baffling claim that, if mainstream news channels failed to air the former president's campaign announcement in full, it would mean that "we do not have the First Amendment."
Emma Camp | 11.17.2022 4:41 PM
Russia's Remaining Independent Journalists Suffer for Their Work
Journalists often do their best work in places that offer the least welcoming environment.
J.D. Tuccille | 4.20.2022 7:00 AM
It's Dangerous to Allow Politicians and Officials to Decide What Constitutes 'Truth'
"Governments realize that they are in an existential battle over who controls information."
J.D. Tuccille | 1.10.2022 8:30 AM
If You Think Facebook Is Full of Dubious Outrage-Bait, Wait Til You See the Company's Critics
A business model where outrage is exploited for clicks describes both social media and the news media.
Liz Wolfe | 10.29.2021 10:30 AM
CNN Shuts Down Access to Facebook Pages in Australia After Court Ruling Holding Media Outlets Liable for Commenters
This is where government demands to moderate what users say will ultimately lead.
Scott Shackford | 9.29.2021 12:40 PM
Governments Love a Media Cartel—As Long as They're in Control
Friday A/V Club: Some people are against concentrated media power. Some just want to bend it to their will.
Jesse Walker | 8.20.2021 8:30 AM
Baltimore's Top Prosecutor Attempts To Send FCC Against Local Fox Affiliate
Don’t call yourself a supporter of the First Amendment while attempting to punish a media outlet for criticizing you.
Scott Shackford | 5.12.2021 12:55 PM
Florida Legislators Exempt Their Favorite Companies From Social Media Bill
"It's very obvious that nobody involved in [the bill] consulted a First Amendment lawyer," says TechFreedom's Berin Szóka.
Scott Shackford | 5.5.2021 1:15 PM
Why We (Still) Shouldn't Censor Misinformation
It strains credulity to believe random tweets can lead otherwise normal people to drive across the country and stage an insurrection.
Joseph Uscinski | 3.21.2021 6:00 AM
Facebook Restores News Links in Australia After Getting Some Concessions
Big outlets get subsidies. The government still gets to pick winners and losers.
Scott Shackford | 3.1.2021 2:25 PM
Everybody's Wrong About the Facebook/Murdoch Standoff in Australia
This tech/media fight down under is not about democracy or monopolies. It’s about ad revenue.
Scott Shackford | 2.18.2021 1:30 PM
Twitter Blocking a New York Post Article Was Dumb—but Not Illegal, Censorship, or Election Interference
Plus: 898,000 new jobless claims, and more...
Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 10.15.2020 9:45 AM
U.K. Media Lobby Wants Government To Force Advertisers to Support Coronavirus Coverage
Desperate for revenue, online outlets try to use a crisis to overrule their customers’ judgment.
Scott Shackford | 4.9.2020 2:20 PM
Brickbat: Canadian Initiative
Charles Oliver | 4.3.2020 4:00 AM
U.K. 'Celebrates' Its New Freedom From the E.U. by Pushing Massive Online Censorship Orders
Government wants to force social media platforms to accept a “duty of care” to protect users from whatever they deem harmful.
Scott Shackford | 2.13.2020 1:55 PM
Andrew Yang's 'Department of the Attention Economy' Is Why Libertarians Don't Trust Democrats
The answer to real and imagined problems is always spend more, regulate more.
Nick Gillespie | 11.19.2019 10:30 AM
All Speech Should Be Free
The more speech that is blocked, the less we learn.
John Stossel | 10.2.2019 12:30 AM
The U.K. Banned a Cream Cheese Commercial and Car Commercial Due to Gender Stereotypes
The ads are the first to be banned since the new law went into effect in June.
Ben McDonald | 8.15.2019 5:15 PM
Georgia Bill Would Mandate 'Journalism Ethics Board.' What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Journalists would be expected to pay up for government records, while handing over their own records to government officials for free.
Joe Setyon | 4.3.2019 12:50 PM
Is the Deregulatory Phase of the Trump Presidency Grinding to a Halt?
The Competitive Enterprise Institute says there's a bunch of regulatory warning signs, from trade to antitrust to speech.
Matt Welch | 1.24.2019 5:00 PM
Can You Curse On-Air During a Government Shutdown? Reason Investigates
There's one fool-proof way to find out.
Joe Setyon | 1.11.2019 4:40 PM
Everybody Wants To Regulate the Internet Except Ajit Pai: Podcast
One year after Net Neutrality, connection speed is up, the discrimination critics feared is non-existent, and the debate about Internet regulation is abysmal.
Matt Welch | 12.17.2018 2:15 PM
We've Got Good News…
A look at the victories we've won in the last half-century
Jesse Walker | 11.25.2018 6:00 AM
Making the Fairness Doctrine Great Again
Media bias has been far less harmful than media regulation bias. That can seal off whole markets and make everyone who's left too nervous to speak freely.
Thomas W. Hazlett | 2.15.2018 6:00 AM