IT & Technology News
Reporting on information technology, cybersecurity, and tech policy. The Daily Signal includes analysis, commentary, and opinion on technology’s impact.
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- News
Is the IRS Going to Censor Sermons at Your Church?
An atheist group wants to censor what priests, pastors, rabbis and other clergy say in their sermons by threatening an IRS challenge of their tax-exempt status. Generally, the leaders of houses of worship in America have the constitutional right to preach and promote anything short of an outright endorsement of a political candidate. But now,…Kelsey Bolar -
- Opinion
Are You Facebook Friends with a Terrorist?
You can easily follow the developments of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other terrorist groups on every major news outlet, but few Americans realize how social media savvy terrorists are. Recently, ISIS has even deployed kittens and guns to gain followers on Twitter. Over the past 15 years, terrorists have fallen…Travis Klein -
- News
Journalists Say Obama Administration’s ‘Censorship’ Threatens Free Press
A coalition of 38 journalism advocacy groups penned an open letter to President Obama urging him to better foster transparency and curb systemic censorship within his administration and the federal government. Released yesterday, the letter chastised the president for failing to live up to his own promises, and endangering the critical role of a free…Philip Wegmann -
- News
Did Facebook Secretly Manipulate Your News Feed?
Facebook is facing backlash from users and researchers over the ethics and legality of a recently revealed week-long experiment, which the company conducted in January 2012. The company secretly manipulated the news feeds of nearly 700,000 users and found that the information posted by a user’s friends can influence that user’s mood. The experiment took…Josh Peterson -
- Opinion
House Intel Committee Chairman, Member Warn FCC Against Increased Cybersecurity Regulation
On June 16, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R–MI) and committee member Mike Pompeo (R–KS) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler warning against regulatory cybersecurity measures. The lawmakers were responding to a speech Wheeler gave at the American Enterprise Institute on June 12 in which he called for a…Andrew Tucker -
- Opinion
Second Chinese Military Group Identified in Cyber Attacks
CrowdStrike, a private security technology firm, released a report last week condemning Unit 61486 of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for cyber espionage against U.S. corporations. This report follows the Justice Department’s symbolic indictment of five Chinese military officers for similar cyber misconduct, whose crimes were detailed by Mandiant—another security technology firm—in February 2013. Both…Drew Tucker -
- Opinion
In Europe, You Can’t Google Those Embarrassing Photos Anymore
Do you ever wish that that video of you dancing at your cousin’s wedding could just be erased from the Internet? Or that photo of you from 1975 sporting a leisure suit? So, apparently, do thousands of people in Europe. In one of the worst public policy decisions in European history (and that’s saying a…James Gattuso -
- News
‘Gosnell’ Filmmaker Glad Kickstarter ‘Got the Message That People Won’t Stand for Censorship’
After stirring controversy over its handling of the movie “Gosnell,” crowdsourcing website Kickstarter is altering its policies. In a blog post Tuesday, the company announced two changes: a “Launch Now” feature and “dramatically simplified rules.” “Gosnell” filmmakers say it’s a big win for diversity of opinion. Earlier this year, filmmakers Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney…Kelsey Bolar