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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- Opinion
Cyberattack on Pipeline Shows How Jones Act Is Threat to National Security
The Eastern European or Russian hacking ring DarkSide’s cyberattack has wreaked havoc on the Colonial Pipeline, which transports a large percentage of the gasoline, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum into several states throughout the southeastern U.S. and mid-Atlantic. News of the pipeline’s shutdown sparked a panic-fueled run on gasoline, and caused gas prices to…Patrick Tyrrell -
- Opinion
First Trump, Then Who? Facebook Makes Wrong Call in Censoring Trump
Facebook’s Oversight Board decided Wednesday to uphold Facebook’s and Instagram’s suspension of former President Donald Trump from their platforms. This decision is the wrong one, and one that all Americans, regardless of political affiliation, should be concerned about. However, the Oversight Board was entirely appropriate to admonish Facebook for the fact that its penalty was vague and…Kay C. James -
- News
Facebook Is Keeping Trump Off Its Platform
Facebook’s oversight board upheld the company’s decision to ban former President Donald Trump Wednesday morning. “The Board found that, in maintaining an unfounded narrative of electoral fraud and persistent calls to action, Mr. Trump created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible,” the board said in a statement. It also found, however, that…Andrew Trunsky -
- Opinion
Steven Crowder Calls Out YouTube Censorship
The most viewed conservative commentator on YouTube is Steven Crowder with his channel, Louder with Crowder. His fans love his politically incorrect jokes. He also sets up a table at college campuses, invites people to debate, and airs the debate unedited. One such video, titled, “There Are Two Genders: Change My Mind,” has been viewed…John Stossel -
- Opinion
When Government Demands Social Media Censorship, Americans of All Political Beliefs Lose
In what’s becoming a Capitol Hill ritual, lawmakers recently called the leaders of Facebook, Google, and Twitter back before Congress to give them their latest pummeling. This particular session focused on “misinformation” and how social media companies purportedly played a role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but it easily could have been mistaken…Douglas Blair -
- News
Big Tech Censors Conservative Comedians
It’s a situation so funny that a growing number of ostracized comics forgot to laugh: Conservative-leaning material, they say, is increasingly subject to arbitrary online censorship by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media giants—treatment that appears to have no other explanation except the targets’ bucking of leftist orthodoxy. Openly conservative stand-up Nick Di Paolo…Christian Toto -
- Opinion
With the Return of Parler, Social Media Users Have More Choices
Parler’s social media service restarted on Sunday after being offline for over a month due to Amazon, Google, and Apple removing Parler from their platforms and app stores. Parler now has a new interim CEO, a new logo, new servers, and a renewed commitment to provide a place where users can speak freely. Parler calls…Lora Ries -
- News
In Farewell Video, Trump Decries ‘Political Censorship,’ ‘Blacklisting’
In a farewell address on his last full day in office, President Donald Trump defended free speech, wished “luck” to his successor, and thanked his vice president, whom he has criticized in recent weeks. As with other outgoing presidents, Trump talked in his videotaped message, released Tuesday afternoon, about the achievements of his administration as…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Corporations’ Worrying Embrace of Censorship
In recent days, some of the nation’s most powerful corporations have engaged in a concerted effort, at the behest of a major political party, to limit the speech of millions of Americans who engaged in wrongthink. First, Twitter permanently banned the sitting president. As is its right. And when millions of his fans left and…David Harsanyi -
- Opinion
Hack of US Agencies, Fortune 500 Firms Highlights Need for Cybersecurity
Russians are the prime suspects in a major hack this month against U.S. computer networks, compromising the data of the departments of Commerce, Treasury, and Homeland Security, as well as a number of Fortune 500 companies, in one of the largest reported cyberattacks ever. The full scope of the hack will not be known for…James Di Pane -
- News
Fed Up With Tech Platforms’ Censorship? Here Are 3 Free Speech Upstarts
Traditional social media networks are experiencing a backlash from users as they continue to “cancel” or otherwise censor conservative views. As a result, alternative “free speech” social media providers such as MeWe and Parler are seeing a surge of new users to their platforms. Here are three of those social media Davids challenging the tech…Nathalie Voit -
- News
6 Takeaways as Facebook, Twitter CEOs Testify at Senate Hearing
The CEOs of Twitter and Facebook returned Tuesday to Capitol Hill, this time to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. While focused on Twitter’s blocking of a New York Post story about the Biden family’s business dealings overseas and the social media giants’ immunity from lawsuit under the Communications Decency Act, the hearing veered into…Fred Lucas -
- News
Liberal Media Suggest Biden Should Take Aggressive Approach to Censoring Conservative Media
Liberal media figures and outlets are suggesting that Joe Biden should take an aggressive approach to conservative media when he becomes president of the United States. “There is no question that Democrats are gearing up to use their new power to apply far more pressure than ever on Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. to censor any…Mary Margaret Olohan -
- Opinion
GoFundMe Censors Billboard Fundraising Campaign
GoFundMe, the private fundraising website, has halted the ability of a group of parents to raise money for a giant billboard that would expose transgender disinformation. GoFundMe claims the fundraising efforts violated its user rules. Parents wanted to erect a billboard that says, “Puberty is not a medical condition,” along with a graphic of Abigail Shrier’s book, “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters.” …Nicole Russell -
- News
Email Marketing Firm Warns It May Censor Content
In what might be the latest example of censorship by a large tech company, the email marketing company Mailchimp adopted a new policy this week to remove certain content. Mailchimp determined it will use its “sole discretion” to determine whether messages are misleading and can be removed. In a customer message obtained by The Daily…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Meet the Climate Scientists That Social Media Censors Don’t Want You to Know About
Before the Hunter Biden/New York Post/Twitter imbroglio blew up a little more than one week ago, one of the primary targets of social media censors and left-leaning activists was a small nonprofit operating out of Arlington, Virginia. That group is the CO2 Coalition, formed in 2015 to educate policymakers and the public about climate change and…Gregory Wrightstone -
- Opinion
Tech Censorship Is on a Dangerous Path
The Big Tech censorship by Jack Dorsey’s Twitter of the New York Post story on Hunter Biden and Joe Biden is so egregious that I have to speak up. If there were any doubt, it is now clear that Twitter’s censorship system is set up to survey, capture, control, and manipulate the political narrative within…Armstrong Williams -
- Opinion
Social Media’s Preemptive Spiking of New York Post Story Shows Bias Against Conservatives Continues
Twitter and Facebook are quickly backpedaling after suppressing a New York Post story damaging to former Vice President Joe Biden, but that doesn’t erase the fact that just weeks before an election, the social media platforms continue to enforce their rules differently for those with whom they disagree politically. When the Post published a story…Kay C. James -
- Opinion
Twitter’s Censorship of the New York Post Is Un-American
Less than three weeks from a presidential election, perhaps the most vital platform for political news and debate, Twitter, has locked down the accounts of a presidential candidate’s press secretary and of his official campaign, among others, at the behest of activists pretending to be journalists. This is unsurprising to anyone who has been paying…David Harsanyi -
- News
Twitter Reverses Censorship of House GOP Committee Webpage, Says It Was Blocked ‘in Error’
Twitter said it erroneously blocked a link to the official government website for House Judiciary Committee Republicans that republished a censored New York Post story about Hunter Biden. “The link referenced was blocked in error. That decision has been reversed and the link is now unblocked,” a Twitter spokesman, who insisted on anonymity as a…Peter Hasson