Last year the Biden FCC passed a new rule providing portable Wi-Fi hotspots to school kids who struggle to do their homework online. More specifically, the rule allowed schools to leverage the FCC’…| Techdirt
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is BernardoVerda passing along a quote about a specific speech issue that has (ridiculously) been put back up for discussion: In second place, it’s MrWilson with a comment about the ousting of the CDC Director for not being “aligned with the president’s agenda”: It makes […]| Techdirt
Five Years Ago This week in 2020, the Secret Service joined the list of law enforcement agencies using data brokers to dodge warrant requirements for location data, much like the CPB was still doing via a broker being investigated by congress, while other agencies were throwing tax dollars at junk science — but at least […]| Techdirt
When people use the term “Orwellian,” it’s not a good sign. It usually characterizes an action, an individual or a society that is suppressing freedom, particularly the freedom of expression. It can also describe something perverted by tyrannical power. It’s a term used primarily to describe the present, but whose implications inevitably connect to both […]| Techdirt
There’s a particular kind of person who cheers when the president deploys military forces against American cities over the objections of their elected leaders. They call themselves patriots. They wrap themselves in the flag while applauding the systematic demolition of everything that flag once represented. They claim to love America while celebrating the transformation of […]| Techdirt
The CDC has plunged into chaos. Dr. Susan Monarez, the newly minted CDC Director, a role she held for a matter of mere weeks, has been fired by the Trump administration. We actually wrote about Monarez previously, as she was engaged with both the CDC team that was the target of an attempted mass shooting […]| Techdirt
The Microsoft Essential Tools Training Bundle has 4 courses to help you become a Microsoft expert in no time. Courses cover Microsoft 365, Excel, Word for beginners, and Word advanced. It’s on sale for $30. Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt Deals helps […]| Techdirt
Trump’s desire to punish, oust, and eject anyone who isn’t white and/or MAGA enough from this country means the preferred outlets for his aggression are running out of manpower. Tons of federal officers have already been rerouted to immigration enforcement, leaving those left with the unenviable task of actually catching the kinds of criminals Trump […]| Techdirt
Back in 2021, Congress passed both the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the infrastructure bill. While getting the latter right has taken a lot of time (causing no limit of whining by election-season Republicans and some segments of the “abundance” set), ARPA has already funded a lot of amazing stuff, from local community centers […]| Techdirt
I’m starting to think that American is suffering from some sort of collective amnesia. Look, whatever your opinions on how the government handled the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in its earl…| Techdirt
Congress has absolutely zero constitutional authority to investigate a private website for its editorial decisions. Zero. None. This is First Amendment 101. Yet House Oversight Committee Chairman J…| Techdirt
Western allies are abandoning American leadership while we stand by, morally bankrupt and intellectually spent, watching children starve in Gaza with weapons we provided to a corrupt authoritarian …| Techdirt
Two headlines walked into a UK courtroom: the BBC says “Wikipedia loses challenge,” while the Guardian says “Wikipedia can challenge if the strictest rules apply.” Annoyingly, both are true—and tha…| Techdirt
It’s funny just how often the actions of so-called “strong men” actually show just how scared and fragile they are. And if you want a more specific example of what I’m talki…| Techdirt
There are a few ways to think about Elon Musk’s announcement this week that he’s stepping back from DOGE. The first is that he’s leaving a job he officially doesn’t have. Th…| Techdirt
Remember when TikTok was supposedly an urgent national security threat that required emergency legislation? Funny how that “emergency” keeps getting 75-day extensions. Trump is reported…| Techdirt
Even though the Supreme Court somehow didn’t agree, the ban on TikTok remains unconstitutional garbage for all the reasons we’ve discussed: its impact on the platform itself, the impact…| Techdirt
This post was written on Sunday. By the time you read it there may have been 12,492 further unconstitutional TikTok-related hijinks since then, but because this particular kind of unconstitutional …| Techdirt
As the we wrote in our amicus brief (which it appears the justices did not read – guess they didn’t have time…), if the TikTok ban is blessed, it provides a roadmap for how to avoid the Constitutio…| Techdirt
It seems unfathomable that we’re even here. The First Amendment is one of our clearer constitutional provisions. “Make no law,” it says, “abridging the freedom of speech.” And yet, with the “Protec…| Techdirt
This story was originally published by ProPublica, along with The Texas Tribune, Alianza Rebelde Investiga, and Cazadores de Fake News. Republished under ProPublica’s CC BY-NC-N…| Techdirt
Posts about trade deals written by Mike Masnick and Techdirt| Techdirt
Posts about corruption written by Mike Masnick, Karl Bode, and Tim Cushing| Techdirt
Posts about congress written by Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, and Karl Bode| Techdirt
As the Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues apace, and MAGA grapples with the gaslit reality they live in, the Trump Administration continues to negotiate so-called trade deals, which are negotiated a…| Techdirt
Posts about supreme court written by Cathy Gellis, Mike Masnick, Dark Helmet, and Karl Bode| Techdirt
Posts about constitution written by Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, and Techdirt| Techdirt
Posts about abrego garcia written by Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, and Karl Bode| Techdirt
10 posts published by Mike Masnick, Karl Bode, Tim Cushing, Daily Deal, and Leigh Beadon during August 2025| Techdirt
Section 706 of the Telecom Act requires the FCC to determine whether broadband is being deployed “on a reasonable and timely basis” to everyone. If the answer is no, the law s…| Techdirt
We just recently wrote about how circuit court judge Richard Posner had admitted to not reading the boilerplate legalese on his mortgage agreement, and wondered why such things were then considered…| Techdirt
This too will be swept away by this administration’s steady stream of injustices, but it’s still worth highlighting before it’s buried by even worse news later. The mass deportati…| Techdirt
President Trump wanted a war on Latin Americans and found an obliging partner in El Salvador, currently headed by President Nayib Bukele. Bukele has managed to bring down El Salvador’s homici…| Techdirt
10 posts published by Dark Helmet, Leigh Beadon, Karl Bode, Mike Masnick, Daily Deal, and Tim Cushing during April 2025| Techdirt
Earlier this month we noted how California was attempting to pass a new law ensuring that broadband would be affordable to poor people. The original law proposed that the biggest ISPs would need to…| Techdirt
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is Stephen T. Stone with a comment about our call for the government to accept accountability for the power it wields: Bold of you to assume…| Techdirt
Five Years Ago This week in 2020, the DHS was going full gestapo in response to protests in Portland, then quickly expanding the tactics to other cities, starting with Chicago, and was also engagin…| Techdirt
The Trump administration is continuing its dangerous push to surveil and suppress foreign students’ social media activity. The State Department recently announced an u…| Techdirt
Is Including Hidden AI Prompts In Academic Papers Gaming The Peer Review System — Or Keeping It Honest?| Techdirt
10 posts published by Dark Helmet, Mike Masnick, Glyn Moody, Daily Deal, Tim Cushing, and Karl Bode during January 2025| Techdirt
10 posts published by Mike Masnick, Dark Helmet, nirit.weiss-blatt, Michael McGrady Jr, Daily Deal, Karl Bode, Tim Cushing, and Leigh Beadon during December 2024| Techdirt
10 posts published by Dark Helmet, Tim Cushing, Leigh Beadon, Mike Masnick, Gretchen Heckmann, and Karl Bode during April 2024| Techdirt
The Supreme Court’s shadow docket has become a lawless mess. The justices are issuing extremely consequential rulings with either no explanation at all, or with barely a paragraph of reasonin…| Techdirt
10 posts published by Leigh Beadon, Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, Karl Bode, and Gretchen Heckmann during April 2023| Techdirt
10 posts published by Leigh Beadon, Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, and Karl Bode during December 2023| Techdirt
There was a bit of news in the world of decentralized social media over the past few weeks. It kicked off with the announcement that Jack Dorsey had left the board of Bluesky. This was followed by …| Techdirt
Over the last year or so I’ve seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump t…| Techdirt
In his latest “drain the swamp” move that will actually flood the entire ecosystem, Trump demanded the Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) resi…| Techdirt
For months, the DOJ has insisted to US courts that it has no jurisdiction over the people it rendered to Salvadoran detention facilities. But when the UN came asking, El Salvador told a very differ…| Techdirt
The Trump Administration’s constant escalation of its mass deportation programs now means ICE, CBP, and other federal agencies must come up with thousands of arrests a day. This never had any…| Techdirt
10 posts published by Karl Bode, Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, Dark Helmet, Daily Deal, and katharine.trendacosta during July 2025| Techdirt
From the massive handout to already-wealthy Americans to the likely fatal cuts to Medicaid, there’s plenty to be disgusted by in the GOP Budget bill approved by Congress today. But there̵…| Techdirt
The Supreme Court this morning took a chainsaw to the First Amendment on the internet, and the impact is going to be felt for decades going forward. In the FSC v. Paxton case, the Court upheld the …| Techdirt
Posts about rendition written by Mike Masnick, Dark Helmet, and Techdirt| Techdirt
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Posts about kidnapping written by Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, and Techdirt| Techdirt
Posts about campus speech written by Tim Cushing and Mike Masnick| Techdirt
Posts about unreasonable use of force written by Techdirt| Techdirt
Read all of the posts by Jennifer Smith Richards on Techdirt| Techdirt
Posts about tickets written by Mike Masnick, Karl Bode, Techdirt, and anne.hobson.christopher.koopma| Techdirt
Posts about school resource officers written by Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, and Techdirt| Techdirt
Posts about police in schools written by Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, and Techdirt| Techdirt
Posts about illinois written by Mike Masnick, Dark Helmet, Tim Cushing, and Karl Bode| Techdirt
Posts about fines written by Mike Masnick, Glyn Moody, Karl Bode, Dark Helmet, and Tim Cushing| Techdirt
Posts about citations written by Mike Masnick, Karl Bode, brian.frye, Glyn Moody, and Techdirt| Techdirt
This story was originally published by ProPublica & the Chicago Tribune. Republished under ProPublica’s CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Illinois legislators on Wednesday passed a law to explicit…| Techdirt
Posts about texas written by Karl Bode, Tim Cushing, and Mike Masnick| Techdirt
Posts about book bans written by Tim Cushing and Mike Masnick| Techdirt
That summation greatly oversimplifies things, but if all you’re going to read is a headline, it will have to do. We’ll dig in deeper into the Fifth Circuit’s second attempt to han…| Techdirt
I supposed the court had no choice, but I’m always a little wary when the Fifth Circuit decides to take another look at some litigation, especially when it involves certain amendments like th…| Techdirt
There’s a lot of book banning going on right now in the Land of the Free. It’s mostly localized to certain areas of the country — states and cities overseen by bigots who finally …| Techdirt
Posts about due process written by Mike Masnick and Tim Cushing| Techdirt
Posts about detention written by Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, and Techdirt| Techdirt
Posts about chicago written by Tim Cushing, Mike Masnick, and Dark Helmet| Techdirt
Posts about chicago pd written by Tim Cushing and Techdirt| Techdirt
Posts about first amendment written by Mike Masnick, Karl Bode, Dark Helmet, and Leigh Beadon| Techdirt
Posts about washington post written by Karl Bode, Tim Cushing, Mike Masnick, and Dark Helmet| Techdirt
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Posts about fox news written by Dark Helmet, Mike Masnick, Tim Cushing, and Karl Bode| Techdirt
Posts about associated press written by Mike Masnick, Dark Helmet, Karl Bode, and Techdirt| Techdirt
