Tag: TikTok

  • Fukayama’s Misstep

    Political scientist Francis Fukuyama’s prediction that we, meaning those who glorify the western world, were at “The End of History and the Last Man,” and that “the rise of Western liberal democracy marked the endpoint of mankind’s ideological evolution,” meaning that Western style “democracy is the final form of government for all nations,” motivated the […]

  • Experiments in Futility: Australia’s Teenage Social Media Ban Approaches

    The messiness of Australia’s social media ban for those under 16 as part of the Online Safety Act 2021 is becoming more apparent by the day. From December 10 this year, as announced by the commissar-minded eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, “age-restricted social media platforms will have to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under […]

  • How the Toxic Manosphere is Grooming Adolescent Boys

    How the Toxic Manosphere is Grooming Adolescent Boys

    Attribution: Denitza Tchacarova: A Russian poster urging open your eyes – against women being abused. Over the past decade, the “Manosphere” — a loosely connected but increasingly influential network of blogs, forums, influencers, and online communities — has become a powerful vehicle for promoting traditional gender roles, male grievance politics, and opposition to feminism. Once considered […]

  • How Social Media Shapes Our Interpretation of Reality

    In 2024, Project Censored introduced Beyond Fact-Checking: A Teaching Guide to the Power of News Frames to critically analyze narrative strategies media outlets use to present news stories. Framing shapes how we understand these stories by emphasizing certain aspects and downplaying others, ultimately promoting a particular interpretation of events. The point of framing is that […]

  • Can the Internet Wage Peace? Amidst a Push for War, Chinese and American Citizens Connect Online

    Can the Internet Wage Peace? Amidst a Push for War, Chinese and American Citizens Connect Online

    With the Tiktok ban just days away, American youth have started flooding the Chinese social media app RedNote, pushing it into #1 position on the app store. Labeled “Tiktok refugees” by Chinese netizens, the newcomers have been welcomed by app users with open arms, curiosity, and a fair bit of humor. Though initially confused at […]

  • Technofascism: The Government Pressured Tech Companies to Censor Users

    Technofascism: The Government Pressured Tech Companies to Censor Users

    Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, has finally admitted what we knew all along: Facebook conspired with the government to censor individuals expressing “disapproved” views about the COVID-19 pandemic. Zuckerberg’s confession comes in the wake of a series of court rulings that turn a blind eye to the government’s technofascism. In a 2-1 decision in Children’s […]

  • Prejudicial Bans: Congress Tosses over TikTok

    How delicious is political hypocrisy.  Abundant and rich, it manifests in the corridors of power with regularity.  Of late, there is much of it in the US Congress, evident over debates on whether the platform TikTok should be banned in the United States.  Much of this seems based on an assumption that foreign companies are […]

  • Forget the Kids: Social Media, Congress and Child Safety

    It was a struggle to see how a child’s welfare was relevant in the latest, shrill debates about technology taking place on The Hill.  The Senate Judiciary Committee and the leaders of social media companies were on show to thrash out matters on technology and their threats on January 31 in a hearing titled “Big […]

  • “Is That Orwellian Or Kafkaesque Enough For You?”

    “Is That Orwellian Or Kafkaesque Enough For You?”

    The Guardian has long promoted itself as a valiant publisher of news and analysis that holds the powerful to account. It is a thing of wonder that the Guardian appends the following comment beneath news pieces: Our quality, investigative journalism is a scrutinising force at a time when the rich and powerful are getting away […]

  • China Denounces US TikTok Ban Threat as “xenophobic witch hunt,” Firmly Opposes Possible Forced Sale

    China Denounces US TikTok Ban Threat as “xenophobic witch hunt,” Firmly Opposes Possible Forced Sale

    WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 23: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew prepares to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. The hearing was a rare opportunity for lawmakers to question the leader of the short-form social media video app […]

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