3121
Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 4,917 posts.
3122
3123
Mozilla’s Vision for the Evolution of the Web
Mozilla's mission is to ensure that the Internet is a global public resource, open and accessible to all. We believe in an Internet that puts people first, where individuals can shape their own experience and are empowered, safe, and independent.
3124
3125
3126
ACLU Statement Opposing the 'Confronting the Threat of Domestic Terrorism Act' (2019)
In this letter to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, the ACLU urged Members to oppose H.R. 4192, Confronting the Threat of Domestic Terrorism Act. By reifying and broadening domestic terrorism authorities, H.R. 4192 would unnecessarily expand law enforcement authorities to target and discriminate against the very…
3127
Jeff Bezos Escapes Scrutiny from His Own Paper–and Its Rivals
A review of 190 articles about Amazon.com from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Bezos-owned Washington Post over the past year paints a picture of almost uniformly positive–ofttimes boosterish–coverage.
3128
Strength in Numbers: An Entire Ecosystem Relies on Tor
If the Tor Project, the Tor network, and Tor Browser were to disappear, what would happen? Not only would millions of global, daily users lose access to Tor’s software, but the diverse ecosystem of privacy, security, and anti-censorship applications that rely on the Tor network would cease to function.
3129
$800M to support small businesses and crisis response
Our commitment to support small- and medium-sized businesses, health organizations and governments, and health workers.
3130
Surveillance forces journalists to think and act like spies
Once upon a time, a journalist never gave up a confidential source. When someone comes forward, anonymously, to inform the public, it's better to risk time incarcerated than give them up. This ethical responsibility was also a practical and professional necessity. If you promise anonymity, you're obliged to deliver…
3131
Two brothers invented an alphabet for their native language, Fulfulde
Meet two brothers working to preserve the Fulani language and the culture embedded within it.
3132
Mozilla and independent researchers publish guidelines for an ad archive API
On March 28 — after urging from dozens of civil society organizations — Facebook is set to launch its advertising archive API. This tool is intended to provide researchers, journalists, and users with transparency into political ads and audience targeting on Facebook.
3133
EFF: Online Speech is Only as Strong as the Weakest Intermediary
Co-authored by Rainey Reitman and Marcia Hofmann The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression against government encroachment — but that doesn't help if the censorship doesn't come from the government. The controversial whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, which has begun...
3134
Congress Needs to End Warrantless Spying, Not Make It Permanent
Lawmakers are getting serious about renewing the U.S. government’s Internet spying powers, so we need to get serious about stopping their bad proposals. First out of the gate is a bill from Sen. Tom Cotton, an ardent defender of government surveillance. His bill would not just reauthorize, but make...
3135
3136
3137
Our World in Data: Suicide
Suicide rates can be reduced with greater understanding and support for people at risk.
3138
ChatGPT is biased against resumes with credentials that imply a disability
UW researchers found that ChatGPT consistently ranked resumes with disability-related honors and credentials — such as the “Tom Wilson Disability Leadership Awa
3139
Work from Home and Productivity
We study productivity before and during the working from home [WFH] period of the Covid-19 pandemic, using personnel and analytics data from over 10,000 skilled professionals at a large Asian IT services company. Hours worked increased, including a rise of 18% outside normal business hours. Average output declined…
3140
On the growing, intentional uselessness of Google search results
As most people are aware, Google search results are constantly changing and evolving. In the past couple of years, there has been a conscious and very deliberate shift – and not just by Googl…
3141
Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A
⦁ Battersea Power Station has revealed the fully restored Control Room A, the first of the Grade II* listed building’s two original Control Rooms which
3142
The code that controls our money
COBOL is a coding language older than Weird Al Yankovic. The people who know how to use it are often just as old. It underpins the entire financial system. And it can’t be removed. How a computer language controls the financial life of the world.
3143
Why We Should Demand a Shorter Workweek
I.W.W. Poster By Dustin Guastella If the labourer consumes his disposable time for himself, he robs the capitalist. – K. Marx Recently a Chicago firm made headlines when it was revealed that they allowed their workers less than six minutes a day in the bathroom. Naturally, people were outraged, but this is an old…
3144
Microsoft Statement on TikTok
ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for…
3145
Research shows that people who BS are more likely to fall for BS (2021)
People who frequently try to impress or persuade others with misleading exaggerations and distortions are themselves more likely to be fooled by impressive-s
3146
Amazon Announces $2B Fund to Invest in Climate Tech Companies
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 23, 2020-- Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced The Climate Pledge Fund to support the development of sustainable technologies and services that will enable Amazon and other companies to meet The Climate Pledge—a commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040. This…
3147
New “Terrorist Content” Regulations: A Grim Day for Digital Rights in Europe
Despite waves of calls and emails from European Internet users, the European Parliament today voted to accept the principle of a universal pre-emptive copyright filter for content-sharing sites, as well as the idea that news publishers should have the right to sue others for quoting news items...
3148
How a College Student Used Creative Commons to Dominate Political Photography
Gage Skidmore has photographed nearly every presidential candidate since 2008 — and by giving away all of his images for free, he has quickly become the Internet's most prominent political photographer.
3149
Trying to Keep the Internet Safe from Warrantless NSA Surveillance
Next month, President-elect Trump will be handed the keys to the NSA’s vast spying apparatus. As a candidate, he supported mass surveillance of Americans’ phone calls, called for expanded spying on American Muslims, and even invited Russia to hack the emails of his political opponent. With these threats to privacy and…
3150
The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Adam Carolla’s Settlement with Podcasting Troll
Big news from Texas: Adam Carolla has settled with the podcasting patent troll Personal Audio. Although the settlement is confidential, we can guess the terms. This is because Personal Audio sent out a press release last month saying it was willing to walk away from its suit with Carolla. So we can...