Tom Parker
Tom Parker is a founder and lead editor for Reclaim The Net and provides news and analysis on how we can promote free speech, stop censorship, and protect our personal data online.
European Parliament approves EU Terrorist Content Regulation
The requirement for online platforms to take down terrorist content within an hour of being notified passed by just three votes.
European Council passes Articles 11 and 13 of the EU Copyright Directive in final vote
19 countries backed the Directive, six voted against it, and three abstained. All EU member states will now be required to write the Directive into their national law by 2021.
TV network Starz uses fake copyright claims to censor tweets and criticism from TorrentFreak
Starz used false copyright claims to censor a tweet from TorrentFreak that was reporting on a Starz TV show being leaked online. TorrentFreak called out this censorship in a response article and Starz doubled down by using further bogus claims to censor this response article on Twitter.
YouTube starts issuing community guidelines strikes on playlists
YouTube issued a community guidelines strike against Sheila Allen for a playlist which contained videos from other creators and none of her own content.
UK political commentator Carl Benjamin announces UKIP MEP campaign and says he will work to rescind Article 13
The political commentator also said he will challenge all manifestations of radical leftism as he finds them and expose them to the public via his YouTube channel so the public can see what EU officials are doing behind closed doors.
Facebook’s new “Click-Gap” algorithm will censor alternative media and help mainstream media sites
The “Click-Gap” algorithm is live now and reduces the reach of content from domains that have a small number of inbound and outbound links.
Articles 11 and 13 lose support from key member states days before final EU Council vote
Sweden and Estonia are signaling that they will vote against Articles 11 and 13 of the EU Copyright Directive in the final Council vote.
EU Terrorist Content Regulation plenary vote in the European Parliament confirmed for April 17
The regulation will require online platforms to take down what the EU deems to be “terrorist content” within one hour of it being uploaded.
Two PewDiePie videos blocked in India after T-Series files takedown order in court
The Delhi High Court has directed YouTube to remove two of PewDiePie’s diss track videos and blocked access to both videos in India.
Google Chrome Web Store bans free speech comments extension Dissenter
Google’s decision to remove Dissenter comes within 24 hours of Mozilla’s decision to remove Dissenter from the Firefox extensions store.
Senator Ted Cruz stumps Twitter rep during free speech hearing after asking him if he agrees with a quote from CEO Jack Dorsey on neutrality
Monje was asked multiple questions about Twitter’s political bias by Cruz but refused to answer any of them directly.
Firefox rejects free speech, bans free speech commenting plugin Dissenter from its extensions gallery
Mozilla, the company behind Firefox, said that the extension had been disabled because it does not comply with Mozilla’s Acceptable Use Policy.