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.
Trump has “Dark Knight” themed Twitter video blocked after Warner Bros. files copyright claim
This is the third time since February Trump has had his videos blocked on Twitter as the result of copyright claims.
Facebook will be changing its terms of service following discussions with the European Commission
The changes will clarify how consumer data is used and remove confusing legalistic jargon.
PewDiePie signs exclusive deal with decentralized blockchain-based live streaming platform DLive
PewDiePie’s first stream will be on April 14 and he says that he’ll be streaming on DLive “very frequently.”
Google quietly removes “sort by date” feature from search results
Many people used this feature to override Google Searches’ algorithmic recommendations and get date based view of the search results.
EU Terrorist Content Regulation law adopted by European Parliament Committee
The Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee adopted the regulations with 35 votes in favor, one vote against, and eight abstentions.
r/Piracy deletes 10 years of posts after Reddit Legal threatens to ban the subreddit
Reddit Legal said that the subreddit was generating too many copyright infringement notices and would be banned if it didn’t address the problem, despite claims that many of these notices were false.
British activist Tommy Robinson banned from Snapchat
This follows Robinson’s YouTube channel being heavily shadowbanned earlier this week.
Brunei hotels hide social media pages after facing online backlash for anti-LGBT laws
The pages were hidden after hotel staff started to receive personal abuse following the introduction of strict Islamic Sharia laws which make homosexuality punishable by stoning to death.
Facebook used email passwords to harvest contact data from its users
Facebook was criticized for asking for passwords to user email accounts but this “feature” was actually being used to scoop up contact data from user’s email accounts.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg vows to police “harmful content and hate speech” with AI and 30,000 content reviewers
This follows previous statements from the company indicating that it will be using AI to combat “hate.”
Google closes its AI ethics council after facing pressure from employees to remove conservative member
After the council was formed, employees immediately petitioned Google to remove conservative and Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James.
Article 13 and Article 11 last vote confirmed for April 15
This is the last chance to stop Articles 11 (the link tax) and 13 (the meme ban/upload filter) of the EU Copyright Directive. If Germany, Sweden, or the UK oppose the Directive in the EU Council, there may be further negotiations and amendments before it’s passed.