T.C. Sottek
Justice Alito: “I’m afraid I’m completely confused by whatever argument you’re making at the present time.”
That’s it. That’s the whole post.
T.C. Sottek
Executive Editor
Executive Editor
More From T.C. Sottek
T.C. Sottek
“I don’t understand how a neutral suggestion about something you’ve expressed an interest in is aiding and abetting. I just don’t understand it.”
Justice Thomas sanely rebuts the plaintiff’s argument that simply providing a phone number of a terrorist in a search result constitutes “aiding and abetting” an enemy. Even the creation of URLs seems up for grabs here, according to plaintiffs. Talk about blowing up the internet!
T.C. Sottek
“The only aiding and abetting that you’re arguing is the recommendation.”
Justice Sotomayor asks a pointed question about whether recommending content is the same as helping people connect via chatrooms — basically an interrogation of whether algorithms, intentionally, connect people with radicals. This question will likely be explored in more detail in tomorrow’s case. Here’s Justice Sotomayor:
I can really see that an internet provider who was in cahoots with ISIS provided them with an algorithm that would take anybody in the world and find them for them, and do recruiting of people by showing them other videos that would lead them to ISIS, that’s an intentional act, and I could see 230 not going that far. The question is, how do you get yourself from a neutral algorithm to an aiding and abetting? An intent, knowledge… there has to be some intent to aid and abet.
T.C. Sottek
Justice Thomas kicks things off by diving right into the algorithm.
Asking about whether the algorithm is the same for cooking videos as all other content, Justice Thomas is first up in today’s questioning. A long-silent member of the Supreme Court, The New York Times pointed out in 2021 that he has become far more vocal.
T.C. Sottek
Biden’s secret trip to Kyiv is one for the history books.
Rarely has a US president made such a risky trek. The details of the journey are fascinating, and you can read more about it in this detailed report from The New York Times.
The gambit is especially wild in an era where few people enjoy privacy from phone cameras and other prying eyes.
Biden’s Surreal and Secretive Journey Into a War Zone
[The New York Times]
T.C. Sottek
Trolls have been doing damage for decades. Traditional newsrooms still need to do more.
I’m glad that The Washington Post’s Editorial Board is recognizing the intimidation, harassment, and damage that has been done especially toward female journalists in our industry. But notably absent from this opinion is any institutional responsibility to defend colleagues and allies; instead, it blames Twitter for the abuses.
Yes, Twitter and every platform should do better. But the buck stops with newsrooms, which ought to stand up for their reporters against bad faith attacks from all directions.
This problem is unlikely to be solved by tech companies. Journalists deserve to be protected by the media companies that publish their hard work.
Opinion | More and more, trolls and haters attack female journalists
[Washington Post]
T.C. Sottek
Regolith is so hot right now.
This is a fascinating report from Justine about scientists working to make useful items out of fake Moon dirt (lunar regolith). I first learned about regolith while mining it in the amazing Klei game Oxygen Not Included,
Now, companies are competing to prove they can make things like solar cells from the harsh raw materials on the orb orbiting the Earth. It’s a very cool challenge, even if human attempts at creating fake lunar dirt have had some dubious results.
T.C. Sottek
To be fair, $44 billion should buy you some reach.
Elon Musk claimed he was buying Twitter to promote free speech, but as it turns out, his own speech is getting an exclusive premium.
The whole “free speech” myth of Musk buying Twitter has already been definitively refuted, but this latest development is the final nail in that coffin: this guy just wants everyone to see how funny and popular he is, despite all evidence to the contrary. All of this could have been avoided if Musk just admitted he wanted to buy Twitter because he loves to post.
Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first
Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton
T.C. Sottek
Google Fiber is still an internet future fever dream.
I love that Google Fiber is bringing 5-gig internet to... three cities. (I’m genuinely happy for the people of Kansas City, West Des Moines, and Salt Lake City.) Meanwhile, we can’t rely on the FCC, which has had an empty seat for more than a year because of a weird right-wing smear campaign against the extraordinarily qualified Biden nominee, Gigi Sohn.
Remember when Time Warner Cable said there’s no consumer demand for gigabit internet? The reality is, despite advances since 2013, we’re still lagging behind in consumer choice for high-quality internet in the US.
The Verge has always believed in a simple truth: ISPs should be dumb pipes. Consumers should enjoy fierce competition on price, speed, and reliability. Incidentally, these are tenets that Gigi Sohn also believes in. Let’s get back on track, America.
T.C. Sottek
This could be the most embarrassing night for Comcast ever.
AP reports that Comcast service is down in Philly — the cable company’s own backyard — during the most important night of the year for the Eagles. Go Birds?
Update, 7:46PM ET: Apparently vandalism is to blame for the outage, and service is reportedly restored. You can grease poles, but you can’t grease fiber optic lines.