Alex Jones is going to war with Silicon Valley. As one of the internet's most controversial personalities, making outlandish claims and spreading conspiracy theories through his Infowars website and broadcast has made Jones a household name in political circles. Initially, it was for his baseless accusation that 9/11 was an inside job. But in the past several years, he's claimed survivors of a mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school were "crisis actors." (False.) He's claimed that the mass shooting of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary was a hoax. (False.) And he's claimed Hillary Clinton was involved in a child sex trafficking ring. (False.) Critics have cried foul, saying Jones' particular brand of unproven accusations whip his fans into a frenzy, after which they harass, threaten and intimidate. In one extreme case, the parents of a Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victim told The New York Times they receive so many death threats and harassing messages … [Read more...] about Alex Jones and Infowars test the limit of free speech on the internet
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San Diego’s newest FBI boss is laser focused on the long fight
It’s a strange time to be an FBI agent. The agency is investigating suspected Russian interference in the presidential campaign, the FBI director was fired, and the president has publicly attacked the bureau’s credibility.None of that matters much, though, to John Brown. It can’t. As San Diego’s newest FBI special agent in charge, Brown knows that nothing can interfere with the mission of protecting the American public.“I think this will pass,” Brown said. “You can’t drop the ball. You just have got to let it pass.”Brown, an Army veteran who joined the FBI in 1999, comes to San Diego after working in Chicago, St. Louis, at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and most recently as a special agent in charge of counterintelligence and cyber crime in Los Angeles.A few months after getting settled in his new role, he sat down with the Union-Tribune and talked about his background, the recent spotlight on the FBI, and the areas where the … [Read more...] about San Diego’s newest FBI boss is laser focused on the long fight
Panic: The New Hampshire Alamanc has disappeared from the internet! Don’t panic: it will be back
This is what you see, for the moment, when you go to the New Hampshire Almanac page (nh.gov/nhinfo) David Brooks— By DAVID BROOKS Monitor staff Thursday, May 10, 2018 Print Granite Geek For a certain segment of the state population, something alarming happened on the Internet recently: The New Hampshire Almanac disappeared.The almanac, if you’ve never encountered it, is a quixotic collection of state facts and firsts – Tupperware was invented here, as was the computer language BASIC and, to an extent, the Republican Party – plus links to details about our government ranging from useful (census data) to tedious (list of registered lobbyists) to fun (what is the state dog breed?).The almanac has been part of the official NH.gov website since the beginning. It dates back to early 2003, when the state website launched with not much more than then-Gov. Craig Benson’s smiling face and a bunch of links.As the website has grown and grown, the … [Read more...] about Panic: The New Hampshire Alamanc has disappeared from the internet! Don’t panic: it will be back
The Internet can be a mean, angry place. Here’s why
GRAND FORKS — The internet can be a strange place.For a world with no physical substance, seemingly populated entirely by cat videos, contentious politics and endless social media preening -- and griping -- our online interactions have a way of raising some strong emotions in people. At times, our blood boils online in ways seldom seen in the “real” world. Even worse, sometimes we find ourselves getting mean in the comments.Why is that?The question of what causes digital aggression in normally placid individuals has interested psychologists since the early days of widespread internet use in the U.S. Most of our basic findings suggest online aggression is rooted in the nature of the web, a bloodless, abstract kind of world a step apart from what most of think of as real. On the internet, identities are fluid, often screened with anonymity and floating in spaces with little to no overt rules. The feeling of unreality on the internet can lower our inhibitions, which … [Read more...] about The Internet can be a mean, angry place. Here’s why
Reddit CEO says racism allowed, but not ‘welcome,’ on the site
Reddit has a history of allowing its users to say just about anything. On Wednesday, its CEO said racist language is just fine — officially giving license to the hatred that already lives on the site, which bills itself as the front page of the internet. Now, he’s backpedaling a bit. As tech companies face increasing pressure to police content on their platforms, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said something to the equivalent of the old saying “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” In response to a question about whether slurs are against Reddit’s rules, Huffman said: “It’s not. On Reddit, the way in which we think about speech is to separate behavior from beliefs. This means on Reddit there will be people with beliefs different from your own, sometimes extremely so. When users’ actions conflict with our content policies, we take action.” That resonates in 2018, in the aftermath of the fatal … [Read more...] about Reddit CEO says racism allowed, but not ‘welcome,’ on the site