News
Man faces NC federal indictment for Facebook threat against Trump
A federal grand jury has indicted a 32-year-old Wilmington man on a charge that he threatened President Trump in a Facebook post.
News
NC joins other states calling on FTC to strengthen online protections for minors
One request the AGs make is to expand the definition of “personal information.” They say that personal information should include biometric identifiers such as fingerprints, facial data, retina and iris patterns.
Opinion
The attack on free speech you haven’t heard about
In September of 2021, the Texas Legislature passed a law meant to reel in the social media giants’ monopoly of online opinion. The bill, known as H.B. 20, requires large tech companies to produce regular reports of removed content, create a complaint system, and disclose their content regulation procedures. It applies to companies whose users...
News
What is Internet stacking? How Musk’s Twitter buy impacts online speech
Elon Musk is expected to be named interim CEO after his deal to purchase the platform for $44 billion is finalized, CNBC is reporting. “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said earlier this week. “Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of...
Opinion
On becoming a political advertiser
Upset by ideas you consider objectionable? The proper remedy is neither government restrictions on political speech nor heavy-handed policies by social-media platforms.
News
Zuckerberg among left-leaning influencers who poured money into N.C.
North Carolina, which saw a tightening of the presidential race in the 2020 election, was among the states that saw an influx of money from Mark Zuckerberg in the months leading up to the voting. Donald Trump won the state by 177,000 votes over Hillary Clinton in 2016, but the Democrats cut the margin of...
News
CJ politics week in review, Dec. 7-11, 2020
Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses several interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. Medical bills and price transparency: Patients will have an easier time knowing what they’ll pay for medical services at UNC Health. The system will roll out an online tool that will...
Opinion
State censorship poses greatest risk
I have no confidence in the ability of lawmakers or regulators to keep their political preferences out of any oversight role they might assume in the content of online media.
Opinion
Time for a reboot on kids’ online privacy
One in three internet users worldwide is a child under 18, estimates show. Expect that figure to rise as smart toys and all sorts of smart devices fuel constant connection. How will personal data, collected today, be used tomorrow? Answers are evolving. In a marketplace where information is money, privacy should be protected at every turn. Invasive or...
Opinion
Words matter, and each carries in its meaning a unique gravity — real and perceived
Throughout my career in journalism, I’ve tried to make it a point to learn something from all each of my editors, even those I often questioned, or even disliked. One such editor, who falls into that latter category, sometimes made points that were both salient and eloquent. Words matter, he once said. Each and every...
Opinion
Facebook caught up in vilification of entrepreneurs, enterprises
I have found the recent demonization of Facebook and its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg fascinating and revelatory. We have discovered that during the 2016 presidential campaign the social media giant played unwitting host to hundreds of Russian bots and fake accounts peddling misinformation about the candidates. It has also attracted bad publicity for allowing third parties to...
Opinion
New firms drive economic growth
For every high-touted industrial prospect that goes to some other state, keep in mind that many more young, less-famous companies are looking for the right place to launch and begin their growth cycles.
