Five Steps Social Media Companies Can Take Now to Fight Online Abuse
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms can take five easy steps to make their platforms safer for users facing online abuse. More
Shielding Users From Online Abuse: A Free Speech-Conscious Approach to Fighting Harassment
There's no reason why social media platforms can't create a shield that treats online abuse like toxic spam, filtering it out and quarantining it for review. More
Three Ways Social Media Companies Can Disarm Abusive Users
To protect targets of online abuse, social media companies must actively discourage abuse and hold abusive users accountable. More
PEN America Condemns Indian Government Attempts to Block COVID Criticism
PEN America today condemned the Indian government’s attempts to stifle free expression by censoring social media posts amid the country’s battle with a massive surge in COVID-19 cases. More
The PEN Pod: Online Abuse and the Threat it Poses to Free Speech with Viktorya Vilk
“If we’re serious about fighting online abuse, everybody’s going to have to get involved. We need to train people to defend themselves. We also need allies to step in… More
PEN America Report: Social Media Companies Must Take Concrete Action Now to Blunt Online Abuse
A new report by PEN America spells out a series of clear, consequential product fixes that Facebook, Twitter, and other social media companies should implement immediately to protect users… More
Facebook, Twitter, and the World’s Most Dangerous Amusement Park
Writer and PEN America Trustee Jennifer Finney Boylan draws a connection between Facebook, Twitter, and the world’s most dangerous amusement park. More
How to Talk to Friends and Family Who Share Misinformation
Your friends and family may spread misinformation, and it can be tough to know how to confront them. Here are a few suggestions. More
The First Wave: Six Months of Social Media Platforms Responding to COVID-19
As the world rapidly responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, so too did the social media platforms. Here, we share our preliminary findings into the platforms’ responses. More
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SCOTUS has agreed to hear #GonzalezVGoogle and #TwitterVTaamneh. Both cases concern whether tech companies could be held legally liable for what users post on their platforms, as well as for content that users see because of the platform’s algorithm. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/supreme-court-agrees-hear-cases-social-media-immunity-section-230_n_633b15efe4b02816452c84f6
Stacks! I got to speak in a library in WI today about book bans, and took a quick perusal of the shelves. So many titles from ban lists! Kind of shocking to think of all the libraries pulling these books all over the country. How do they fill the gaps? #FreeTheBooks #FReadom
While some states are trying to prohibit universities from teaching about the history of racism, @EddieRCole writes, "these attacks are not new and, like today, limitations placed on academic freedom have a history long rooted in racism." https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/10/03/limiting-academics-freedom-tell-truth-about-racism-is-not-new/