'I would have graded her a C'

'Violated longstanding Department policy'

'Governed in 2024 by a document written in 1787'

Prepare yourself for an emotional rollercoaster of epic fun!

Another stunning remnant of ancient Egyptian civilization has been unearthed in the form of a large astronomical observatory. At over 9,000 square feet, it’s the largest of its kind ever found in the land of the Nile, and is believed to have been last used around the 6th century BCE. The Egyptians were more than […] The post Ancient Egyptian Observatory is Unlocking Celestial Secrets of Their Cosmic Culture appeared first on Good News Network.

Movies & TV The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power The Premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s Second Season Doesn’t Inspire Confidence It’s a muddy three-part opener start to finish. By Sylas K Barrett | Published on August 30, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share Recap Episode one, “Elven Kings Under the Sky” opens with a flashback to Sauron (Charlie Vickers) in his elf-guise, trying to convince the Orcs that he should be the next Dark Lord after Morgoth’s death. They reject and kill him. He reconstitutes by absorbing other lifeforms, eventually absorbing a human woman and becoming Halbrand. He joins a group of refugees traveling to Númenor. When their ship is attacked by the sea serpent, he steals the seal of the Southland Kings. He meets Galadriel in the ocean. In the present day, Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) is forced to admit Halbrand’s true identity to Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker). Elrond disagrees with them that the three rings should be used to save the elves and escapes with them. Gandalf and Nori are lost in a stony desert. Camping at night, Gandalf tells her about a dream he has of a staff sticking out of the ground, then notices that someone in the distance is watching them. Halbrand offers to trade information about Sauron and the rings in exchange for the freedom of the human prisoners. Adar imprisons and tortures him. Elrond seeks refuge with Círdan (Ben Daniels) in the Grey Havens and gives him the rings to be tossed into the ocean. Gil-Galad’s forces arrive and Galadriel confronts Elrond to surrender the rings willingly. Gandalf and Nori’s pursuer turns out to be Poppy, who has discovered that the Harfoot walking song turns out to be directions through the area. Two riders spy on them as they travel. Adar tells Halbrand about his first meeting with Sauron. Habrand offers to go to the elves and seek Sauron out so that Adar can destroy him. Having become entranced by the sight of the rings, Círdan brings them to Gil-Galad. Círdan, the High King, and Galadriel all claim one, and the dying trees of Lindon begin to bloom. Image: Amazon Studios In episode two: “Where the Stars are Strange,” a volcanic eruption in Mordor causes an earthquake in Khazad-dûm, destroying the shafts that bring light to the city. Galadriel has a vision of Celebrimbor being killed. Gil-Galad dismisses her fears that Sauron has already reached the smith. Sauron arrives in Eregion. In Caras Gaer, a messenger brings word to the Dark Wizard (Ciarán Hinds) of the Stranger’s journey into Rhûn. The Dark Wizard wants him captured before he remembers how to use his powers. The Dwarven stone singers attempt to open new light shafts but fail for the first time in their history. Disa (Sophia Nomvete) confronts King Durin (Peter Mullan) over his fight with his son. Later, she tries to convince Durin IV (Owain Arthur), who is working as a miner now, to talk to his father. Galadriel asks Elrond to accompany her to Eregion to check on Celebrimbor, but he refuses. Círdan demonstrates the power of his ring and advises Elrond to use his skepticism to help guide his friends, rather than turning away from them. Realizing they are being hunted, the Stranger, Nori, and Poppy take a shortcut that leaves them on dangerous terrain, exposed in the heat. The Stranger collapses, dying. The harfoots manage to drag him to a well and revive him. Confronted again by their pursuers, the Stranger conjures a whirlwind he can’t control and the Harfoots are swept away. Celebrimbor meets with “Halbrand,” who tells him that the rings worked to restore the Elves. Halbrand claims to be a messenger from the Valar and takes the form of an elf. Galadriel learns that Elrond has agreed to travel to Eregion, but that he will be the leader of the company, not her. In episode three, “The Eagle and the Sceptre,” orcs fail to capture Berek, Isildur’s horse. Berek finds Isuldur in a spider’s lair and helps him escape. Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) attends her father’s funeral and has a confrontation with Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) about Númenor’s future. She discovers that the palantír is missing. Celebrimbor and Sauron offer to make rings of power for the dwarves in exchange for mithril. Durin is suspicious of the offer, and the absence of Elrond, but they agree to take the offer to King Durin. Sauron tells Celebrimbor that Gil-Galad may try to stop the forging of more rings. Celebrimbor writes to the High King claiming to be shutting down the forge. Isildur meets a refugee named Estrid, who is looking for her lost fiancé. The two join up to search for the other Numenorans. Attacked by followers of Adar, they are rescued by Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova). Berek is taken by the bandits. They attend Bronwyn’s funeral, and there is conflict between Arondir and Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin). Durin apologizes to his father and presents Celebrimbor’s offer to him. Theo offers to help Isildur rescue Berek. While waiting for him, Isildur talks to Estrid about survivor’s guilt and reveals that he feels responsible for his mother’s drowning. After he leaves, she uses a heated knife to erase Adar’s brand from her skin. Isildur rescues Berek but the camp is attacked by a creature and he hears Theo calling for help. At her coronation, Míriel is confronted by discontented subjects. A giant eagle appears and seems to bless Pharazôn, and the people chant for him as the chosen ruler. Durin brings Celebrimbor and Sauron the mithril, and Sauron has a direct hand in the forging of the dwarven rings. Commentary Image: Amazon Studios The short length of modern seasons is a problem for most stories, and Rings of Power suffered last season from having too many characters and plot lines to pack into too few episodes. These first three episodes of season two continue to have this problem, and yet somehow there is also a lot of dead air. Shots of people traveling drag on far too long, characters have the same conversations over again in different scenes without making any headway, and the CGI isn’t nearly good enough to justify dragging those moments out (the “Dark Wizard” conjuring moths into people was especially egregious here). I would love for Rings of Power, and streaming shows in general, to have more episodes per season, with room to breathe and explore side plots and greater character development—but they don’t have them. As a result, every episode really needs to move. And every scene, every character choice, needs to be important. They were clearly trying to connect us to the character of Isildur by reminding us of Aragorn’s little side-adventure in The Two Towers film with Brego. As much as I love a good horse adventure—and the horse that plays Berek is gorgeous—there was absolutely no point to any of that adventure into the spider lair and watching Berek get chased by orcs, and then just endless riding scenes until they finally run into Estrid. In the twenty-two episode seasons of yore, perhaps, but not here. They’ve also introduced us to a new character in Estrid, but Isildur’s conversation with her about his feelings of responsibility for his mother’s death connects to his character as we know it from last season, and also connects him thematically with Theo, so it’s a useful addition to the plot. Plus, it’s always nice to have more female characters, especially since the show had to kill off Bronwyn after they were unable to get Nazanin Boniadi back for season two. Losing Boniadi is a real shame, as the relationship between Bronwyn and Arondir was a highlight of season one. Hopefully Estrid can provide a similar balance to Isildur’s character, since he was more of a trope than a fully realized character in the last season. We know where Isildur is going to end up at the end of this conflict with Sauron, and how important his journey is going to be to the future of Middle-earth, so there is a lot riding on both the script and Baldry’s shoulders. With respect to the need for simple and speedy storytelling, the plot line that the discovery of mithril made possible the ability to create the Rings is actually a good choice. It allows what is a very complicated and windy story within the source material to be streamlined down, and connects the dwarves’ plotlines with the elves’ nicely. Durin IV and Elrond were the most well-written characters in season one, and continue to be in season two. The interception and slaughter of Gil-Galad’s messengers to Celebrimbor by Sauron was rote and boring, but Durin’s suspicion over the plan to make the rings and the lack of news from Elrond felt personal and important, raising the emotional stakes over the forging of the Dwarven Rings. Unfortunately, the show fails to find these emotional stakes in most of the rest of the opening episodes. This is partly because the number of characters creates an inability to spend time with most of them, but it is also because the script largely fails to communicate why most characters feel and think the way they do. Galadriel remains the central character, and her motivations in season one were very clear. They remain so in the beginning of season two up to a point—she still wants to destroy Sauron, and now she also wants to make up for her personal failures in letting him manipulate her—but her confidence in the purity of the Three Elven Rings is baffling. Several times she tells Elrond that she “knows in her heart” that the rings weren’t touched by Sauron’s influence, and it is unclear why that should be enough. Yes, she’s an elf, and they are mystical that way, but everyone she’s talking to is also an elf, and Elrond meets her feelings with logic and facts. Gil-Galad, though he agrees with her about the use of the Three, is also presented as making the decision for logical reasons, and as a result, Galadriel looks like she is behaving irrationally, and the script doesn’t know how to communicate to the viewer how much we are or aren’t supposed to trust her. Which is a shame, because Galadriel’s suspect motivations were the whole point of season one, and while she was wrong about Halbrand, she was also right in insisting that the danger of Sauron’s return was real and imminent. One assumes that she will be both right and wrong again, now—after all, most viewers will be familiar with the story and know that the Three were not touched by Sauron directly, and are less vulnerable to him, less corrupting of those who wear them, than those given to Dwarves and to Men. The three rings are used by their bearers to fight against Sauron’ s influence during the events of The Lord of the Rings, and will probably be used to do so within the course of Rings of Power. Clark has the acting chops to portray Galadriel’s conflict well. She really shined in certain scenes in season one, especially in her one-on-one conversations with Halbrand and with Elrond. The confrontation between Galadriel and Elrond in Círdan’s workshop was in some ways one of the best scenes of season two thus far; I really felt both Clark and Aramayo’s performance, not only each character’s fears and desires regarding the rings, but also the pain they both experienced in having this conflict with such a dear friend. When, later, Círdan advised Elrond to use his skepticism regarding the Three to help guide his friend, rather than pushing her away, that advice felt good and right, despite the fact that Círdan originally agreed with Elrond that the rings should be destroyed—the audience is invested in their relationship largely because Clark and Aramayo have portrayed it so effectively. But just as Galadriel’s best moments in season one felt unmoored within the script from the rest of her journey, this otherwise powerful scene between her and Elrond feels equally separated from her journey so far in season two.  The character of Sauron has the same problem as the character of Galadriel, and I truly don’t understand what the show is trying to get me to think and feel about him. Narratively, he’s being presented to us almost like an anti-hero, with the first episode focusing on the pain and anger and despair he feels over the betrayal of Adar and the orcs. Both the musical cue and the shots of his face when he is murdered by the orcs in the opening of the season is very reminiscent of shots of Frodo’s suffering from The Lord of the Rings films, which is a bizarre choice—and another example of how Rings of Power continually and overly relies on the visuals, music, and design choices of Jackson’s films. There are even the occasional suggestions that Sauron regrets some of the evil he has done in his life, that he might, at least for a moment, be considering a different path. But it is deeply unclear if the show wants us to believe those moments, or what Sauron’s motivations actually are. We know what he wants—to forge the rings and achieve total domination over Middle-earth—but not why he wants it. Revenge against those who wronged him? A lust for power that is perhaps not that far from what Galadriel experiences? Something else? I could keep guessing, but all I can really tell is that the show is trying to make this character, who in the source material is basically just one-dimensional Evil, into something else. The Frodo-esque shot from “Elven Kings Under the Sky” is far from the only lingering shots of Sauron’s face. There are so many, especially whenever he is in his elf-guise, and they all kind of look… vaguely sad? Maybe an attempt at a sort of holy weariness? (Also, the Jesus-y imagery with Sauron is absolutely ridiculous, and had me laughing out loud. He is basically a fallen angel—which is not the same, obviously—making it seem as though they are leaning into Christianized imagery at random.) We’re supposed to take something away from this, I think, but the only place where the emotion was clear was when he was listening to Adar talk about being torture-converted into a being of Morgoth’s, and his first meeting with Sauron. And that’s really because Adar’s story is far more moving, and more interesting, than Sauron’s: The series really missed an opportunity in this character. If you want to give us an evil villain that we feel connection and sympathy to, it’s Adar. It is really too bad they couldn’t get Joseph Mawle back for season two, but Hazeldine is doing a decent job in the role. And the story of an elf who was tortured and corrupted by Morgoth into something dark, but who still contained within him the emotions of love and loyalty, the only person who has any care for the beings that were created by Morgoth’s corruption of Elves, is far more compelling than the story of an already-fallen Sauron—especially because Adar’s journey makes a much more direct and interesting parallel to Galadriel’s. If Gandalf the Stranger was the main character of Rings of Power, paralleling him with Sauron would make sense. But he is not, and I am once again left feeling like Rings of Power doesn’t really know whose story it is telling. Or even what story it wants to tell. Everyone on the internet, myself included, has already decided that Ciarán Hinds’s “Dark Wizard” is obviously Saruman. I am hoping we’re all wrong, however, because Saruman shouldn’t be evil yet. Also, why does he have a weird cult composed solely of young women? And then I was annoyed by the scene in which Celebrimbor develops the mithril-based ink that only shows up under moonlight. Not only is this another dead weight half of a scene (there are so many scenes that are just little snippets and glimpses) that does nothing for the plot, but it is very clear in the books that moon-letters were invented by the dwarves. That shouldn’t be changed to another elf thing. The show has done well by the dwarves in other respects, however, and Disa and her stone singing are an absolute gift. The plotline that Mount Doom is causing damage to Khazad-dûm and causing both physical as well as spiritual distress to the inhabitants is a bit clumsy, but it is a direct and effective way of creating their need for the Dwarven Rings, and when paired with the frustrating relationship between Durin IV and his father, really fixes the problematic concepts from the book that suggest that the Dwarves’ downfall in Khazad-dûm and their acceptance of the seven rings is due to their species being naturally greedy. My hope for season two of Rings of Power was that it would amplify what it did well in season one and adjust the aspects that didn’t work, but so far things seem to be going in the opposite direction. Some of the best aspects of the show are the original characters—Arondir, Bronwyn, Disa—but except for the one beautiful scene with her and the other stonesingers, Disa has had too many scenes talking over and over again about the same subject, the conflict between her husband and father in law. Nomvete is a powerhouse of an actor and I feel the emotions she is portraying in every scene, but the repetition makes the subject matter boring, and I worry she’ll be sidelined by the ring plot. Bronwyn is, of course, dead, but hopefully we’ll get more out of Arondir than Theo being mad at him. I love the idea of a team-up between Arondir, Isildur, and Estrid, especially if their adventures could actually be tied neatly into the main plot. But we will have to wait for further episodes to know what the future holds for the people on that side of the story. And then there’s Nori, Poppy, and the Stranger. I continue to find the characters and their relationships very charming, and the concept of Gandalf having this foundational relationship with Hobbits was a great idea. However, the series doesn’t know where to draw the line when it comes to connecting its story to the story we know from The Lord of the Rings. A few judicious moments of establishing lore are great, but there is a point at which Gandalf’s love for hobbits is cheapened by having too much of a connection to them now. When Poppy revealed that the harfoots originally came from the wasteland Gandalf and Nori have been lost in, and that their walking song was actually directions back to their original homeland, you know where the show is going with it: At the end, Gandalf is going to finally harness his ability to restore life to growing things and heal this land, and the harfoots will settle there and it will become the Shire. And that is just… really silly. It’s just like the moth thing with the Dark Wizard. Gandalf speaking to the moth when he’s imprisoned on Isengard was a beautiful moment all on its own—you don’t have to seed everything as being big and connected. Sometimes it is better to just let things be. For all my complaints about things being overly connected, there are places where they should be, and Rings of Power does seem to be getting it right when it comes to Elrond. His journey has become the most interesting part of the series, and the show is doing an excellent job of showing us how and why this ambitious young half-elf with his crush on a Dwarven prince is going to become the grumpy, bitter ruler of Rivendell who is rude and dismissive to Dwarves. Aramayo has great chemistry with every actor, and our connection to Elrond and his struggle helped introduce us quickly and efficiently to the character of Círdan. We believe right off the bat that Círdan is a wise and trusted mentor—Daniel’s portrayal also has that wonderful warmth and gravitas—because it’s so clear that Elrond trusts and respects him with this very important, very dangerous decision. I’m looking forward to seeing where this advice leads, and if Elrond and Galadriel can find a balance between them that helps defeat Sauron for the time being, and sets them up to be the aiding influences that they become for Frodo and his friends in the events of The Lord of the Rings. Extra Thoughts Image: Amazon Studios Círdan was always my favorite Tolkien bit character, and I loved that they gave Círdan his canonical beard, and the effect of him shaving it off was so incredibly off-putting in the best way—it communicated how his ring is affecting him even more beautifully than when he forced the fish to leap out of the water and lie gasping on the land. Heroes in fantasy and genre films are always getting dramatically stabbed and then pulling the knife/arrow/spear/whatever out and marching on to their heroic goals. Of course there are different rules for movies than for real life, but I absolutely love that someone finally acknowledged that you’re not supposed to pull the object out! That’s how you bleed to death! This was also the only moment of humor in the entire three episodes, and I really appreciated it. Benjamin Walker feels like an odd choice for Gil-Galad in many respects, but he’s really starting to grow on me. I loved that they actually let the man sing this season! His voice is beautiful and a great addition to the scene. Until next week![end-mark] The post The Premiere of <i>The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’</i>s Second Season Doesn’t Inspire Confidence appeared first on Reactor.

New York City might be one of America's dream cities today, but in the 1970s it was a very different place. Before Wall Street came in and took over, landlords burned down their buildings to grab insurance money. Before Times Square was the place to be on New Year's Eve, illegal street workers crowded the sidewalks and people actively avoided the area. Check out these photos of a completely... Source

The University of Buffalo condemned conservative commentator, author, and Daily Wire media host Michael Knowles for over a year on the website for its Department of Media Study apparently based on the false premise that he had called for genocide against transgender people. Knowles says the false claim represents the Left’s attempt to justify political violence against conservatives. He threatened to sue the university for defamation and the attack promptly vanished from the website. “After almost 18 months on the home page of their website, I have been removed,” Knowles told The Daily Signal in a phone interview Thursday. The University of Buffalo did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time. Knowles noted that while he did speak at the University of Buffalo in March 2023, he did not graduate from the school. “That they would see fit to dedicate room on their home page to little old me is kind of charming,” he joked. “Nevertheless, it’s not nice to lie about people.” The University of Buffalo Department of Media Study home page included this statement directly beneath the introduction to the department: The faculty of the Media Study department stand in solidarity with the transgender community and others who have been the target of Michael Knowles’ rhetoric. While we are committed to the free and open exchange of ideas, we are also committed to inclusiveness, social justice, and respect for all. There can be no open exchange of ideas without inclusion, justice, and respect. We view Knowles’ public appearance on our campus as contrary to the values and aims of our academic community. The statement on Knowles disappeared Thursday after The Post Millennial reported the story and Knowles threatened to sue Tuesday. Interesting that Alex Reid (@digitaldigs), the chairman of the UBuffalo Media Study Department, would choose to libel me on the department’s publicly funded homepage for a year and a half. I wonder if that sort of defamation has any legal implications. https://t.co/qWN5awlC2h— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) August 28, 2024 ‘Transgenderism Must Be Eradicated’ The controversy dates back to Knowles’ speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 5, 2023. “For the good of society, and especially for the good of the poor people who have fallen prey to this confusion, transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely,” he declared at CPAC. Here's what @michaeljknowles actually said at CPAC in 2023 about the "eradication" of transgenderism. Left-leaning media outlets rushed to accuse him of supporting genocide. But did he??As Knowles himself told me, "Even if one were so illiterate as these liberal journalists,… pic.twitter.com/LskWjh4eJd— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) August 30, 2024 Although Knowles called for “transgenderism”—the ideology—not “transgender people” to be eradicated, left-leaning media outlets published stories claiming that he had called for genocide. “CPAC Speaker Calls for Transgender People to Be ‘Eradicated,'” ran a Rolling Stone headline. “Michael Knowles Says Transgender Community Must Be ‘Eradicated’ at CPAC,” screamed the Daily Beast. “CPAC Speaker’s Trans Comments About ‘Eradication’ Sound Downright Genocidal,” the HuffPost headline read. “Did I sneak in a call for genocide anywhere? No, I didn’t,” Knowles told The Daily Signal on Thursday. “What Rolling Stone and these other outlets had done had transgressed the limits of mere political commentary and entered the territory of defamation.” “I mentioned this publicly and they did change their headlines,” he added. “They tried to keep a strong face about it, but I think those lawyers knew. They folded like a cheap suit, and it looks like the University of Buffalo did the same thing.” This headline is libelous, and I demand a retraction. @RollingStone pic.twitter.com/ud8kUPwDwy— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) March 4, 2023 Knowles spoke to the University of Buffalo’s Young America’s Foundation chapter four days after giving his CPAC speech in 2023. Students protested the speech, repeating accusations that he had called for “genocide.” In this context, the university’s media department put up its statement condemning Knowles—and kept it on the home page until this week. “I was permanently denounced for allegedly inciting genocide in a different speech on this academic department home page,” Knowles said. Justification for Political Violence Knowles isn’t just concerned about his reputation. He warns that false accusations like the one he faced may represent the Left’s attempt to justify political violence against conservatives. “There’s an irony to it, which is that they accuse us of inciting genocide, but in so doing they establish the justification for political violence against us,” he told The Daily Signal. “Ironically, they are the ones inciting violence.” Knowles noted that the Southern Poverty Law Center, a left-leaning nonprofit, keeps a “database of supposed hatemongers.” The SPLC puts mainstream conservative and Christian organizations on a “hate map” with chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, and that map has inspired an act of terrorism. Knowles noted that his complete remarks at CPAC show compassion for those who struggle with gender identity. “Even if one were so illiterate as these liberal journalists, it’s difficult to imagine how one could sincerely interpret my comments to be a call for violence,” he said. “If I’m calling for the good of some person, I’m probably not calling for the death of that person.” “The Left speaks out of both sides of their mouth,” Knowles added. “Out of one side they say this is the crucial civil rights issue of our generation and out of the other side they say this is a trivial matter, why do you care about this?” He said the first half of the statement is closer to the truth that “this is an important matter.” No Neutrality on Transgenderism “On the issue of transgenderism, one has to pick a side,” Knowles argued. “Either men can become women or they can’t.” If men can become women, he postulated, it logically follows that even kids should be taught that gender is malleable. The truth must be true for everyone. “If men can’t become women, as they obviously cannot, then transgenderism is false for everyone, too, and we shouldn’t encourage it because it is contrary to human flourishing,” Knowles said. Societies can tolerate many things, but must agree on certain foundational truths, he suggested. “What do we believe a man is? Political societies have to agree at least about the basics,” Knowles insisted. “If we can no longer agree on the very meaning of the word man or woman, then we can’t agree on anything.” Matters of being—also known as ontology—and matters of how we learn—also known as epistemology—must be established in order to have the fruitful deliberation on which a representative government depends, he argued. “This is why the Left’s mockery of the notion of truth in recent years—a cynical mockery evocative of Pontius Pilate’s words to our Lord—is so troublesome,” Knowles explained. (The commentator referenced the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate’s question to Jesus, “What is truth?” In the gospels, Pilate orders the crucifixion of Jesus even after finding no guilt in him.) “Any body politic, but especially a representative democracy, requires that we persuade one another,” the author added. Seminaries of Transgenderism Knowles lamented the decline of traditional Christianity in public life, noting that the rise of transgenderism in universities followed the Left’s push to remove the Bible from public schools. “In the middle of the 20th century, the Left really attacks Christianity in public life by taking the Bible and prayer out of schools,” he said. “Americans of varied religious views could agree that God exists and the Bible is a good guide to understanding the world.” “A vacuum was created and nature abhors a vacuum,” Knowles explained. “One view is going to prevail. There is going to be a religious view that prevails. It’s a religious question and we ought not to back away from that.” “The universities in America were founded as seminaries and they remain seminaries of a different sort,” he noted. “It’s disturbing that the institutions of higher learning in America are enshrining as indisputable a demonstrably false and downright imbecilic view of human nature.” The post University Finally Removes Michael Knowles Condemnation From Home Page After Defamation Threat appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has issued an opinion in the Tawainna Anderson v. TikTok case in favor of the lawsuit proceeding on the grounds that Section 230 does not apply to platforms when it comes to algorithmic curation of content. We obtained a copy of the opinion for you here. That interpretation of the CDA’s much-debated section may or may not come back to haunt many major (US) social platforms, including where issues of free speech and censorship are concerned. But for now, the story concerns China’s TikTok and one of the “viral challenges” posted on the social app by a third party, which resulted in a tragedy. Namely, the lawsuit was brought by the mother of a 10-year-old who died while trying to complete a TikTok “blackout challenge.” The platform is accused of liability related to the death because this content is claimed to have been recommended algorithmically. The appeals court Judge Patty Shwartz ruled that while the “challenge” itself (inviting users to choke themselves to the point of passing out) was protected user-generated content, TikTok allegedly recommending it via an algorithm was not. The decision is a precedent compared to previous rulings in the US, which said that Section 230 stretches far enough to cover failure to prevent posting of messages considered as harmful that reach other users – and the judge recognized that. But Shwartz justified the decision by citing the US Supreme Court in the Moody v. NetChoice case, which she interpreted to mean that promoting or downranking content through algorithms (programmed by a platform) is a form of editorialization, which in turn means that TikTok engaged in “first party speech” and was therefore unprotected by Section 230 and can be sued. Observers likely keeping an eye on the bigger picture here (i.e., how the entirety of the social media “ecosystem” might be affected) insist, however, that the “moderation” and algorithmic ranking are protected by Section 230, while at the same time being “platform speech” is not contentious. They focus on tech companies’ First Amendment rights, saying that “the whole point of 230 was to encourage and immunize moderation.” Some others might say that “the whole point” was to allow platforms to host third-party content without liability while allowing users to express themselves and exercise their own First Amendment rights. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Court Rules TikTok Must Face Lawsuit, Signaling Shift in Platform Accountability and Raising Free Speech Concerns appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Pushback on VP Kamala Harris’s tax proposal plan grows as costs are counted