It’s time to curb hate speech and conspiracy theories again — After months of driving it into the ground, Elon Musk has finally done something good for Twitter. Yesterday, he confirmed that he has chosen Linda Yaccarino, former chief of advertising at NBCUniversal as the company’s new CEO and that he will be transitioning to the position of “exec chair &…

The mouse is well-positioned to take on Florida’s favorite authoritarian — As Donald Trump’s legal troubles drag on, another lawsuit that is almost as important to the preservation of democracy is taking shape. Fellow right-wing extremist Ron DeSantis has mounted a formidable threat to Trump’s 2024 presidency and an even greater threat to freedom and equality. In many ways, the Florida…

Especially since his preferred venue is one he controls — Since his acquisition of Twitter in October, 2022, Elon Musk seems intent on waging a war on democracy. It didn’t start when he took over the platform but since he assumed control of it, he has taken his misunderstanding of free speech to dangerous new levels. The billionaire has long…

The real story from his pending arrest is too important to ignore — Last week, people across the U.S. and likely in many nations beyond, waited to see if Donald Trump would be arrested. The former president had been furiously pushing the narrative that he would be arrested on Tuesday, March 21 for the hush money payments he made to adult film star…

The Fox News host is starting to anger his own party. — In September 2020, NPR featured a headline that would have sounded like something straight out of The Onion just a few years earlier; “You Literally Can’t Believe The Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You. So Say Fox’s Lawyers.” That title does a good job summing it up. Fox News lawyers literally…

The pandemic ended an important chapter in my life far too soon — “This is not the land of my birth, but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection.” As I boarded my plane at Dublin airport on March 15th, 2020 already delayed almost three hours, the words of my country’s former commander in chief continued to echo through…

News You Need is finally live on Substack — Good Afternoon Folks, For over two years, I have been working hard to grow My Side of the Aisle on Medium. It has been an incredible journey. I’ve been lucky to be able to connect with talented writers and important voices in the political and blogging communities. If you know…

This is a frightening preview of what a Ron DeSantis presidency — One again, the GOP has proven it only cares about free speech when it applies to their own members. A Florida Republican congressman has introduced a bill that would require bloggers covering governor Ron DeSantis, lieutenant governor Jeanette Núñez as well as the state’s Cabinet or Legislature. The New Republic…

Calling out racists violates the platform’s “community standards” — Conservatives love to criticize social media for censoring their content. Since before Donald Trump rose to political prominence, members of his base have been accusing platforms such as Facebook and Twitter of infringing on their freedom of speech. Donald Trump railed against big tech alleged “censorship” long before Twitter banned…