Spring Break
Wild West is taking a little spring break this week. Back next week! Worth reading in the meantime:
• “Tech made us and unmade us” — Pranav Dixit on how Hindu nationalists are using American-made technology “to destroy a secular democracy.”
• Another warning to digital giants from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — “The most senior justice this week warned his eight colleagues that they have a coming rendezvous with a boiling controversy that implicates constitutional guarantees,” writes George Will. “It concerns the power, and the proper characterization, of Big Tech media companies.” (This is not the first time Justice Thomas has issued such a warning.)
• An eyebrow-raising admission from the ACLU — “The American Civil Liberties Union is raising eyebrows after updating its privacy policy to note that it is sharing data with Facebook, one of the companies whose policies it often criticizes,” reports Axios.
• The Substack freakout — “This new ability of individuals to make a living directly from their audiences isn’t just transforming journalism,” writes Ben Smith.
• Another interesting catch from The Markup —