The Honorable Zach Whiting is Senior Fellow of Technology Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Prior to joining the Foundation, he served as a state senator in his native state of Iowa. In the senate, Zach championed conservative values, protected personal liberties, and worked to reduce the size and scope of government. He served as Assistant Majority Leader, chair of the Labor and Business Relations Committee, and vice chair of the Administrative Rules Review Committee.
In response to the highly consequential censoring of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story, Democrats contend that the backlash surrounding this decision confirms that society needs more moderation and censorship in order for democracy to thrive. After all, to them, “the First Amendment isn’t absolute.” But free speech absolutist Elon Musk has something...
Last July, 8-year-old Lalani Walton had just returned to Temple, Texas after a road trip with her family. They got home, unpacked their things, and her stepmother promised to take her out for a swim once Lalani cleaned her room. Tired from the trip, her stepmother rested her head and took a quick nap. When...
Loyal iPhone users are familiar with ever-rising standards: “bringing incredible speed to everything you do,” costing only a mere $1000, and minus the functionality of a headphone jack or charging port. And many customers do in fact find the faster speeds, higher definition cameras, and longer lasting batteries to be a good enough value add...
Building out broadband internet is the “wild west” of public policy, and naturally, the various proposals fall into three categories: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because of a digital age that has made it more difficult to live everyday life without high-speed internet, broadband access affects quality of life. Poor access can hinder...
In Florida, deputies gave the mother of one teenager they were surveilling a $2,500 fine because she had five chickens in her backyard. They arrested another target’s father after peering through a window in his house and noticing a 17-year-old friend of his son’s smoking a cigarette. Law enforcement agencies have long been searching for...
After Texas state Rep. Jared Patterson announced his support for banning minor’s use of social media, the partisan media was quick to denounce his efforts and, in the case of the Dallas Observer, declare that Texas lawmakers will have to pry social media out of children’s “cold, dead hands.” Well Dallas Observer, that’s exactly what...
It might seem like hyperbole to say that securing data privacy in the Lone Star State is a matter of life and death. But it can often have tragic consequences. For example, two years ago in New Jersey, a lawyer angry at a judge for postponing a ruling on his case obtained the judge’s sensitive...
Like hundreds of millions of Americans during the pandemic, residents of the District of Columbia walked about the city, smartphone in hand. Some listened to podcasts, talked to a loved one, or bided time in the augmented reality of Pokémon GO. Many residents were likely aware that their phones were tracking them as they stretched...
A young girl named Alexis started using social media when she was 11 and was barraged with videos about body image, eating disorders, and cutting. She developed a social media addiction, anorexia, harmed herself, and contemplated suicide. Samantha was sucked into an algorithmically fueled rabbit hole about rare diseases which she increasingly became convinced she...
Elon Musk is again driving the news cycle with his groundbreaking purchase of Twitter for more than $43 billion. It’s been a whirlwind. In less than a month, Musk became Twitter’s largest shareholder, was considered for a seat on the board, declined a seat on the board, offered to purchase Twitter, to which Twitter moved...
This week, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, on behalf of its client The Texan, filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit Court urging it to uphold anti-censorship legislation passed in the previous legislative session. The brief, filed in support of the state of Texas, focuses on the interplay between free-speech rights and a federal law...
Former President Donald Trump launched his new social media platform, Truth Social, this past President’s Day. To say the launch created buzz around the country would be a colossal understatement, but the mainstream media won’t tell you that. The launch—and its aftermath—also show how weary conservatives are with big tech censorship and algorithms that attempt...