Facebook Reverses Stance — Again — On Violent Viral Video

Free expression in the online world is a tricky issue for any social network.

In Lifting Violent-Video Ban, Facebook Seeks Its “Tahrir Square” Moment

The world’s largest social network wants to move more into the public sphere.

Twitter Updates Rules to Crack Down on Abuse

The company responds to heavy criticism of its rules after a series of rape threats and bomb threats levied against female media figures.

Twitter Adds Another Ex-Googler and First Amendment Vet to Its Legal Team

Twitter’s latest lawyer comes with a wealth of first amendment litigation experience.

Twitter Continues Uphill Trudge in Freedom-of-Tweets Legal Battle

The microblogging service appeals a federal judge’s ruling in an ongoing case that could affect how online speech is seen in the future.

An Attack on WikiLeaks Is an Implicit Attack on Media

You don’t have to embrace Julian Assange as a kindred spirit to believe that what he did in publishing those cables falls under the protection of the First Amendment.

— Former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller, in an email to GigaOM’s Mathew Ingram in response to a post by Ingram entitled “First they came for WikiLeaks, then the New York Times”

Google Results Protected by First Amendment, Says Google-Commissioned Report

Do Google’s search results merit the same free-speech protection as articles in a newspaper?

Tweet Free or Die: In Defense of Occupy Protester, Twitter Fights the Man

Twitter’s refusal to acquiesce to government requests for information says something about the company’s stance on privacy.

New Chinese Internet Document Redlines BS Meter

Though it has given no indication otherwise, China would like the world to know that it has no plans to allow free access to online content–Google’s “new approach” to the country be damned. In a lengthy white paper titled “The Internet in China,” China’s State Council Information Office reaffirmed the Chinese government’s longstanding commitment to censorship.

Voices

Google to Act on China

Google Inc. is expected to announce its next steps in China this week, according to a person briefed on the matter. The details of the Internet company’s plan, reached after talks with Chinese officials failed to make progress, remain unclear. The person briefed on the matter said the announcement could come as soon as Monday.

Intel’s Q4 Blowout

Wikileaks Back in Action