Mulan has generated controversy due to its lead actor's support of Hong Kong police and Disney’s crediting of CCP government agencies. The saga has demonstrated that the "one company, two systems" mentality for operating in China just doesn't work.
Author: karlhenriksmith
The Golden Age of Speech
Last week, the publication of an open letter in Harper’s Magazine caused a bit of a stir. In it, the authors contended that, while there has been a necessary reckoning on racial and social justice, it has arrived in concert with the intensification of moral attitudes and ideological conformity. The letter’s signatories, which include writers … Continue reading The Golden Age of Speech
The Spotify Hurdle
Spotify's deal with Joe Rogan is the platform's latest experiment with exclusive content. Its implications for openness and wider accessibility of podcasts is concerning.
Carbon, Climate Change, and Coronavirus
A common refrain from netizens during the COVID-19 crisis has been that the environment is benefiting from the sudden lack of human activity. Not only are swans and dolphins coming back to the canals of Venice, but emissions of carbon dioxide have been falling in China at a meteoric pace. The dramatic reduction in vehicle … Continue reading Carbon, Climate Change, and Coronavirus
Monitoring Viruses
In the early hours of March 15th, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s servers were hit with a flood of malicious traffic designed to slow or shut them down. The distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack came as the country battles the coronavirus outbreak, one of several factors that led the agency to take … Continue reading Monitoring Viruses
The Greatest Firewall
2019 was a substandard year for digital rights in China. TikTok, a popular Chinese-owned social networking and video-sharing service, instructed moderators to censor videos that brought up “sensitive” topics like Tiananmen Square or Tibetan independence. Gamers noted on Reddit several months ago that League of Legends, a popular multiplayer online game, prohibited its users from … Continue reading The Greatest Firewall
A Framework for Managing Key-Person Risk
In the days leading up to Adam Neumann’s ouster as CEO of WeWork in September, theories around WeWork’s corporate governance were in full swing. Neumann’s move to cash out $700 million of his holdings compounded a series of absurd decisions, including a reorganization earlier in the year where the company paid its own CEO $5.9 … Continue reading A Framework for Managing Key-Person Risk
Tech Absolutism and Political Advertising
Last month, Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey announced the company would ban political advertising across the entire platform. He listed several reasons for the policy, including how political ads are detrimental to organic reach, can create risks in the voting process, and are purveyors of false or misleading information. The policy, which comes into force today, … Continue reading Tech Absolutism and Political Advertising
Stripe and the Next Wave of Digital Payments
The most successful players in the digital payments space are those that design their core products in such a way that recognizes the different functions of money and facilitate their execution. One of these is Stripe, a fintech firm that processes mobile and online payments on behalf of companies like Airbnb, Twilio, and GitHub. Early … Continue reading Stripe and the Next Wave of Digital Payments
The OTA, Anti-Intellectualism, and Congressional Lobbying
In the 2018 Congressional hearings of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) illustrated a lack of expertise around digital business models when he asked how Facebook could sustain a business in which users don’t pay for their service. After being told that the social media platform is essentially supported by ads, Hatch was … Continue reading The OTA, Anti-Intellectualism, and Congressional Lobbying
