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
Author: karlhenriksmith
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
A Framework for Digital Taxation
One of the policies in contention at the G7 summit in France last month had little to do with climate change, finance, or disease eradication. In a renewed effort to placate the U.S. (and to avoid potential tariffs), French President Emmanuel Macron announced that a digital tax on revenues put into effect earlier this year … Continue reading A Framework for Digital Taxation
Welcome to Besteps
Over the past few months, I have been writing articles on Medium with some degree of regularity. The simplicity is appealing. Writers earn money through its Partner Program, and the platform offers exposure to a wide array of topics and publications (shoutouts to The Startup, OneZero, and Elemental). In addition, maintaining a blog can be a chore for writers whose … Continue reading Welcome to Besteps
Besteps 