Opinion Archives - Page 2 of 12 - The Westside Story

Brazil’s far-right Bolsonaro is as much a danger to science as to democracy

Oct 30, 2018

Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday, earning support from 55 percent of voters. Bolsonaro has often been called the “Tropical Trump,” given his many parallels with th...

Tech companies are trying to control the narrative, and policies, on data privacy

West Side Story

Oct 24, 2018

Business, Opinion, Policy, Science

The tech industry has seemed to undergo a substantial policy shift over the last year. Instead of touting the benefits of self-regulation as they had before, companies including Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Faceboo...

Climate deniers use misleading tactics to downplay worsening extreme weather

West Side Story

Oct 13, 2018

Environment, Opinion, Science

Following severe hurricanes in the past several years, including Harvey, Florence, and now Michael, questions have been raised over the role of climate change in causing the intense wind and flooding that take ...

The Trump administration quietly admitted climate change is real, but says it’s pointless to cut emissions

West Side Story

Oct 6, 2018

Environment, Opinion, Policy, Science

Throughout his time in office and during his campaign, Trump has expressed his doubt in the idea of manmade climate change. Despite some mixed signals, he has generally oscillated between denying the science of...

Facebook ruling affirms crucial principles of online privacy

West Side Story

Sep 29, 2018

Business, Opinion, Policy, Science

Facebook won an important test case on Friday against the federal government, which was seeking to compel Facebook to wiretap calls on its Messenger app. Technology company executives and privacy advocates were...

Online platforms have been too cautious when it comes to banning hate speech

West Side Story

Sep 21, 2018

Business, Innovation, Opinion, Science

PayPal announced this week it will stop doing business with Infowars, a notorious right-wing conspiracy website headed by Alex Jones, according to The Verge. Last month, the relationship between Infowars and Pa...

EU parliament should refine its controversial internet copyright directive

West Side Story

Sep 15, 2018

Headlines, Opinion, Policy, World

It’s been a transformative year for the internet, and the European Union has, through legislation, repeatedly put itself at the center of controversies. This week, the European Parliament voted in favor of the ...

Media efforts for “balanced” coverage often promote a false equivalence with climate deniers

West Side Story

Sep 7, 2018

Environment, Opinion, Science

The BBC is warning its staff to avoid false balance on climate change coverage, and accepting that its past coverage of the issue has been problematic, in a note published today by the climate change blog Carbo...

3D printed guns, largely untraceable, are here to stay without further legislation

West Side Story

Aug 29, 2018

Innovation, Opinion, Policy, Science

Though the controversy over 3D printed guns has been brewing for several years, it’s picked up steam in recent months following a legal settlement by the State Department in July, which allowed the Defense Dist...

Gender disparity persists in the world of science

West Side Story

Aug 21, 2018

Opinion, Science

The scientific community is not normally associated with a strict adherence to the mistakes of the past and of tradition. After all, the very nature of the process calls on scientists to be open to new conclusi...