Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From ACM Opinion
How China Tames Dissent on the Internet
Chinese government leaders, subtle masters of propaganda, seem to have discovered a Sun Tzu formula for taming dissent on the Internet: The best strategy may not...
From ACM Opinion
Spreading Fake News Becomes Standard Practice For Governments Across the World
Campaigns to manipulate public opinion through false or misleading social media postings have become standard political practice across much of the world, with...
From ACM Opinion
The Latest Nsa Leak Is a Reminder that Your Bosses Can See Your Every Move
It took just days for authorities to arrest and charge a federal contractor with leaking classified intelligence to the media.
From ACM Opinion
The Future of Net Neutrality in Trump's America
Now that President Trump has signed legislation repealing landmark federal privacy protections for Internet users, many in Washington are trying to decipher what...
From ACM Opinion
The Inventor of the Web Predicts 'a Massive Outcry' Over Online Privacy
More than two decades ago, Tim Berners-Lee invented the thing you're using to read this story right now—the World Wide Web.
From ACM Opinion
What to Expect Now That Internet Providers Can Collect and Sell Your Web Browser History
After Congress handed President Trump legislation Tuesday that would wipe away landmark privacy protections for Internet users, we received a lot of reader questions...
From ACM Opinion
'this Is an All Hands on Deck Thing': A Former Obama Technology Adviser on Robots, Jobs and Cyberwarfare
During the Obama administration, R. David Edelman was one of the president's top advisers. As a part of Obama's National Security Council and his National Economic...
From ACM Opinion
Crispr Pioneer Muses About Long Journey from China to Pinnacle of American Science
Feng Zhang occupies a corner office on the 10th floor of the gleaming, modern biotechnology palace called the Broad Institute.
From ACM Opinion
Coming Technology Will Likely Destroy Millions of Jobs. Is Trump Ready?
American manufacturing job losses to China and Mexico were a major theme of the presidential campaign, and President Trump has followed up on his promise to pressure...
From ACM Opinion
'I Don't Intend to Go Crawl Under a Rock': An Exit Interview with FCC Chairman Tom Wheele
If you're familiar with the comedian John Oliver, then you may also remember the man he once memorably called a "dingo." That's Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the...
From ACM Opinion
Robots Won't Kill the Workforce. They'll Save the Global Economy.
The United Nations forecasts that the global population will rise from 7.3 billion to nearly 10 billion by 2050, a big number that often prompts warnings about...
From ACM Opinion
How Donald Trump Will Dismantle Obama's Internet Legacy
President-elect Donald Trump could eviscerate some of the most significant tech policies of the 21st century, all but erasing President Obama's Internet agenda...
From ACM Opinion
Ted Cruz Is Wrong About How Free Speech Is Censored on the Internet
Sen. Ted Cruz wants to engineer a United States takeover of a key Internet organization, ICANN, in the name of protecting freedom of expression.
From ACM Opinion
The Cold War Is Over. The Cyber War Has Begun.
Contemplating Russian nuclear threats during the Cold War, the strategist Herman Kahn calibrated a macabre ladder of escalation, with 44 rungs ranging from "Ostensible...
From ACM Opinion
Here's How Russian Hackers Could Actually Tip an American Election
Reports this week of Russian intrusions into U.S. election systems have startled many voters, but computer experts are not surprised.
From ACM Opinion
Tim Cook: Running Apple 'is Sort of a Lonely Job'
On a sleek white coffee table in Apple CEO Tim Cook's fourth-floor office in late July, beneath framed posters of Robert F. Kennedy, the Rev. Martin Luther King...
From ACM Opinion
The Brave New World of Robots and Lost Jobs
Job insecurity is a central theme of the 2016 campaign, fueling popular anger about trade deals and immigration. But economists warn that much bigger job losses...
From ACM Opinion
Microsoft's President Explains the Company's Quiet Legal War For ser Privacy
Apple's legal battle over encryption dominated headlines earlier this year, but another tech giant is fighting a quieter legal war over user privacy: Microsoft....
From ACM Opinion
The Real Reason America Controls Its Nukes with Ancient Floppy Disks
America's nuclear arsenal depends on a surprising relic of the 1970s that few of us may recall: the humble floppy disk.
From ACM Opinion