bans

School will soon be a bigger bore for kids in France: Starting next fall, students there will be banned from using cellphones in primary and middle schools, the French government announced today. Bummer.

Nazi Groups Kicked Off Reddit as Next Wave of Community Bans Begins [Update]

As of approximately one hour ago, Reddit has begun a wave of new community bans, reminiscent of the culling during interim CEO Ellen Pao’s reign in 2015 that saw a handful of hate-based groups removed from the site. This time, Reddit’s leadership is taking aim at content and groups that incite violence, and the first…

The FDA Finally Bans a Bunch Of Pointless Antibacterial Soaps

Sorry, that antibacterial soap isn’t doing anything more to clean you up than any other plain bar of soap. The FDA just announced it is eliminating almost all of the active ingredients used in antibacterial soaps after determining that the soaps didn’t have any more impact on preventing the spread of germs and infections than…

I’m a Librarian Who Banned a Book. Here’s Why.

In the library world, access to information is a human right, not to be tampered with or controlled in any way. The books that line the shelves have been carefully selected by a trained librarian to offer the reader a balanced approach to all topics – that is, we try to provide all points of…

Russia Just Banned PornHub

In Soviet Russia, porno was a big no-no. And while the land of Putin has loosened up in recent years, it’s still very much frowned upon. Case in point: Russia has banned PornHub and ten other sexy websites. Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media overlords, just added the 11 sites hosting “illegal pornography” to the Unified Register of…

Sharing Cuss-Filled Videos on Xbox One Can Get Your Account Suspended

Everyone who’s played so much as a 15 minutes of Candy Crush knows that, aside from mechanics, graphics, and all that other good stuff—swearing is a crucial part of playing games. Swear too much at your Xbox One in gameplay footage though, and your account can get suspended if you upload it. Kinect likes to…

The House of Representatives Blocks Spotify Because It’s Scared of P2P and Even the RIAA Thinks That’s Dumb

Ain’t nobody in the US House of Representatives gonna be listening to no Spotify at work. Why? The House’s IT overlords don’t see fit. Not because Spotify is distracting and there’s real work that needs to be done or anything, no. It’s because Spotify has P2P guts and P2P is baaaaaaad, apparently. Yeah, even the…

Unmarried Women Banned From Using Cellphones in Indian Village

Despite the headline, it really isn’t a laughing matter, folks. In Lank, India, the council has restricted unmarried women from using cellphones, lest they arrange marriages behind their fathers’ backs—a crime that’s punishable by death. As we know, phones such as the Nokia 1100 are crazy-popular in developing countries like India, thanks to their affordability,…

Kuwait Bans DSLR Cameras (Update: No They Don’t)

Hellbent on banning something after RIM acquiesced to various Arabian nations’ BlackBerry threats, Kuwait is believed to have banned the public from using DSLR cameras in public. Members of the press are still allowed to use them, apparently. https://gizmodo.com/is-kuwait-the-next-in-line-to-ban-blackberry-services-i-5607493 According to the Kuwait Times, the ban was processed by the Ministry of Information, Ministry of…

Melinda Gates Denies Her Children the Sweet, Delicious Temptation of Apple Products

In a terse exchange with the New York Times, Melinda Gates, wife of billionaire tech playboy William Gates, says she’s all but banned Apple products from the Garden of Eden—er, her household. It’s a show of solidarity with her husband, the former head of Microsoft, who famously banned all Apple products from his company’s campus…

RIM and the UAE Shake Hands and Avoid Banning of BlackBerry Services

A couple months of wrangling between the United Arab Emirates and RIM over the overseas storage of BlackBerry data have come to a close today, with a ban on email and BBM being lifted. Hear the joyous clicks of BBMs! The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said that BlackBerry’s data services “are now compliant with the UAE’s…

Is Kuwait the Next In Line to Ban BlackBerry Services in the Middle East?

Unlike Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Kuwait does not yet have a ban or looming ban in place for BlackBerry smartphones and associated services. But it could, as Kuwaiti officials have today expressed “moral and security” concerns about the devices. https://gizmodo.com/blackberry-service-restored-in-saudi-arabia-5607030 This again? Yes, this again, although slightly different in Kuwait’s case. This time it’s…

Israel Lifts iPad Ban

For those of you who couldn’t go to Israel because you just couldn’t part with your iPad, take note. The ban Israel had in place for the device has been lifted. Get your ass to Israel! The about face comes just two weeks after an iPad ban was put in place due to the belief…

UK Bill Would Outlaw Open Public Wifi Hotspots

If passed, something called the Digital Economy Bill over in the U.K. could do the unthinkable in this, the digital age: Ban open wifi spots. The ban comes as part of a bill that seeks to limit copyright infringement, or something. In summary, schools, small businesses and even libraries would have to effectively become their…

So Apple Bans Girls In Bikinis, But A Shirtless Gay Dude Washing A Car Is OK?

Apple has banned sexy apps. But apps from Playboy and Sports Illustrated remain. Why does Apple care what turns me on? If you need another example of why the iTunes App Store’s walled garden is flawed, Apple has been only too happy to oblige, capriciously and arbitrarily removing an unknown number of “sexy” apps without…

Handheld Cellphone Bans Don’t Reduce Car Crashes After All

According to a study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, hand-held phone bans have no effect on the frequency of car crashes. Wait, what? Now, this seems different from specifically texting while driving, which is demonstrably dangerous. But in the four states the IIHS studied, the implementation of a ban on hand-held phones behind…

Student Catches Principal Fighting With Student on Cellphone Camera, School Responds By Banning Cellphones

Way to go, Caddo School Board. You’ve won yourself the Gizmodo luddite of the week award. See, when a student films the principal of your Huntington High School fighting another student, the correct response isn’t to ban cellphones, it’s to make sure principals don’t fight with students. It was only after the student showed the…

Kansas Town Proposes Complete Ban of Cellphones While Driving

Kansas may seem like the pit stain of the country, but one town is proposing a complete ban on cellphones while driving. This ordinance is more hardcore than any of the other conversational driving laws throughout the states. Most of the conversational driving laws require the use of hands-free devices while driving and using a…

XM Halts Sale of Certain Receivers

In our monthly episode of “the FCC sucks at life sometimes,” XM has pulled certain units from the shelves and stopped selling the units from their online store. The only radios pulled were ones that included an FM transmitting modulator. The Inno was excluded because it can be firmware updated. Reasoning? The FCC sucks, easy…