Boing Boing on KCRW's Press Play: Trevor Noah's Tweets & Cracking Down on Cyberattacks

Trevor Noah, the new Daily Show host who tweeted some truly awful anti-Semitic jokes some years ago.


Trevor Noah, the new Daily Show host who tweeted some truly awful anti-Semitic jokes some years ago.

On this week's Boing Boing tech news roundup on KCRW's Press Play, I joined guest host Barbara Bogaev to talk about the web's response to comedian Trevor Noah's problematic tweets, and a new executive order from President Obama that enables the U.S. to impose penalties on foreign entities who engage in destructive attacks or commercial espionage online.

Listen to this week's episode here.

Comedian Trevor Noah is set to become the new host of The Daily Show after Jon Stewart steps down. But the comic is in hot water after a bunch of unsavory jokes were discovered in his archived Twitter feed. There were fat jokes, jokes criticizing Israel and jokes making fun of Jews and women. The whole PR nightmare points to a new paradigm in comedy. You are what you tweet, forever and ever…

Also, a look at President Obama's move to bolster cyber security by establishing the first sanctions program, which will allow the administration to punish people who engage in cyber attacks or cyber espionage.

Audio: Web Roundup: Trevor Noah's Offensive Tweets & Cracking Down on Cyberattacks [Press Play / KCRW]

Related: "Patton Oswalt's epic Twitter rant about Trevor Noah, and the fair weather ally"