Elections and Media

We asked 2020 Democratic candidates 7 key questions on technology

Tech has been given surprisingly little airtime during the 2020 Democratic primaries. It has rarely come up on the debate stage. While candidates such as Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Andrew Yang, and Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have made tech-related issues part of their platforms, the matter is often eclipsed by other political hot topics, including health care and taxes.

How a Facebook Employee Helped Trump Win—But Switched Sides for 2020

After the 2016 presidential election, Republican Party officials credited Facebook with helping Donald Trump win the White House. One senior official singled out a then-28-year-old Facebook employee embedded with the Trump campaign, calling him an “MVP.” Now that key player is working for the other side—as national debate intensifies over Facebook’s role in politics.

Trump campaign, spending furiously to counter impeachment inquiry, assails Facebook over potential changes to political ad rules

The Trump campaign lashed out at Facebook after company executives said they were considering changes to rules around political ads that could affect the campaign’s ability to target its supporters on the platform. The outcry came as Trump’s reelection team has undertaken a massive spending blitz on Facebook aimed at countering the House’s impeachment inquiry. Trump’s page alone promoted more than $830,000 worth of ads in the seven days ending on Nov 17, according to Facebook’s ad archive.

Can social media “targetcasting” and democracy coexist?

Since the time of the early advertising-supported newspapers, economic incentive has worked to bring people together around a common set of shared information. Maximizing ad revenue meant offending as few readers as possible by at least attempting a balanced presentation of the facts. The search for balance began to retreat with the arrival of cable television, but the economic model of maximizing revenue by maximizing reach still governed. The targeting capability of social media algorithms, however, has extinguished the traditional economic model.

Grading the Presidential Candidates' Positions on Broadband: The Democrats Receive Mostly Poor Marks

Broadband policy has emerged as a way for Democrats running for President to appeal to primary voters. They emphasize their commitment to "Net Neutrality," often in its most extreme form (i.e., public utility regulation). They also promise expansive (and expensive) government-funded construction of broadband infrastructure. Neither, however, constitutes effective policy.

Mayor Buttigieg Singles Out Big tech

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-South bend), who has been a Silicon Valley favorite in the 2020 presidential race, is calling out several tech giants for harming workers. In his new policy plan, Mayor Buttigieg singles out Facebook, Google and Uber for troubling labor practices, and pledges to hold employers accountable under labor laws, strengthen unions and expand protections for gig workers. “The status quo with companies like Facebook and Uber setting the rules and government sitting on the sidelines must change,” the plan says.

Facebook considering limits on targeted campaign ads

Facebook is considering restricting politicians' ability to use highly detailed demographic and personal information to narrowly target would-be voters with ads, policy chief Nick Clegg confirmed in a possible shift in the social network's broadly permissive policy on political advertising. Clegg declined to discuss any other changes, saying the company is still in the decision-making process.

Sen Kyrsten Sinema, the Only Anti-Net Neutrality Democrat, Linked to Super PAC Run by a Comcast Lobbyist

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) is the only Senate Democrat not co-sponsoring the Save the Internet Act, a bill to restore net neutrality rules that were enacted by the Federal Communications Commission during the Obama administration and reversed in 2017 by President Trump’s FCC Chair, former Verizon attorney Ajit Pai. Instead, Sen Sinema has formed a working group with Sen.

Freedom on the Net 2019: The Crisis of Social Media

Internet freedom is increasingly imperiled by the tools and tactics of digital authoritarianism, which have spread rapidly around the globe. Repressive regimes, elected incumbents with authoritarian ambitions, and unscrupulous partisan operatives have exploited the unregulated spaces of social media platforms, converting them into instruments for political distortion and societal control.

Zuckerberg’s power to hurt President Trump

Top Republicans are privately worried about a new threat to President Trump’s campaign: the possibility of Facebook pulling a Twitter and banning political ads. Facebook says it won't, but future regulatory pressure could change that.

Twitter, Facebook Divergence on Political Ads Shows Tension in Regulating Speech

Twitter and Facebook are staking out starkly different positions about how to handle political ads, but it is unclear how either approach will prevent the spread of misinformation. Some social-media websites have banned ads related to candidates, political parties and legislation. But blocking issues-based advertising, such as ads from advocacy groups or trade organizations, can be hard to enforce, tech executives and media buyers say.

Facebook's political ad exemption policy is a danger to our democracy

Facebook's hands-off policy toward political ads poses a danger to our democracy. Giving politicians free rein to spread lies using political ads shows a disregard for the role Facebook and other social media platforms play in disseminating information to voters and how political candidates can abuse these policies to spread disinformation. First, it's important to understand the unique role Facebook and other social media platforms play when it comes to advertising. Facebook's business model is based on collecting as much data on its users as possible.

Twitter to ban all political ads amid 2020 election uproar

Twitter will ban all advertisements about political candidates, elections and hot-button policy issues such as abortion and immigration, a significant shift that comes in response to growing concerns that politicians are seizing on the vast reach of social media to deceive voters ahead of the 2020 election. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said paying for political speech has the effect of “forcing highly optimized and targeted political messages on people.” “While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politi

Democrats wrangle over whether to break up Big Tech in debate first (updated)

The top Democratic presidential candidates wrangled over their differing views on how to take on the unprecedented power of Big Tech, marking the first time the contenders have been asked to discuss the issue on the debate stage. Most of the candidates drew a contrast between their own views and those of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has called for breaking up top tech companies including Facebook, Google and Amazon. While other candidates agreed the government should take on Big Tech, they said they don't believe "breaking up" the companies will properly address issues including data p

Twitter Stands by President Trump Amid Calls to Terminate His Account

Twitter will continue to be lenient with world leaders who appeared to violate its policies against violent speech because the company believes preserving those tweets served the public interest. “The accounts of world leaders are not above our policies entirely,” the company said in a blog post.

Sen Elizabeth Warren escalates Facebook ad feud

A days-long feud between Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Facebook intensified over the weekend as she openly accused the company of "taking money to promote lies." Facebook fired back via another social media platform, Twitter, where the company compared itself to broadcast television stations that ran a Trump ad and are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. The "FCC doesn't want broadcast companies censoring candidates' speech," Facebook said.

Journalists must make the shrinking free press a campaign issue

Media coverage of the 2020 Democratic presidential campaigns began in earnest well over a year ago — but it is not providing citizens with the news and information we need in order to cast informed ballots. We are two former Federal Communications Commission chairmen who believe one critical issue the media is avoiding is … the media itself. The high level of consolidation and corporatization that exists in the industry today speaks to media’s lack of interest in addressing the current shortfall in our news and information.

Senator Warner on Big Tech: Status Quo Won't Cut It

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) said that we have now seen how "the misuse of technology threatens our democratic systems, our economy, and our national security." "Western companies who help authoritarian regimes build censored apps or walled-garden versions of the internet are just as big a threat to a free and open internet as government actors," he said.

The misinformation age

Axios is launching a series to help you navigate the new avalanche of misinformation, and illuminate its impact on America and the globe, through 2020 and beyond. Hostile powers undermining elections. Deepfake video and audio. Bots and trolls, phishing and fake news — plus of course old-fashioned spin and lies. The sheer volume of assaults on fact and truth is undermining trust not just in politics and government, but also in business, tech, science and health care as well. The bottom line: We won't be able to solve our problems if we can't even agree which ones are real.

Trump allies plot new war on social media

President Trump's campaign and key allies plan to make allegations of bias by social media platforms a core part of their 2020 strategy. Look for ads, speeches and sustained attacks on Facebook and Twitter in particular, the sources say. The irony: The social platforms are created and staffed largely by liberals — but often used most effectively in politics by conservatives. The charges of overt bias by social media platforms are way overblown, several studies have found. But, if the exaggerated claims stick, it could increase the chances of regulatory action by Republicans

To guard against hacking, Democrats recommend scrapping tele-caucus

Democratic officials moved to block plans to allow caucusgoers to vote by phone in Iowa and Nevada in 2020 because of concerns the technology could be hacked. An advisory from Tom Perez, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, and the co-chairs of the Rules and Bylaws Committee recommended against the virtual caucus or tele-caucus in the two early-voting states. Internal security and technology analysts, working with a panel of outside experts, found that there was no teleconference system that met security standards, apparently. 

President Trump turns up the volume with days of anti-media attacks

President Donald Trump has made a "war" on the press a central part of his presidency. In the past few days, it feels as if he's turned up the volume another notch. Destroying any notion of a shared truth — pressuring people not to believe real reporting — that's the Trump era story in one sentence. "There has never been a time in the history of our Country that the Media was so Fraudulent, Fake, or Corrupt!" President Trump wrote. When his presidency is "looked back on," he said, he hopes that a "big part" of his legacy will be "the exposing of massive dishonesty" in the press.

FEC vice chairman heavily involved in tech issues resigns, leaving agency unable to vote

Matthew Petersen, the vice chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), submitted his resignation letter to President Donald Trump, leaving the agency without the necessary number of commissioners to vote on proposed actions. Petersen, a Republican who has served as a commissioner since 2008, wrote that he will formally step down on Aug 31.  Petersen was heavily involved in technology issues, which he highlighted in his resignation letter.

Trump Allies Target Journalists Over Coverage Deemed Hostile to White House

A loose network of conservative operatives allied with the White House is pursuing what they say will be an aggressive operation to discredit news organizations deemed hostile to President Donald Trump by publicizing damaging information about journalists. It is the latest step in a long-running effort by President Trump and his allies to undercut the influence of legitimate news reporting.