Opening Day at the Court of Appeals
August 2018
Daily Digest 8/22/2018
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Wed, 08/22/2018 - 11:02
Analysis
Analysis
Daily Digest 8/22/2018 (Verizon Throttling Safety)
Send date
Wed, 08/22/2018
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
There should be ‘consequences’ for platforms that don’t remove people like Alex Jones, Senator Ron Wyden says
Since 2016, everything that social media companies have done has been “either a bizarre idea or not really doing much of anything that’s actually gonna help people,” said Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR). As one of the more tech-savvy members of Congress, he’s a proponent of new legislation that will regulate voting machine companies and data firms such as Cambridge Analytica, but also believes existing laws have given platforms like Twitter more power than they have deigned to use. “I think what the Alex Jones case shows, we’re gonna really be looking at what the consequences are for just leaving comm
Google Tried to Change China. China May End Up Changing Google.
Ever since its founding 20 years ago in a Silicon Valley garage, Google has proudly and often ostentatiously held itself up as the architect of a new model for corporate virtue. Google, they said, would always put long-term values over short-term financial gain. “Making the world a better place” would be a primary business goal, and Google’s ethical compass could be summed up in a simple and celebrated motto: “Don’t be evil.” Now, Google appears to be changing its mind.
Facebook Pulls 652 Fake Accounts Engaged in Coordinated Influence Campaign Ahead of Midterms
Facebook dismantled 652 pages, groups and accounts engaged in an coordinated influence campaign ahead of the 2018 US midterm elections, part of the company’s broader purge of bad actors on its site. Facebook said the 652 pages and accounts originated in Iran, and that they had been flagged for “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” Facebook said the offenders had targeted internet services in the US, Middle East, UK and Latin America. The company separately found evidence of inauthentic Russian activity. Facebook said it found no evidence the campaigns by Russia and Iran were connected.
President Trump: 'I would rather have fake news' than censorship
During a rally in Charleston (WV), President Donald Trump railed against social media censorship, declaring he would "rather have fake news than have anybody... stopped and censored." He told a crowd that his administration is "standing up to social media censorship." While the issue has been championed by conservatives, President Trump pushed back against potential censorship of any accounts, regardless of political affiliation.