Crypto and the Future of Sanctions
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** CfA's January 26, 2024 Newsletter
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With your support, Campaign for Accountability is working to expose corruption and hold the powerful accountable.
** This Week's Updates:
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GAO Examines Cryptocurrencies and Sanctions Evasion
This week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) promoted a new report ([link removed]) compiled by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which addressed the role of digital assets (including cryptocurrencies) in sanctions evasion. Fiat currencies remains the primary vehicle for money laundering, according to interviews and research conducted by GAO staff, but the role of digital assets has been growing. Ultimately, crypto-enabled money laundering could erode the power of sanctions issued by the US and its allies, and make it more difficult to law enforcement to pursue organized crime. To address this issue, Warren is championing a bill called the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act ([link removed]) , which would impose Bank Secrecy Act regulations on the crypto industry and direct the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to issue additional
transparency requirements to financial institutions, among other measures.
Breaking the connection between American companies and poorly regulated offshore crypto exchanges is an important step towards transparency – that’s why CfA urged ([link removed]) Sen. Warren and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to probe the relationship between domestic cryptocurrency firm Circle and a foreign blockchain ecosystem associated with money laundering.
Once Again, Meta Launches Safety Features Ahead of Hearing
December 2021 was a rough time for Facebook, before it became Meta. In September, whistleblower Frances Haugen had leaked a damning series ([link removed]) of documents to the Wall Street Journal, including a presentation ([link removed]) with slick Instagram branding and a slide titled “we make body image issues worse for 1 in 3 teenage girls.” Lawmakers wanted answers. On December 8, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri went before Congress to defend his platform against its own research – and he came prepared. The day before the hearing, Instagram announced new safety measures ([link removed]) designed to protect teen mental health, which featured prominently in Mosseri’s testimony ([link removed]) and his responses to lawmakers ([link removed])
. This week, history repeated itself as Meta launched more safety features ahead of another congressional hearing, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the hot seat.
As usual, only Meta will know if these fixes actually work. The company gives extremely limited access ([link removed]) to third-party researchers, some of whom have abandoned their efforts out of frustration ([link removed]) and endorsed bills like the Platform Transparency and Accountability Act. Meta has also engaged in an aggressive academic influence ([link removed]) campaign, which CfA’s Tech Transparency Project (TTP) documented in a recent report ([link removed]) . Without independent verification, Meta’s teen safety features are an empty promise, rendered even more flimsy by Zuckerberg’s known opposition
([link removed]) to wellbeing proposals that reduce user engagement. It’s an arrangement that gives social media platforms all the cards.
The upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, titled Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis ([link removed]) , will also by attended by the CEOs of X, TikTok, SnapChat, and Discord. TTP will be covering their questioning live on X ([link removed]) , BlueSky ([link removed]) , and Threads ([link removed]) , starting January 31 at 10:00am ET.
The Tech Monopolies at the Heart of Journalism’s Ad Revenue Collapse
This month, journalists and staff were laid off by the Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, Time Magazine, Pitchfork, NBC news, and Sports Illustrated. 400 workers with the Condé Nast union staged a walkout ([link removed]) over expected layoffs, while the unionized staff at Forbes announced ([link removed]) a three day strike regarding contract negotiations, which have gone on for over two years. In short, 2024 has already been devastating for journalism and people who produce it. The industry’s problems can largely be traced back to tech companies like Google and Meta, which have shaped both digital advertising and the way links are shared across the internet. Both companies have spent billions on journalism initiatives, designed to funnel resources into struggling news outlets. There’s an obvious flaw with these programs, though: tech companies exert market-dominating
power, and news outlets are dependent on their good will.
Here's a story that illustrates the tension between tech and journalism particularly well. Last week, Google told 404Media that it would not be prioritizing human-produced articles ([link removed]) for its “news” tab, allowing AI-generated stories to appear in search results. This policy undermines Google’s “commitment ([link removed]) ” to journalism by redirecting clicks (and therefore ad revenue) to websites that scrape intellectual property from outlets without compensation. No amount of grants or trainings can make up for the fact that Google is acting against the best interests of journalists and publishers to increase its own profits. For more on this issue, read TTP’s report on how Google’s journalism spending surges in the face of regulatory threats ([link removed]) , and can be seen as an extension of its lobbying strategy.
What We're Reading
FTC investigating Microsoft, Amazon, and Google investments into OpenAI and Anthropic ([link removed])
Ken Paxton's impeachment trial expenses ([link removed])
Lobbying spending by top interest groups dipped amid 2023 gridlock ([link removed])
** Follow Our Work:
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We thank you for your continued support. Without people like you, our work would not be possible.
Here is how you can stay involved and help us accomplish our mission:
1. Follow CfA on Threads ([link removed]) and BlueSky ([link removed])
2. Follow the Tech Transparency Project on Threads ([link removed]) and Bluesky ([link removed])
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5. Make a tax-deductible donation ([link removed]) .
Be on the lookout for more updates about our work in the upcoming weeks. Thanks again for signing up to be a part of CfA!
Sincerely,
Michelle Kuppersmith
Executive Director, Campaign for Accountability
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