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CfA's August 30, 2024 Newsletter

With your support, Campaign for Accountability is working to expose corruption and hold the powerful accountable.

This Week's Updates:

CfA Calls on SEC to Investigate Possible Pay-To-Play State Investment Scheme
This week, CfA sent a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, asking his agency to investigate whether certain donations to the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) – an organization led by Republican state financial officials who oppose environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing—may have improperly influenced its members’ investment decisions.

SFOF’s members include state auditors, controllers, and treasurers, all of whom have considerable power to invest taxpayer dollars. As a nonprofit, SFOF is allowed to accept donations from large investment firms. However, SEC rules prohibit investment advisors from paying individuals or organizations to convince government officials to hire a given firm. Simply put, investment firms are not allowed to pay SFOF in exchange for favorable treatment by their members.

One of SFOF’s biggest donors is an investment advisory group called Public Trust Advisors (PTA); when Texas banned ESG-supportive businesses from working with the state, PTA stepped in and reaped the benefits. Now, CfA is calling on the SEC to take a closer look at SFOF and the companies that may profit from its members’ influence. A new story in Rolling Stone contains more information about the complaint and SFOF’s background, here.

YouTube Still Connecting Underage Users to Videos of Automatic Weapons, Homemade Firearms
On Wednesday, CfA’s Tech Transparency Project (TTP) published a new report revealing that YouTube is still failing to enforce its policies regarding firearms, allowing underage users to view content featuring fully automatic weapons and 3D printed guns. These findings build on earlier research by TTP, which found that YouTube was recommending real-life firearm content to boys interested in video games. That research prompted a letter to YouTube from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg; a month later, YouTube quietly tightened its firearm policies, noting that some content “may not be appropriate for viewers under 18.”

To test YouTube’s restrictions, TTP created an account and registered it as a 14-year-old. That account was then used to search YouTube for the names of common weapons manufactures. Immediately, YouTube returned videos that showed 3D printed guns being handled and fired.

TTP’s research was covered by both Bloomberg and The New York Post. YouTube spokesperson Javier Hernandez told Bloomberg that the company had a “a robust set of policies” governing firearms content, and would review the findings of TTP’s report. Of course, enforcement is the problem – not the policies themselves. When it comes to removing licensed music, for instance, YouTube has a “Content ID” tool that scans videos for copyright violations. Many of the firearm videos identified by TTP made no secret of their content, and could easily be flagged for containing terms like “fully automatic” and “3D printed glock” in their titles. Instead of investing in better systems or hiring more human reviewers, YouTube appears to have simply changed its policies without a reliable means of implementing them.

Election Denial Group Plans to Coordinate with Sheriffs
In February of 2024, the election denial organization True the Vote (TTV) was forced to tell a judge it had no evidence to back up its allegations of voter fraud. Months later, its leaders are back on the road with a new strategy: livestreams. According to TTV co-founder Catherine Engelbrecht, her organization plans to recruit local sheriffs who will be tasked with setting up video livestreams at voting locations and ballot drop boxes. Engelbrecht announced this strategy during an interview with self-described Christian nationalist Lance Wallnau, who maintains a large social media presence and has pushed evangelical churches to campaign for former President Trump.

According to Engelbrecht, TTV has “learned a lot from the project we undertook in 2020” – namely, she and her collaborator, Greg Philips, were held in contempt of court and spent almost a week in jail after failing to produce evidence in a defamation trial.

What We're Reading
Kroger’s Nearly $25 Billion Merger Is Bad for Shoppers, F.T.C. Says
Under industry pressure, IRS division blocked agents from using new law to stop wealthy tax dodgers
Sports betting addiction leading to increase in bankruptcies in Kansas

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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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