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Palantir’s Influence Operation, Attacks on Abortion Provider, and Meta’s Gun Policies
CfA's February 8th Newsletter
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TTP Report: Palantir’s Expanding Influence Operation
In 2004, Peter Thiel and Alex Karp co-founded the data-mining company Palantir, which builds software capable of recognizing patterns in vast amounts of information. Since then, Palantir has struck lucrative contracts with US federal agencies, local police forces, and governments around the world. In Washington, the company has hired a growing list of lobbying firms to help it secure contracts and beat out competitors, taking part in a long tradition of defense industry scuffling. This week, TTP published a report revealing a new phase in Palantir’s government affairs strategy, which suggests that the company is laying the groundwork for an influence operation engineered to outlast Trump’s presidency.
Instead of just throwing money at lobbyists, Palantir appears to be building a fast-revolving door with federal agencies, Congress, and the White House. TTP’s report highlights at least six individuals who have worked at both Palantir and the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), which plays a critical role in facilitating federal contracts. Situated within the Department of Defense, CDAO is responsible for “accelerating DoD adoption of data, analytics, and artificial intelligence”—all of which fall under Palantir’s umbrella. The report also explains how the company appears to be planning for a long-term presence in DC by launching a nonprofit foundation, which will sponsor research and fellowships–-and help build a favorably policy consensus around Palantir’s interests.
In January 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported that Palantir’s growth was suffering as the US turned to cheaper competitors. Now, though, the company’s stock is soaring, with CEO Alex Karp predicting that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency will be “very good for Palantir.” Indeed, the Trump Administration has already hired a number of former Palantir employees, and TTP’s report explains how the company has aggressively moved to make inroads. The report was covered by Tabby Kinder at the Financial Times, and can be read here.
Meta Discusses More Policy Changes with Trump Family
In January, the New York Times reported that Meta employees had met with Trump adviser Stephen Miller to “preview” policy changes on its social media platforms, which included carveouts to specifically permit hate speech directed at women and LGBTQ individuals. Though Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly declared that he regrets working with the Biden Administration to combat pandemic misinformation, he doesn’t appear to have similar qualms about discussing content policy with Trump staffers—or family members.
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This week, a “lifestyle” magazine owned by Donald Trump Jr. shared an Instagram story announcing that it had met with Meta’s leadership to discuss content moderation policies impacting the firearms and hunting industries. The magazine, called Field Ethos, runs an Instagram account that posts images of hunting rifles alongside branded merchandise. Currently, Meta does not allow advertisements promoting the sale of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and specific weapons accessories. Of course, the company’s automated screening systems often fall short; in a 2024 report, TTP documented over 230 advertisements for firearms or weapon accessories, including several that claimed to be selling untraceable “ghost guns.” If the Trump Administration pushes Meta to relax its firearms policies, the company could trigger a flood of advertisements for deadly weapons that target users based on their beliefs and interests—something that TTP observed in the lead-up to Jan. 6th, when Facebook served a steady stream of ads for body armor and military gear to an account created to monitor extremist groups.
Louisiana Aims Wide with Abortion Prosecutions
Last Friday, a grand jury in Baton Rouge indicted a New York-based doctor for providing an underage girl with abortion medication via mail. Like many states with anti-abortion legislatures, Louisiana has passed laws that criminalize the act of helping another person access an abortion without creating penalties for the pregnant individual. In this case, state prosecutors allege that the teen girl was coerced into taking the abortion medication by her mother, who has also been indicted. While Louisiana has a separate law that criminalizes the act of coercing another person to end a pregnancy, the state may be looking to strike a greater blow to reproductive rights by pursuing charges against providers operating beyond its own borders.
Days after the charges were filed, New York passed a law to remove the identities of doctors from prescriptions for abortion medication.
What We’re Reading
Searches for ‘abortion’ on CDC website prompt suggestion to look up ‘adoption’
Anti-Abortion Activists Are Hijacking a New Study to Go After Birth Control
Democrats demand investigation into Musk's alleged 'conflicts' over billions in fed contracts
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