CfA's October 30, 2020 Newsletter

This Week:

• TTP Investigation: Facebook, Google Still Offering ‘Embed’-Like Consulting to Campaigns: On Monday, CfA and TTP released a report showing how Facebook and Google employees continue to offer specialized consulting services to political candidates, repeating a pattern that sparked questions about improper involvement four years ago. A review of LinkedIn profiles and other research by TTP suggests that Facebook and Google staffers continue to offer strategic advice to political campaigns that goes far beyond technical guidance. (Press Release, Report)

• Memo: Background on Local Election Officials: Local elected and appointed officials, especially county clerks, play a vital role in federal, state, and local elections. CfA compiled a list of local election officials whose previous actions show a clear preference for certain outcomes. (Press Release)

What We're Reading:

• 40 Facebook Pages Identified as 'Super-Spreaders' of Election Misinformation are Reaching Millions of Users: "Just days ahead of the presidential election, there are still 40 pages on Facebook that act as "super-spreaders" of voting and election misinformation, according to a new report. NewsGuard, an international news media watchdog, found that these pages, which reach more than 22 million Facebook users in total, are thriving. Of the 53 total individual posts that NewsGuard found were "super-spreaders" of election myths, only three had warnings from Facebook as containing misinformation.The posts identified by NewsGuard spread false claims about mail-in ballots and poll watchers, including the myth that's become popular on the far-right that votes cast by dead people disrupt elections. " (Insider, October 28)
• Watchdog Sees Massive Potential Loan Fraud at SBA, Sparking Fight with Agency: "A federal watchdog on Wednesday said the Small Business Administration has potentially approved billions of dollars of inappropriate disaster aid loans during the pandemic, triggering a forceful defense from the head of the agency. The SBA's inspector general in a new report raised red flags about more than $78 billion in aid approved for businesses under the agency's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program — about 37 percent of the total amount doled out — and warned that billions might have been fraudulently obtained or directed to ineligible businesses." (Politico, October 28)
• Tech Platforms Continue to Let U.S.-Based Hate Groups Use Them to Make Payments: "Technology platforms including PayPal, Stripe, Facebook and Amazon are accepting payments to hate groups in the United States, even though some have explicit policies preventing their use to facilitate hate or violence. According to an analysis by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an anti-extremism think tank, and the Global Disinformation Index, a nonprofit research group, seen exclusively by NBC News, 73 U.S.-based hate groups have had access to at least 54 online funding mechanisms. The access includes crowdfunding, e-commerce, online payment tools and cryptocurrencies through Oct. 3. Thirty-two of the hate groups have nonprofit status, which allows them to raise money through charity fundraising platforms." (NBC News, October 27)

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