CfA's August 20, 2021 Newsletter

This Week:

• TTP Investigation: Militia Groups are Actively Spreading Vaccine Disinformation on Facebook: On Tuesday, the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) released a report showing that militia groups on Facebook are playing a key role in spreading misinformation about Covid vaccines. This dangerous content proliferates despite Facebook’s promises to crack down on both militia groups and vaccine misinformation on the platform. (Press Release, Report)
  • In one particularly egregious case, Facebook gave legitimacy to a militia group administrator spreading false claims by allowing her to use a “Group Expert” badge, meant for to users who serve as “trusted, well-informed members.”
  • “The Group Expert badge is just the latest in an arsenal of tools that Facebook provides bad actors wishing to sow discontent and spread misinformation online. If Facebook continues to insist that self-reporting and AI are sufficient safeguards against dangerous content, this surely won’t be the last new feature that gets weaponized against truth.” - CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith.
  • The report was covered by VICE News.

What We're Reading:

• FTC: Facebook was bad at business, so it “illegally bought or buried” competition: "The new filing is an attempt to refine the FTC's previous argument, which is that Facebook squelched competition through unfair business practices. “Facebook lacked the business acumen and technical talent to survive the transition to mobile,” Holly Vedova, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “After failing to compete with new innovators, Facebook illegally bought or buried them when their popularity became an existential threat.”" (Ars Technica, August 19)

• FEC watchdog raises concerns about foreign money in US politics: "The watchdog said that the FEC currently relies on political committees to identify the citizenship of donors who have foreign addresses, an approach that “poses significant national security risks, particularly in light of recent high-profile reports of foreign influence in U.S. elections.” That warning came in a Monday report reviewing the FEC’s oversight of former President Trump’s inaugural committee, which received multiple donations from individuals with foreign addresses and a $500,000 donation from Citgo, the U.S. subsidiary of a Venezuelan state-owned oil firm." (The Hill, August 17)

• How the Apple lobbying machine took on Georgia, and won: "Apple denied making statements about pulling back on investments. The threats in Georgia came from third-party Apple lobbyists, said one of the people familiar with the conversations. Meanwhile, three Apple lobbyists reached out to the Georgia attorney general’s office to argue the legislation would put the state in legal jeopardy, according to emails obtained through a public records request by tech watchdog group Tech Transparency Project and shared with POLITICO." (POLITICO, August 20)

Follow Our Work:

1. Follow CfA on Twitter and Facebook.
2. Follow the Tech Transparency Project on Twitter and Facebook.
3. Tell your friends and colleagues about CfA. 
4. Send us a tip. 
5. Make a tax-deductible donation.