Campaign for Accountability
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** CfA's October 29, 2021 Newsletter
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Thank you for your continued support of CfA. We're dedicated to continue working to hold the powerful accountable.


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This Week:
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* TTP Investigation: YouTube’s Filter Bubble Problem is Worse for Fox News Viewers: On Sunday, Tech Transparency Project (TTP) director Katie Paul appeared on CNN's Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter to discuss TTP's newest report, which found that YouTube’s recommendation algorithm pushes users into ideological filter bubbles that are stronger for viewers of right-wing content. (Reliable Sources Clip ([link removed]) , Report ([link removed]) )
+ TTP researchers found that accounts expressing initial interest is MSNBC or Fox News were served a constant stream of content supporting their respective preference, but while MSNBC viewers were eventually served an ideologically mixed selection of news, the Fox News viewer never escaped the algorithm’s feedback loop.
+ Additionally, for accounts that showed an interest in militant movements, YouTube suggested videos with titles like “5 Steps to Organizing a Successful Militia” and further content about weapons, ammunition, and tactical gear.


* Blog: Express Advocacy Laws in the Era of Digital Advertising: CfA's latest blog post discusses how modern digital advertising tools make it easier for political advertisers to skirt campaign finance disclosure laws with highly targeted "issue" ads that may or may not constitute express advocacy. The blog discusses the ongoing efforts to establish more black and white rules governing this type of political speech, and establish additional regulations governing micro-targeted political ads and ad targeting transparency. (Blog Post ([link removed]) )


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To keep these projects going, we rely on grassroots supporters like you. Every donation — no matter how small — allows us to keep the work going.
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** What We're Reading:
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* Cases show foreign donors secretly funnel money through straw donors, shell companies, ‘dark money’: "Lev Parnas, a Soviet-born former business associate of Rudy Giuliani, was recently convicted for campaign finance crimes. His case, and others, exposed the ways secret donors — including foreign nationals — can hide their identities from the American public while currying influence with U.S. politicians through straw donors, shell companies and “dark money.”" (Open Secrets ([link removed]) , October 28)


* Twitter has the right to refuse to verify Florida GOP House candidate Anna Paulina Luna over her history of 'posting abusive content,' FEC says: "The Federal Election Commission has officially cleared Twitter of wrongdoing after the company refused to verify the account of a Republican congressional candidate with a history of controversial posts, according to documents made public this week.
The complaint was initially filed in October 2020 by a lawyer for Anna Paulina Luna, who unsuccessfully ran against Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist of Florida.
By verifying Crist but not her, Luna alleged, the platform was essentially making a prohibited corporate in-kind political contribution to her Democratic opponent and violating equal-access rules that typically apply to TV and radio broadcasters." (Yahoo News ([link removed]) , October 28)


* Why Facebook’s angry emoji should interest the US SEC: "A recent analysis of internal Facebook documents showed that Facebook engineers treated emoji reactions — including the “angry” emoji — as five times more valuable than “likes,” favoring controversial posts to keep users engaged — and profits flowing.
This isn’t just a story of a company acting against the public interest and harming its own consumers; it is also a story about one acting against its investors. According to Haugen, the company misled its shareholders about basic business facts, from how it addresses safety to the size of its user base." (Tech Crunch ([link removed]) , October 29)



** Follow Our Work:
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We thank you for your continued support. Without people like you, our work would not be possible.

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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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