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This Week's Updates:
Elon Musk’s Twitter Will Create a Toxic Ripple Effect Across Social Media: Katie Paul, director of CfA's Tech Transparency Project (TTP), published an op-ed in Fast Company that explains how Twitter's sudden shift could impact other social media platforms.
Prenatal Testing Company Faces Scrutiny: On Monday, ProPublica released an in-depth story about the prenatal testing company Natera, which operates without federal oversight and has been accused of misleading parents about the accuracy of its results. Natera first attracted CfA's attention back in January, when it was revealed that some of the company's tests had an 85% false positivity rate. In response, CfA urged the SEC to investigate Natera for failing to disclose these risks to investors and the public.
Crisis Pregnancy Centers Deceive Patients with Google Ads: Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are using sponsored Google search results to deceive people looking for information about abortions, and new reporting shows that their tactics are working. TTP highlighted this practice in a September report, which warned that unsuspecting users could be lured into "clinics" which provided no actual care. Despite the media attention generated by these findings, Google has again failed to enforce its own rules and stop CPCs from lying to users.
Facebook Oversight Board Criticizes VIP Policies: Facebook's Oversight Board has been widely criticized as a public relations shield, only capable of making non-binding recommendations that don't seriously inconvenience the company or challenge its business model. That said, the board did manage to draw attention to Facebook's "XCheck" system, which allows high-profile users to get away with breaking rules - including ones against harassment and the incitement of violence.
In 2020, TTP discovered evidence of similarly preferential treatment on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook's parent company, Meta. In that case, certain accounts were protected from negative hashtags, while others were allowed to appear alongside disinformation and smears.
‘Constant turmoil’ at FDA’s food regulatory agency, report says
A panel of independent experts has concluded that a lack of leadership at the FDA's Human Foods Program has "contributed to a culture of indecisiveness and inaction." The panel's report comes on the heels of the infant formula crisis, which highlighted problems within the agency.
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