Whew, it is hot out there. I’m in a creative mood this weekend, so I’ve been spending it inside, taking some free virtual art classes through this Summer Creative Retreat by the Pigeon Letters and making more friendship bracelets. One thing I’m learning through these classes is using the Procreate app on the iPad. I’m excited to try making some of my own stickers and other designs. I also got gold letter beads for the bracelets to provide more options in the Panic Responsibly store. I should get those out this week for those who have placed orders. Finally, I also turned that personal manifesto I shared the other week into a poster inspired by the Holstee manifesto.
Meanwhile, a lot happening on the elections and tech front. We’ve decidedly moved into a new era of what this election will look like online, from the DNC credentialing 200 influencers to Musk wreaking havoc to ongoing changes in AI. I just realized while writing that line that I need to figure out what Wednesday’s newsletter will be on. Any thoughts or requests?
What I’m Reading
AI Developments
Databricks: State of Data + AI
Economist Intelligence Unit: AI: from experimentation to implementation?
Ofcom: Red Teaming for GenAI Harms - Revealing the Risks and Rewards for Online Safety
Axios: Deepfakes' parody loophole
Stories About Specific Countries
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Regulation or Repression? Government Influence on Political Content Moderation in India and Thailand
Financial Times: UK election body failed to protect voter data before Chinese cyber attack, says watchdog
DFRLab: Inauthentic Chinese X accounts amplifying Trump shooting and Biden withdrawal conspiracy theories
Quartz: The EU's AI Act is now in effect. Here's what you need to know
New Media & Society: When content moderation is not about content: How Chinese social media platforms moderate content and why it matters
Political & Social Commentary
Politico: It Was Supposed to Be Trump’s Administration in Waiting. But Project 2025 Was a Mirage All Along.
The Washington Post: Project 2025 to end policy work after Democratic attacks angered Trump
theRighting: Truth Social Traffic Nosedives for Third Straight Month
TechDirt: Kamala, Coconuts & The Impossibility Of Content Moderation At Scale
Doppel: Elections Security: Detecting 2024 Presidential Cyber Threats
Washington Post: Democratic convention will host hundreds of online influencers
DNC: Democratic National Convention to Credential 200 Content Creators in Chicago
Forbes: Elon Musk Isn't Stopping Misinformation, He's Helped Spread It
American Progress: Despite Defying His Own Lawful Subpoena, Rep. Jim Jordan Has Issued At Least 91 Subpoenas to Others
The Conversation: Sure, 2024 has had lots of news – but compared with 1940, 1968 or 1973, it’s nothing exceptional
Fast Company: The new Kamala Harris presidential campaign branding came together within hours
National Review: FBI to Resume 'Regular Meetings' with Social-Media Companies ahead of 2024 Election
CNN Politics: How Samuel Alito got canceled from the Supreme Court social media majority
The New York Times: Kamala Harris Faces a Faster, Uglier Version of the Internet
The New York Times: Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists Pledge to Support Kamala Harris
NPR: Trump may be a star on TikTok but Republicans aren't following his lead
WIRED: TikTok Has a Nazi Problem
Morning Consult: Gen Z Adults Are Getting More Moderate
Designing Tomorrow: Do people still have meaningful connections on social media?
Best Practice Digital: Keep Tabs On Your Competition With Political Ad Libraries
Coalition for Independent Technology Research: Blocking our Right to Know: Surveying the Impact of Meta’s CrowdTangle Shutdown
Axios AM Newsletter: It happened in July
People vs Algorithms Podcast: The Future of Search
Protect Democracy: Mark Your Calendar: The Highest-Risk Election Dates
Women’s Brain Trust: Navigating the Election Tide
Renee DiResta: A man, a couch, a meme
NewsGuard's Reality Check: Commentary: The Limits of Fact Checks
Legal & Regulatory
The Washington Post: Justice Department sues TikTok, alleging it broke child privacy law
Roll Call: Senate passes kids online safety package
The New York Times: How the Kids Online Safety Act Was Dragged Into a Political War
Miscellaneous Insights & Reports
Mozilla Research: TikTok Lite Lacks Critical Safety Features, Neglects Global Majority Users
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications: Liars know they are lying: differentiating disinformation from disagreement
Center for Democracy and Technology: Election Integrity Recommendations for Generative AI Developers
Jumio Global Consumer Research: 2024 Online Identity Study
Leading Podcast: Nick Clegg: Coalition, Cameron, and Chaos (Part 1)
Leading Podcast: Nick Clegg: Biden, Brexit, and kicking Trump off Facebook (Part 2)
Leslie Bradshaw's Leadership Lessons: Be Careful Who You Partner With
Company Announcements:
Intùiti: Intùiti® Creative Cards
Google Communications: Google addresses censorship concerns
Microsoft on the Issues: Protecting the public from abusive AI-generated content
Trust and Safety Research Conference: Stanford: Trust and Safety Research Conference Agenda Released
United Nations: United Nations Global Principles For Information Integrity
Please support the curation and analysis I’m doing with this newsletter. As a paid subscriber, you make it possible for me to bring you in-depth analyses of the most pressing issues in tech and politics.