I’m writing this on Friday from my room on the cruise ship. It’s been a good week, but I’m ready to return home. I was getting a little bored here at the end.
I also have some fabulous news. There’s a new addition to the Harbath family. Last Sunday, my niece Emma was born. She’s 7lbs 6 ounces and 19.5 inches. I’m heading to Wisconsin on Wednesday to see her.
We’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming this week. On Wednesday, I’ll provide some of my first takes on the election. I’ll also hopefully have a podcast on Thursday with some of the researchers who worked on the Jigsaw/Gemic study I’ve been obsessed with about the future of our information environment.
Make sure to check out my piece in Lawfare as well where I review two recent books on Twitter/X. One is by Kate Conger and Ryan Mac called “Character Limit” and the other is Ben Mezrich’s “Breaking Twitter.”
Have a great Sunday!
What I’m Reading
Stories About Specific Countries
The Verge: Google says it will stop serving political ads in the EU
Who Targets Me: Google quits political ads in the EU – a quick reaction
Political & Social Commentary
Patrick Ruffini - The Intersection: The realignment is here
The Washington Post: AI didn’t sway the election, but it deepened the partisan divide
The New York Times: Opinion | Trump and Musk: The Bromance That Cannot Last
Semafor: A tale of two jets: The old media grapples with its new limits
The COVID States Project: 2024 US Elections: Sources of News and Information
TechPolicy.Press: Tracking Social Media Platforms’ Fluctuating Approaches to US Elections
The Wall Street Journal: Spotify Takes Aim at YouTube in Battle for Podcasts
CNN: The election proved the media is in crisis. Here’s what it needs to do to regain its relevance
The Information: Meta to Launch Ads on Threads in Early 2025
Sherwood News: How The New York Times beat the algorithm and became Facebook’s top publisher
Who Targets Me: Why didn’t AI ‘happen’ in 2024’s elections?
Newswhip: 2025 Publisher Guide: A new era of social news consumption
Legal & Regulatory
The Washington Post: Donald Trump expected to try to halt TikTok ban, allies say
Miscellaneous Insights & Reports
Axios: Scoop: Newsletter platform Substack raises new funding
Pew Research Center: Social Media Fact Sheet
Company Announcements
Global Government Affairs / @GlobalAffairs on X: US Election 2024: Safety by the Numbers
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Tiny feets! Mazel tov auntie Katie :)
Really appreciate your Lawfare piece this week, and the way you bring both books into conversation with the eternal & important Katie Harbath questions: "When do you give companies what they want versus doing what is good for society? When is it okay to look out for your platform’s business interests, and when not? What does that mean when you say you are protecting free expression?"