What I'm Reading - 8/18/24
Soaking in the final days of summer
August has been anything but quiet, but it’s also felt slower at the same time. Come September, I will be on the road most of the month, so I’m trying to savor these quiet mornings on the shore. The weather has cooled a little so that I can open my door most of the day with a nice breeze from the Chesapeake.
Thank you all for your feedback on the headlines and the podcast. I very much appreciate it.
Before we get to the links of the week, the only thing to note is that applications for the 2024 Fall Cohort of Stanford’s Ethics + Tech for Practitioners are officially open until August 30. I’ve been a speaker, student, and cohort leader for this class. The only reason I didn’t apply this time is that the schedule - Wednesday nights—is challenging, along with some travel I have planned. It’s a great way to learn some frameworks for tackling some of tech's trickiest tradeoffs and challenges.
Have a great Sunday!
What I’m Reading
AI Developments
The Washington Post: See how AI detection works, and fails, to catch election deepfakes
VentureBeat: MIT releases comprehensive database of AI risks
Stories About Specific Countries
The Hindu: Growing unease about Russian state-owned media targeting Opposition leaders
@ThierryBreton on X: Letter to Elon Musk
Financial Times: Brussels slaps down Thierry Breton over 'harmful content' letter to Elon Musk
Rest of World: Elon Musk said he'd eliminate bots from X. Instead, election influence campaigns are running wild
Political and Social Commentary
Washington Post: Fake accounts on Meta pushed conservatives to run for office as independents
New York Times: F.B.I. Resumes Flagging Foreign Disinformation to Social Media Giants
Axios: Campaigns ride the meme wave as 2024 election cycle heats up
Financial Times: Who’s afraid of Elon Musk?
Bloomberg: Musk’s Free Speech Vision for X Collides With Hate Speech, Fake News Crackdowns
The New York Times: Brands Love Influencers (Until Politics Get Involved)
On with Kara Swisher: How the Right Launders Online Propaganda with Renée DiResta
The New Yorker: Are We Living in the Age of Info-Determinism?
The New Yorker: Elon Musk’s Surging Political Activism
The New York Times: Bari Weiss Knows Exactly What She's Doing
TechPolicyPress: Tracking Elon Musk’s Political Activities
The Washington Post: Elon Musk is using X feed as megaphone for his far-right politics
TechCrunch: Biden tells creators they have something traditional media does not: 'You’re trusted'
New York Post: House panel demands info from Google, Meta over alleged censorship of Trump assassination attempt
WIRED: A Visual Guide to the Influencers Shaping the 2024 Election
Financial Times: Kamala Harris spends 10 times as much as Trump on digital ad blitz
Axios: Exclusive: DNC to stream vertically on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube
The New York Times: Elections Officials Battle a Deluge of Disinformation
NBC News: Election 2024: Trump holds rally-like event on X with Elon Musk after tech delays
Wall Street Journal: Inside Elon Musk’s Hands-On Push to Win 800,000 Voters for Trump
Wall Street Journal: McDonald’s, Long Influential in U.S. Diets, Throws Its Weight Into Local Elections
Bloomberg: Instagram Views for Major Accounts Drop With Meta Shunning Politics
The Washington Post: Trump’s mysterious X promos show the limits of digital ad transparency
TechCrunch: Gen Z Voters Oppose Social Media Limits, New Study Finds
CNN: Inside the Gen-Z operation powering Harris’ online remix
Forbes: This Investment Firm Wants To Build A Campaign Tech Ecosystem For Republicans
Legal & Regulatory
TikTok Newsroom: TikTok Files Reply Brief on Unconstitutional Ban
Miscellaneous Insights and Reports
Edison Research: The Top 50 U.S. Podcasts Q2 2024
The Washington Post: Front Porch Forum is the friendliest social network you’ve never heard of
Columbia Journalism Review: Turnaround Time
delbius.com: Trust & Safety as Preventative Healthcare
GlobeNewsWire: Trump Media & Technology Group Announces Successful Launch of TV Streaming on iOS Devices
The Washington Post: Opinion | Susan Wojcicki of YouTube and Google modeled care and purpose
Company Announcements
Federal Trade Commission: Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials
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