What I’m Reading - 8/6/2023

Greetings from Yellowstone! Or, at least, I hope I am in Yellowstone when you read this. I’m scheduling this ahead of time to send Sunday morning as the cabins we are staying in specifically say cell and internet service is limited.

As a reminder, this means there will be no emails Wednesday or Thursday this week. I’ll return with links next Sunday and then resume regular programming.

Also, I opened up my archives last week! Now anyone can access some of my more popular posts, such as:

• How I Mapped Out My Post-Facebook Journey - I talk about the process I went through to understand what I wanted next in my career and how to focus my work at Anchor Change.

• Reclaim the Fairy Tale - Life as a single woman isn’t easy, and society is not set up to celebrate us. In this post, I talk about my own journey of navigating single career life.

• Platforms and Politicians: A New Chapter - In early 2023, Meta said it was letting former President Trump back on its platforms. I look at how platforms have traditionally engaged candidates and governments and how that might change.

• Platforms run away from politics and news - A look at how some platforms want nothing to do with politics anymore, but they aren’t going to be able to avoid it - so they should have a plan.

Please support independent journalism! As a free or paid subscriber, you make it possible for me to bring you in-depth analyses of the most pressing issues in tech and politics.

What I’m Reading

1. On with Kara Swisher - Is Chris Christie Really the Anti-Trump?
   I’ve long been a fan of the governor, and I know many of the folks running his campaign. He does a great job on Kara’s podcast.
   

2. Reuters - X reorganizes trust and safety team under Musk, CEO Yaccarino
   To say this is going to be interesting is an understatement. But that being said. Job openings have started to pop up in my LinkedIn for these teams - including an election team lead role.
   

3. Politico - Revealed: The criteria for the second Republican Primary debate
   What particularly makes this interesting to me is the challenge candidates in both parties are having in getting small-dollar donations. How will that impact who does or doesn’t make the stage? How will those people try to make up for it? Will it matter?
   

4. Politico - ‘Whistling past the graveyard’: Dem fear grows over massive grassroots fundraising hit
   Sure, Summer is always slow, and it is only 2023. But this trend on both sides of the aisle is something to watch.
   

5. Tech Policy Press - The Meta Studies: Nuanced Findings, Corporate Spin, and Media Oversimplification
   I’m not sure Meta was trying to exonerate themselves as much as the authors think they were, but they are correct in that the oversimplification of these very complicated issues is not helpful.
   

6. Wired - What Meta’s New Studies Do—and Don’t—Reveal About Social Media and Polarization
   I love what Jonathan Stray says about the papers, “The papers are neither proof that Facebook divides us nor a vindication of social media. They’re a starting point.”
   

7. The Washington Post - Disinfo researchers are under pressure. Right now, they're starting to push back.
   Kudos to Alex Stamos and Renee DiResta for pushing back on the falsehoods about them and the work they do that was included in the Lousiana judge’s injunction against the Biden administration engaging with social media companies.
   

8. New York Times: India’s Top Court Clears Way for Rahul Gandhi’s Return to Parliament
   Gandhi had been found guilty of defaming current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the Supreme Court of India has overturned that. Had the conviction been upheld, Gandhi wouldn’t have been able to lead the Congress party in next year’s elections.
   

9. Nikkei Asia - Rise of AI newsbots shakes up India's media landscape
   Yet another thing to watch as we go into the 2024 election year.
   

10. Buenos Aires Times - Voter turnout set to be defining factor in Argentina's election
    Argentina’s election is getting interesting!

9. Reuters - Indonesia defense minister gains ground with young people for 2024 election
   Don’t forget Indonesia is going to the polls early next year too!
   

10. France 24 - Zimbabwe election: Disinformation spreads on WhatsApp
    Fighting disinformation on an end-to-end encrypted platform is very different than what can be done on other apps.
    

11. Alice Hunsberger - 33 Ethical Tech, Trust, Safety, and Integrity-related Organizations and Resources
    A fantastic roundup of who to follow to stay up to date on news and analysis in this space.
    

12. The Chronicle of Philanthropy - Nonprofits are lobbying a lot less than 2 decades ago, new research finds
    Why? Navigating the rules is just too complicated.
    

13. Paul Gowder - The Networked Leviathan
    A new book by one of my former Meta colleagues that I forgot to promote on Thursday. Looks at different models for platform governance.
    

14. TikTok - An update on fulfilling our commitments under the Digital Services Act
    Updates from TikTok on their efforts in the European Union.
    

15. Stanford Online - Ethics in Technology & Public Policy for Practitioners
    For a few years now, Stanford has been doing a course for career professionals in tech-focused on navigating tricky ethical issues. They are doing it again this Fall. I’ve been a student and a cohort leader. I highly recommend it.

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