What I'm Reading - 9/8/24
What I'm Reading - 9/8/24
Dispatches from Paris
I booked this trip to Paris on a whim. I got on the flight feeling anxious and overwhelmed by what’s coming up this Fall. I felt guilty because who am I to take four days to roam Paris and write?
I’m so glad I did. The weather has been a mix of rain and sun, which has been perfect. As I write this in my friend’s living room before anyone else wakes up, the doors are open, the rain is softly falling, and it’s just perfect writing weather.
Yesterday, the sun was out, and the weather was perfect for us to walk five-plus miles around the city. We hit up the Musee Rodin to see all the sculptures, Hotel National des Invalides to see Napoleon’s grave, and the Eiffel Tower. There is Olympic stuff everywhere, so some parts of the city don’t look the same as they usually do. I did get to see the Olympic flame. The day before, I went to the Musée de l'Orangerie to see the large Monet water lilies and the Musée d'Orsay, where I found all sorts of sculptures and paintings I loved. I had never been to the museums in Paris, and I’m glad I did.
Note on this picture: Right as I was taking it, some birds took off in front of me, and I got this amazing shot I couldn’t have taken if I had tried. It was a fun bit of serendipity.
Saturday we went to the Paris flea market and walked around for four hours. I found all sorts of fun treasures.
Enjoy your Sunday. I’m flying back to the States today. I'm heading to New York, where I’m having some meetings and taping something I’ll tell you more about later. I’m also visiting the West Wing 25th anniversary exhibit at the Paley Center on its last day. I’m so excited.
What I’m Reading
AI Developments
The Arthur W. Page Center: Page Center targets ethics in generative AI with 2025 call for research proposals
The Verge: US, EU, UK, and others sign legally enforceable AI treaty
Campaigns & Elections: Why Public Affairs Professionals Need to Embrace the AI Revolution
Salesforce: AI Red Teaming: How to Test for Trust
The New Yorker: Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art
MIT Technology Review: AI’s impact on elections is being overblown
Stories About Specific Countries
Reuters: Social media platforms leave alleged Russian influence network largely untouched
US Office of Public Affairs: Justice Department Disrupts Covert Russian Government-Sponsored Foreign Malign Influence Operation Targeting Audiences in the United States and Elsewhere
NPR: How Russian operatives covertly hired U.S. influencers to create viral videos
New York Times: They Had Thriving Lives on X, Until Brazil Banned It Overnight
Latin America Risk Report: Brazil - The Twitter ban and the investment environment
The New York Times: Iran Emerges as a Top Disinformation Threat in U.S. Presidential Race
Miami Herald: Cuba will attempt to influence 2024 elections in Florida, U.S. intelligence warns
Oversight Board: Board Issues Expedited Decision About Post-Election Violence in Venezuela
CNN Politics: Russian trolling 2.0: How the Kremlin shifted tactics from its 2016 election strategy
European Commission: Commission signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial
Political & Social Commentary
NBC News: More than 200 former Bush, McCain and Romney staffers endorse Harris
The Guardian: Former vice-president Dick Cheney confirms he will vote for Kamala Harris
The Wall Street Journal: Beijing-Backed Trolls Target U.S. Voters as Election Nears
Bloomberg: US Vows No Pre-Election Pressure on Meta, X to Fight Foreign Meddling
The Hill: Trump says Musk has agreed to run proposed ‘government efficiency commission’
The Washington Post: Opinion How the quiet war against press freedom could come to America
Time: Kamala Harris Is Using Social Media to Reach Young Voters
WIRED: Antony Blinken Dragged US Diplomacy Into the 21st Century. Even He’s Surprised by the Results
Lex Fridman / @lexfridman on X: Here's my conversation with @realDonaldTrump…
The Wall Street Journal: Clash of the Tech Titans: Silicon Valley Fractures Over Harris vs. Trump
The Wall Street Journal: Democrat Woos Dairy Farmers to Keep Crucial Senate Seat
POLITICO: Ben Shapiro loves trolling liberals. Republicans are putting that to use.
National Review: Digital Deception Is Bipartisan - Invisible Rulers
Center for American Progress Action: Measuring Political and Policy Conversations on Social Media
The National Task Force on Election Crises: Rebutting Allegations of Widespread Voter Fraud by Noncitizens
The New York Times: TikTok Expands Its ‘How to Vote’ Resources Ahead of the Election
Financial Times: Kamala Harris says she plans biggest digital ad campaign in US history
CNBC: Cord cutters prepare for political ad blitz as campaigns flood Roku, Hulu ahead of election
The New York Times: OpenAI, Maker of ChatGPT, Is Trying to Grow Up
Legal & Regulatory
Regulate Tech: 2024:1 Redlines, challenges and quiet compliance
Bloomberg Law: X Wins Block of California Social Media Anti-Hate Speech Law (2)
Daphne Keller / @daphnehk on X The main thing you should know about X v. Bonta...
Oversight Board: Posts That Include “From the River to the Sea”
Tech Policy Press: If 2024 Is The Influencer Election, Where’s The FEC?
WIRED: The Internet Archive Loses Its Appeal of a Major Copyright Case
Miscellaneous Insights & Reports
Center for News, Technology, and Innovation: Focus Group Insights #1: What Defines News, Journalism and Journalists
Company Announcements:
Aaron Rodericks / @aaron.bsky.team on Bluesky: Aaron Rodericks: "It's been a hectic week for Bluesky Trust & Safety. With the Brazilian wave, reports have skyrocketed, bad actors targeted the site, systems needed adaptation, and new harms emerged. 1/7"
The New York Times: Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Defends App in First Comments Since Arrest
TikTok Newsroom: Continuing to protect the integrity of TikTok through the US elections
On Substack: Introducing a new destination for U.S. Election discourse
The Foreign Malign Influence Center: Election Security Update as of Early September
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