Most recents (7)

⬇️very useful document offering a network perspective on societal ills currently plaguing us.

I am certainly appreciating the insights offered here and fully agree with many of the things outlined.
Please give it a read:
1/

https://twitter.com/davetroy/status/1585175005536866304

I've been thinking more on a complexity framework to account for the non-linearity of the systems we are part of, as well as emergence and control theory.

But network & graph theory plays an enormous role there as well because complex systems can be abstracted into networks
2/

The really interesting question is not what framework or models we use to #conceptualize the relationships between society and our broken info spheres, but whether or not they are #useful to understand why we currently experience #democratic backsliding around the world
3/

Read 6 tweets

Fight for the Future

@fightfortheftr

This is despicable. Facebook's algorithm is built to stir controversy and indoctrinate the most vulnerable to extremism. We need an immediate end to algorithmic amplification and #microtargeting! #RiskyByDesign

🖋️ actionnetwork.org/petitions/face…

On the source of his assailants’ behavior, Howard said, “it has to be Facebook”, noting that in his own monitoring of Estacada Facebook groups during his reporting in the area, he had noticed the same rumors of antifa looters... theguardian.com/us-news/2020/s…

This is relevant because Facebook’s own internal review determined that 64% of all extremist FB group joins in 2016 were due to algorithmic recommendation, & Facebook’s rage algorithm helped the rumor go viral.

Read 4 tweets

Fight for the Future

@fightfortheftr

Congress is trying to ram through reauthorization of the #PatriotAct and #FISA surveillance. These mass spying programs haven’t saved any lives, but they HAVE been used to crack down on protesters and political dissent.

Here’s a short history …

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saveinternetprivacy.org

The first wiretaps were used to spy on a cop-turned-bootlegger in the 20’s. The public loved him for defying unjust Prohibition laws, and he never used violence against the public or the police. But the federal government wanted to make an example.

2/

newyorker.com/culture/cultur…

By the 30’s, the federal government was using wiretaps to spy on political activists, helping corporations prevent workers from unionizing in protest against unsafe working conditions and economic exploitation.

3/

smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-…

Read 22 tweets

Ellen L Weintraub

@EllenLWeintraub

*Very* big news last night in internet political ads.

@Google’s plan to eliminate #microtargeting is a move that – if done right – could help make internet political advertising a force that informs and inspires us, rather than isolating and inflaming us.

1/9

Google’s reach is wider than you might think; this policy extends to @Google search ads, @YouTube ads, & their huge display-ad business.

The plan kicks off next week in the UK, by the end of the year in the EU, and on Jan. 6, 2020 everywhere else. blog.google/technology/ads…

2/9

Though I have some concerns about the details, at the macro level, @Google's plan looks pretty good.

It picks up two major recommendations on #microtargeting that I made in a @washingtonpost op-ed earlier this month:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…

3/9

Read 9 tweets

Ellen L Weintraub

@EllenLWeintraub

HOT🔥PLAN!

@facebook & @Google are considering ditching “#microtargeting” political ads – the technique foreign & domestic actors abused in 2016 to spread disinformation & sow discord.

Problem: If they *do* quit microtargeting, what should replace it?

I have a proposal.

1/5

My 3-point plan is easy for the internet ad giants to execute, explain, and understand, and it scales well:

1. Target political ads only by large and fully disclosed geographic areas.

#microtargeting 2/5

2. Allow targeting no more specific than one political level below the election at which the ad is directed.

Want to influence a governor’s race? You could target your ads to the whole state, or to its individual counties.

#microtargeting 3/5

Read 5 tweets

Karol Cummins

@karolcummins

Mogilevich 👉🏼Firtash (Manafort)👉🏼Tchenguiz👉🏼Nix👉🏼Mercer👉🏼Bannon👉🏼Flynn👉🏼TrumpCampaign

HOW CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA IS A L 🔑 NEXUS POINT

INTO THE BREXIT/2016ELEX RUSSIA CONSPIRACY PROBES

Cambridge Analytica’s exploitation of private data from 87 million Facebook users is a significant piece of the conspiracy to defraud the US, UK French (?) electorates.

I haven’t seen any definitive reporting linking Brannon’s Far R The Movement & the use of CA, to help elect Le Pen, but it isn’t a stretch to imagine it was likely used to assist the right-wing effort to disaggregate the EU.
#MacronLeaks & TeamTrump

Read 85 tweets