Google Prepares to Brief Congress on Its Role in Election — Daisuke Wakabayashi, New York Times, September 29th
Facebook to Deliver 3,000 Russian-Linked Ads to Congress on Monday — Mike Isaac and Scott Shane, New York Times, October 1st
Congress has been conducting investigations on how advertising may be linked to Russian interference with the 2016 election. In briefings with the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, Twitter has disclosed that there are about 200 accounts, which is merely "a fraction of the number of potentially compromised accounts found by outside researchers," that seem to have played a role in the Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. Facebook has found hundreds of accounts that post thousands of ads that relate to Russian interference with the 2016 election. Google has been conducting research on how its ads may connect to Russian interference in the 2016 election. Google has found that some of its services have spread fake news, and in order to combat the dissemination of false news, Google has started Project Owl, which will "provide 'algorithmic updates to surface more authoritative content.'"
Unlike TV, radio, and printed media, the law does not require that companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google disclose who purchases their ads, but recently, Congress has considered possibly regulating political advertising on the Internet.
Questions:
I. How does technology influence politics? How do you think technology will continue to shape politics?
II. Should the government regulate political advertising? Why or why not?
III. Should companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter have the responsibility to regulate the content that goes on their sites?
Did you see any of the actual stories labeled as "fake news"? I'm curious to know what the content was. I heard a story recently that talked about Russians wanted to either divide us or promote Trump - here is an example: https://www.thedailybeast.com/russians-appear-to-use-facebook-to-push-pro-trump-flash-mobs-in-florida?via=newsletter&source=DDAfternoon
ReplyDeleteLooking at the last election the media and the information published by them have huge impacts on the US people. Democracy is only good in a well informed public which almost is never the case. With news teams giving people "fake news" and some people believing it. This illegitimately sways the vote. Technology is currently "the source of news" for lots of younger generation that can easily be tricked by lies or fake news. We as the next generation need to make sure we stay informed on the truth and do digging for whats real and authentic information.
ReplyDelete1. Technology influences politics because it creates a more polarized America through fake news and encouraging controversy on issues. As a result, people become more opinionated on issues and believe that non-existant events have taken place. This alters how people vote for a presidential candidate or any other candidate. Big Data gathered from social media also helps guide efforts to make gerrymandering more accurate.
ReplyDelete2. The government should regulate political advertising in order to prevent foreign influence on the elections. If presidential candidates cannot get financial support from out of country, why should presidential candidates get indirect support through social media?
3. These companies should definitely implement programs similar to Google's Project Owl, which intends to "provide algorithmic updates to surface more authoritative content". This is crucial in limiting and identifying foreign effects on American elections in the future to prevent what happened in 2016 elections.
Government regulating political advertising is an infringement of free speech. Like the late Justice Antonin Scalia said, "it's about free speech, the more speech, the better". Advertisements are no different from the aims of congregations, strikes, unions, and other forms of activism. However, government regulation to prevent foreign powers from influencing the balance of political advertisement is a matter of national security. Presidential candidates need not financial aid from out of country, and all efforts should be implemented to block collusion and outside influence.
ReplyDelete1. Technology plays a huge role in politics. With the rise of social media, i have seen many accounts dedicating themselves to trying to post as much news content as they could. If this continues at the rate it is currently going, news will only be spreading faster and on a larger scale.
ReplyDelete2. No, since a constant spread of information is important. Many people on the internet, whether it be a account solely on giving information for a cause, for a proposition, or for a political side in general, post many stories and news articles based on news sources that they follow that if the government tried to censor these, it would be a waste of time and would be a violation of the 1st amendment.
3. On some degree, yes. If the content a person is posting is too offensive, attacks another person or group, or is just plain screwed up, like a video of someone getting murdered, they have to take responsibility to take that down because in many cases, some things don't belong on the internet. However, political opinions should remain, because they are opinions after all, not facts. Obviously if someone's opinion is extremely disturbing, it needs to be taken down, but besides that, free speech is important to be around, Social media cannot just censor that.
3. No, they have absolutely no responsibility for censorship as private institutions, at least from a legal point of view. I think morally, they control a lot of power and they should in fact be held liable by consumers at shareholders for their actions. However, I think the US government should exercise restraint and caution when creating laws that incentivize or force companies to curb 'fake news' and other forms of information and discourse, however horrendous it might seem to us. They must learn to fetter themselves.
ReplyDelete1. Technology is a huge influencer in politics. In this age of social media, most people find out their information from one of these platforms. Donald Trump uses twitter to release infomration and updates to the public. Social media is also used to rally support for campaigns and events. The downfall of using social media for information is that people can only see what they want to read. In other words, a democrat would probably only follow liberal politicians/news platforms/celebrities (who post about their political views). This can lead to people not hearing the full story.
ReplyDelete1. I think technology plays a huge role in politics and the way people perceive politics, and I don't think this will stop over time. In this modern day, people use media and technology for everything, and the government would be dumb not to use this platform to spread awareness, news, and gain support- and I believe they will continue to use it as they already are
ReplyDelete3. I think that certain websites such as Facebook or Google that are popularly used by a large portion of the American citizens should regulate the spread of fake news and misinformation in order to help better inform the citizens of the politics around them. However, these websites are so broad and have so much information that this would be very difficult to do. Also, citizens have the freedom to post on the Internet as they please, and blocking certain content violates this free speech. I think that a good middle ground for this would be if all websites claiming to be news sources could filter out any fake news.
ReplyDelete3. Because these companies are private institutions, they have no obligation to regulate the content on their sites. In fact if they did so, it would be bad for their business so it will likely never happen.
ReplyDelete3. Social media sites already have the right to regulate their content however they see fit, because they are a private corporation. However I do not think that they should be forced to regulate their content, unless the speech is clearly libel or sedition.
ReplyDelete1. I think technology influences elections majorly as they are many peoples main news source. Moreover as the "fourth estate" the media via technology like the internet or tv, sets into motion what the important public policy will be as they decide what to report and place importance on.
ReplyDelete2. I believe that the government should regulate political advertising. I think it is completely unfair to frame an opposing candidate as something or say that they did something without clear facts and evidence that it is the case. You should not be able to beat your opponent by painting them as something they are not or saying something that you are not
ReplyDeleteToday world is driven by technology, and retail industry is catching up with all the new technologies to keep up their sales and customer satisfaction. There is no stopping now. Sky is the limit. useful reference
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