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18 Jun, 4 tweets, 2 min read
"One thing that’s standing in the way of such a debate is fearmongering by tech companies and their allies. They tend to decry anything that might alter how Big Tech operates as somehow helping China win the future." -@ShiraOvide nytimes.com/2021/06/17/tec…
I want to laud this piece for a few reasons. One, I think this line of argument is actually far more prevalent than might be apparent to a typical informed person. It is whispered in meetings way more than it is discussed in the press. And two, it is massive distraction....
And not just from where the focus of the dialogue about tech should be. The overall narrative around China as enemy distracts us from the massive problems we have at home in our democracy. If America stumbles this century I feel confident saying it will NOT be China's fault....
It will be ours and ours alone.

So thanks for the piece @ShiraOvide (and h/t to @jason_kint)

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More from @justinhendrix

Justin Hendrix Profile picture
17 Jun
More than a dozen researchers at multiple universities who study technology, behavior and complex systems believe questions about the impact of communications technology on collective behavior should be regarded as a "crisis discipline," says a new paper: techpolicy.press/study-of-socia…
Noting "the vulnerability of these systems to misinformation and disinformation poses a dire threat to health, peace, global climate and more," they call on researchers and social media executives to take a Hippocratic oath not to harm to humanity. techpolicy.press/study-of-socia…
Citing challenges such as vaccine refusal, election misinfo, racism and extremism, they say “the structure of our social networks and the patterns of information that flow through them are directed by engineering decisions made to maximize profitability" techpolicy.press/study-of-socia…
Read 4 tweets
Justin Hendrix Profile picture
15 Jun
In a hearing on January 6 insurrection hosted by the House Oversight, @RepMaloney said that “the Committee has obtained documents showing that the social media company Parler sent the FBI evidence of planned violence in Washington DC on January 6." techpolicy.press/parler-warned-…
It was the first confirmation that a social media platform provided the FBI with specific material related to plans by supporters of former President Donald Trump to attack the US Capitol before January 6. techpolicy.press/parler-warned-…
FBI Director Christopher Wray previously did not offer a clear answer as to whether the FBI received specific threats from social media companies in prior testimony when pressed on the matter by @RepSwalwell:
Read 5 tweets
Justin Hendrix Profile picture
15 Jun
The White House says domestic extremism is "a national security threat whose front lines are overwhelmingly private sector online platforms." Is Silicon Valley really willing to join the government in the trenches? techpolicy.press/white-house-st…
Overall, the strategy is a step in the right direction, says @CCDHate's Imran Ahmed. “You can see the whirring of the gears, but it is going to take time for federal agencies to recover from the loss of time that the Trumpian dereliction of duty caused.” techpolicy.press/white-house-st…
But there is reason for skepticism about the role of tech companies. "That is working off a premise that I feel unfortunately hasn't always been true," said @jaredlholt, "that platforms are widely invested in countering extremist content on their services."techpolicy.press/white-house-st…
Read 6 tweets
Justin Hendrix Profile picture
10 Jun
Researchers find Google serves nearly half of all ad traffic on fake news sites- and Amazon is the top retailer advertising on low credibility sites: techpolicy.press/researchers-fi…
A paper to be presented tomorrow at the International University of Michigan School of Information researchers @lia_bozarth and @cerenbudak find that hundreds of fake news sites are “surprisingly dependent on top credible ad firms,” including Google, Outbrain, Yandex et al.
The Amazon finding is in a separate paper by the pair in @journalqd, which finds the online giant joining donaldjtrump dot com, americanexpress dot com and menswearhouse dot com among the top retailers appearing on low credibility sites.
Read 5 tweets
Justin Hendrix Profile picture
9 Jun
1/ For a piece jointly published at @techpolicypress and @just_security, I looked at the latest Senate report on January 6 and what it does and does not tell us about the role of social media in the insurrection.
techpolicy.press/senate-report-…
2/ First, just as the Senate report- for partisan reasons- did not look substantially at the role of Donald Trump, his White House, or Republicans who advanced the big Lie, it also did not look at how that lie propagated and activated social networks.
justsecurity.org/76829/senate-r…
3/ Second, the report suggests major challenges in recognizing violent extremism in the torrent of discourse on social media and acting on it. techpolicy.press/senate-report-…
Read 6 tweets
Justin Hendrix Profile picture
7 Jun
While @MelissaRyan is on parental leave, @ggreeneva and I have been minding her CTRl-ALT-RIGHT DELETE newsletter.

Today I wrote about @Sen_JoeManchin's worship of a false idol: bipartisanship. link.medium.com/SFVV1OOLSgb
@Sen_JoeManchin made no critique of the For the People Act in the 1,000 words of platitudes he wrote for the Charleston Gazette-Mail today, announcing he will not support the Act because it doesn't have Republican support. It's just... bad thinking. medium.com/ctrlaltrightde…
The bill was written with input from bipartisan experts concerned about the erosion if democracy, as @CREWcrew has researched (see links). And as @Sifill_LDF points out, it answers issues HR4 does not. medium.com/ctrlaltrightde…
Read 4 tweets

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