Sixty-five Sixty-six excellent stories related to digital politics and advocacy. For more thoughts about long-term trends, check out The Shape of Politics in the 2020s: Fourteen Stories.
- Trump went ‘ballistic’ after being tossed off Twitter, and he’s also Banned from Facebook indefinitely, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says. But, what took them so long?
- Trump’s Tweets Were Never Just Tweets. “After the Capitol riot, Twitter had no defense for keeping the president on the platform.”
- Social Media Platform Parler Removed from Apple and Google’s App Stores. “The company, popular among conservatives, didn’t do enough to moderate content, the tech giants said.” Update: Google Removes Parler From Its App Store, Apple Warns it Could Follow Suit.
- Conservatives grumbling about censorship say they’re flocking to Parler. They told us so on Twitter. Meanwhile, Mark Levin Has Been Claiming For a Month He’s Going to Leave Twitter and Facebook (In Repeated Posts on Twitter and Facebook).
- Trump scrambles to find new social network after Twitter ban, as White House prepares to blast big tech. But a Trump Media Empire? Don’t Bet on It.
- Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”. C.f. Rise and Fall of the “Stop the Steal” Facebook Group.
- Capitol siege was planned online. Trump supporters [are] now planning the next one., and How The Storming of Capitol Hill Was Organized on Social Media.
- Pro-Trump forums erupt[ed] with violent threats ahead of Wednesday’s rally against the 2020 election.
- ‘Nothing can stop what’s coming’: Far-right forums that fomented Capitol riots voice glee in aftermath.
- Why the Capitol breach was a more-dangerous milestone for the fringe right than Charlottesville.
- Analysis: Facebook and Twitter crackdown around Capitol siege is too little, too late.
- As QAnon grew, Facebook and Twitter missed years of warning signs about the conspiracy theory’s violent nature.
- Facebook to restart political ad ban after Georgia Senate runoffs.
- In Georgia, Facebook’s Changes Brought Back a Partisan News Feed. “Ahead of crucial senate runoffs, Facebook reversed its political ad ban, and the impact was visible on users’ feeds”.
- Covid disinformation sites often use tools from Google, Facebook and Apple, report finds.
- Trump’s most dangerous legacy. Tribalism, baby – digitally abetted.
- Stacey Abrams showed that Democrats can match the GOP at state-level organizing, and check out this look at deep organizing in Georgia.
- Phone Calls, Texts and Tinder — Georgia Campaigns Court Young Voters. C.f. How Campaigns Reached Voters of Color Online in 2020.
- Wait, Jon Ossoff Is Actually Good At TikTok, via Eric Wilson.
- Georgia runoffs become high-stakes GOP fundraising experiment. One obstacle? Trump antagonizes Republicans with Georgia fundraising ploy, part of a massive post-election plan to stash cash.
- How Much Is Too Much When It Comes To Campaign Outreach?
- In final years at Liberty, Falwell spent millions on pro-Trump causes, including buying a lot of political Facebook ads.
- Facebook Fired An Employee Who Collected Evidence Of Right-Wing Pages Getting Preferential Treatment. C.f. Google hired Timnit Gebru to be an outspoken critic of unethical AI. Then she was fired for it..
- Loren Culp, refusing to concede Washington gubernatorial race, turns on top Republicans. Building one of many small-scale online cults of personality.
- How a world of fake profiles exploited Facebook to tout Roger Stone and Donald Trump.
- When Gen Z is the source of the misinformation it consumes.
- Facebook suspends account of Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase.
- To boost voter-fraud claims, Trump advocate Sidney Powell turn[ed] to unusual source: The longtime operator of QAnon’s Internet home.
- EveryAction Acquires Mobilize In One Of the Largest Deals In Political Tech. C.f. Democrats Just Got the Digital Machine They Need to Keep Winning.
- Financially troubled startup helped power Trump campaign. More? RNC’s highest-paid vendor of the 2020 election: A mystery company formed nine months ago.
- Change.org Fights Suit Over Its Use of $10 Million in Racial Justice Donations.
- Audit finds national Democratic Party slowed, complicated Iowa’s caucus efforts.
- Building State Parties Requires a National Staffing Strategy.
- Fascinating story: China Used Stolen Data To Expose Cia Operatives In Africa And Europe. “The discovery of U.S. spy networks in China fueled a decadelong global war over data between Beijing and Washington.”
- Tibetan Woman Detained, Threatened in Qinghai Over [Online] Calls For Democracy.
- Federal prosecutors accuse Zoom executive of working with Chinese government to surveil users and suppress video calls.
- With WeChat sanctions, Trump strikes at China’s heart.
- Despite Victories Down Ballot, Republicans Can’t Continue To Ignore Campaign Technology, and Did Tech Fail Down-Ballot Democrats?
- Variety Was the Spice of 2020 Email Design.
- Biden builds out White House digital operation, via Eric Wilson.
- 23 Pros Share Their Tips for Virtual Lobbying and Advocacy.
- Looking back at the 2020 general election, “[The Biden] campaign work[ed] with an army of 11,000 volunteer digital organizers who share content across social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Pinterest created by both the campaign and volunteer content creators.”
- Trump allies, largely unconstrained by Facebook’s rules against repeated falsehoods, cement[ed] pre-election dominance.
- Facebook ban on new political ads start[ed] off with major hiccups. Let us never forget the glorious days of late October.
- In [2020] campaign’s closing days, disinformation arrive[d] via text message and email.
- Chinese embassy in US allege hacking after retweet of Trump’s election claim. Sure…
- The State Department Is Now Warning Of Impending Drone Attacks And How To Survive Them. No worries!
- And finally, Man really did hack Trump’s Twitter account by guessing password, ‘maga2020!,’ Dutch prosecutors confirm.
Too much is never enough? Check out previous Quick Hits editions.
– cpd