- The Extraordinary Power of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Instagram Live, via Eric Wilson.
- House removes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from committees over incendiary social media posts. But, Marjorie Taylor Greene “claimed she had raised upward of $330,000 from 13,000 small donors over 48 hours this week”.
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene endorsed the execution of Democrats in old Facebook posts, report says. Not surprisingly, The GOP’s Marjorie Taylor Greene problem is spinning out of control.
- Facebook will stop recommending political groups permanently. Oh, goodie. Let’s make it even harder for legitimate political and advocacy groups to reach people with facts.
- The ‘rug has been pulled out’: Campaigns flop amid Facebook, Google ad bans, and In the Wake of the Trump Era, Facebook is Taking Key Steps to Evolve its Content Approach, via Eric Wilson. More damage: Zuckerberg’s pledge to depoliticize Facebook hits grassroots movements.
- Twitter’s Big Oil ad loophole. Climate groups can’t pay Twitter to spread political content. But the oil industry can, and it’s ramping up its efforts alongside Biden’s climate push”, via ACRONYM.
- Posts calling for political violence continue to slip through Facebook’s defenses. “But posts advocating for violence and groups dedicated to false election claims are continuing to slip through the cracks – and independent watchdog groups and advocates are finding them before they’re removed by the tech giant’s own content moderation teams.”
- ‘Good-looking Marines’: Video misrepresents Biden at inauguration. “The tweet is another attempt at spreading discredited conspiracy theories about Biden’s mental fitness.”
- Trump Raised $255 Million as He Challenged Election. More: New Trump PAC raised $31.5 million in the weeks after Election Day, as Trump was making baseless claims of voter fraud.
- ‘Be ready to fight’: FBI probe of U.S. Capitol riot finds evidence detailing coordination of an assault. Including digital organizing, natch. Also note the “leaderless” organizing model, which we’ve seen in other settings. Plus, the walkie-talkie app.
- What Parler Saw During the Attack on the Capitol.
- Marjorie Taylor Greene’s campaign spent $211,000 advertising on Parler.
- Parler Reportedly Offered Trump Organization 40% Stake for Then-President’s Posts.
- House Oversight Committee chair requests FBI probe of Parler, including its role in Capitol siege.
- Superspreader Down: How Trump’s Exile from Social Media Alters the Future of Politics, Security, and Public Health. C.f. Twitter’s Trump ban is even more important than you thought and How Twitter, on the front lines of history, finally decided to ban Trump.
- Twitter temporarily suspends Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for election misinformation.
- “Defending the storming of the U.S. Capitol as ‘cool,’ Gracyn Courtright broadcast her participation on social media — and embraced the firestorm that followed as publicity, the FBI says.” C.f. Texas realtor on Capitol riot: ‘I’m glad I was there’ and Digital fingerprints are identifying Capitol rioters.
- Baked Alaska’s clout-chasing spiral into white supremacy is an internet morality tale.
- Appalling new video of the rioters is a big problem for Trump’s GOP enablers. At least, it should be.
- How neo-Nazis used the internet to instigate a right-wing extremist crisis. Gaming the algorithms; more on this soon.
- Facebook Said It Would Stop Pushing Users to Join Partisan Political Groups. It Didn’t. “According to Citizen Browser data, the platform especially peppered Trump voters with political group recommendations”.
- Seth Rogen says calling his criticism of Ted Cruz a ‘Twitter spat’ distracts from the real political issue. “The fact that calling out a fascist and being a fascist are put on the same platform or the same plane is incredibly upsetting.”
- ‘A place to fund hope’: How Proud Boys and other fringe groups found refuge on a Christian fundraising website.
- QAnon believers seek to adapt their extremist ideology for a new era: ‘Things have just started’. “With Q having vanished and Trump out of office, far-right extremist groups are targeting disillusioned believers online in hopes of further radicalizing them to a new cause”.
- House Dems move to yoke GOP to QAnon. C.f. New Democratic Ad Campaign Ties GOP to QAnon, with an online component.
- TheDonald’s owner speaks out on why he finally pulled plug on hate-filled site.
- Trump supporter charged in 2016 Twitter scheme to undermine Hillary Clinton.
- Twitter bans MyPillow CEO for “repeated violations of our civic integrity policy”.
- Twitter launches ‘Birdwatch,’ a forum to combat misinformation. “Twitter said it hopes to build a community of ‘Birdwatchers’ that can eventually help moderate and label tweets in its main product”.
- The Deplatforming of Father Coughlin. “The story of the anti-Semitic radio priest offers an intriguing analog-age precedent to the digital-age debates over the limits of free expression.”
- Apple sued by group insisting it curb Telegram after Capitol attack.
- New report calls conservative claims of social media censorship ‘a form of disinformation’.
- I’m a social media manager. Facebook and Twitter have made my job an ethical nightmare. “The toxicity of the social media platforms has been evident for a long time, and continuing to participate in it now feels like a choice we all have to make.”
- Sen. Warner to unveil bill reining in Section 230, seeking to help users fight back against real-world harm. “Sen. Mark R. Warner is set to introduce a bill that could hold Facebook, Google and other tech giants more directly accountable when viral posts and videos result in real-world harm”.
- Opinion: The GameStop folly isn’t just a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s a tale of inequality. Digitally organized revenge? C.f. The GameStop stock craze is about a populist uprising against Wall Street. But it’s more complicated than that.
- Amazon’s anti-union blitz stalks Alabama warehouse workers everywhere, even the bathroom. As many as five anti-union text messages per day.
- Internet blackouts now a standard part of the repression playbook. In this case, Myanmar.
- “The very digital technologies that enable activists to reach millions back home also present opportunities to states to disrupt and surveil exiles’ networks from thousands of miles away.” The long arm of the authoritarian state.
- Iranian Supreme Leader’s Tweet Suggests A Revenge Drone Assassination Of A Golfing Trump. “Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was slapped with a Twitter suspension for the image that called for revenge against the former U.S. president.”
- Pro-China propaganda campaign exploits U.S. divisions in videos emphasizing Capitol attack. The rise of “spamouflage”.
- From Google: New campaign targeting [digital] security researchers. “We hope this post will remind those in the security research community that they are targets to government-backed attackers and should remain vigilant when engaging with individuals they have not previously interacted with.”
- Why Is the Netherlands Rioting Over COVID Now?. Note the Telegram and WhatsApp angle. C.f. Riots explode across Netherlands over covid restrictions, Dutch leader brands protesters criminals.
- An alleged Saudi troll campaign is targeting a movie about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
- How the Pandemic Stoked a Backlash to Multilevel Marketing. “YouTube vigilantes are taking consumer advocacy into their own hands.”
- Where Does Democratic Fundraising Go Post-Trump?
- Democratic group American Bridge plans $100 million midterm campaign to back President Biden. Expect a sizable chunk of that to go to digital ads.
- Sacha Baron Cohen refocuses his anger on Mark Zuckerberg after Trump’s loss: ‘One down. One to go.’
- Presidential Inauguration Includes a Digital Transition.
- From Facebook: Increasing Transparency Around US 2020 Elections Ads. Facebook will now show more about targeting in their ad archive.
- Are You Notable Enough for Wikipedia?
- Read this piece by my friend and colleague Tom Sadler.
- 7 Ways To Improve Your Next Campaign Photoshoot .
- Hustle Acquires Video Platform Tape, Eyes More Buys.
- How grassroots efforts by Georgia’s Latinos helped tip the Senate races.
- What 2020 year-end fundraising can tell us about 2021.
- How peer-to-peer fundraising can help nonprofits during COVID-19, via EveryAction.
- What Bill Murray can teach you about email marketing.
- Bernie Sanders — and his mittens — was everywhere on Inauguration Day. Just ask the Internet.
- Whitehouse.gov HTML includes Easter egg for coders, via Eric Wilson.
- And finally, The Complete List of Trump’s Twitter Insults (2015-2021).
Too much is never enough? Check out previous Quick Hits editions.
– cpd