Step back; this one’s going to be big.
- Two senators say their identities were stolen in fake net neutrality comments to the FCC, and a Former Lawmaker Says His Emails Were Hacked In 2016. Meanwhile, Campaigns are on their own as cyber threats roil midterms.
- Russian Hackers’ New Target: a Vulnerable Democratic Senator, and Documents Reveal Successful Cyberattack in California Congressional Race. “The FBI investigated hacking attempts targeting a Democrat who ran against ‘Putin’s favorite congressman.'” Don’t forget, Congressional Republicans also benefited from 2016 Russian hacking.
- Trump Snaps Photo With Top Promoter of QAnon Conspiracy Theory in Oval Office, or Trump Meets QAnon Kook Who Believes Democrats Run Pedophile Cult. C.f. How three conspiracy theorists took ‘Q’ and sparked Qanon.
- How White Supremacists Planned Their Rally in D.C. “They were banished from their old online hubs and abandoned by many of their allies. Here’s what that tells us about the white-power movement in 2018.”
- Amazon is selling facial recognition to law enforcement — for a fistful of dollars. C.f. California Welfare Agency Has Been Using License Plate Readers to Monitor Recipients Since 2016 and China’s Aggressive Surveillance Technology Will Spread Beyond Its Borders.
- China’s biggest cellphone company censors content — even in the United States.
- Democratic candidates told not to use ZTE, Huawei devices.
- How the ‘Bad Boys of Brexit’ forged ties with Russia and the Trump campaign — and came under investigators’ scrutiny.
- Facebook’s disclosures under scrutiny as federal agencies join probe of tech giant’s role in sharing data with Cambridge Analytica.
- Congratulations, Mr. President: Zuckerberg Secretly Called Trump After The Election. Saying howdy to a good customer.
- YouTube, Apple, Facebook and Spotify escalate enforcement against Alex Jones, as Online activists hit hatemongers like Alex Jones where it hurts the most — in the wallet. C.f. Who Should Conservatives Blame for Alex Jones’ Ban From Social Media? Themselves.
- Inside Google’s Plan to Launch a Censored Search Engine in China. C.f. Facebook plans to open subsidiary in China after being locked out of the country for years.
- Election-Hacking Lessons from the 2018 Def Con Hackers Conference, and The Most Terrifying Device Hacks From This Year’s Def Con. But, Those Kids Who Hacked Voting Websites at Def Con Had Help.
- Political world braces for the next generation of fake news, plus Building A Comms Shop In An Era Of Disinformation. C.f. Can Your Digital Consultant Bust Fake News?
- The Macedonian Fake News Racket Was Sketchier—Maybe a Lot Sketchier—Than We Initially Thought.
- Read the fine print: N.J. senator sets up phony health news website to attack challenger Bob Hugin.
- The Follower Factory. “Everyone wants to be popular online. Some even pay for it. Inside social media’s black market.”
- How Conservative Videos on Facebook Boosted Trump’s Message on Immigration.
- More than 40,000 Facebook users expressed interest in political protests with potential Russian ties.
- Report: Trump’s Tweets Include Intentional Grammatical Errors.
- Inside the Online Campaign to Whitewash the History of Donald Trump’s Russian Business Associates.
- Trump 2020 working with ex-Cambridge Analytica staffers.
- Trump accuses social media firms of ‘silencing millions’.
- Do Trump Tweets Spur Hate Crimes?
- Why We’re Sharing 3 Million Russian Troll Tweets. Great data!
- Why Facebook just suspended another data analytics firm.
- Weighing Alternatives To Facebook For Advocacy.
- Facebook’s “downvote†system begins rolling out wider in US—here’s how it works.
- Inside the House GOP super PAC’s strategy to localize every key race. C.f. GOP builds massive shadow army in fight for the House: A super PAC bankrolled by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson tears up the standard playbook of drowning voters in ads.
- Iran has laid groundwork for extensive cyberattacks on U.S., say officials.
- Russian operatives blasted 18,000 tweets ahead of a huge news day during the 2016 presidential campaign. Did they know what was coming?
- “Bolton had 5 million reasons to keep going with Cambridge Analytica.â€
- U.K. Gives Facebook Light Slap on the Wrist Over Cambridge Analytica Scandal.
- Russian Operatives Allegedly Funded Their Hacking With Bitcoin During the 2016 Campaign.
- What Did Russian Trolls Want In 2016? A Closer Look At The Internet Research Agency’s Active Measures.
- Playboy model and Bond girl Robbin Young had steamy online affair with ‘Russian spy’ Guccifer 2.0 accused of meddling with US election.
- Cambridge Analytica’s Facebook data was accessed from Russia, MP says.
- Timeline: How Russian agents allegedly hacked the DNC and Clinton’s campaign.
- Signs of sophisticated cellphone spying found near White House, U.S. officials say.
- The hashtag that ultimately overtook #BlackLivesMatter for online activism? #MAGA.
- The Male Echo Chamber of Political Twitter.
- Facebook censored a post for ‘hate speech.’ It was the Declaration of Independence..
- The U.S. military’s no-good, very bad tweets. “It’s impossible to separate what one of these accounts says on the Web from what those words are actually aimed to achieve: recruiting people to fight for the United States, and perhaps to take others’ lives or risk their own in the process.”
- What’s the Deal With the Fulfillment Center Workers Who Are Tweeting About How Great Amazon Is? “Astroturf-adjacent.”
- Marine Warbot Companies: Where Naval Warfare, The U.S. National Defense Strategy, And Close Combat Lethality Task Force Intersect.
- Once More Unto the Echo Chamber “Pod Save America will never challenge the way its listeners think. That doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.”
- The New York Times Shouldn’t Have Built Its Facebook and Anti-Refugee Violence Story Around That One Study.
- Social Networks Aren’t Telling Us Enough About Election Meddling.
- The Great Facebook Crash. “The social giant is retreating from the news business. It’s been a painful transition for publications that had come to depend on it.”
- Is Facebook’s New “Reputation Score†Actually Scary?
- The never-ending conspiracy theory about bots following Trump on Twitter.
- Former parking enforcement officer who became Twitter famous to run for council on a platform of road safety.
- ‘You are animals who disgust me’: A school board candidate’s history of racist Facebook posts.
- Whoa! Meet the future phones that fold up, have 9 cameras and charge over thin air.
- Ocasio-Cortez scored a victory — for well-designed campaign posters.
- How To Navigate The Brave New Digital Ad World.
- Google no longer accepting state, local election ads in Maryland as result of new law, as Maryland pioneers state regulation of online political advertising.
- As States Move To Regulate Digital Ads, Consultants Warn Of Unintended Consequences.
- 3 Campaign Tech Trends In Europe.
- Finding A Place For Data And Analytics In European Campaigns.
- EveryAction Receives Growth Investment From Insight Venture Partners To Do More Good, as Liberal startups get $1.2M in funding.
- The Rise of Diverse Consultants and Challenges Ahead.
- People Are Changing the Way They Use Social Media. “Posts are getting less personal—and privacy breaches like Cambridge Analytica could be partly to blame, an Atlantic survey finds.”
- 4,500 Tech Workers, 1 Mission: Get Democrats Elected. Tech for Campaigns gets good press.
- Group with ties to Barack Obama sets sights on Wisconsin races. OFA stirs.
- Yes, American democracy is in peril — but don’t blame the bots.
- As Cord-Cutting Accelerates, The Political Ad Market Continues To Shift.
- How Blockchain Can Help Fight Digital Ad Fraud.
- 5 Testing Mistakes Everyone Makes Once (and How to Not Make Them Again).
- 7 Reasons Local News Should Be Your New Best Friend.
- 5 Ways To Reactivate Inactive Emails.
- Social networks are getting less graphically diverse: why?
- Digital Teams in 2018: The new landscape of digital engagement.
- A Nonprofit’s Guide to Building a Successful Monthly Giving Program.
- Facebook Fundraising FTW.
- How AI could make A/B testing a thing of the past C.f. AI is Helping Political Candidates Exercise their Right to Equal Airtime.
- MJ Hegar raised $750,000 off her viral ad, one of a few Texas Democrats boasting big numbers, as With blunt talk and compelling stories, viral videos are turning unknown women candidates into political sensations.
- Kirsten Gillibrand Just Emailed Me to Say She Thinks About Me Before She Falls Asleep.
- Are congressional Democrats lying their way to riches? As midterm elections heat up, the DCCC is raising big cash from ‘NOT asking for money’ come-ons. C.f. Advocacy Groups Ignoring Advice On Email Fundraising.
- The_Donald Is an RPG for Extremely Online Sociopaths.
- How Sex Robots Could Revolutionize Marriage — for the Better.
- Elon Musk’s Crusade for Media Accountability Lasted Three Whole Days Before He Recommended a News Site Affiliated With a Suspected Sex Cult.
- And finally, This Nude Vegan Blogger Drama Is Incredible.
Too much is never enough? Check out previous Quick Hits editions.
– cpd