A look at the various media used to reach and inform voters during elections -- as well as the impact of new media and media ownership on elections.
Elections and Media
Meta won't recommend political content on Threads
Meta will not "proactively recommend political content from accounts you don't follow" on Threads. The policies, which are the same it
An internet media company launches a plan to cover the election for Gen Z
A company best known for its posts on Instagram announced that it will try to capitalize on young people’s growing use of social media for news by teaming with a well known TikTok creator for political coverage this year. The company, Betches, said it will partner with the creator Vitus “V” Spehar a.k.a.
Poll: AI is looking more partisan
One of the nice things about covering the frontier of technology — large language models, quantum, virtual worlds — is that they’re decidedly less partisan than most policy issues. That might be changing.
Three technology trends shaping 2024’s elections
Three of the most important technology trends in the election space that you should stay on top of.
Big Tech Backslide
After the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, tech companies finally seemed to accept that their failure to moderate content was undermining public safety and democracy. In the aftermath, most social-media companies removed users who spread anti-democratic conspiracies or used their online platforms to incite violence. Leading up to the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, tech companies promised users, civil-society groups and governments that they would safeguard election integrity and free expression on their platforms.
US stops helping Big Tech spot foreign meddling amid GOP legal threats
The US federal government has stopped warning some social networks about foreign disinformation campaigns on their platforms, reversing a years-long approach to preventing Russia and other actors from interfering in American politics less than a year before the US presidential elections. Meta no longer receives notifications of global influence campaigns from the Biden administration, halting a prolonged partnership between the federal government and the world’s largest social media company.
Voters say yes to supporting broadband infrastructure across Texas as Proposition Eight passes
Texas voters approved Proposition Eight, which will create a broadband infrastructure fund in the state. About 80 percent of voters favored passage of the state constitutional amendment. With the passage of this resolution, $1.5 billion will be allocated to expand internet availability in Texas, where some 7 million people currently lack access. These dollars will help pay to develop and finance broadband and telecommunications services as well as 911 services. The fund will also provide matching funds with federal money from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program.
Elon Musk ditches X’s election integrity team ahead of key votes around world
Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), ditched his team working to prevent disruption to elections after the European Union (EU) announced the platform had the highest proportion of disinformation in three European countries.
State broadband officials race the clock as elections loom
Plans to spend Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program dollars to connect underserved populations could be impacted by state elections, according to broadband policy experts. Among the ten states that got the largest BEAD allocations, three (Missouri, North Carolina and Louisiana) will hold gubernatorial elections before the end of 2024. Executive Director of ConnectLA Veneeth Iyengar—Louisiana’s broadband program—plans to have as much BEAD work as possible done before th