To support the Lebanese election taking place, daily newspaper AnNahar chose not to print one issue for the first time in its 88-year history, donating its paper and ink to print ballots instead. With the election scheduled for May 15, government officials have begun to highlight a lack of supplies which could have threatened Lebanon’s…
Prominent members of the U.S. Congress–from Democrats Chuck Schumer and Cory Booker to Republicans Nancy Mace and David Joyce–are vocal supporters of the cannabis industry. And some lawmakers–Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, for one–have made broader cannabis legalization a central focus of their platforms. But Gary Chambers Jr., an ordained minister running for state senate in Louisiana,…
After the pandemic forced Protocol to lay off nearly one-third of its workforce just two months into operations, its reporting at the intersection of technology and policy has since proven fruitful. The advertising-supported publisher saw its 2021 revenue grow 150% from its 2020 figures, though it declined to share specific numbers. Protocol plans to add…
Meta detailed some changes to the process advertisers must go through in certain cases when they are looking to run ads about social issues, elections or politics. The company said in a blog post that advertisers will no longer be required to complete the authorization process for these types of ads or include “paid for…
Despite a constant stream of rhetoric asserting otherwise, a new study conducted by Twitter found that right-leaning news outlets see greater algorithmic amplification on its platform compared with left-leaning news outlets, and tweets posted by accounts from the political right receive more algorithmic amplification than the political left when studied as a group. The social…
Former President Donald Trump is trying to get back into the social media game again, this time with Truth Social, an application set to debut in beta for “invited guests” next month. Information about the app and other initiatives were shared within the details of a definitive merger agreement between Trump Media & Technology Group…
Facebook expanded its test of reducing distribution of political content in News Feed to roughly 75 countries around the globe Wednesday. The test kicked off with “a small percentage” of people in Brazil, Canada and Indonesia in February, with the U.S. added shortly thereafter. Facebook expanded the test to Costa Rica, Ireland, Spain and Sweden…
The newest Snap Mini is aimed at encouraging its younger users in the U.S. to consider running for local office. The Run for Office Mini is powered with information from BallotReady on more than 75,000 upcoming elections on the federal, state and local levels, and Snapchatters can search for potential opportunities to become candidates based…
It appears that Gettr didn’t quite satisfy former President Donald Trump’s thirst for a social media platform, as he filed a request for preliminary injunction against Twitter in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida last Friday, seeking the reinstatement of his @realDonaldTrump account. Twitter permanently banned Trump Jan. 8 in the…
Members of Congress were much more active on social media in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election in the U.S. than they were in 2016, and their posts and tweets drew much more engagement from users of those platforms, according to a new study from Pew Research Center. Pew found that lawmakers produced 315,818…
Twitter rolled out its official hashtag-triggered emojis for the 2021 elections in the U.S., with Election Day set for Nov. 2. The social network shared the emojis in a @TwitterGov tweet, and the following hashtags will add them to tweets: #IVoted, #IVotedEarly and #YoVot?. The 2021 United States election season is right around the corner….
The rise of misinformation on social platforms has led to a shift in thinking among adults in the U.S. on whether the government should get involved, or whether the burden falls on the big tech companies behind those platforms. Pew Research Center released the results of a recent survey, which found that 48% of the…
Snapchat added new options that allow users to change their advertising preferences in order to see fewer ads related to sensitive topics, like politics. If you want to see fewer “Political and Advocacy” ads on Snapchat, our guide will show you how to change this setting. Note: These screenshots were captured in the Snapchat application…
Ad creatives almost never wish for their campaign ideas to be unnecessary, but that’s certainly the case with this poster series drafted by TBWAChiatDay New York. Inspired after learning from a Nashville-based staffer about Tennessee’s Bill 1182, which would require signage on any bathroom that allows “use of restrooms by either biological sex,” the agency…
When Facebook introduced its Ad Library in May 2018, it heralded the archive of political ads and political issue content run by advertisers as a new era of transparency, making information public such as the campaign budget associated with the ad and how many people saw it, as well as their ages, locations and genders….
Liz Kennedy joined Facebook as manager, voting rights, and she will serve as the civil rights team’s expert on voting rights and civics. She had been senior policy advisor at the Center for Secure and Modern Elections, working on modernizing voter registration and making voting more accessible. Prior to that, Kennedy was senior director of…
The majority of Americans who responded to a recent survey by Pew Research Center want to see the regulation hammer come down on “Big Tech.” In a survey of 4,623 U.S. adults conducted from April 12 through 18, Pew found that 56% of respondents believe major technology companies should be regulated more than they currently…
The bulk of posts from members of Congress that mentioned China in recent years have come from a relatively small number of Republicans, according to a new analysis from Pew Research Center. Researchers from the think tank examined every Facebook post and tweet by voting members of the House of Representatives and Senate from Jan….
With former President Donald Trump permanently banned from Twitter since the days after January’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Trump’s team apparently decided to create its own version of Twitter. An application called Gettr quietly made its way onto the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store last month, with more than 1,000 downloads to…
Should people have the right to sue social media platforms for content posted by other users? A majority of the 4,623 U.S. adults who responded to a recent survey by think tank Pew Research Center believe the answer is no. Pew said 56% of respondents feel that people should not be able to sue social…
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
