TikTok has been one of the iconic pastimes of the 2020 quarantine era, with tens of millions of Americans using it to post everything from protest footage to viral dance challenges. But in recent days it’s also been in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump, who threatened to “ban” the app due to concerns with…
Reddit kicked off its Up the Vote voter-registration initiative, focused on alerting, educating and activating Redditors on their right to vote. The platform said in a blog post last week, “Content on Reddit receives an average of 165 million votes per day. But did you know that the 2016 presidential election only saw 128.8 million…
The CEOs of four of world’s largest and most influential technology companies testified virtually today before the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee, arguing that they are American success stories, not too-big-to-fail corporate behemoths who stifle competition. The 5 hours of questioning from lawmakers was at best wide-ranging and at worst completely disorganized and off-topic. Democrats…
With the fur-flying and finger-pointing of political advertising season, any work that shows a modicum of restraint stands out. Moreover, any spot that tells a human, empathetic and compelling story that makes people stop in their tracks–especially in the middle of severe health and economic crises–demands attention. Such is a new spot, targeting key battleground…
Adults in the U.S. believe social media platforms have too much power and influence when it comes to politics, and nearly one-half feel like more government regulation over the sector is necessary, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. The think tank polled 4,708 U.S. adults between June 16 and 22, finding that…
President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has occasionally sparked reactions ranging from mockery to outrage due to its image selections in recent Facebook ads. A campaign ad vowing to “protect” a statue of Jesus earlier this month–amid national debate over the removal of statues associated with slaver–oddly showed a picture of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the…
The explosion in social media use in recent years has not bypassed Congress, as a new study from Pew Research Center found that the typical, median member currently tweets 81% more often than in 2016, has nearly three times as many followers and sees over six times as many retweets, while on Facebook, 48% more…
If things had gone as planned, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden would be in Milwaukee, Wisc. right now, preparing to accept his party’s nomination for the presidential election and we would already know who he’s chosen as vice president. But 2020 is not going as planned, on so many levels. The Democratic National Convention (DNC)…
A series of high-profile Twitter accounts were accessed in quick succession Wednesday, including those of former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden, the current leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. Additionally, the accounts of rapper Kanye West and billionaires Mike Bloomberg, Elon Musk, Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos were also…
The U.K has been part of the European Union since 1973, but the country voted to leave in 2016 in favor of, as the government slogan said, “taking back control” of its own trading relationships and its own borders. After what felt like a very long two years of arguments and political wrangling, the country…
Pew Research Center examined how race, ethnicity, age and political affiliation impacts activism on social media among adults in the U.S. The nonpartisan think tank surveyed 4,708 U.S. adults between June 16 and 22, and it found that over the one month prior to the survey, 36% had used social media platforms to post images…
Recently, Facebook announced that it would allow users to “opt out” of seeing political ads on the social network. Specifically, Facebook said this feature will allow users to stop seeing all advertisements that have the political disclaimer “Paid for by …” When you turn this setting on for your Facebook account, the option says you’ll…
Facebook removed four separate networks for violating its policies against foreign interference and coordinated inauthentic behavior, including one that originated in the U.S. and was tied to conservative political consultant Roger Stone, who worked on the 2016 campaign for President Donald Trump in its early stages. Stone was convicted on seven counts in February–including witness…
Most Americans don’t trust Covid-19 information from President Donald Trump and his administration, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center. Of the over 9,500 people surveyed, 29% said the White House gets facts right “some of the time” and 36% said it got them right “hardly ever.” But nearly 67% of Americans…
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking a page out of the Twitter handbook, revealing during a Facebook Live video Friday afternoon that the social network will begin labeling content from elected officials that it deems newsworthy, but that would otherwise violate its policies. Zuckerberg explained in a separate post that this occurs “a handful of…
Days after TikTok users said they fueled lower-than-expected turnout at President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Okla., they have a new target: Trump’s online store. A new series of videos are circulating on the platform asking consumers to fill their carts with Trump merchandise–like the $75 Keep America Great ugly Christmas sweater or the $30…
Twitter is making national election voting days paid days off for its workforce around the world. Senior communications manager Nick Pacilio said teams responsible for functions related to elections, such as security, will be on hand during elections, adding that the previous policy was to give employees two hours off of paid time to go…
It’s a deft marketer that can navigate the political fray these days, especially on a hot-button topic like face masks. Vistaprint aims to do just that with a campaign called, “This is not a mask.” The spot, which launched over the weekend, shows kids playing outdoors and adults visiting their local haunts. They’re all wearing…
Twitter labeled one of President Donald Trump’s tweets as “manipulated media” on Thursday evening, two hours after he posted it. The offending tweet featured a doctored video of a Black child chasing a white child with the caption “Terrified toddler runs from racist baby.” It was edited with a CNN logo and a fake chyron…
Facebook took unprecedented action against the reelection campaign for President Donald Trump, removing multiple advertisements that used Nazi iconography that warned against “dangerous mobs of far-left groups.” The advertisements, posted by the pages for Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Team Trump, a campaign account, used an upside-down red triangle to rail against Antifa, a…
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