Trust in Social Platforms’ Handling of Political Views Is Shaky, Particularly Among Republicans

Nearly three-quarters of adults in the U.S. believe that social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints that they find objectionable, and that belief is especially prevalent among Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. The think tank surveyed 4,708 U.S. adults between June 16 and…

NBC News, MSNBC Talent Help Viewers ‘Plan Your Vote’ in New Campaign

Key insights: NBC News had long been looking for its own version of “Rock the Vote.” This is the network’s first NBC News-centric PSA campaign. With the presidential election just 78 days away–and the Democratic National Convention kicking off tonight–NBC News is rolling out a new PSA campaign to help viewers determine how they can…

Google, YouTube Provide Updates on Their Efforts to Protect the US Elections

Google and its YouTube video site outlined steps they are taking to protect the upcoming presidential election in the U.S. Two features were added to Google Search. Searching for how to register to vote will bring up information about voter registration in the user’s state, including deadlines, options and a way to check their status….

Voting Information Center Goes Live on Facebook, Instagram

Facebook revealed the next step in its initiative to help 4 million people in the U.S. register to vote prior to November’s presidential election with the rollout of its Voting Information Center Thursday on Facebook and Instagram. The Voting Information Center can be accessed directly via the menu on Facebook or Instagram, and people can…

TikTok Details Measures to Protect 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

TikTok continues to play defense against the Trump administration’s continued assault on the video-creation platform, detailing a new set of steps to combat misinformation and election interference as the presidential election in the U.S. approaches. The platform’s misinformation policies are being extended to include synthetic or manipulated media, such as shallow or deepfakes, aimed at…

Twitter to Label Tweets From Key Government Officials, State-Affiliated Media Entities

Twitter added tweets from key government officials and from accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities to the list of political content that it affixes labels to. The social network defined key government officials as senior officials that are the voice of the nation-state abroad, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, ambassadors, official spokespeople and key diplomatic…

Biden Campaign’s $280 Million Ad Strategy Bets Big on Digital

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is spending more than a quarter-billion dollars on advertising in the ramp-up to the November election. The campaign for the presumptive Democratic nominee has laid out $280 million in paid media reservations, including a campaign-record $60 million in digital media, which centers around connected TV. The campaign’s decision…

What’s Going on With TikTok? Here’s a Quick Podcast Primer

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 Kicks Off Its Up the Vote Initiative

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…

5 Key Takeaways After Big Tech CEOs Testify in Meandering Antitrust Hearing

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…

This Somber Ad About Biden’s Family Tragedy Says His Empathy Is Needed in the White House

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…

Americans Are Wary of Social Platforms’ Power and Influence Over Politics

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…

Trump Ad About ‘Chaos’ in U.S. Actually Used Photo From Pro-Democracy Rally in Ukraine

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…

Pew Examines the Partisan Divide on Social Media Among the 116th Congress

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…

Political Conventions Are Muddled, but Candidates’ Digital Ad Spend Is Clear

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)…

Barack Obama’s, Joe Biden’s Accounts Accessed in Large-Scale Twitter Breach

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…

UK Government Urges Brits to Embrace ‘New Start’ with Major Brexit Campaign

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…

Blacks, Younger Users, Democrats More Likely to Turn to Social Platforms for Activism

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…

Facebook: How to Stop Seeing Political Ads

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…

Roger Stone Gets Caught in Facebook’s Coordinated Inauthentic Activity Net

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…