Happy Tuesday. Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, a round-up of the past week’s top stories from the intersection of politics and the all-inclusive world of technology.
Social media expansion
The Harris-Walz campaign announced the launch of a WhatsApp channel, expanding its social media outreach to the messaging app that’s immensely popular in some Latino communities. The move can also be seen partly as an effort to combat the spread of right-wing misinformation on the platform: A Nielsen report in 2021 found Latinos were more likely than other groups to receive, consume and share misinformation, and it cited WhatsApp as a hub where much of that misinformation was exchanged.
Read more at NBC News.
Kennedy’s confusion
During an interview with a controversial podcaster last week, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims he falls for A.I.-generated misinformation “all the time,” which is actually not all that surprising to hear from a known conspiracy theorist. But also, not ideal coming from someone running to be president of the United States.
Read more at Mother Jones.
Hack update
The U.S. intelligence community is alleging Iran is responsible for hacking attempts targeting both Vice President Kamala Harris’ and Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns (at the moment, only the Trump campaign has said it was hacked). Iran denies the claim, and while several news outlets say they have received campaign materials from a source identifying itself only as “Robert,” none of those outlets have shared what they’ve received. As my colleague Steve Benen wrote, this is in line with what Trump’s campaign has demanded of the press, even though he took completely the opposite approach when Hillary Clinton’s campaign was hacked by Russia in 2016.
Read more from Steve on MSNBC.com.
Pro-MAGA media network expands
Sinclair Broadcasting, perhaps best known for pushing right-wing propaganda through its local news affiliates across the nation, is getting into the sports podcasting game with a slate of talent that includes former football coach Urban Meyer, former NFL quarterback Matt Leinart and former “Entourage” actor Jerry Ferrara.
Read more at Awful Announcing or Sinclair’s press release.
Abortion data dangers
Ms Magazine has an update on legislative efforts around the regulation of crisis pregnancy centers — facilities portrayed by conservatives as alternatives to abortion clinics but often advance an anti-abortion agenda — and how their data collection can put clients’ personal health information at risk of being turned over to anti-abortion zealots.
Read more at Ms. Magazine.
Social insecurity
A massive data breach last week exposed the Social Security numbers and other personal data of millions of Americans.
Read more at USA Today. The article includes a tool to determine if your information was affected by the hack. The Washington Post published an article that includes several tools to help you detect A.I.-generated deepfakes. It’s certain to come in handy, considering Trump’s recent use of political deepfakes and his false accusations that the Harris campaign used A.I. to fabricate nonexistent crowds. Check it out at the Washington Post. The Federal Trade Commission issued new rules that ban fake consumer reviews and testimonials on websites. The rule is designed to curb A.I.-generated reviews, as well as fake reviews written by real people, that can deceive potential customers. Read the FTC’s press release here. A federal judge temporarily blocked a joint venture by Disney, Fox and Warner Brothers to create a joint streaming service that would provide sports content to viewers. A judge found that streaming platform FUBO, which sued the three companies, is likely to succeed in court after filing a claim that the deal violates antitrust laws. Read more at Reuters.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. Recommended
Deepfake detection tools
FTC bans fake reviews
Streaming deal smacked down
