Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, the past week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.
Trump ally to lead Israeli spyware company
David Friedman, a close ally to Donald Trump who formerly served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel, is taking the helm at NSO Group, a controversial Israeli spy technology company that has developed tools that have been used to target journalists and political dissidents. This story pairs well with my previous report on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reactivating its contract with Paragon Solutions — another Israeli technology company that has developed similar tools. Apple and Meta-owned WhatsApp recently said that they would continue to notify users when their phones are targeted by governments using hacking software.
Read more at Gizmodo.
Lyft and Uber drivers allege discrimination
A group of male drivers is suing Uber and Lyft over new safety features that allow passengers to request that their drivers be women only. (The ride-hailing companies did not immediately respond to Time magazine’s requests for comment.)
Read more at Time.
MAGA world’s pipe bomb conspiracy theory
Will Sommer recently wrote a piece for The Bulwark explaining how right-wing conspiracy theorists have promoted an apparently bogus report purporting to have homed in on the identity of the person who authorities say planted pipe bombs that were found outside the Washington headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees on Jan. 6.
Read more at The Bulwark.
Trump’s influencer army
A new report from Reuters highlights how the Trump administration and right-wing influencers “have formed a powerful alliance, working together to target perceived adversaries, amplify false claims and reshape the media landscape.”
Read more at Reuters.
The church-to-Congress pipeline
Affiliates of a Texas-based megachurch, including a state lawmaker, have been using an online course that trains Christians how to run for office, so that they can impose their evangelical worldview on the masses. The Texas Tribune published a report on so-called Campaign University, describing how the lessons train “potential candidates to ‘stand for spiritual righteousness’ and teach them how to build a platform and navigate the campaign trail while maintaining a strong family and church life.”
Read more at The Texas Tribune.
The Congressional Budget Office confirmed Friday that it was hacked. A CBO spokesperson said the office has “identified the security incident, has taken immediate action to contain it, and has implemented additional monitoring and new security controls to further protect the agency’s systems going forward.” Read more at Tech Crunch. Tesla approved a compensation package that could make Elon Musk a trillionaire if he hits certain benchmarks over the next decade. I wrote about how Tesla’s decision affirmed an observation made by former President Barack Obama about how corporate giants enrich themselves off the backs of the government. Read more at MSNBC. During a recent conversation with election law expert Marc Elias, Rep. Jasmine Crockett raised her concerns about election technology company Dominion Voting Systems being purchased by a former GOP election official, who has rebranded the company — which has become a magnet for right-wing conspiracy theories — as Liberty Vote. Watch the Texas Democrat’s remarks at Democracy Docket’s YouTube channel.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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