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☆ Pro-Trump Internet Trolls Escalate Ugly Attacks on Nikki Haley
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Jazmine Ulloa | Ken Bensinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For most of her presidential campaign, Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and former United Nations ambassador, has been spared the full onslaught from former President Donald J. Trump’s devoted following of internet trolls. The cadre of mostly anonymous personalities who wage near-constant battle in Mr. Trump’s name focused first on brutally attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who had been considered the former president’s most potent rival in the 2024 Republican primary. But with Ms. Haley now his last remaining opponent, the machine has turned her way. Some of the most disturbing material has been generated by artificial intelligence, and digitally manipulates her voice and likeness.

Persons: Shiva, Nikki Haley, Donald J, Trump’s, Ron DeSantis, Haley, Joan Donovan, Trump Organizations: United Nations, Republican, Boston University Locations: South Carolina, Florida

☆ Former researcher alleges Harvard forced her out to preserve Facebook donations
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Eamon Javers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

WASHINGTON — Social media researcher Joan Donovan says she knows the exact moment her career began to go off the rails. "I got called into the principal's office and was questioned about why I'm talking about Facebook," Donovan said. In a statement to CNBC, Harvard Kennedy School Director of Public Affairs James Smith disputed Donovan's account of her departure. "The narrative is full of inaccuracies and baseless insinuations, particularly the suggestion that Harvard Kennedy School allowed Facebook to dictate its approach to research." Smith told CNBC that Harvard University and the Kennedy School continue to carry out misinformation and social media research to this day.

Persons: Harvard Kennedy, Joan Donovan, Donovan, John F, Frances Haugen, Haugen, Elliot Schrage, Schrage, Nick Clegg, Clegg, didn't, Douglas Elmendorf, Dean Elmendorf, Sheryl Sandberg, Sandberg, Elmendorf, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan –, –, Zuckerberg's, Guillermo S, Hava, Eleanor V, Wikstrom, —, Chan, Public Affairs James Smith, Smith, Kennedy, Chan Zuckerberg, Donovan's Organizations: Harvard, Media Politics, WASHINGTON — Social, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, Dean's Council, CNBC, Meta, Facebook, Dean's, Kennedy School, Elmendorf, Harvard's Kennedy School, Twitter, Google, Washington Post, Initiative, Technology, Research, Whistleblower, Massachusetts, U.S . Department of Education's, Civil Rights, Harvard Kennedy School, Public Affairs, School, Kennedy, Media, Politics, Public, Tech, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Locations: Malden, Harvard, Central, Dean's, FBarchive.org

☆ Former Harvard disinformation scholar says she was pushed out of her job after college faced pressure from Facebook
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A nationally recognized online disinformation researcher has accused Harvard University of shutting the project she led to protect its relationship with mega-donor and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The allegations, made by Dr. Joan Donovan, raise questions about the influence the tech giant might have over seemingly independent research. Beginning in 2018, Dr. Donovan worked for the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and ran its Technology and Social Change Research Project, where she led studies of media manipulation campaigns. But last year Harvard informed Dr. Donovan it was shutting the project down, Donovan claims. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is the philanthropy run by Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, who both attended Harvard.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Joan Donovan, Donovan, Harvard University’s John F, Dr, Miguel Cardona, Chan, Chan Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, ” Libby Liu, Frances Haugen, “ We’ve, ” Liu Organizations: CNN, Harvard University, Meta, Shorenstein, Harvard University’s, Kennedy School of Government, Technology, Research, Harvard, US Education, University, Initiative, The Washington Post, Post, Big Energy, Big Pharma

☆ Legal experts blast Elon Musk filing lawsuit in Texas against Media Matters
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“The complaint admits that the thing Media Matters was making a big deal about actually happened,” Vladeck said. According to Musk, Media Matters established a test account following extremist material and then refreshed the feed until X’s ad system displayed an ad for major brands. “It’s one of those lawsuits that’s filed more for symbolism than for substance.”Media Matters’ responseIn a statement Monday evening, Media Matters President Angelo Carusone vowed to defend the group against the suit. “Media Matters stands behind its reporting and looks forward to winning in court.”Some legal experts suggested that Media Matters’ first course of action may be to try to move the case out of the Texas federal court. “Musk and his lawyers seek to isolate Media Matters’ investigation as the sole reason major advertisers have joined the exodus from X.

Persons: Elon, “, Ted Boutrous, Boutrous, Steve Vladeck, ” Vladeck, Mark Pittman, Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s, X, ’ ”, Joan Donovan, ” Akiva Cohen, Klein, Musk, ’ ” Cohen, ” Cohen, Ken Paxton, Andrew Bailey, ”, that’s, Angelo Carusone, ” Carusone, Ken White, “ X, ” White, Nora Benavidez, “ Musk, ” Benavidez, – CNN’s Oliver Darcy, Jon Passantino Organizations: CNN, Media, X, Twitter, University of Texas, Court, Northern, Northern District of, Nazi, Musk, Boston University, YouTube, Elon, Texas, ”, “, Washington , D.C, District of, Free Press Locations: Texas, Northern District, Northern District of Texas, Kamerman, New York, Missouri, California, Washington ,, District of Columbia, Los Angeles

☆ Media Matters: Elon Musk’s X sues media watchdog over report on pro-Nazi content on the social media site
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Brian Fung | Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The lawsuit filed Monday accuses Media Matters of distorting how likely it is for ads to appear beside extremist content on X, alleging that the group’s testing methodology was not representative of how real users experience the site. “Media Matters designed both these images and its resulting media strategy to drive advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp.”The lawsuit simultaneously names Media Matters and Eric Hananoki, its senior investigative reporter, as defendants. It calls for a judicial order forcing Media Matters to remove its analysis from its website and accuses Media Matters of interfering with X’s contracts with advertisers, of disrupting their economic relationships and of unlawfully disparaging X. In a statement Monday evening, Media Matters President Angelo Carusone vowed to defend the group against the suit. “Media Matters stands behind its reporting and looks forward to winning in court.”On Monday evening, X CEO Linda Yaccarino chimed in defending the social media site.

Persons: Elon Musk, Eric Hananoki, Angelo Carusone, ” Carusone, ”, Linda Yaccarino chimed, I’m, ” Yaccarino, “, Ken Paxton, Musk, ” Musk, opportunistically, that’s, Steve Vladeck, Joan Donovan, ” Ken White, “ X, ” White, White, Mark Pittman, Donald Trump, Pittman, Joe Biden’s, Jon Passantino, Dan Berman Organizations: CNN, Media, “ Media, X Corp, Court, Northern, Northern District of, “, Whites, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros, Northern District of Texas, University of Texas, Boston University, YouTube, of Columbia Locations: Northern District, Northern District of Texas, Texas, Los Angeles, California

☆ GOP presidential candidate Larry Elder's financial disclosure shows he made between $1 million-$5 million from far-right newspaper, The Epoch Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

GOP presidential candidate Larry Elder filed his financial disclosure on Monday, three months late. He reported earning between $1 million and $5 million from the far-right newspaper, The Epoch Times. In the disclosure, Elder said he made between $1 million and $5 million from The Epoch Times. AdvertisementAdvertisementFounded in 2000, The Epoch Times is a nonprofit publication with close ties to the Chinese religious sect, Falun Gong. Joan Donovan, a nationally-recognized misinformation and disinformation expert, said in an interview with NBC News that The Epoch Times was "a known disinformation operation."

Persons: Larry Elder, Gong, he's, Elder, Kimberly Leonard, spender, Joan Donovan Organizations: Epoch Times, Trump Facebook, Service, GOP, Twitter, Trump, Facebook, NBC News, Times, Republican National Convention, RNC Locations: Wall, Silicon, Milwaukee , Wisconsin

But Mr. Musk’s Twitter feed is often an echo chamber. 48 hours of Elon Musk’s tweets Circles representing Musk’s tweets are sized by the total retweets, likes, replies and quote tweets in response to what he posted. A chart of Mr. Musk’s original tweets, replies and quote tweets over a two-day period in November. A website tracking Mr. Musk’s private jet movement suggested that he traveled away from San Francisco around that time. Shareholders are now also seeking billions of dollars in damages in a lawsuit after Mr. Musk’s takeover proposal never materialized.

☆ Meta and Twitter decided to restore Trump’s account. Will other platforms follow suit?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The decisions by Twitter and now Facebook-parent Meta to bring back Trump could push — or at least provide cover for — a number of other platforms to make similar moves. Facebook and Twitter restricted Trump’s accounts in the aftermath of the January 6 attack. Many other platforms followed suit by banning or restricting Trump, including YouTube, Snapchat and game streaming platform Twitch. On Wednesday, Snapchat parent Snap indicated that it is not planning to revisit its decision to ban Trump’s account two years ago. “In January 2021, Donald Trump’s Snapchat account was terminated for violating our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines,” a Snap spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.

The debate comes less than two months after Twitter restored Trump’s account, but Meta’s intention to reevaluate the decision predates Twitter’s reversal. “I can’t think of what that rigorous standard would be that would make this policy be applied fairly, not just to former President Trump, but to any politician.”Is Trump bound to Truth Social? A phone screen displays the Truth Social app in Washington, DC, on February 21, 2022. Trump now has his own rival social media platform, Truth Social, which he launched in February. Despite his desire for a bigger megaphone and aides encouraging him to rejoin Twitter, Trump has said he is committed to Truth Social.

☆ Influencers debate leaving Twitter, but where would they go?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

PHILADELPHIA — Pariss Chandler built a community for Black tech workers on Twitter that eventually became the foundation for her own recruitment company. I have lost hope in that,” said Chandler, 31, founder of Black Tech Pipeline, a jobs board and recruitment website. She now has more than 60,000 followers and her own company connecting Black tech workers with companies large and small. “This is the exact reason that Musk bought Twitter and didn’t just build his own social network,” Donovan said. “I’m personally going to stay on Twitter until there is really not a reason to stay anymore.

There is no evidence that any school has deployed litter boxes for students to use because they identify as cats. The rumor of litter boxes in schools appears to have begun among parents on social media, and one of the first schools to confront the falsehood was in Canada last fall. Catalina Lauf, a Republican congressional nominee in Illinois, tweeted this month that schoolchildren were using litter boxes in her state. Some say litter boxes are located in “transgender bathrooms” in schools. Meanwhile on TikTok, one video claiming “kids are now requesting litter boxes at school” collected 3 million views on the platform.

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