The FBI and DNI called a news conference Wednesday, but unfortunately, they forgot to bring the news. Instead, they told us that foreign countries have obtained voter data for the purpose of interfering with our election.
On the topic of foreign interference, the willingness and ability of hostile nations to attack our electoral process is no secret. The US Intelligence Community Assessment attributing the infamous 2016 hacks of the Clinton campaign and DNC was declassified and published while I was still in the Obama administration, which feels like 3,000 years ago. Dozens of outlets before and after the election reported…
From the moment I saw the first headline blaming the Iowa caucus reporting delay on a smartphone app, I knew what was coming: garbled, contradictory bug reports from the field. Social media jammed with toxic false rumors and deliberate spin bordering on disinformation. News stories sourced from anonymous quotes that are more about score settling than anything that happened in Iowa. And by the next day, a mailbox full of questions from journalists with a familiar refrain: from healthcare.gov to the latest debacle, why does this keep happening?
There are answers. In fact, they are well known in some circles…
Let’s win in November. Let’s fix this mess.
Today The New Data Project launches a new version of VoteWithMe, our free, easy-to-use mobile app that lets you amplify your impact in the November election by finding and encouraging your like-minded friends to vote. It’s up and running and available now in the Apple and Android app stores.
How it works: First we help you check your own registration status and vote history, because voting yourself is the first most important thing to do. Then, with your permission, we look up the voter data for the people you know, using your contact list. When we find someone, we show…
Good morning internet. Would you like to enjoy your weekend like a normal person? Then go instagram a bumble or something, I don’t know, whatever the hell the kids do. But would you like to spend a few hours reading about difficult problems and becoming radicalized to the position that “social media” as we know it (marrying panopticon surveillance to ad revenue) cannot be fixed, and must die? In that case, I can help!
Read these:
Zeynep Tufekci: “How social media took us from Tahrir Square to Donald Trump.” (18 pages.) A good fast orientation charting the last seven years…
It’s a distressing time to work in politics. Harassment, hate campaigns, doxxing, and Russian hackers all played a role in the 2016 election, and since there have been few consequences for the perpetrators, the same people are doubling down on these crude tactics in 2018 and 2020.
Anyone who touches sensitive confidential documents, financial records, or voter data must take active measures to protect themselves, or they are a liability to the whole movement. Even if you’re “only” a volunteer working on a campaign for a few days, it’s a sure bet that you have access to lots of interesting…
All right, here’s my Explainer on Net Neutrality. There are many like it, but this Explainer is mine.
I spent eight years as an engineering middle manager at Google, then two years in charge of the U.S. Digital Service, as an Obama appointee and White House staff. I am writing from memory, not writing a term paper, so the details may not be exactly right.
“Net Neutrality,” as the words are used today, means a bag of FCC decisions that took shape during 2014–2015. This version, which I fought for in the White House, is sometimes known as “common carrier”…
