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Publications
The Long Fuse: Misinformation and the 2020 Election
A final report of the findings of the Election Integrity Partnership, formed on July 26, 2020 — 100 days before the 2020 presidential election — as a coalition of research entities to focus on supporting real-time information exchange between the research community, election officials, government agencies, civil society organizations, and social media platforms.
Publications
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Filter results CloseOne Face, Many Names: An Investigation into Fake NGOs and Media Outlets Linked to Harouna Douamba on and off Facebook (TAKEDOWN)
Making the Internet Safe for Democracy
Reversing the Tide: Towards a New US Strategy to Support Democracy and Counter Authoritarianism
Self-harm Policies and Internet Platforms
Viva la #Resistance? Now-Suspended Twitter Accounts from Iran Claim #Resistance Personas in US Politics and Middle Eastern Affairs (TAKEDOWN)
Fronts & Friends: An Investigation into Two Twitter Networks Linked to Russian Actors (TAKEDOWN)
Staying Current: an Investigation into a Now-Suspended Facebook Network Promoting the Palestinian Democratic Reform Current (TAKEDOWN)
Contours and Controversies of Parler
Stoking Conflicts by Keystroke: An Operation Run by IRA-Linked Individuals Targeting Libya, Sudan, and Syria (TAKEDOWN)
Preparing for the Age of Deepfakes and Disinformation
Democratic Source Code for a New U.S.-EU Tech Alliance
Appeared originally in Lawfare, November, 2020
How to Save Democracy From Technology
Full article appears in the January/February 2021 issue of Foreign Affairs
Report of the Working Group on Platform Scale
The internet economy has produced digital platforms of enormous economic and social significance. These platforms—specifically, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, and Apple—now play central roles in how millions of Americans obtain information, spend their money, communicate with fellow citizens, and earn their livelihoods. Their reach is also felt globally, extending to many countries around the world. They have amassed the economic, social, and political influence that very few private entities have ever obtained previously.
Slanted Narratives, Social Media, and Foreign Influence in Libya
Election 2020: Antitrust and Privacy in the Age of Big Tech
ANTITRUST AND PRIVACY CONCERNS are two of the most high-profile topics on the tech policy agenda. Checks and balances to counteract the power of companies such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook are under consideration in Congress, though a polarized political environment is a hindrance. But a domestic approach to tech policy will be insufficient, as the users of the large American tech companies are predominantly outside the United States.
An Investigation into a Female-Focused Online Campaign in Iran and Afghanistan targeting Afghans (TAKEDOWN)
Hello from the Other Side: An Investigation into a Musical Pro-Muslim Brotherhood Disinformation Operation (TAKEDOWN)
Preparing for the Age of Deepfakes and Disinformation
POPULAR CULTURE HAS ENVISIONED SOCIETIES of intelligent machines for generations, with Alan Turing notably foreseeing the need for a test to distinguish machines from humans in 1950. Now, advances in artificial intelligence that promise to make creating convincing fake multimedia content like video, images, or audio relatively easy for many. Unfortunately, this will include sophisticated bots with supercharged self-improvement abilities that are capable of generating more dynamic fakes than anything seen before.
Election 2020: Foreign Interference and Domestic Manipulations Aimed at Voters and Electoral Outcomes
IN 2016 WE LEARNED ABOUT EFFORTS BY FOREIGN ACTORS to interfere in the U.S. election by injecting misinformation and disinformation into public discourse on social media. False events and personas added to the polarization and manipulation of voters.
Election 2020: Political Advertising and Social Media
VOTERS ARE BEING INUNDATED WITH POLITICAL ADVERTISING on social media and online platforms during the 2020 election season. Campaigns, PACs and third parties have added new tools and tactics for gathering data on voters and targeting them with advertising, and now they can pinpoint niches of potential voters on social media in ways unknown in prior election cycles.
Election 2020: Content Moderation and Accountability
AS WE APPROACH THE 2020 ELECTION IN THE UNITED STATES, content moderation on social media platforms is taking center stage. From speech issues on Facebook and Twitter to YouTube videos and TikTok brigands, the current election season is being reshaped by curation concerns about what’s allowed online, what’s not, upranking and downranking, and who’s deciding.
Election 2020: Social Media and Political Polarization
THE EMERGENCE OF A DIGITAL SPHERE where public debate takes place raises profound questions about the connection between online information and polarization, echo chambers, and filter bubbles. Does the information ecosystem created by social media companies support the conditions necessary for a healthy democracy? Is it different from other media? These are particularly urgent questions as the United States approaches a contentious 2020 election during the COVID-19 pandemic.