Category Archives: cheap speech

“Romanian Court Annuls Presidential Election Results and Orders a New Vote”

December 7, 2024, 9:04 pmcheap speech, comparative election law, election subversion riskforeign interferenceJustin Levitt

The NYT coverage of the Romanian constitutional court’s decision is here; the court’s decision itself is here. The NYT reports that the decision was based on manipulation of digital media — including this Tiktok controversy and alleged Russian… Continue reading

“How Trump Targeted Undecided Voters Without Breaking the Bank”

December 5, 2024, 9:13 pmcampaigns, cheap speechJustin Levitt

The NYT with some insight into the microtargeting capability of streaming services.

“In Fraud We Trust: How Leaders in Politics, Business, and Media Profit from Lies—and How to Stop Them”

December 5, 2024, 8:40 amcheap speech, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

New book from Wes Hendricksen from the University Press of Kansas, with potential relevance to election law. It includes a brief discussion of the post-2020 period.

“What We Saw on Our Platforms During 2024’s Global Elections”

December 3, 2024, 10:15 pmcheap speech, chicaneryJustin Levitt

A description from Meta about the state of their social media in the recent election cycle (including covert foreign influence operations Meta says it detected and quashed). Of course, it’d be nice if there were enough transparency to allow for… Continue reading

“Misinformation exploits outrage to spread online”

December 2, 2024, 11:38 pmcheap speechJustin Levitt

I’m really looking forward to reading this new paper in Science (Killian L. McLoughlin, William J. Brady, Aden Goolsbee, Ben Kaiser, Kate Klonick, and M. J. Crockett.) With a bonus thread by Crockett on the process to get there…

“The apocalypse that wasn’t: AI was everywhere in 2024’s elections, but deepfakes and misinformation were only part of the picture”

December 2, 2024, 11:34 pmcampaigns, cheap speechArtificial IntelligenceJustin Levitt

Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders expand the frame in The Conversation.

“Donald Trump’s return sends shivers through the anti-misinformation world”

November 26, 2024, 11:01 amcheap speechRick Hasen

Financial Times: The incoming Trump administration’s vow to dismantle the leftwing “censorship cartel” has thrown a shadow over the cottage industry of academics, non-profits and researchers that sprang up to combat a tide of digital misinformation — and threatens… Continue reading

“Liberals Are Left Out in the Cold as Social Media Veers Right”

November 18, 2024, 7:31 amcheap speech, political polarizationRick Hasen

Sheera Frenkel for the NYT: After Donald J. Trump won the election this month, his supporters gravitated to a panoply of online destinations to celebrate. Hundreds of thousands of posts lauding Mr. Trump’s victory filled Truth Social, the social… Continue reading

New Report Find X’s Algorithms Changed in July 2024 to Boost Republican-Leaning Accounts and Elon Musk’s Account After Musk’s Trump Endorsement

November 18, 2024, 7:24 amcheap speechRick Hasen

The report from Timothy Graham and Mark Andrejevic (via Bluesky). Abstract: This technical report presents findings from a two-phase analysis investigating potential algorithmic bias in engagement metrics on X (formerly Twitter) by examining Elon Musk’s account against a group… Continue reading

“Elon Musk Is Positioning X Behind the New Trump Presidency”

November 9, 2024, 5:04 pmcheap speech, Plutocrats UnitedRick Hasen

NYT: Since Donald J. Trump won the presidential election, Elon Musk has gone all in on X to promote the incoming administration. Mr. Musk, who owns X, posted on the platform about politics more than 400 times between Tuesday and… Continue reading

“Musk to Spend Election Night With Trump; Elon Musk has spent $119 million on a super PAC supporting Donald Trump and held events on his behalf. But his ownership of X is especially valuable.”

November 5, 2024, 11:11 amcampaign finance, campaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

NYT: Elon Musk plans to spend election night with former President Donald J. Trump, giving Mr. Trump direct access to the person controlling one of key information platforms on what could be a chaotic evening…. Mr. Musk is joining the… Continue reading

“Elon Musk promotes video referencing QAnon in support of Trump”

November 5, 2024, 7:20 amcheap speech, chicanery, election subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

WaPo: Elon Musk shared a video in support of Donald Trump that appeared to includereferences to the extremistQAnon ideology and footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, elevating the radicalized movement on the eveningbefore millions… Continue reading