Category Archives: campaigns

“Record $13 Billion Raised for 2020 Elections Spurs Ad Avalanche”

September 30, 2020, 11:28 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Bloomberg Government: The 2020 election has generated a record $13.3 billion in federal campaign contributions, funding a barrage of political advertising that strategists say risks blurring candidate messaging.The unprecedented outpouring of campaign cash raised through Sept. 28 is more than… Continue reading

“Trump’s 2016 Campaign Listed Millions of Black Voters It Wanted to Stop From Voting, Leak Reveals”

September 28, 2020, 9:29 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

Daily Beast: Over three million Black voters in key states were identified by President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign as people they had to persuade to stay at home on Election Day to help him reach the White House.The revelation comes… Continue reading

“Facebook allowed hundreds of misleading super PAC ads, activist group finds”

September 24, 2020, 7:39 amcampaign finance, campaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

CNN: Facebook (FB) has allowed political advertisers to target hundreds of misleading ads about Joe Biden and the US Postal Service to swing-state voters ranging from Florida to Wisconsin in recent weeks, in an apparent failure to… Continue reading

“Facebook Takes Down Fake Pages Created in China Aimed at Influencing U.S. Election”

September 23, 2020, 7:45 amcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: Facebook has detected limited Chinese operations intended to both help and hurt President Trump’s re-election chances, the company announced on Tuesday, the first public disclosure of Chinese efforts to influence the presidential election in November.The Chinese activity, while modest… Continue reading

“Streaming Services Are A ‘Wild West’ For Political Ads, Mozilla Finds”

September 23, 2020, 7:42 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Video Insider: Political ads have followed consumers to popular streaming services. But unlike traditional TV broadcasters, streamers are not required to disclose how ads are targeted or who is viewing them. And while social media platforms have begun to… Continue reading

Why Couldn’t It Be a State with Better Election Administration? (Axios: “Trump campaign goes all in on Pennsylvania”)

September 20, 2020, 9:00 pmcampaigns, election administrationRick Hasen

Axios reports.

“Biden Has $466 Million in Bank, and a Huge Financial Edge on Trump”

September 20, 2020, 8:56 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Shane Goldmacher for the NYT: Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign said on Sunday that it entered September with $466 million in the bank together with the Democratic Party, providing Mr. Biden a vast financial advantage of about $141 million… Continue reading

“Cash-strapped Trump campaign awaits a bailout from big donors”

September 17, 2020, 8:23 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: Republican Party megadonors are racing to bail out President Donald Trump’s cash-strapped reelection campaign, with a newly formed super PAC pouring a further$25 million into battleground states.Preserve America is set to begin running a trio of TV commercials savaging… Continue reading

“New Tool to Analyze Political Advertising on Facebook Reveals Massive Discrepancies in Party Spending on Presidential Contest”

September 16, 2020, 5:54 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, cheap speechRick Hasen

NYU: Transparency in political ads is vital to ensuring safe and fair elections, but transparency is difficult if advertisers are not required to disclose details about targeting and sources of funding. While TV broadcasters must disclose information about political… Continue reading

“Sheldon Adelson is plotting a spending spree to help Trump with under 50 days left until the election”

September 16, 2020, 7:23 amcampaign finance, campaigns, Plutocrats UnitedRick Hasen

CNBC: Casino magnate and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson is plotting a spending blitz to support President Donald Trump with just under 50 days to go until Election Day, CNBC has learned. Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands, is looking… Continue reading

“Pro-Trump youth group enlists teens in secretive campaign likened to a ‘troll farm,’ prompting rebuke by Facebook and Twitter”

September 15, 2020, 5:44 pmcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

Washington Post: One tweet claimed coronavirus numbers were intentionally inflated, adding, “It’s hard to know what to believe.” Another warned, “Don’t trust Dr. Fauci.”A Facebook comment argued that mail-in ballots “will lead to fraud for this election,” while an Instagram… Continue reading

“A bug in Joe Biden’s campaign app gave anyone access to millions of voter files”

September 14, 2020, 2:17 pmcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

Tech Crunch: A privacy bug in Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s official campaign app allowed anyone to look up sensitive voter information on millions of Americans, a security researcher has found.The campaign app, Vote Joe, allows Biden supporters to… Continue reading

“‘This is f—ing crazy’: Florida Latinos swamped by wild conspiracy theories; A flood of disinformation and deceptive claims is damaging Joe Biden in the nation’s biggest swing state.”

September 14, 2020, 1:57 pmcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

Politico: George Soros directs a “deep state” global conspiracy network. A Joe Biden win would put America in control of “Jews and Blacks.” The Democratic nominee has a pedophilia problem.Wild disinformation like this is inundating Spanish-speaking residents of South… Continue reading

Blockbuster BuzzFeed Story: “Facebook Is Turning A Blind Eye To Global Political Manipulation, According To This Explosive Secret Memo”

September 14, 2020, 1:32 pmcampaigns, cheap speech, chicaneryRick Hasen

So troubling: Facebook ignored or was slow to act on evidence that fake accounts on its platform have been undermining elections and political affairs around the world, according to an explosive memo sent by a recently fired Facebook employee and… Continue reading

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