CNET: Twitter flags Trump, Biden, Warren campaigns, citing ad-policy violations. “Twitter flagged the campaign accounts of presidential candidates, including incumbent Donald Trump and rival Joe Biden, as ‘suspended” in the ads database, saying they’d violated the company’s policies. The accounts remain active on the social network, and it’s unclear whether any violations actually occurred. Twitter, which bans political advertising, changed the wording in the database to “ineligible for Twitter Ads” after CNET inquired about the labels on Thursday.”
elections
The Guardian: Uncovered: reality of how smartphones turned election news into chaos
The Guardian: Uncovered: reality of how smartphones turned election news into chaos. “Ask the average 2019 voter where the problems with political news lie, and you might hear a few familiar claims: fake news. Russian interference. The biased BBC. But take a look at their smartphones, and you might discover a different, more chaotic world – in which news is being shaped less by publishers or foreign agents but by social media algorithms and friendship groups.”
Poynter: U.S. fact-checkers gear up for 2020 campaign with 50 active platforms
Poynter: U.S. fact-checkers gear up for 2020 campaign with 50 active platforms. “With the U.S. election now less than a year away, at least four dozen American fact-checking projects plan to keep tabs on claims by candidates and their supporters – and a majority of those fact-checkers won’t be focused on the presidential campaign. The 50 active U.S. fact-checking projects are included in the latest Duke Reporters’ Lab tally of global fact-checking, which found 226 sites in 73 countries as of Nov. 25.”
Mashable: Influencers urge young people to vote in UK election to ‘cancel the haters’
Mashable: Influencers urge young people to vote in UK election to ‘cancel the haters’ . “The ‘snowflakes’ of the United Kingdom have something to say: get out and vote. High-profile influencers have teamed up to create a video urging young people to exercise their democratic right in the General Election on Dec. 12.”
Google halts political ads in Singapore as election looms: documents (Reuters)
Reuters: Google halts political ads in Singapore as election looms: documents. “Google has stopped accepting political advertisements in Singapore months before a widely expected election, according to documents shared by a small political party which said it was angered by the decision that denies it voter reach.”
The hidden costs of social media use in elections: A Ghana case study (The Conversations)
The Conversation: The hidden costs of social media use in elections: A Ghana case study. “These more inconspicuous costs of social media campaigns are evident in Ghana, a country that boasts a stable party system, closely fought elections, and regular peaceful transfers of power. We recently conducted research on the role of social media in politics in the country. We found that the significance of social media is far greater than internet penetration figures alone would suggest. Politicians are investing heavily in the space and this is having a number of subversive effects.”
Gizmodo: Billionaire Buys ‘Climate Change’ On Google
Gizmodo: Billionaire Buys ‘Climate Change’ On Google. “Data provided to Gizmodo by an SEO professional who asked to remain anonymous shows that Bloomberg is targeting more than 840 search terms that specifically reference climate with hundreds more that reference climate-adjacent terms.”
