Lifehacker: Quickly Understand Complicated Ballot Initiatives in Your State Using This Site. “If the past few years have taught us as a nation nothing, it’s that we all should not only vote, but be informed about what we’re voting about. With all the information out there, figuring out what every item on the ballot means can be a daunting proposition.”
elections
The National Interest: Why Cyberattacks on America’s Elections and Infrastructure Are Here to Stay
The National Interest: Why Cyberattacks on America’s Elections and Infrastructure Are Here to Stay. “Nations have been in the business of interfering in other nations’ elections since the beginning of recorded history. Since cyber-meddling in other countries’ electoral processes is also now well established, and there appear to be a variety of means and incentives to engage in cyber-meddling, what, if anything, can be done to discourage it? Imposing sanctions on Russia has not proven to be particularly effective, illustrating the relative powerlessness countries have to keep other countries from engaging in cyber-election meddling. Doing so could be rendered somewhat less effective by seeking to reduce or counter its influence on electoral debates by swiftly exposing and/or ignoring them. That is largely what occurred during the 2017 French election.”
WTNH: New website highlights candidate stances on local government
WTNH: New website highlights candidate stances on local government. “The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities has launched its new ‘2018 Election Central’ website , where voters can find the candidates’ answers to a host of questions about key state-local issues affecting Connecticut’s 169 municipalities.”
CT Mirror: Sniff around campaign finances with our new database
CT Mirror: Sniff around campaign finances with our new database. “By the end of August, candidates for offices ranging from state representative to governor reported raising more than $40 million and spending around $30 million in the 2018 election cycle. CT Mirror today is launching CT Campaign Cash, a database tool to ease inspection of those receipts and expenditures.”
Made and Distributed in the U.S.A.: Online Disinformation (New York Times)
New York Times: Made and Distributed in the U.S.A.: Online Disinformation. “Politics has always involved shadings of the truth via whisper campaigns, direct-mail operations and negative ads bordering on untrue. What is different this time is how domestic sites are emulating the Russian strategy of 2016 by aggressively creating networks of Facebook pages and accounts — many of them fake — that make it appear as if the ideas they are promoting enjoy widespread popularity, researchers said. The activity is also happening on Twitter, they said.”
CNET: Facebook pulls down over 800 pages, accounts ahead of midterm elections
CNET: Facebook pulls down over 800 pages, accounts ahead of midterm elections. “Facebook said Thursday it pulled down more than 800 pages and accounts that posted sensational political content for violating its rules against spam and ‘inauthentic behavior’ ahead of the US midterm elections.” This is been happening for literally years and I’m not giving Facebook any points for just now getting around to doing something about it.
BuzzFeed News: No One Knows How Bad Fake News Is On WhatsApp, But If Brazil’s Election Is Any Indication, It’s Bad
BuzzFeed News: No One Knows How Bad Fake News Is On WhatsApp, But If Brazil’s Election Is Any Indication, It’s Bad. “A rumor circulating across WhatsApp this weekend had a warning for supporters of Brazil’s far-right presidential candidate, Jair Bolsonaro: Show up to the polling stations wearing any sort of merchandise with his name or face on it, and you will be turned away and unable to vote. This, you see, was part of a coup organized by Brazil’s electoral commission, which doesn’t want Bolsonaro to win. Of course, none of this was true, but that didn’t stop it from being one of the most shared pieces of content in public groups on WhatsApp in Brazil.”
