The 9th Annual Social Media and Politics Year in Review!
This year, we cover the platforms’ year in review reports, election interference in Romania, the battle over text and the “eXodus”, and social media bans for teenagers.
Here are links to resources discussed in the episode, and see you in 2025!
Meta
TikTok
Snap
Pinterest
Twitch
Google
Pornhub
Jenny Reich, Fellow at the Georgetown Law Center on National Security, discusses the Center’s recent report entitled Social Media: The Canary in the Coal Mine.
We dive into the potential security risks posed by digital technology developments as well as the report’s recommendations for addressing them at the levels of government, the tech industry, and civil society. The report brings together various stakeholders to shed insight on the core democratic values of the United States, the major threats posed by technological advancements, and first steps toward developing regulatory frameworks and civil society resilience to meet these threats in ways that safeguard democracy and American national security interests.
Adam Kovacevich, Founder and CEO of Chamber of Progress, shares his trade association’s goals for progressive advocacy in the tech sector. We discuss the politicization of ‘Big Tech’ and recent opinion polls about Midterm voters’ attitudes towards tech regulation. We also discuss how First Amendment rights apply to tech companies, misperceptions of the techlash, and partisan differences in moderating misinformation and free speech.
Extra Links:
President Biden’s op-ed in WSJ
Prof. Lance Bennett, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Communication at the University of Washington, discusses the types of principled values that should guide platform regulation. We reflect on the disruptive ethos of tech companies and what that means for democracy. We also discuss theories of capitalism, recent changes in data privacy and third-party tracking, as well as the connection between digital technologies and protest parties.
The article we discuss in the episode is Killing the Golden Goose: A Framework for Regulating Disruptive Technologies.
Baroness Beeban Kidron, Chair of the 5Rights Foundation, guests to discuss the recently launched Twisted Toys campaign. We chat about the role of awareness campaigns for tech advocacy, how policymakers respond to children’s data protection issues, and the creative design process behind the Twisted Toys campaign.
Check out Twisted Toys here!
Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten joins for the 5th Annual Social Media and Politics Year in Review! We answer listener questions and present six gifts, each representing big events that shaped social media and politics this year.
25:18 – Platform Year in Review Reports
53:08 – Platforms and Activism (Belarus and Thailand)
1:16:26 – Political Ad Effectiveness
1:38:00 – Platform Regulation (Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act)
2:02:31 – Tweets from the Dead
2:17:00 – Platform Fragmentation
Here’s a list of each platform’s year in review reports:
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Reddit, Reddit UK, Reddit Moderators, Pornhub Debate Night
Other supplementary material:
Margarethe Vestager on the Digital Services Act
Study Modelling Dead Social Media Accounts
Dr. Daniel Kreiss, Associate Professor at the School of Media and Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joins the podcast to discuss the role of data, social media, and technology in contemporary electoral campaigning. We discuss Dr. Kreiss’ recent book, Prototype Politics, and dig into how Republicans and Democrats have built up their data infrastructures over time. We talk about the relationships between campaigns and representatives at tech firms like Facebook, Google, and Twitter, Russian intervention in US democracy, and whether regulation from governments is needed in this space moving forward.