Brian Fung | @[email protected]

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Facebook wants federal policy to basically incentivize algorithmic decisionmaking; Twitter wants users to be able to opt out of algorithms. Here are the implications of that. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

One of the takeaways from this hearing is that Twitter and Facebook are increasingly staking out diverging positions on federal policies for content moderation: https://t.co/HOiKeOEEY4 — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

We’ve heard Zuckerberg repeatedly invoke Facebook’s approach toward terrorist or child-exploitation content. It’s a rhetorical crutch and also something of a deflection. Here’s why: https://t.co/4P4EwtfbOD — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

And we’re back. Hearing has begun again. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

On election security, here’s the Trump administration's own CISA director reminding people of the extremely dubious nature of election fraud claims https://t.co/GozQStKOaI — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

We’re in a break for Senate votes. Lots of lip service so far to keeping the government out of direct content moderation while lawmakers issue calls for tech companies to do better… which is about where we were before all this began. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

He said Facebook’s labeling is “editorializing [that] insulates people from the truth and it insinuates that anyone concerned about voter fraud must be crazy.” This dangerous attack line normalizes the idea that it is appropriate to suspect a conspiracy to deny election fraud. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Sen. Lee used his question time to spread the unfounded narrative of voter fraud, which election officials have routinely debunked and rejected. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Especially when Dorsey already explains this in his opening remarks and written testimony and his prior congressional appearance… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Dorsey patiently explaining what you see on Twitter’s label, and how it is a link and not just text, has a very strong “tech support at Thanksgiving” vibe — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Sen. Feinstein not knowing that Twitter has been labeling misleading tweets about the election is the “Senator, we sell ads” of this hearing — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Spending most of my hearing doing updates to the liveblog instead of tweeting but my quick take here is that so far, this hearing has been more substantive than last month’s. We’re getting a clearer idea of both where lawmakers and executives stand on important questions. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Expect @jack to repeat familiar themes today, including expressing a commitment to greater transparency and warning Congress not to entrench the power of large tech platforms (in what could be read as a jab at Facebook): https://t.co/naWeTvjLBK — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Just preemptively: Be wary of any claims today that Section 230 somehow requires platforms to be politically neutral. It does not. The law gives platforms wide latitude to manage their sites as they see fit. That includes decisions on political content. https://t.co/RlvTa5RkHq — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Crap. I overcaffeinated. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

And don’t forget to follow our liveblog here for reporting and analysis: https://t.co/ctIIRVkYFS — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

For those just joining, you can watch the proceedings here: https://t.co/LQLgKWQT5S — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

As we wait for Senate Judiciary to kick things off at 10 ET, let’s look at Airbnb’s IPO filing. There, the company cites possible changes to #Section230 as a risk factor for investors. https://t.co/LBWRFeQtAg https://t.co/IdWLK4XRgP — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @donie: If the President choses to “fleet” — that is use Twitter’s new disappearing tweet feature launched this morning — his fleets wil… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @elanazak: Twitter is announcing a bunch of new features/experiments today: - Disappearing tweets, or "Fleets," that go away after 24 ho… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Happy tech CEOs hearing day (again)! — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Not to say you can’t or shouldn’t try to be all those things if you really want to. But a disaggregated media ecosystem where reporters have to worry about all this creates enormous redundancy and, potentially, less journalism. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

To add to this point — there are very real efficiencies and economies of scale associated with working under a publisher. On your own, you have to be the reporter, the social team, the video team, the editor, the business office, the HR department, the legal office, on and on. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

So basically, some genius at ICE who seemingly was authorized to access @ICEgov tried to change its birthday to something less than 13 years old, resulting in a federal Twitter account vanishing for several hours from the internet. Congrats! — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Nope! https://t.co/ha7Z7GEQ3y https://t.co/ocCTLJT43T — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

You can see where this is going. Apparently, *somebody* changed the birth date associated with ICE’s account. The question still remained: Was this nefarious? — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@Geneva_Sands and I asked Twitter and ICE for an explanation. After a long silence, Twitter finally told us that a condition of using the service is that you be at least 13 years old. If you tweet from an account whose birth date isn’t old enough to be 13, you get locked out. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

So, I meant to tweet about this yesterday but forgot. For several hours the verified Twitter account run by ICE, @ICEgov, vanished from the internet. It was a mystery. Was it hacked? Did Twitter take it down? What happened? The answer is, shall we say, extremely 2020. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @viaCristiano: This and other viral tweets claiming Facebook "removed" Trump's title as president are *FALSE* He's been labeled as a pol… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Here, have a cat. https://t.co/H7ugZDgtll — PolitiTweet.org