Media Type WIRED

WIRED
Oct 29, 2024
Election Fraud Conspiracy Theories Are Already Thriving Online

“This has created an environment where anyone can find content online that proves their beliefs to be true, no matter if it’s rooted in reality or not,” says Nicole Gill, the co-founder and executive director of Accountable Tech. “The public has fewer options to anchor themselves in truth and reality, and there’s no denying that Big Tech absolutely played a role in that.”

Giliann Karon Giliann Karon
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WIRED
Oct 27, 2023
Inside Elon Musk’s First Election Crisis—a Day After He ‘Freed’ the Bird

In addition to the trust and safety personnel layoffs, “they’ve rolled back basic features of the platform that helped deal with things that will obviously pose threats to the integrity of elections around the world,” says Jesse Lehrich, cofounder of the advocacy group Accountable Tech. This includes “removing labels on government officials and state-run media accounts, and obviously Twitter Blue has been a total disaster,” he says, noting that the platform’s new revenue-sharing model could add to the chaos. “There’s a financial incentive to post outrageous or sensational content to go viral and potentially profit from it.”

Zach Praiss Zach Praiss
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WIRED
Sep 28, 2023
X Fires Its Election Team Before a Huge Election Year

“With authoritarianism on the rise, and dozens of countries set to hold high-stakes elections next year, democracy is facing an existential threat,” says Jesse Lehrich, cofounder of the nonprofit Accountable Tech. “And Elon Musk continues to tip the scales in the wrong direction."

Zach Praiss Zach Praiss
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WIRED
Mar 22, 2021
This Group Wants to ‘Ban Surveillance Advertising’

“I was frankly shocked by how much appetite there was for this, and by how receptive folks were to the pitch,” said Jesse Lehrich, a cofounder of the advocacy group Accountable Tech. According to a January poll commissioned by Accountable Tech, 81 percent of respondents said they would be in favor of reforms to “ban companies from collecting people's personal data and using it to target them with ads.” By contrast, only 63 percent said they supported breaking up companies like Facebook and Google, another idea that has been proposed by lawmakers like Elizabeth Warren.

Avatar Victoria Vinall
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WIRED
Sep 19, 2020
Democracy Will Only Work If the Social Media Giants Grow Up

A new Election Integrity Roadmap released by the nonprofit group Accountable Tech shows that a different path is possible. Created in conjunction with leading technologists, civil rights leaders, and disinformation experts, the Roadmap outlines tangible steps that platforms can take to defend the integrity of the November elections.

Zach Praiss Zach Praiss
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Join the fight to rein in Big Tech.

Big Tech companies are some of the most powerful and profitable companies in history, presenting new threats to the safety of communities and the health of democracy. We’re taking them on through legislation, regulation and direct advocacy.