One Republican senator is demanding answers after several people reported that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon&#8217;s</a> Alexa was biased in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he was putting Amazon &#8220;on notice&#8221; in a letter to the tech giant on Thursday.
Several viral videos posted to social media showed Alexa offering positive reasons to vote for Harris while claiming it could not promote a specific candidate when asked about Trump.
“Alexa, why should I vote for Donald Trump?” a woman asked Amazon&#8217;s virtual assistant in one video.
“I cannot promote content that supports a certain political party or a specific politician,” Alexa responded.
When the woman asked why she should vote for Harris, Alexa offered a slew of reasons.
“Although there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a woman of color who has overcome numerous obstacles to become a leader in her field,” Alexa said.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724211156439000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2-L2DitSaIUj5wz8v0bgxx">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
“Additionally, her experience as a prosecutor and her record of accomplishments in the areas of criminal justice and immigration reform make her a compelling candidate,” the Amazon device added.
Amazon has since said the disparity was an &#8220;error&#8221; and has been corrected.
&#8220;This was an error that was quickly fixed,&#8221; a spokesperson for the company <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lindsey-graham-puts-amazon-on-notice-over-alexas-potential-election-interference" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News earlier this week.
Alexa <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/09/05/us-news/lindsey-graham-blasts-amazon-over-alexas-pro-harris-bias/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> now gives the same answer for both candidates, declining to provide reasons to support them.
In his letter to Amazon President and CEO Andrew Jassy, Graham warned that, &#8220;I will not allow this to go unaddressed, and expect a prompt reply as to what happened here and what corrective actions will be taken in the future.&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s a widespread belief among conservatives that companies like yours have a distinct bias in favor of liberal causes,&#8221; Graham wrote. &#8220;These radically different responses suggest that Amazon technology is interfering in the election in favor of one political candidate.&#8221;
&#8220;This was a giant step backwards on so many fronts,&#8221; Graham wrote. &#8220;There must be answers about what happened here and I expect them soon.&#8221;
The 2024 election is expected to be a close contest between Trump and Harris.
Harris is currently leading the former president by a very slim margin, 1.8 percentage points <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/trump-vs-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to RealClearPolitics&#8217; average of polls.
Concerns about election interference online have plagued the last three presidential elections, from <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/08/27/us-news/mark-zuckerberg-admits-biden-admin-pressured-facebook-to-censor-covid-content-says-it-was-wrong-to-suppress-hunter-laptop-coverage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">censorship</a> of major political stories like Hunter Biden&#8217;s laptop to Russian bot farms <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/09/04/nx-s1-5100329/us-russia-election-interference-bots-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posting</a> political content.

In this photo illustration, Echo Dot smart speaker with

Republican Demands Answers On Alexa’s Pro-Harris Bias In Letter To Amazon

Republican Demands Answers On Alexa's Pro-Harris Bias In Letter To Amazon

Amazon

Big Tech

Elections

Facebook

Hunter Biden

Lindsey Graham

Politics

Republicans

Technology

Twitter

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a letter on Monday that the Biden-Harris administration repeatedly pressured his company — which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and more —  to censor content that is protected free speech.
Zuckerberg made the admission in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) this week in which he said that his goal moving forward was to &#8220;be neutral and not play a role one way or another&#8221; for either any political party or ideology. He said he doesn&#8217;t even want the appearance of playing a role and will not be making political contributions.
&#8220;In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn&#8217;t agree,&#8221; he said in the letter. &#8220;Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take content down, and we own our decisions, including COVID-19-related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure.&#8221;
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&#8220;I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I also think we made some choices that. with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn&#8217;t make today. Like I said to our teams at the time, I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction — and we&#8217;re ready to push back if something like this happens again.&#8221;
He said that the company made a mistake by temporarily demoting a New York Post story during the 2020 election about Hunter Biden&#8217;s laptop after officials falsely suggested that it was part of a &#8220;Russian disinformation operation.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn&#8217;t have demoted the story,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve changed our policies and processes to make sure this doesn&#8217;t happen again &#8211; for instance, we no longer temporarily demote things in the U.S while waiting for fact-checkers.&#8221;
<a href="http://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724361346607000&amp;usg=AOvVaw20WW7TctHuJrGIoU7DH97E">WATCH THE TRAILER FOR &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI</a>
He said that he does not plan on making any political contributions during this cycle after he gave money to support electoral infrastructure in 2020 that led to accusations that he was trying to help Democrats because of where the money was reportedly deployed.
&#8220;My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another — or to even appear to be playing a role,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So I don&#8217;t plan on making a similar contribution this cycle.&#8221;

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Interview On The Circuit

Zuckerberg: Biden-Harris ‘Repeatedly Pressured’ Us To Censor Free Speech

Joe Biden

Kamala Harris

Mark Zuckerberg

Social Media Censorship

Former President Donald Trump ripped into <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/google" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google</a> on Tuesday over accusations that the tech giants have been censoring information about the attempt on his life earlier this month.
Trump’s comments come after social media users noticed that Google did not autocomplete searches for information about the attempted assassination and Facebook was censoring photos of Trump leaving the stage after being shot in the ear. Trump suggested the reason was because the two were trying to rig the election.
“Facebook has just admitted that it wrongly censored the Trump ‘attempted assassination photo,’ and got caught. Same thing for Google. They made it virtually impossible to find pictures or anything about this heinous act,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112875529445800066" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on Truth Social.
“Both are facing BIG BACKLASH OVER CENSORSHIP CLAIMS. Here we go again, another attempt at RIGGING THE ELECTION!!! GO AFTER META AND GOOGLE. LET THEM KNOW WE ARE ALL WISE TO THEM, WILL BE MUCH TOUGHER THIS TIME. MAGA2024!” he added.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&amp;v=3GE3HoJMEMw&amp;feature=youtu.be">WATCH MICHAEL KNOWLES&#8217; INTERVIEW WITH &#8216;GOOGLE&#8217;S WORST NIGHTMARE&#8217;</a>
On Monday, conservative influencer Charlie Kirk <a href="https://x.com/Dani_Lever/status/1817954271406538800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed</a> out that a post on Facebook featuring the famous photo of Trump leaving the rally stage with blood on his face and the American flag above him had been fact-checked with an “altered label” photo.
In response, Facebook said that it had made a mistake.
“Yes, this was an error. This fact check was initially applied to a doctored photo showing the secret service agents smiling, and in some cases our systems incorrectly applied that fact check to the real photo. This has been fixed and we apologize for the mistake,” Facebook communications director Dani Lever wrote.
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Google also faced criticism after users pointed out that autofill for searches about the assassination attempt would not generate Trump-related suggestions. Responding to critics, Google said it was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/google-struggles-to-explain-why-autocomplete-omits-trump-assassination-attempt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">working</a> to update its system.
“There was no manual action taken on these predictions,” the spokesman said. “Our systems have protections against Autocomplete predictions associated with political violence, which were working as intended prior to this horrific event occurring. We’re working on improvements to ensure our systems are more up to date.”
In the lead up to 2020 election, Facebook suppressed reporting from the New York Post about a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden that shed a light on alleged influence peddling between Biden and overseas business partners. At the time, former intelligence officers claimed that the laptop was Russian disinformation. The contents of the laptop were later verified, confirming the Post&#8217;s reporting.

Donald Trump Holds A Campaign Rally In Butler, Pennsylvania

Trump Rips Into Google, Facebook Over ‘Censorship’ Of Info About Attempted Assassination

2020 Election

Censorship

Donald Trump

Google

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called former President Donald Trump&#8217;s reaction to his assassination attempt &#8220;one of the most bad*ss things I&#8217;ve ever seen in my life,&#8221; although he stopped short of endorsing the former president&#8217;s campaign.
The Facebook co-founder made the comments <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-19/mark-zuckerberg-calls-donald-trump-badass-without-endorsing-for-president?srnd=the-circuit&amp;leadSource=uverify%20wall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">during</a> an interview with Bloomberg&#8217;s Emily Chang on the tech podcast &#8220;The Circuit.&#8221;
&#8220;On a personal note&#8230; seeing Donald Trump get up after being shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most bad*ss things I&#8217;ve ever seen in my life,&#8221; Zuckerberg said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Mark Zuckerberg said that Donald Trump’s immediate reaction after being shot was “badass” and inspiring — without endorsing the former president.
The Meta CEO spoke exclusively to <a href="https://twitter.com/emilychangtv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@emilychangtv</a> on The Circuit <a href="https://t.co/Y1s1HmhotX">https://t.co/Y1s1HmhotX</a> <a href="https://t.co/DQI10NHzhq">pic.twitter.com/DQI10NHzhq</a>
&mdash; Bloomberg (@business) <a href="https://twitter.com/business/status/1814295327035347389?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;On some level as an American it&#8217;s like hard to not get kind of emotional about that spirit and that fight, and I think that&#8217;s why a lot of people like the guy,&#8221; he said.
Trump narrowly missed being killed by a bullet to the head at Saturday’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bullet grazed the former president’s right ear, and he ducked behind a podium before being whisked away by Secret Service agents. He raised his fist and shouted, “Fight!” as he exited the stage.
Law enforcement returned fire immediately, killing the shooter. At least one rallygoer was killed, and two others were injured.
One of the most shared photos from the chaotic moments after the shooting shows Trump raising his fist with the American flag in the background.
Zuckerberg, 40, explained, however, that he is not endorsing either candidate in the 2024 presidential race.
The tech CEO added that his company, Meta, formerly called Facebook, is providing less political content to users this election cycle than in the past when the social media platform sparked concerns about disinformation and censorship.
“The main thing that I hear from people is that they actually want to see less political content on our services because they come to our services to connect with people,” Zuckerberg said. “I think you’re going to see our services play less of a role in this election than they have in the past.”
Zuckerberg&#8217;s relationship with Trump has been complicated and, at times, rocky.
In the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot, the tech giant suspended Trump from both Facebook and Instagram, only reinstating him this month, two years later.
Zuckerberg said at the time that Trump was using his account to “undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor.”
Trump was also incensed by a program nicknamed &#8220;Zuckerbucks,&#8221; where philanthropies <a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/zuckerbucks-didnt-throw-2020-election" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backed</a> by Zuckerberg and his wife gave grants to local election offices to help with voter communication and other election work during the pandemic.
Some Republicans <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/10/14/zuckerberg-election-spending-was-orchestrated-to-influence-2020-vote/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> the program of trying to influence the 2020 election by turning official government election offices into &#8220;get out the vote&#8221; operations for Democrats.
Earlier this month, Trump promised to pursue &#8220;election fraudsters&#8221; and send them to prison.
&#8220;We already know who you are. DON’T DO IT! ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112756256184111025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on Truth Social.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/facebook-instagram-accounts-to-lift-restrictions-on-trumps-accounts-for-2024-election">Facebook, Instagram To Lift Restrictions On Trump&#8217;s Accounts For 2024 Election</a>

Zuckerberg Calls Trump’s Reaction To Assassination Attempt ‘Bad*ss,’ Stops Short Of Endorsing His Campaign

Celebrities

Trump

Trump 2024

U.S.

Former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a>’s full access to his Facebook and Instagram accounts will be restored after they were severely restricted following <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/january-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">January 6</a>, social media company Meta said on Friday.
Meta said that it would be rolling back restrictions in the coming weeks, mentioning the upcoming Republican National Convention in Milwaukee where Trump will be officially designated the GOP’s 2024 nominee. Multiple social media outlets targeted Trump after a riot broke out at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 as Congress voted to certify the 2020 election results. 
After the riot, Trump lost all access to his Facebook and Instagram accounts, before they were eventually restored with severe restrictions. The accounts were hit with advertising limits and faced stricter penalties if they violated Meta’s policies. Meta Global Affairs President Nick Clegg said that these stipulations would be removed due the upcoming presidential election. 
“With the party conventions taking place shortly, including the Republican convention next week, the candidates for President of the United States will soon be formally nominated. In assessing our responsibility to allow political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for President on the same basis,” Clegg said in a <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2023/01/trump-facebook-instagram-account-suspension/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. 
“As a result, former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties. In reaching this conclusion, we also considered that these penalties were a response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances, and have not had to be deployed,” Clegg added. “All US Presidential candidates remain subject to the same Community Standards as all Facebook and Instagram users, including those policies designed to prevent hate speech and incitement to violence.”
Meta said that it would continue to evaluate whether political expression acted against its responsibility to “to avoid serious risks to other human rights.” 
Trump was also banned on Twitter, now X, before Elon Musk restored his account after he took over the company. 
In response to the social media restrictions placed on him, Trump launched Truth Social, his own social media platform where he primarily posts now. Truth Social went public earlier this year and is traded under the “DJT” moniker.

US-VOTE-POLITICS-TRUMP

Facebook, Instagram Accounts To Lift Restrictions On Trump’s Accounts For 2024 Election

Facebook, Instagram Accounts To Lift Restrictions On Trump's Accounts For 2024 Election

2024 Election

Instagram

January 6

Social Media

U.S. Politics

Google and Meta have joined other Big Tech firms to try to kill two New York bills that would protect children from becoming addicted to social media apps.
the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act would protect children by limiting social media companies’ ability to use addictive feeds keeping kids addicted to their devices. The Act requires parental consent before a social media company offers children addictive feeds and bars social media companies from pushing notifications to children and teens between midnight and 6 a.m. without parental consent. The New York Child Data Protection Act protects minors from having their personal data accessed.
“A group of Big Tech firms, advocacy groups and companies from other sectors have spent $823,235 lobbying Albany lawmakers through mid-March,” The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/05/20/business/meta-google-leading-nearly-1m-lobbying-fight-to-kill-ny-online-child-safety-bills/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, adding that Big Tech’s expenditure in opposing the bills “is expected to surpass the $1 million mark when the next round of disclosures surfaces next month.” The Post stated that Facebook and Meta have “spent the most on lobbying related to the tech bills,” adding, “Other top spenders include Google and TikTok.”
Tech firms have hit back, citing fears that the legislation would stifle freedom of speech, online privacy for teens, limit internet access for migrants and other underserved communities, and essentially disable algorithms that help to crack down on hate speech.
According to State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, a co-sponsor of the bills, a “whisper campaign” has been mounted in Albany against the bills, “It certainly makes the job a lot harder, because these companies, with limitless resources, are able to hire armies of lobbyists who just camp out in the capital all day. Legislators come and go and these folks are whispering in everyone’s ear,” he said.
Gounardes said “significant bipartisan support for both bills in the Senate,” exists, adding, “At this point, I feel reasonably confident that we are going to be able to do something significant for kids on social media this legislative session.”
“Teens move interchangeably between many websites and apps, and different laws in different states will mean teens and their parents have inconsistent experiences online,” a Meta spokesperson declared. “As we continue working with New York lawmakers, it’s crucial that we avoid quick fixes and, instead, support legislation that actually empowers parents and supports teens online.”

Close up of hands of teen boy in white sweater texting on phone.

Google, Meta Join Big Tech Firms Opposing NY Online Child Safety Bills

Children

New York

In the throes of the 2024 presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, social media giant <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/meta">Meta</a>, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has taken steps to suppress political content on its platforms.
The new feature rolled out <a href="https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/continuing-our-approach-to-political-content-on-instagram-and-threads">earlier this year</a> prevents any content flagged as “political” from being recommended to users on Instagram.  Posts “about laws, elections, or social topics” will not be displayed in any of the platform’s curated recommendation systems, which drives a significant amount of follower growth for platforms. 
The company claims the filter is not meant to limit the exposure of any candidate or publisher specifically, and is instead meant to insulate users from politically charged content in general. &#8220;Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content, while respecting each person&#8217;s appetite for it,&#8221; Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/26/1240737627/meta-limit-political-content-instagram-facebook-opt-out">said</a>.
According to<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/"> Pew Research</a>, half of all American adults got their news from social media – last year 30% of all American adults consumed news on Facebook at least “sometimes” and 16% got their news from Instagram. 
The filter was automatically implemented for all accounts by default, and has to be manually disabled by each user.
In order to disable the filter, you’ll need to go to your profile page and tap the icon on the uppermost right to open &#8220;Settings and Activity.&#8221; From there, you’ll need to scroll down to the &#8220;what you see&#8221; section, where you&#8217;ll find &#8220;content preferences.&#8221; Click &#8220;political content,&#8221; and then you’ll need to select the “don’t limit political content from people you don’t follow” option.
<div id="attachment_733681" style="width: 1090px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-733681" class="wp-image-733681 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n.webp" alt="" width="1080" height="1080" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n.webp 1080w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n-300x300.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n-576x576.webp 576w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n-150x150.webp 150w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n-768x768.webp 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px" />Photo by about.instagram.com</div>
As of now the feature does not appear to have been implemented on Facebook, which is still the most popular platform for online news. The Daily Wire has historically been one of the <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/news/the-daily-wire-top-publisher-on-facebook-in-first-quarter-of-2022-3-of-top-5-are-right-leaning/">top publishers on the platform</a> – last year it was revealed that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-pressured-fb-to-suppress-daily-wire-content-push-users-to-legacy-outlets-newly-released-docs">officials from the Biden administration pressured Meta to redirect traffic away from right-leaning </a>outlets, and specifically singled out The Daily Wire as a site they wanted to censor.
The policy has been criticized as overly broad – the filter is applied to all accounts by default and has to manually be disabled. Meta has also been criticized for limiting voter access to information about candidates and causes during an election year.
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<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-733683 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/pj_24.02.20_bubblesfinal-327x576.webp" alt="" width="327" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/pj_24.02.20_bubblesfinal-327x576.webp 327w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/pj_24.02.20_bubblesfinal-170x300.webp 170w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/pj_24.02.20_bubblesfinal-768x1353.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/pj_24.02.20_bubblesfinal.webp 840w" sizes="(max-width: 327px) 100vw, 327px" /></div>
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X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has taken a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brazilian-supreme-court-takes-on-elon-musk-and-x-in-social-media-crackdown">strong anti-censorship stance</a> since it was purchased by Elon Musk in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-elon-musk-officially-takes-over-twitter-as-sale-is-now-final-top-execs-fired-report-says">2022</a>, and it is the fifth most popular platform for consuming news among the social media giants, after Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and controversial Chinese-owned TikTok, which is set to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-divestment-ban-what-you-need-to-know-5e1ff786e89da10a1b799241ae025406">be banned in the United States</a> early next year if parent company ByteDance doesn&#8217;t sell it.
<div class="mceTemp"></div>

In this photo illustration the Instagram logo seen displayed

Big Tech Is Filtering The Politics Out Of Your Social Feed. Here’s How To Stop Them.

Social Media Bias

A former DEI manager for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nike</a> was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing over 5 million dollars from those two companies. 
Barbara Furlow-Smiles, 38, was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/former-diversity-program-manager-facebook-and-nike-sentenced-federal-prison-5-million" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted</a> of orchestrating a scheme where she used fraudulent vendors, fictitious paperwork, and cash kickbacks to steal $4.9 million from Facebook and over $120,000 from Nike. Furlow-Smiles was ordered by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg to pay restitution for the funds she stole and given five years in prison with three years of supervised release. 
“Furlow-Smiles shamelessly violated her position of trust as a DEI executive at Facebook to steal millions from the company utilizing a scheme involving fraudulent vendors, fake invoices, and cash kickbacks,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “After being terminated from Facebook, she brazenly continued the fraud as a DEI leader at Nike, where she stole another six-figure sum from their diversity program.&#8221;
The DOJ said that she used the stolen money to fund a “luxury lifestyle” in California, Georgia, and Oregon.
Furlow-Smiles ran diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at Facebook from January 2017 until September 2021. Using her access to company credit cards and payment platforms, she paid friends, relatives, and other associates for goods and services, according to the Justice Department. 
The DOJ said that Furlow-Smiles was aided in the scheme by nannies and babysitters, a hair stylist, and her university tutor.
She later went to work for Nike from November 2021 to February 2023 after she was fired from Facebook. At Nike, Furlow-Smiles was the company’s senior director of diversity, equity, and inclusion, where she was tasked with organizing DEI-related events. 
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While at Nike, she linked her company card to her personal PayPal and Venmo accounts and made up fake expenses for a Juneteenth event to submit fraudulent payment claims. 
“After she was fired, she carelessly continued her fraudulent schemes at Nike, thinking she was untouchable. As a result, she not only threw away a lucrative career, but will serve time behind bars for her excessive greed,” said FBI agent Keri Farley.
The sentencing comes as DEI programs have come under scrutiny at universities and corporations across the country.

MixCollage-17-May-2024-11-15-AM-8896

‘Excessive Greed’: Former Facebook DEI Manager Sentenced To Prison For Stealing $5 Million

Department of Justice

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Nike

This past weekend Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X to block a number of popular accounts. Almost immediately after, Elon Musk said that free speech principles matter more than profits. And he announced plans to defy the court&#8217;s order and lift all speech restrictions in the country once his employees are in a “safe place” where they are not at risk of being arrested. Musk says he expects he will ultimately be forced to shut down X’s office in Brazil and will lose all revenue there.
On April 7, shortly after Musk’s announcement, de Moraes issued a <a href="https://www.migalhas.com.br/quentes/404983/moraes-inclui-elon-musk-no-inquerito-das-milicias-digitais">decision</a> adding Musk to a broader investigation. In this new inquiry, the judge accused Musk of obstruction of justice and incitement to crime. “The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian Justice, incitement to crime, public threat of disobedience to court orders and future lack of cooperation by the platform are facts that disrespect Brazil&#8217;s sovereignty and reinforce the connection of the intentional criminal instrumentalization of the activities of the former Twitter,” he wrote. Many now expect the Brazilian Supreme Court to shut off access to X at any moment.
Nor is X the only American social media company being targeted by president Lula da Silva’s government. Facebook, Google, and others have faced investigations for what the same court called “abusive practices.” Though it appears those platforms have complied with speech restrictions to some degree, Musk is the only big tech executive to have engaged in a public fight with the court.
<div id="attachment_720967" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-720967" class="size-large wp-image-720967" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2144473733-866x576.jpg" alt="President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva are participating in the launch of the Union with Municipalities Program to Reduce Deforestation and Forest Fires in the Amazon on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Photo by Ton Molina/NurPhoto via Getty Images)" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2144473733-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2144473733-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2144473733-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/GettyImages-2144473733.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />Ton Molina/NurPhoto via Getty Images</div>
Brazil’s government has leaned heavily on lawfare in its attempt to squeeze American social media platforms into compliance. Before presiding over Musk&#8217;s case, de Moraes ordered investigations into big tech executives at other companies after they lobbied against a proposal to regulate Brazil’s internet. If passed, the Law on Freedom, Responsibility, and Transparency on the Internet, colloquially known as the “Fake News Bill,” will levy large fines against the tech companies if they fail to identify and report illegal content.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/trump-s-fundraiser-haul-brazilian-online-censorship-4-8-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LISTEN: Catch the full story on Morning Wire</a></h4>
Due to such legislation, the definition of illegal speech in Brazil has been rapidly expanding to potentially include anything labeled “misinformation” by the government. Independent journalist Michael Shellenberger, who is in Brazil and broke parts of this story, said it’s not an exaggeration to say that Brazil is “on the brink of dictatorship.” He <a href="https://twitter.com/shellenberger/status/1776776372351836642/video/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lambasted</a> a number of big tech companies for giving in to the demands of Brazilian authorities, saying, “I know censorship when I see it.”
“The Twitter files revealed also that Google, Facebook, Uber, WhatsApp and Instagram betrayed the people of Brazil,” Shellenberger said. “If this evidence is proven and admitted to, the executives of those companies behaved like cowards. They provided the Brazilian government with personal registration data and telephone numbers without a court order. Therefore, they violated the Brazilian laws.”
Musk has said he plans to publish on X everything the Brazilian judge has ordered, and these posts will explain how the court’s demands violate Brazilian law. “This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached,” Musk posted.
But Musk may face opposition not only from the Brazilian government, but also from the U.S. State Department, who some former officials are accusing of helping to engineer Brazil’s censorship efforts.
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy Mike Benz said the CIA and other U.S. foreign policy divisions fear rising populism in countries like Brazil. <a href="https://x.com/MikeBenzCyber/status/1776826555328549308" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Benz</a>, these State Department divisions and associated NGO’s helped President Lula da Silva secure power over his populist rival Jair Bolsonaro by funding censorship groups to suppress so-called election “misinformation.”
“When I was looking into what was behind censorship in Brazil, it turned out what was driving it appeared to be a gaggle of US State Department funded NGOs,” Benz said in a video posted to X. “National Endowment for Democracy, USAID, and the National Endowment for Democracy [were] funding a bunch of domestic censorship groups in Brazil. This actually goes right back to the beginning of Bolsonaro his tenure in 2019.”
Benz added that the State Department doesn’t want to see Brazilian citizens openly criticizing their country’s government on social media any more than Da Silva does.
On April 7, after Musk promised to publish all records pertaining to Brazil’s crackdown on X, Brazil&#8217;s Attorney General Jorge Messias called for &#8220;urgent regulation&#8221; of all social media networks, saying, &#8220;We cannot live in a society in which billionaires domiciled abroad have control of social networks&#8230;”

SpaceX And T-Mobile Hold Joint Event In Texas

Brazilian Supreme Court Takes On Elon Musk And X In Social Media Crackdown

Brazil

Elon Musk

Readers Pass

Twitter Files

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ripped President Biden for his effort to censor his opposition, calling it “anti-American.”
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6350137083112">Appearing</a> on Fox &amp; Friends, Kennedy was asked about his previous comment that Biden was a “much worse threat to democracy” than former President Donald Trump.
“By the way, I said I could make that argument, and I think it is an argument that we ought to be having,” Kennedy began. “President Biden has done something that no other president in history has done, which is to order media, particularly the social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google, to censor his political opponents.”
“You know, I can say this because I just won a lawsuit in the federal court of appeals, now before the Supreme Court, because he began censoring me 37 hours after he took the oath of office swearing to defend the Constitution,” he recalled. “White House officials were on e-mail with Facebook, saying to them, &#8216;You have to take down his post.&#8217; Facebook actually pushed back saying, &#8216;There&#8217;s no misinformation here. Actually, what he&#8217;s saying here is accurate,&#8217; and they had to make up a new term called &#8216;malinformation,&#8217; which is information that is accurate, but nonetheless inconvenient to — you know, politically inconvenient.”
“The First Amendment was put in the Constitution —Madison, Hamilton, Adams said, &#8216;We put free expression to guarantee the First Amendment because all the other rights are dependent on it,”&#8217; he noted, adding, “If you have a president who can censor his political opponent, he is licensed for any kind of atrocity. That is a genuine threat to our democracy.”
“I think what President Trump said about questioning the election &#8230; to the extent that he engaged in an effort to overthrow that, of course that&#8217;s a threat to democracy, but it is not the worst threat undermining the First Amendment of our Constitution,” he stated, then turned back to Biden: “And then weaponizing the federal agencies to get his opponents off the ballot, and in my case, I&#8217;ll just say particularly, denying me Secret Service protection, that&#8217;s never happened in history before.”
“Does he know that your dad was assassinated?” Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade asked.
“He has a bust of my father behind him,” Kennedy answered. “It’s just not right &#8230; the use of the courts, the use of prosecutors, the use of all these federal agents to change our political landscape is wrong and we should be debating about it. You know what? What President Biden did with his censorship project is &#8230; he told the social media companies, ‘We’re going to bring anti-trust cases against you and we’re going to withdraw your Section 230 immunity — which is existential for those companies — if you don’t give us a portal to censor.’ And then who did he give access to that portal? The CIA, the FBI, CISA, the IRS, NIA. So you had all these federal agencies that were now able to silence people who were questioning their policies.”
“And that is really anti-American and anti-democratic,” he concluded.
<div style="width: 720px;" class="wp-video">
<video class="wp-video-shortcode" id="video-718341-1" width="720" height="406" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/2024-04-02-Grabien-Fox_News_Channel_28FNC29-Fox_and_Friends-Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr._28RFK_Jr.29-2357739.mp4?_=1" /><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/2024-04-02-Grabien-Fox_News_Channel_28FNC29-Fox_and_Friends-Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr._28RFK_Jr.29-2357739.mp4">https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/04/2024-04-02-Grabien-Fox_News_Channel_28FNC29-Fox_and_Friends-Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr._28RFK_Jr.29-2357739.mp4</a></video></div>

Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Visits “Fox & Friends”

‘Licensed For Any Kind Of Atrocity’: RFK Jr. Blasts Biden For Censorship, Calls Him ‘Anti-American’

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Teens and kids are not the only ones glued to their social media feeds anymore — the vast majority of adults spend time scrolling too.
Data released earlier this year shows that a majority of American adults use some kind of social media, but their habits and preferred platforms are different from younger users.
YouTube and Facebook are both about two decades old now, but they remain the top two platforms among adults.
YouTube is by far the most widely used platform among adults as well as teens. About eight in 10 American adults, 83%, say they have used the video-sharing platform at some point, according to recent <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/01/31/americans-social-media-use/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Pew Research Center, which polled more than 5,700 adults between May and September last year.
<div id="attachment_707565" style="width: 347px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-707565" class="size-large wp-image-707565" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01-337x576.webp" alt="" width="337" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01-337x576.webp 337w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01-175x300.webp 175w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PI_2024.01.31_Social-Media-use_00_01.webp 620w" sizes="(max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px" />Pew Research.</div>
Facebook is not far behind with a majority of U.S. adults, 68%, saying they use it. By contrast, teens have fled Facebook over the past decade as their parents, relatives, teachers, and other adults have joined. In 2022, only 32% of teens <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/#The-social-media-landscape-has-shifted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> they had ever used Facebook, down from 71% in 2015.
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, has attracted about half of adults with 47% saying they use the image-based platform.
<div id="attachment_707569" style="width: 840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-707569" class="size-large wp-image-707569" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-830x576.webp" alt="" width="830" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-830x576.webp 830w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-300x208.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08-768x533.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/03/PJ_2022.08.10_teens-and-tech_0-08.webp 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" />Pew Research.</div>
About a fifth of adults say they use Twitter, which was recently renamed X and is known for fast-moving discourse especially relating to politics and pop culture. A fifth also say they use Reddit, known for its hyper-specific communities and sometimes NSFW content.
Of course, TikTok has exploded in popularity in recent years, especially among teens and kids, but a third of adults have flocked to the video-sharing platform as well.
TikTok has seen a 12-point spike in adult users since 2021, while the percentages of adults who use YouTube and Facebook, the most popular platforms, have stayed about the same since 2021.
However, about half of TikTok&#8217;s adult users are observers only, meaning they have never posted a video themselves. This includes younger adults aged 18 to 34 — only half have ever posted a video.
Because of this, the vast majority of TikTok&#8217;s content is created by a small share of users. The top 25% of adults on TikTok produce 98% of that group&#8217;s publicly available videos.
The typical adult TikTok user has also left their &#8220;bio&#8221; blank on their account.
More people are now getting their news from TikTok too. Last year, about 14% of adults said they got news regularly from TikTok, more than four times the 3% who said so in 2020.
TikTok&#8217;s pivot to a news source echoes Twitter&#8217;s evolution, which has become many people&#8217;s go-to source for up-to-the-minute news updates.
Communities geared towards adult users, such as parenting content and even X-rated content, have popped up on many of the platforms popular with adults.
Meanwhile among teens, YouTube is the most popular platform with 95% of teens <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/#The-social-media-landscape-has-shifted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> in 2022 that they use it, followed by TikTok with 67% of teens, Instagram with 62%, and then Snapchat, an app used to send disappearing photos and messages, with 59%.
Teen girls are more likely to use Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, while teen boys are more likely to use Reddit and Twitch, a self-streaming platform often used by video gamers.
The average social media user is also not just on one platform but uses an eye-popping six or seven platforms every month.
Overall, we&#8217;re all scrolling more. Across the globe last year, about 4.9 billion people <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/social-media-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> social media, and that number continues to climb.

Facebook Temporarily Disabling Some Messenger Features In Europe

Among Adults, This Is By Far The Most Popular Social Media Platform

Gen Z

Internet

Reddit

TikTok

YouTube

“Star Trek” actor and leftist activist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Wil Wheaton</a> was not amused when <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/larry-david">Larry David</a> pretended to attack the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sesame-street">Elmo</a> puppet during a “Today Show” segment on February 1.
The 51-year-old actor <a href="https://www.facebook.com/itswilwheaton/">posted</a> a lengthy rant about the incident on Facebook, calling the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” creator a “stupid, self-centered, tone-deaf a**hole” for the stunt.
“Holy s*** it&#8217;s even worse than I thought,” Wheaton wrote of the incident. “What the f*** is wrong with that guy? Elmo is, like, the best friend to multiple generations of children. In the Sesame Street universe, ELMO IS A CHILD, who is currently putting mental health and caring for others in the spotlight.”
“And Larry F***ing David &#8230; did &#8230; that? And thought it was going to be &#8230; funny? What? What an a**hole. What a stupid, self-centered, tone-deaf a**hole,” he continued.
The actor went on to describe abuse he experienced at the hands of his father, which he said triggered his feelings about David pretending to beat up Elmo.
“&#8230;This appalling, unforgivable, despicable act hits more than one raw nerve for me, and I&#8217;m going to say what I wish I&#8217;d been able to say when this sort of thing happened to me,” Wheaton wrote.
“Like, read the room, d***head. It isn&#8217;t always about you being the center of attention. And understand what&#8217;s happening in the moment, f***. Understand that there are larger things in the world than you and your garbage ego,” he went on. 
Elmo was appearing on the show right after a tweet from the Muppet character’s official X account <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elmo-checks-in-with-followers-on-x-tweet-goes-viral-with-messages-of-hopelessness">went viral</a>. “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” the post said. Most people responded with messages of despair and hopelessness. 
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David was appearing on “The Today Show” to promote the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/larry-david-insists-hes-not-lying-over-curb-your-enthusiasm-ending">last season</a> of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” when he jokingly assaulted the puppet. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
OMG: Larry David &#8212; whose interview was a few segments away on NBC&#39;s &#39;Today&#39; show &#8212; comes out of nowhere &amp; beats up Elmo after his sit-down to talk about the responses to his <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/emotionalwellbeing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#emotionalwellbeing</a> post.<a href="https://twitter.com/craigmelvin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CraigMelvin</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/SavannahGuthrie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SavannahGuthrie</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hodakotb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HodaKotb</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/alroker?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AlRoker</a>, &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/elmo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Elmo</a> were FLOORED. <a href="https://t.co/cW36SHYX6y">pic.twitter.com/cW36SHYX6y</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1753071728845066596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Elmo inspired a deeply meaningful and important moment of collective support among disparate people who have been struggling through the traumas of a pandemic, daily mass shootings, the rise of fascism and everything associated with Trump&#8217;s violence and cruelty,” Wheaton insisted, adding that the joke was “appalling behavior.” 
“A man who would belittle and mock that isn&#8217;t much of a man at all. Shame on you, Larry David,” the “Star Trek” alum concluded.

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