advertisementadvertisementHow do you pull people out of the rabbit holes that lead to violent extremism, or keep them from falling in? If conspiracy-laced hate is another kind of pandemic pushed by online superspreaders, could we build something like a cure or a vaccine?advertisementadvertisementThe deadly Capitol riot on January 6 has set off a fresh scramble to answer these questions, and prompted experts like Vidhya Ramalingam to look for new ways to reach extremists—like search ads for mindfulness.“It’s so counterintuitive, you would just think that those audiences would be turned off...…advertisementadvertisementHow do you pull people out of the rabbit holes that lead to violent extremism, or keep them from falling in? If conspiracy-laced hate is another kind of pandemic pushed by online superspreaders, could we build something like a cure or a vaccine?advertisementadvertisementThe deadly Capitol riot on January 6 has set off a fresh scramble to answer these questions, and prompted experts like Vidhya Ramalingam to look for new ways to reach extremists—like search ads for mindfulness.“It’s so counterintuitive, you would just think that those audiences would be turned off...WW…

advertisementadvertisementOn the afternoon of January 6, as a giant crowd began to swarm the U.S. Capitol, Jason Moore, a 36-year-old digital strategist, was at home in Portland, Oregon, switching between CNN and MSNBC. “I try not to get caught up in the sensationalism of cable news,” he says, but admits he had to watch. Soon, concern became shock. “I could not believe what I was witnessing, and also knew history was being made.”advertisementadvertisementSo he got to work. Moore is a veteran editor on Wikipedia, spending hours a day creating, shepherding, and policing articles. He started...…advertisementadvertisementOn the afternoon of January 6, as a giant crowd began to swarm the U.S. Capitol, Jason Moore, a 36-year-old digital strategist, was at home in Portland, Oregon, switching between CNN and MSNBC. “I try not to get caught up in the sensationalism of cable news,” he says, but admits he had to watch. Soon, concern became shock. “I could not believe what I was witnessing, and also knew history was being made.”advertisementadvertisementSo he got to work. Moore is a veteran editor on Wikipedia, spending hours a day creating, shepherding, and policing articles. He started...WW…

advertisementadvertisementAs someone who has seen a lot of awful, often fatal police encounters, Rick Smith has a few ideas for how to fix American law enforcement. In the past decade, those ideas have turned his company, Axon, into a policing juggernaut. Take the Taser, its best-selling energy weapon, intended as an answer to deadly encounters, as Smith described last year in his book, The End of Killing. “Gun violence is not something people think of as a tech problem,” he says. “They think about gun control, or some other politics, is the way to deal with it. We think, let’s just make...…advertisementadvertisementAs someone who has seen a lot of awful, often fatal police encounters, Rick Smith has a few ideas for how to fix American law enforcement. In the past decade, those ideas have turned his company, Axon, into a policing juggernaut. Take the Taser, its best-selling energy weapon, intended as an answer to deadly encounters, as Smith described last year in his book, The End of Killing. “Gun violence is not something people think of as a tech problem,” he says. “They think about gun control, or some other politics, is the way to deal with it. We think, let’s just make...WW…

advertisementadvertisementTo appreciate the ambitions and the limits of Facebook’s giant fact-checking system, consider a video that went viral last year.advertisementadvertisementWhen Mark Zuckerberg went to Washington for a rare, three-day charm tour that September, his schedule featured behind-closed-doors lunches, dinner with President Trump and Peter Thiel, and one-on-ones with lawmakers who, among other things, wanted to talk about the video.The two-minute-40-second clip, titled “Abortion is never medically necessary,” had already racked up a few thousand shares since it appeared...…advertisementadvertisementTo appreciate the ambitions and the limits of Facebook’s giant fact-checking system, consider a video that went viral last year.advertisementadvertisementWhen Mark Zuckerberg went to Washington for a rare, three-day charm tour that September, his schedule featured behind-closed-doors lunches, dinner with President Trump and Peter Thiel, and one-on-ones with lawmakers who, among other things, wanted to talk about the video.The two-minute-40-second clip, titled “Abortion is never medically necessary,” had already racked up a few thousand shares since it appeared...WW…

advertisementadvertisementStarting Friday, everyone who’s voting age on Facebook in the U.S. will be part of one of the biggest-ever experiments in democracy: a reminder will appear at the top of their feed with more information about how to register to vote online or in person.advertisementadvertisementThe notice—with a link to your state’s registration website or to a nonpartisan partner if your state doesn’t have voter information readily available online—is part of what the social media giant calls “the largest voting information campaign in American history.” The aim, it says, is to...…advertisementadvertisementStarting Friday, everyone who’s voting age on Facebook in the U.S. will be part of one of the biggest-ever experiments in democracy: a reminder will appear at the top of their feed with more information about how to register to vote online or in person.advertisementadvertisementThe notice—with a link to your state’s registration website or to a nonpartisan partner if your state doesn’t have voter information readily available online—is part of what the social media giant calls “the largest voting information campaign in American history.” The aim, it says, is to...WW…

advertisementadvertisementThe footage from the evening of May 25th in Minneapolis was filmed by 17-year-old Darnella Frazier on her phone. Sixteen times over five minutes, George Floyd says he can’t breathe. A group of onlookers, including Frazier, hurl anguished pleas at the officers, including Derek Chauvin, a two-decade veteran of the force, who keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. “I’m about to die,” Floyd says at one point. Chauvin tells him to relax.advertisementadvertisementFrazier’s video has sparked worldwide protests over a long history of brutal, biased...…advertisementadvertisementThe footage from the evening of May 25th in Minneapolis was filmed by 17-year-old Darnella Frazier on her phone. Sixteen times over five minutes, George Floyd says he can’t breathe. A group of onlookers, including Frazier, hurl anguished pleas at the officers, including Derek Chauvin, a two-decade veteran of the force, who keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. “I’m about to die,” Floyd says at one point. Chauvin tells him to relax.advertisementadvertisementFrazier’s video has sparked worldwide protests over a long history of brutal, biased...WW…

advertisementadvertisementBy Jesse Witt and Alex Pasternack Revelations of dirty tricks and improperly-harvested data have turned Cambridge Analytica into a symbol for the dark side of digital influence. And yet, while the political consultancy claimed to have helped elect Donald Trump in 2016 by psychologically profiling every American voter, its actual role in his insurgent victory has remained one of many mysteries surrounding the now-defunct company. Its cutting-edge electioneering tactics, which promised to provide clients with “behavioral understandings of your electorate,” seemed to...…advertisementadvertisementBy Jesse Witt and Alex Pasternack Revelations of dirty tricks and improperly-harvested data have turned Cambridge Analytica into a symbol for the dark side of digital influence. And yet, while the political consultancy claimed to have helped elect Donald Trump in 2016 by psychologically profiling every American voter, its actual role in his insurgent victory has remained one of many mysteries surrounding the now-defunct company. Its cutting-edge electioneering tactics, which promised to provide clients with “behavioral understandings of your electorate,” seemed to...WW…

advertisementadvertisementFor a few minutes near the end of his first presidential debate, Mike Bloomberg was dead. At 9:38 p.m. Eastern time, a Wikipedia user named DQUACK02 added some text to the Wikipedia page for the former Democratic presidential candidate and New York City mayor:advertisementadvertisement“death_date   = {{Death date and age|2020|02|19|1942|02|14}}; |death_place  = [[Las Vegas, Nevada]], U.S.; |death_cause = [[Getting stabbed by Warren, Biden and Sanders]].”Within three minutes, another user named Cgmusselman had reverted the page back. By then the inevitable...…advertisementadvertisementFor a few minutes near the end of his first presidential debate, Mike Bloomberg was dead. At 9:38 p.m. Eastern time, a Wikipedia user named DQUACK02 added some text to the Wikipedia page for the former Democratic presidential candidate and New York City mayor:advertisementadvertisement“death_date   = {{Death date and age|2020|02|19|1942|02|14}}; |death_place  = [[Las Vegas, Nevada]], U.S.; |death_cause = [[Getting stabbed by Warren, Biden and Sanders]].”Within three minutes, another user named Cgmusselman had reverted the page back. By then the inevitable...WW…