his week – can tech escape politics – on Future Forward. Then – disinformation. Can we cut off the cash fueling manipulative media? And two BIG M&A deals this week. New York rings the register. I’m Steven Rosebaum and I’m Alexa Scordato – let’s launch.
Chapter 1 -Politics
Silicon Valley can’t escape the glare of the presidential race
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-10-04/silicon-valley-glare-presidential-race%3F_amp%3Dtrue
Facebook promises not to stop politicians’ lies & hate
https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/24/pawn-not-platform/
Alexa users can soon donate to U.S. presidential candidates
https://venturebeat.com/2019/09/18/alexa-users-can-now-donate-to-u-s-presidential-candidates/
Chapter 2 – Disinformation & Ads
TikTok explains its ban on political advertising
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/03/tiktok-explains-its-ban-on-political-advertising/
At Least 70 Countries Have Had Disinformation Campaigns, Study Finds
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/technology/government-disinformation-cyber-troops.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Facebook to require buyers of political ads to provide more information about who paid for them
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/08/28/facebook-require-political-campaigns-say-who-paid-their-ads-new-transparency-push/
Chapter 3 – m&a
The 2 companies that place all those ads at the bottom of webpages are combining
https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/3/20896367/taboola-outbrain-advertising-facebook-google
Taboola and Outbrain, the two worst companies in the world, are merging
https://thenextweb.com/tech/2019/10/03/taboola-and-outbrain-the-two-worst-companies-in-the-world-are-merging/
Facebook buys startup working on mind-control of machines
https://www.enca.com/business/facebook-buys-startup-working-mind-control-machines
Facebook Is Buying CTRL-Labs, Neuron-Reading Startup to Help Control Its AR Glasses
https://fortune.com/2019/09/23/facebook-buys-ctrl-labs-augmented-reality-ar-glasses/
About The Author
Steve Rosenbaum