*By Michael Teich*
Democrats led by Senator Mark Warner are stepping up the charge against big tech, but they may not accomplish anything unless the party makes major gains in the midterm elections, according to Axios reporter David McCabe.
Disinformation and privacy concerns on social media platforms have become a major concern of many lawmakers after Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election was uncovered.
"It's not hugely surprising to see Democrats engaging on the disinformation piece because of the concerns about 2016," McCabe said Tuesday in an interview with Cheddar.
Facebook has spent nearly two years working to counter political misinformation campaigns on its platform. The company announced Tuesday it found and removed 32 pages and accounts linked to an influence campaign on Facebook and Instagram. Warner said in a statement Tuesday that "the Kremlin continues to exploit platforms like Facebook to sow division and spread disinformation."
Before Facebook's announcement, McCabe had obtained Warner's policy papers, which propose 20 ways to address disinformation online, protect user privacy, and encourage greater competition.
McCabe said he's skeptical that Warner's proposals can be enacted in the near-term. Despite a growing tech-lash and heightened concerns over data privacy that resulted from Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal, the issues are not priorities for Democrats or Republicans.
"Going into midterms, this hasn’t proven to be a big election issue," McCabe said before Facebook's latest revelation.
If Democrats can shift party control of Congress in November, they may be able to get enough momentum behind Warner's ideas, said McCabe. But even if they do well in midterms, the Democrats will have to go up against big tech's robust lobbying efforts. McCabe said the Democrats' intentions, as outlined by Warner, may prompt tech companies to spend even more on lobbying lawmakers in Washington.
In September, legislators will question social media executives including Twitter's Jack Dorsey in order to evaluate how government regulations might prevent the spread of misinformation and propaganda on social platforms.
For more on this, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/mark-warners-uphill-battle-against-big-tech).
The ongoing feud between Apple and Facebook just heated up. Apple said on Wednesday that it revoked Facebook’s access to its Developer Enterprise Program, a move that kneecaps the social network and marks a steep escalation of tensions between the two tech giants.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019.
Waze is rolling out its beacon technology in New York City to improve tunnel navigation and help drivers commute in and out of the Big Apple. "This allows us to basically locate the users inside the tunnels," said head of Waze Beacons Gil Disatnik in an interview on Cheddar Tuesday.
Apple spiked in extended trading on Tuesday after reporting earnings and revenue that pleased Wall Street. Apple reported earnings per share of $4.18 on revenue of $84.31 billion, just exceeding the expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters for earnings of $4.17 per share on $83.97 billion in revenue.
IBM is unleashing its 2019 Call for Code to university students in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. The two forces combined hope to enlist the help even more students worldwide to solve problems relating to natural disasters, like Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico."If you think about all the innovative technology that we have at IBM, we really are unleashing it to solve some of the major societal issues that we have, focused specifically here on natural disasters in 2018 and 2019," IBM Chief Digital Officer Bob Lord told Cheddar. "We are not going to stop natural disasters, but we can sure get prepared for them and respond to them more effectively than ever before, and I believe, through technology."
Apple is planning a subscription service that would function like Netflix for games, according to people familiar with the matter. The iPhone maker has also discussed partnering with developers as a publisher, which could signal ambitions to assume distribution and marketing costs for games.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019.
In the digital age, advertisers have more options to reach consumers online than ever before ー through social networks, native content, banner ads ー but their understanding of the effectiveness of digital ad campaigns has remained vague. Now, flush with $20 million in venture capital, Knotch is building a platform that it says will allow advertisers to see what works and where ー in real time.
Apple is planning a subscription service that would function like Netflix for games, according to people familiar with the matter. The iPhone maker has also discussed partnering with developers as a publisher, which could signal ambitions to assume distribution and marketing costs for games.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Jan. 28, 2019.
