The most talked-about moments during this year's Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention can be found on Twitter. But you won't find political ads.
"We had a long conversation and the decision was that political reach should really be earned," Twitter's vice president of policy and philanthropy in the Americas Jessica Herrera-Flanigan told Cheddar. "It shouldn't be bought."
In October 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced Twitter would ban all political ads. In several tweets, Dorsey explained machine-learned targeting, message optimization, misleading information, and manipulated media made it too easy to sway elections — not to mention the fact the candidates with the most money were often the most heard online.
"We wanted to level the playing field, and not make it about who was able to buy the most ads, especially when we know that Internet advertising was especially effective, and political ads, they present entirely new challenges to civil discourse around the elections," Herrera-Flanigan explained.
Though Twitter often hosts spirited political debates, it actually made very little of its revenue from political ads. Twitter's CFO Ned Segal said it made about $3 million from political ads during the 2018 midterm election cycle. For comparison, it made $683 million last quarter in total advertising revenue.
The decision to take a stand by blocking political dollars has put the company in the spotlight. President Donald Trump's campaign, which has been critical of the decision in the past, said it's a bad business decision and will "silence conservatives."
Herrera-Flanigan pointed out you can still talk about politicians on Twitter, but it's the natural conversations, that aren't paid for, that you'll see. The most tweeted about people during the DNC were Joe Biden, Michelle Obama, and Bernie Sanders, while the RNC's most tweeted about speakers were Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Nikki Haley. The most tweeted moment during the DNC came about as Michelle Obama ended her speech, while the RNC's occurred during Donald Trump Jr.'s address.
"You have individuals now who can get on and speak, and provide their voices," she said. "There are so many different voices out there and rather than being a platform where only those people who could afford political ads can get on it, Twitter's a place where people who have something to say — politicians who have something to say — can get on the service and say it."
Further stepping into controversial territory, Twitter is also urging people to register to vote early, as well as file absentee ballots. It has been working with local election officials to address their needs, Herrera-Flanigan said President Trump has fought such moves by claiming mail-in ballots have high levels of fraud, which includes his accusation during the RNC that ballots could be sent to Democratic areas and not Republican areas. The FBI has stated there is no evidence of plans to manipulate election results through the mail this cycle.
"We are taking a strong stance on just trying to get everyone who's eligible to vote to register and vote, whatever mechanism that is and in a way that's safe," Herrera-Flanigan said.
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
As the number of Russian troops rose to 130,000 along its Ukrainian border, hopes for a diplomatic solution remain among world leaders. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News to break down the fluid situation. "We saw signs pointing towards an increase in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, whereas today we're seeing some signs that the Russian government may be willing to continue down a path of diplomatic negotiations to try and find some sort of non-military solution," he said.
Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are now planning to amend the stop trading on congressional knowledge act, otherwise known as the 'Stock' Act. This 2012 law governs how members disclose the purchase or sale of stocks and amending it would close a loophole, eliminating the trading of individual stocks by members of congress. Pelosi has consistently opposed a ban on stock trading by lawmakers and congressional staff...so what's changed? Kedric Payne, Vice President of Campaign Legal Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for a controversial new version of the Alabama congressional map to remain in place. The lower court had previously ordered that the state must redraw that congressional map because it violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. Redistricting expert Yurij Rudensky joins Cheddar News to weigh in.
