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.
Going into election day on Tuesday, many of us had an inkling it might not be a great day for Democrats. History tells us the president's party tends to lose congressional seats, governorships and state legislature seats in off-year and midterm elections. Tuesday turned out to be a big wake-up call for democrats. Not only did Terry McAuliffe lose in the Virginia governor's race, Gov. Phil Murphy won re-election by an incredibly slim margin. Both races saw continued Democratic losses in rural areas and a shift of suburban voters back to the GOP. Liz Landers, chief political correspondent at Vice News, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Week one of UN climate summit is coming to an end, world leaders made a number of promises to save the planet. President Biden attended the first two days of the meeting.
Alan Neuhauser, vice president of Silverline Communications, joined Cheddar Politics to talk more about the pledges that came out from the summit and their significance.
It's been a busy week for the Supreme Court. It heard arguments on three of the most watched cases in the docket for this term. The court heard arguments in two cases challenging the Texas abortion law on Monday - one filed by abortion providers and the other by the justice department. Instead of weighing in on the constitutionality of the matter itself, justices focused on the unusual structure of the law that enables citizens to enforce the law, not the state government.
On Wednesday, the court heard arguments in the biggest Second Amendment case in more than a decade. The dispute is over a New York gun law that requires people seeking a license to carry a handgun in public to show a "proper cause." The challengers in this case claim the law inhibits their constitutional Second Amendment rights.
Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSBlog, joined Cheddar Politics to break the cases down.
This is the first installment of Cheddar Changemakers, where we spotlight young activists making a difference in the world and speaking up on issues regarding mental health, voting, and climate change.
Republicans are considered, and often act like, the party opposed to action on climate change. They've made a point of fighting even modest regulations on businesses related to stemming the worst effects of climate change. But Republicans aren't a monolith on climate change, and our next guest reminds us that "conservation" and "conservative" have the same word root.
Quill Robinson, VP of government affairs at the American Conservation Coalition, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, Ted Wheeler joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss his plans to get an increase in the city's police budget for more personnel, changes to public safety response, and more body cameras. The Democratic mayor addressed the growth in violent crimes amid the pandemic, but noted the need for officers who take their roles seriously. We want officers who understand that policing is an important responsibility, it's a high calling," he said. "We also want a police bureau that is accountable and responsible to the public it serves."
More American tech companies continue to pull their businesses out of China as the Communist Party cracks down on firms — both foreign and domestic. Yahoo and Fortnite have become the latest companies to withdraw from the country, and the withdrawals come just days after Microsoft announced it would take LinkedIn offline. Shehzad Qazi, managing director at China Beige Book International, joined Cheddar to provide some insight into how the crackdowns in China would also impact the tech companies at home in the United States.
A new report out by the Center for Countering Digital Hate shows how just ten publishers are responsible for the bulk of climate change misinformation on social media--and companies like Facebook and Google are making money off them. Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, joined Cheddar to discuss.
'The Good Liars' are Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler, a comedy duo that's been shaking up the political world for years. They're out with a new mockumentary, 'The Supporters,' following the 2020 election. Jason Selvig & Davram Stiefler, Stunt Comedians and creators of 'The Good Liars' joined Cheddar News to discuss.
