Hacking Democracy is a series that examines the insidious impact of technology on democracy—and how companies, researchers, and everyday users are fighting back.
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Fast Company kicks off our series “Hacking Democracy,” which will examine the insidious impact of technology on democracy—and how companies, researchers, and everyday users are fighting back. How will technology impact democracy over the next 10 years? According to research from the Pew Research …
Despite the site’s reputation as a sometimes-toxic rumor mill, Reddit has become an unlikely home for passionate users who aim to call out disinformation as it spreads. Robert Mercer invested in Cambridge Analytica, the company that became infamous for siphoning off Facebook users’ information to …
For nearly seven months, Kashmir has weathered the longest-running internet shutdown in any democracy—the culmination of a troubling trend in India that has cost the country’s economy billions. On August 5, the Indian government cut all phone lines and internet connections in the Muslim-majority …
We asked major social networks including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter how they’ll fight fake news and other attempts to undermine election integrity this year. Here’s how they measure up. When misinformation spread across Facebook and other social networks during the 2016 U.S. election season, …
Texting has exploded in political campaigns, with over a billion texts expected to be sent during this election cycle. But how effective are they? When I got my first text from Bernie, I didn’t recognize the number, but I opened it anyway. After all, I’m used to opening my texts. This one was from …
With the 2020 election on the horizon, one of Washington’s best minds on regulating tech shares his fears about social media manipulation and discusses Congress’s failure to tackle election security and interference. Senator Mark Warner has proved himself to be a sort of braintrust on tech issues in …
Political scientists from Harvard and Boston University are using sophisticated mapping algorithms to ensure their solution to gerrymandering is as fair as possible. Louisiana’s 6th would be a fairly normal-looking congressional district if it weren’t for the large 2nd district that cuts into its …
The 1996 presidential election was the first of the web era. When the candidates embraced the new medium, the results were more weird than inspiring. By early 1995, the race to win the U.S. presidency in 1996 was well underway. The first two candidates to announce were Phil Gramm (then the senior …
In the Facebook era, the volunteer editors behind the archaic-looking website have built Wikipedia into a formidable force for truth. For 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 …
