With help from Steven Overly and John Hendel
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— Facebook employees, civil rights activists cry foul over Zuckerberg’s policies: Mark Zuckerberg’s decision not to act against President Donald Trump’s inflammatory posts about nationwide protests has prompted backlash from within the company’s ranks, concerns the CEO is expected to address today. Civil groups are unhappy as well.
— Misinformation monitor: In the week following the killing of George Floyd, protest-related misinformation online appears to be exceeding the volume of false claims about hydroxychloroquine and Dr. Anthony Fauci, and researchers say foreign adversaries are using social media to exacerbate that discord.
— Driving the Carr: With his loud backing of last week’s executive order on social media bias, Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is emerging as one of President Donald Trump’s biggest GOP allies — and raising the specter that the official has his eyes set on Chairman Ajit Pai’s position in the future.
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FACEBOOK DIVIDED BY ZUCKERBERG’S DECISION NOT TO MODERATE TRUMP — “The growing employee backlash against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over his refusal to act on President Donald Trump’s incendiary tweets about protests is exposing a fracture inside the company over the boss’ commitment to letting politicians speak freely,” Steven and Cristiano report in a new dispatch about how employees across the country, including at management level, are making their anger known — and quite publicly. But Zuckerberg has made it clear that popularity isn’t his objective: “He’s acknowledged in numerous public comments that his staunch dedication to free speech and resisting calls to filter inflammatory political rhetoric will never please the company’s growing chorus of critics.”
— Silicon Valley congressman weighs in on Silicon Valley CEO: “The decisions of speech on the internet should not be left to billionaire tech leaders, no matter what their intentions,” Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna said Monday, referring to Zuckerberg’s decision to leave Trump’s inflammatory social media posts alone. “We need a fairness doctrine for the internet in the 21st century. The FCC should make sure that aggrieved parties have the right to reply and that blatant falsity is not protected.”
— Civil rights activists ‘disappointed and stunned’: A call Monday night between Facebook executives and civil rights leaders didn’t resolve the anger of activists who accused Zuckerberg of offering “incomprehensible explanations” for the “very dangerous precedent” he was setting by leaving Trump’s words in place.
Zuckerberg “did not demonstrate understanding of historic or modern-day voter suppression and he refuses to acknowledge how Facebook is facilitating Trump’s call for violence against protesters,” said a statement from Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; and Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change.
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ONLINE MISINFORMATION HITS INFLECTION POINT WITH PROTESTS — Internet misinformation appears to be shifting since Floyd’s death at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis one week ago. In the days that have followed, which have been marked by protests and riots across the country, the volume of protest-related misinformation has surpassed several of the other most prominent misinformation topics during the pandemic — including around Fauci, hydroxychloroquine and Bill Gates — according to a misinformation-tracking tool launched in April by Joe Smyser, CEO of the public health nonprofit Public Good Projects. (The dashboard pulls in information flagged by NewsGuard and the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network to show what is resonating with the public that might have come from sites, outlets or social media users considered to be popular sources of misinformation.)
— Then: When the tool went live earlier this spring to monitor Covid-19 misinformation and disinformation, it found some of the most popular myths and conspiracy theories to be focused on 5G (claims that the next-gen wireless caused the coronavirus), Gates (claims that the billionaire was behind the pandemic), and Fauci (claims that the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was out to undermine Trump).
— And now: “Protest” is the top-mentioned misinformation category, according to the tool. By Sunday, mentions of misinformation had multiplied more than fivefold from before the weekend. One far-reaching example of protest-linked misinformation came from InfoWars, the far-right website by Alex Jones, falsely claiming that an “army” backed by George Soros, the billionaire Democratic megadonor, was inciting looters and rioters to derail Covid-19 recovery in the U.S. and destroy the country. WaPo separately reports that misinformation related to the unrest in Washington has been proliferating on Twitter through the hashtag #DCblackout.
— Meanwhile, across the Atlantic: “Russia and China are flooding social media with content targeting the ongoing unrest and violence in the United States,” POLITICO’s chief tech correspondent in Europe, Mark Scott, reports. “Since May 30, government officials, state-backed media outlets and other Twitter users linked to either Beijing or Moscow have increasingly piggybacked onto hashtags linked to George Floyd … to push divisive messages and criticize Washington’s handling of the unfolding crisis.”
THE FCC COMMISSIONER CATCHING TRUMP’S EYE — As Trump moves to crack down on alleged social media bias, he’s noticed one prominent ally, John reports in a new dispatch: Carr. The Republican FCC commissioner rotated through several appearances on Fox and other outlets last week in the wake of Trump’s executive order offering great enthusiasm for the Silicon Valley clampdown, which sets up an FCC rulemaking to review internet companies’ liability protections. “I’ve been very shocked by how far out on a limb he’s gone to try to get the White House’s attention,” said former FCC official Gigi Sohn, who suspects it’s a bid to become FCC chair once current chief Pai departs.
— Carr told John his advocacy is a natural outgrowth of what he’s spent the last year talking about and disputes that politics plays any role. “I don’t think the White House has anything on their radar at this point in terms of FCC chair other than Ajit Pai,” he added.
GOOD NEWS ON THE 5G FRONT? — Pai on Monday announced that the FCC has secured commitments from all satellite operators to quickly make their 5G-friendly C-band airwaves ready for sale as part of an FCC auction scheduled for December. Wireless companies have been eager for this bidding opportunity, and this news is an important signal that seems to show the auction is on track.
— And House Energy and Commerce Republicans led by ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.), meanwhile, are saying the FCC is on track with its 5G infrastructure order, set for a commission vote at its June meeting next week and intended to make it easier for wireless companies to attach 5G equipment to existing communications infrastructure. “This proposed Order would provide needed guidance and clarity that will help our communities benefit from greater connectivity and keep innovation in America,” they wrote (some local officials disagree).
INDUSTRY SEEKS (OPTIONAL) AI GUIDANCE — Tech trade groups want Congress to direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to create guidelines that help companies navigate the technical and ethical hurdles of developing artificial intelligence. In a letter to Reps. José Serrano (D-N.Y.) and Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), whose House Appropriations subcommittee oversees NIST, the associations contend the government’s tech minds are well-positioned to suggest voluntary guidelines for AI — as they’ve done in the past for cybersecurity and privacy.
— It’s a push that comes as Europe charges ahead with regulations, and U.S. firms worry their own leaders will be playing catch up. BSA | The Software Alliance, whose members include Intel, Microsoft, Oracle and Workday, led the letter. The Chamber Technology Engagement Center, Consumer Technology Association, Computing Technology Industry Association and Information Technology Industry Council also signed on.
The Aspen Institute’s Aspen Tech Policy Hub announced the six teams that won its COVID-19 Tech Challenge Grant competition, including misinformation researchers from First Draft and experts addressing remote learning and social isolation issues. … Jamie Favazza, who previously worked in communications for Pinterest, joined TikTok on Monday as public policy communicators director.
Jeff Blum, who has worked at DISH for nearly 15 years and oversees the company’s state and federal government relations, has been promoted to executive vice president of external and legislative affairs; Dave Mayo also joined DISH’s wireless leadership team as executive vice president of network development, John Swieringa was named group president of retail wireless and COO, and Michael Schwimmer was appointed group president of SLING TV.
Facebook backlash, continued: The CEO of online therapy company Talkspace is backing out of a lucrative content partnership deal with Facebook because, he said, he refuses to support a platform that “incites violence, racism and lies,” CNBC reports.
Meanwhile, at the oversight board: Former federal judge Michael McConnell, now a Stanford Law School professor and conservative co-chair of Facebook’s recently announced content oversight board, is facing criticism for using a racial slur in class while quoting from historical source material, The Stanford Daily reports.
Oversight board responds: “We respect the right of the students to speak out about how Michael’s use of this word has impacted them, and appreciate Michael’s explanation of his pedagogic purpose, as well as his commitment not to use the word again,” the group said in a statement, reiterating its commitment “to ensuring respect for free expression and human rights.”
Twitter’s latest label: “Twitter on Monday added a warning label to a tweet by Rep. Matt Gaetz that called for members of the radical activist group antifa to be hunted down like ‘terrorists’ for violating the company’s policies against glorifying violence,” Cristiano reports for Pros.
Fresh privacy legislation: The Exposure Notification Privacy Act, a bipartisan bill led by Senate Commerce ranking Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington state and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), would safeguard data privacy for consumers participating in contact tracing programs’ automated notifications about exposure to the coronavirus, John reports for Pros.
ICYMI: “European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová backed Twitter’s content moderation policies [Monday] amid an escalating fight between the social media platform and U.S. President Donald Trump,” POLITICO reports.
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TTYL and go wash your hands.
