Advertising

Meta will require campaigns to disclose use of AI in political ads
Washington Post
“The Meta announcement cited specific uses of AI that advertisers will have to disclose. They include ads showing an actual person saying or doing something they didn’t say or do; depicting a realistic-looking individual who doesn’t exist or a realistic-looking event that didn’t happen; or altering footage of a real event. Also barred are ads that show a ‘realistic event that allegedly occurred, but that is not a true image, video, or audio recording of the event.’”

The new political ad machine: Policy frameworks for political ads in an age of AI
UNC Center On Technology Policy
First, research suggests that the persuasive power of both political ads and online misinformation is often overstated. Political ads likely have more of an effect on behavior – such as voter turnout and fundraising – than on persuasion.

Campaigns

Democratic campaign groups team up for Latino outreach push on YouTube
The Hill
“But the use of YouTube is off the charts: Hispanics spend twice as much time on the platform as the general population, according to the report.”

Data

‘Liquid Gold’: How the Group Behind Democratized Data Could Help All Democrats in 2024
The Messenger
“Neither Democratic organization will ever know where the data comes from or who is using it – that anonymity is what makes this legal – but it allows for each member to broaden their universe in significant ways. DDx, according to operatives with the exchange, also does not plan strategy for the member organizations or suggest data for them to trade in or out of the exchange.”

Social Media

Supreme Court Weighs When Officials May Block Citizens on Social Media
New York Times
“The cases argued Tuesday were the first of several this term in which the Supreme Court will consider how the First Amendment applies to social media companies. The court will hear arguments next year on both whether states may prohibit large social media companies from removing posts based on the views they express and whether Biden administration officials may contact social media platforms to combat what they say is misinformation.”

The social media discourse of engaged partisans is toxic even when politics are irrelevant
PNAS Nexus
“This study—which analyzes the commenting behavior of Reddit users across diverse cultural contexts (subreddits)—tests the alternative hypothesis that such incivility derives in large part from a selection effect: Toxic people are especially likely to opt into discourse in partisan contexts.”

Is the web actually evaporating?
Garbage Day
“What the Biden administration doesn’t get is that we’re now firmly in a TikTok-first and, by extension, video-first internet. And TikTok’s algorithm is almost the inverse of something like Facebook’s. Its network effect isn’t based mass appeal snowballing into global virality, but about identifying niches. Your TikTok and my TikTok will never be the same and that increasingly means that my internet and your internet are not the same. And if you actually tried to view TikTok like you would Facebook, it would even make sense.”

Technology

Facing a Barrage of Negative Comments Online? AI Can Help You Fight Back
Campaigns & Elections
“California-based Hori suggested that campaigns use AI tools like ChatGPT to create a template or list of responses for when they’re being inundated with comments, whether it’s on their ads or social postings.”

Poll shows most US adults think AI will add to election misinformation in 2024
Associate Press
“When asked whether it would be a good or bad thing for 2024 presidential candidates to use AI in certain ways, clear majorities said it would be bad for them to create false or misleading media for political ads (83%), to edit or touch-up photos or videos for political ads (66%), to tailor political ads to individual voters (62%) and to answer voters’ questions via chatbot (56%).”