The Trump Pivot, Google’s Misinfo Win, and an Australian Anti-Scam Law
TTP's November 8, 2024 Newsletter
Tech CEOs Prepare for a Second Trump Presidency
In October, Donald Trump revealed that he was in communication with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who had called the former president to gauge his stance on antitrust enforcement. At the time, Trump said he “wouldn’t allow” the EU to take action against Apple or other American businesses. In hindsight, other tech leaders were also preparing for a Trump victory; Mark Zuckerberg referred to Trump as a “badass” before renouncing his company’s COVID policies, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos personally intervened to prevent The Washington Post from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. Given these early reactions, it seems likely that tech CEOs will continue down a path of appeasement and flattery, in the hopes of earning Trump’s goodwill and avoiding serious reform.
Down the road, however, the Trump Administration could clash with tech companies over issues like content moderation, which Trump has repeatedly characterized as “censorship.” The administration may also weaponize other policy proposals, like Section 230 liability reform, to help favored online platforms get ahead. Vice President-Elect J.D. Vance, for instance, has voiced his support for a Section 230 carve-out that would exempt “new entrants” from liability – giving them a massive advantage over mainstream online spaces like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. In 2023, TTP published a report explaining how this policy would benefit platforms like Rumble, an “alt-tech” YouTube competitor which Vance is invested in.
Google Avoids Election Misinformation Pitfalls
In 2020 and 2022, TTP investigations revealed that Google was placing scam advertisements in search results for voting information, sending would-be voters to websites that stole their personal information or charged bogus “registration fees.” While Google has struggled to prevent bad actors from taking advantage of its search ads, these voting-related scams are particularly dangerous because they can discourage voters from casting a ballot. The search giant promised to do better in 2024, and outlined the steps it would take to present users with accurate information about voting.
Of course, TTP opted to test Google’s anti-scam safeguards. In early October, researchers set up clean VPNs and used Google to search for voting information in different states. TTP collected a total of 198 advertisements from the first ten pages of search results and found that none led to scams or data-harvesting websites. Meta, meanwhile, approved thousands of pro-Trump scam advertisements in the months leading up to the election.
CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith said, “This year, Google did the right thing and finally stopped allowing bad actors to mislead American voters using search engine advertisements. It’s time for other platforms to follow suit, and actually enforce their policies against deceptive and illegal activity.”
Australian Anti-Scam Law Puts Platforms on Notice
Here’s another glimmer of good news: on Thursday, the Australia’s Albanese government introduced a landmark anti-scam law, which would slap heavy fines on social media companies that fail to protect consumers from fraud. If passed by parliament, the legislation would force online platforms to participate in an independent process to resolve consumer complaints related to scams, instead of ignoring reportsfrom users. Regulated entities would also have to share information about reported scams with the government, so that activity could be tracked across platforms. If companies fail to meet these standards, consumers will have “clear pathways to compensation” under the law.
While companies like Meta have been able to dodge accountability for enabling scams in the United States, Australia’s reforms could serve as a model for future regulation, combining data-sharing requirements with robust consumer protections. Together, these measures would incentivize social media companies to adopt “safety by design,” meaning platforms would be structured to prevent scams by prioritizing user safety over metrics like engagement.
What We’re Reading
Meta beats suit over tool that lets Facebook users unfollow everything
South Korea fights deepfake porn with tougher punishment and regulation