Once Cozy With Silicon Valley, Democrats Grow Wary of Tech Giants
- 6 years ago
Once Cozy With Silicon Valley, Democrats Grow Wary of Tech Giants
“The problems were much broader than we imagined, and it was not just about one tool or platform,” said
Mr. Ghosh, who with his co-author, Ben Scott, worked on devising Mrs. Clinton’s tech policy platform.
“It’s the profit model underlying the whole digital advertising system.”
Mr. Ghosh and Mr. Scott are the latest members of the political party
that more eagerly embraced Silicon Valley to sharply criticize the tech industry.
The authors suggest a few ways to regulate the advertising technology industry, including requiring more transparency for political advertising, restricting data collection or ad targeting on political issues,
and strengthening consumer protection and competition policies.
“But I guess we didn’t expect them to hit home quite as hard as it did.”
Titled “#DigitalDeceit: Exposing the Internet Technologies of Precision Propaganda,” their report argues
that the interests of internet giants in helping advertisers run persuasive campaigns are aligned with those of someone looking to spread misinformation.
In the same way digital advertising campaigns spend relatively small sums of money to reach millions of people, any party with
an interest in swaying sentiment can gain access to reams of behavioral data on the internet to target specific audiences.
Tech policy officials from the Obama administration
and from Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, as well as prominent Democrats in Congress, are demanding changes from companies they had long viewed as too important and nimble for regulations.
“The problems were much broader than we imagined, and it was not just about one tool or platform,” said
Mr. Ghosh, who with his co-author, Ben Scott, worked on devising Mrs. Clinton’s tech policy platform.
“It’s the profit model underlying the whole digital advertising system.”
Mr. Ghosh and Mr. Scott are the latest members of the political party
that more eagerly embraced Silicon Valley to sharply criticize the tech industry.
The authors suggest a few ways to regulate the advertising technology industry, including requiring more transparency for political advertising, restricting data collection or ad targeting on political issues,
and strengthening consumer protection and competition policies.
“But I guess we didn’t expect them to hit home quite as hard as it did.”
Titled “#DigitalDeceit: Exposing the Internet Technologies of Precision Propaganda,” their report argues
that the interests of internet giants in helping advertisers run persuasive campaigns are aligned with those of someone looking to spread misinformation.
In the same way digital advertising campaigns spend relatively small sums of money to reach millions of people, any party with
an interest in swaying sentiment can gain access to reams of behavioral data on the internet to target specific audiences.
Tech policy officials from the Obama administration
and from Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, as well as prominent Democrats in Congress, are demanding changes from companies they had long viewed as too important and nimble for regulations.