It’s time once again for news and views that you can peruse. It’s time for another Weekly Reader! As always, if you have something that I you’d like to share, drop a link in the comments!
Facebook and TikTok are approving ads with ‘blatant’ misinformation about voting in midterms, researchers say (from CNN): “In an experiment, the researchers submitted 20 ads with inaccurate claims to Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. The ads were targeted to battleground states such as Arizona and Georgia. While YouTube was able to detect and reject every test submission and suspend the channel used to post them, the other two platforms fared noticeably worse, according to the report.”
Social media platforms brace for midterm elections mayhem (from Florida Politics): “A report released last month from New York University faulted Meta, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube for amplifying Trump’s false statements about the 2020 election. The study cited inconsistent rules regarding misinformation as well as poor enforcement.”
How a New Hampshire libertarian utopia was foiled by bears (from Vox): “The experiment was called the “Free Town Project” (it later became the “Free State Project”), and the goal was simple: take over Grafton’s local government and turn it into a libertarian utopia. The movement was cooked up by a small group of ragtag libertarian activists who saw in Grafton a unique opportunity to realize their dreams of a perfectly logical and perfectly market-based community. Needless to say, utopia never arrived, but the bears did! (I promise I’ll explain below.)”
“The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion” (from Joyce Arthur): “Abortion is a highly personal decision that many women are sure they’ll never have to think about until they’re suddenly faced with an unexpected pregnancy. But this can happen to anyone, including women who are strongly anti-choice. So what does an anti-choice woman do when she experiences an unwanted pregnancy herself? Often, she will grin and bear it, so to speak, but frequently, she opts for the solution she would deny to other women — abortion.”
TikTok has been accused of ‘aggressive’ data harvesting. Is your information at risk? (from The Guardian): “Most of the concern in the report focuses on permissions sought on Android devices, because Apple’s iOS significantly limits what information an app can gather. It has a justification system so that if a developer wants access to something it must justify why this is required before it is granted.”
TikTok shares your data more than any other social media app — and it’s unclear where it goes, study says (from CNBC): “For TikTok, the results were even more mysterious: 13 of the 14 network contacts on the popular social media app were from third parties. The third-party tracking still happened even when users didn’t opt into allowing tracking in each app’s settings, according to the study.”
‘Stop the steal’ supporters train thousands of U.S. poll observers (from Reuters): “Interviews with more than two dozen election officials as well as representatives of groups driven by false theories about election fraud, and an examination of poll-watching training materials, revealed an intensifying grassroots effort to recruit activists. This has heightened alarm that disturbances in this year’s primary contests could foreshadow problems in November’s local, state and national races.”
A Young Victim Of Incest Was Denied An Abortion In Florida And Forced To Travel For Care, Planned Parenthood Said (from BuzzFeed News): “Laura Goodhue, vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida, did not disclose the patient’s exact age or the state they traveled to receive an abortion, but she told BuzzFeed News they were in middle school. Goodhue had initially said another middle schooler who experienced incest was denied an abortion in Florida, then on Thursday clarified to BuzzFeed News that the cause of the second patient’s pregnancy was not confirmed.”
Oath Keeper describes group’s large weapons cache ahead of Jan. 6 (from Politico): “Prosecutors have described that arsenal — known as a “quick reaction force” or QRF — as a key element of the Oath Keeper leaders’ plot to subvert the 2020 election and help forcibly keep then-President Donald Trump in power. The group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, and several regional leaders are charged with conspiring to disrupt the transfer of power and preparing for violence to enforce their will.”
Next supercontinent may form when the Pacific Ocean disappears (from CNN): “The study team found that when the tectonic plates diminish in strength and thickness, the formation of a new supercontinent is more likely to happen by the closing up of a former superocean that had surrounded a past colossal land mass. Reducing by a few centimeters per year, the Pacific Ocean began shrinking during the age of the dinosaurs. Based on the new simulation, the Pacific Ocean’s current reach of 10,000 kilometers (6,213.7 miles) will close up in less than 300 million years.”
That’s all for this week. But don’t worry! I’ll be back again with more articles you might find fascinating. Until then, have a great rest of your week and happy reading!
Iacon East 