Report: Twitter suspended 1,500 for spreading wrong election date

Photo: Aytug Can Sencar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Over the weekend Twitter suspended 1,500 fake accounts a pro-Trump group created to mock liberals because the accounts had been spreading false information about Election Day, such as saying that Election Day is November 7, when in fact it is on Tuesday, November 6, per The New York Times.

Why it matters: Reddit’s largest pro-Trump forum,"r/the_donald," likely created the trolling campaign as a joke, but spreading false information about the midterms can keep voters from casting ballots. "Similar types of disinformation spread on social media in 2016, which makes companies like Twitter nervous," as the NYT’s Kevin Roose writes.

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Kyle Daly, Ashley Gold
1 hour ago - Technology

Parties trade election influence accusations at Big Tech hearing

Photo: Michael Reynolds/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

A Senate hearing Wednesday with Big Tech CEOs became the backdrop for Democrats and Republicans to swap accusations of inappropriate electioneering.

Why it matters: Once staid tech policy debates are quickly becoming a major focal point of American culture and political wars, as both parties fret about the impact of massive social networks being the new public square.

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Ursula Perano
1 hour ago - World

Germany goes back into lockdown

Photo: Fabrizio Bensch/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will enact one of Europe's strictest coronavirus lockdowns since spring, closing bars and restaurants nationwide for most of November, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: Germany is the latest European country to reimpose some form of lockdown measures amid a surge in cases across the continent.

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Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute, author of Codebook
2 hours ago - Technology

How overhyping became an election meddling tool

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

As online platforms and intelligence officials get more sophisticated about detecting and stamping out election meddling campaigns, bad actors are increasingly seeing the appeal of instead exaggerating their own interference capabilities to shake Americans' confidence in democracy.

Why it matters: It doesn't take a sophisticated operation to sow seeds of doubt in an already fractious and factionalized U.S. Russia proved that in 2016, and fresh schemes aimed at the 2020 election may already be proving it anew.

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