National

Axios Media Trends

Conspiracy theories about the U.S. Capitol insurrection continue to flood private messaging groups, social networks and even major news outlets one year later. 

Why it matters: The lasting echo chamber of misinformation shows the long-term impact the event will have on future elections. 

"These ideologies and animating forces are perhaps as mainstream as ever, and getting play in some of the highest nodes of Republican influence," said Jared Holt, of the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.

"Even without Trump in the spotlight, this anti-democratic conspiratorial, paranoid style of rhetoric is now central to conservative messaging."

The big picture: The Capitol siege was a central part of the right-wing narrative around the "Big Lie" — the collection of falsehoods alleging the 2020 election was stolen through voting fraud. The "Big Lie" is now being used to rally conservatives ahead of the 2022 midterms. 

Holt notes that in the wake of mainstream platforms cracking down on bigger conspiracy groups, the organization of extremist movements has decentralized and is now focused on people who are becoming more active in local elections, including school boards.

Driving the news: Although many individuals and groups were kicked off mainstream platforms in the wake of the Capitol siege — which Holt says helped prevent any major follow-up events — right-wing extremists have found plenty of alternative options for convening online.

"Pretty much all alternative social media sites and conversation platforms have people congregating to discuss Jan. 6 conspiracies, the anniversary and the Big Lie," said Bryce Webster-Jacobsen, director of intelligence operations at threat intelligence firm GroupSense.

The alt-right "Oath Keepers" community is active on MeWe, per a report from the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab. "Proud Boys" leader Enrique Tarrio is active on Parler. "Stop the Steal" founder Ali Alexander frequently posts on Gab. 

New posts on platforms like Patriots.win suggest the “undercover FBI” will be “looking to create false narratives” about candlelight vigils that are being promoted on right-wing forums for the people arrested for participating in the riots, whom they refer to as “political prisoners.”

How it works: Bad actors and conspiracy theorists seed falsehoods on private messaging apps or conservative social apps. That misinformation is tested and iterated before making it to bigger web platforms.

The narratives that stick often find their way to bigger networks that are less likely to take action on that type of content, like fringe conservative news sites or conservative cable channels.

A new report from NewsGuard, a service that uses journalists to rate news sites, found that the vast majority (81%) of 113 U.S. news websites that spread falsehoods in the aftermath of the 2020 election continue to spread false claims about the election and the Jan. 6 attack.

Be smart: Far-right and conspiratorial positions are increasingly being wedged into "culture war" debates, often echoed by Fox News, other conservative outlets and members of Congress — which pushes them into the mainstream.

The bottom line: “There’s such division within this country politically and ideologically that people do not want to consume information that does not come from their life and their worldview,” said Rachel Moran, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington’s Information School. 

“There’s a demand for misinformation and so people are always gonna find a way to get it.”

New wave of Jan. 6 conspiracy theories

The lasting echo chamber of misinformation shows the long-term impact the event will have.

Illustration of numerous internet browser windows showing the US Capitol Building in red repeating

Jan. 6

Misinformation

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

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Axios on HBO: Incoming Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth on technology’s role in the spread of misinformation

Longtime Facebook veteran Andrew Bosworth insists that political and COVID-19 misinformation are societal problems rather than issues that have been magnified by social networks.

Why it matters: Critics say Facebook and other social networks have played a significant role in vaccine hesitancy and the spread of political misinformation.

"Individual humans are the ones who choose to believe or not believe a thing. They are the ones who choose to share or not share a thing," Bosworth said in an interview with "Axios on HBO." 

"I don't feel comfortable at all saying they don't have a voice because I don't like what they said."

Bosworth has been leading Facebook's hardware efforts, including those in virtual and augmented reality. Next year he will become CTO for Meta, Facebook's parent company.

Between the lines: Asked whether vaccine hesitancy would be the same with or without social media, Bosworth defended Facebook's role in combatting COVID, noting that the company ran one of the largest information campaigns in the world to spread authoritative information. 

He said that individuals make the choice whether to listen to that information or to rely on less reputable information spread by friends and family.

"That's their choice. They are allowed to do that. You have an issue with those people. You don't have an issue with Facebook. You can't put that on me."

The big picture: Pressed on whether Facebook and others are amplifying those views, Bosworth characterized it as a demand problem rather than one caused by the amount of misinformation on social media.

"People want that information," Bosworth said. "I don't believe that the answer is 'I will deny these people the information they seek and I will enforce my will upon them.' "

"At some point the onus is, and should be in any meaningful democracy, on the individual."

Facebook exec blames society for COVID misinformation

"You don't have an issue with Facebook. You can't put that on me."

Facebook

Big Tech

Axios on HBO

Meta announced Wednesday it has removed over 600 Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to a Chinese influence operation that claimed the U.S. was pressuring the World Health Organization (WHO) to blame COVID on China.

Why it matters: Though Meta said the network was unsuccessful, it marks yet another COVID disinformation campaign instigated by China in an effort to discredit the U.S.

Details: A fake persona claiming to be a Swiss biologist created an account in July, two days after it was reported that the Chinese government had rejected a WHO plan for the second phase of a study into COVID origins, and posted a message alleging that "WHO sources and a number of fellow researchers" had complained of "enormous pressure and even intimidation" from the U.S. 

Within two days, the post had circulated among hundreds of accounts and some Chinese state media, according to Meta.

A number of these accounts had ties to individuals at the firm Sichuan Silence Information Technology and some Chinese state infrastructure companies, though Meta said it had not identified a connection between Sichuan Silence Information Technology and the Chinese government.

The campaign targeted English-speaking audiences in the U.S. and the U.K., as well as Chinese-speaking audiences in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Tibet. 

After reviewing reports about the original fake account, Meta removed 524 Facebook accounts, 20 pages, four groups and 86 accounts on Instagram. 

What they're saying: "In essence, this campaign was a hall of mirrors, endlessly reflecting a single fake persona," Meta said in its Adversarial Threat Report. "This is the first time we have observed an operation that included a coordinated cluster of state employees to amplify itself in this way."

"As we continue building our understanding of these emerging threats, we will keep sharing our findings with industry peers, independent researchers, law enforcement and policymakers–including on these new disruptions–so we can collectively improve our defenses."

Worth noting: A nine-month investigation by AP and the Atlantic Council’s DFRLab previously found that China "took the lead in spreading foreign disinformation about COVID-19’s origins, as it came under attack for its early handling of the outbreak." 

Meta removes accounts linked to COVID disinformation effort by China

"This is the first time we have observed an operation that included a coordinated cluster of state employees," Meta said in its report.

Photo of a sign showing the Facebook thumbs up emoji as a person walks by

Facebook's corporate headquarters campus in Menlo Park, California. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

China

Coronavirus

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Health

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

Senators weren't buying an effort by TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat to argue that they are different from Facebook and Instagram at a hearing on children's online safety Tuesday.

Driving the news: Senators from both parties spent the Senate Commerce consumer protection subcommittee hearing urging executives to go on the record supporting various legislative changes to laws covering online content liability, privacy and children's safety.

The company representatives mostly demurred, saying they supported the "goals" and "spirit" of various bills but couldn't commit to outright support. 

What they're saying: "Being different from Facebook is not a defense. That bar is in the gutter. What we want is not a race to the bottom, but a race to the top," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

Blumenthal wants companies to disclose more about their products and offer more tools for parents to control their kids' online experiences.

Lawmakers bore down on Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok, citing stories about eating disorder content, suicide tutorials and dangerous challenges on all three apps.

“The true victims — the mom in Duluth who can’t get her kid off Facebook to do her homework. The dad mourning losing a child to a Snap speed filter that measured him, the kid, at going 123 miles per hour trying to beat the filter. Or the child exposed to content glorifying eating disorders on TikTok,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). 

The bottom line: The companies all agreed to submit internal research on their algorithms and product decisions' impact on users to Congress.

Be smart: Getting tech-related legislation through Congress is incredibly difficult, but the legislators' anger over kids encountering harmful content on Facebook was palpable. 

"We're not Facebook" argument falls flat on Hill

Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube did not seem to win over lawmakers focused on kids' safety.

Animated illustration of a hand cursor pushing a gavel offscreen

Congress

Data privacy

A coalition of nonprofits on Wednesday debuted HowToStopFacebook.org, a fresh push to encourage greater government regulation of the social networking giant aimed at forcing the company to change its business model.

Why it matters: The campaign hopes to take the outrage expressed by legislators over the revelations of whistleblower Frances Haugen and translate it into action.

A Congressional investigation with subpoena power into harms caused by Facebook; and

A strong federal data privacy law that makes it illegal for companies like Facebook and YouTube to collect the vast amounts of data they use to personalize recommendations.

The more than 30 groups involved include Accountable Tech, Article 19, Center for Digital Democracy, Fairplay, Global Voices, Media Justice, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Presente, Public Knowledge, United We Dream, Ranking Digital Rights, SumOfUs, Win Without War, and the Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center. 

Between the lines: The groups aren't being subtle about their goal. The campaign page calls for a law "strong enough to end Facebook’s current business model."

Fight for the Future director Evan Greer: "The problem with companies like Facebook and YouTube is not that they host user-generated content, it's that they use surveillance-driven algorithms to pick and choose what content goes viral and what content no one sees, in order to keep us all on the platform clicking and scrolling to maximize advertising revenue."

Media Justice campaign strategies director Myaisha Hayes: "Facebook's surveillance capitalist business model is fundamentally incompatible with basic human rights, and disproportionately harms Black and brown communities by silencing our voices while artificially amplifying racist and harmful content."

Public Knowledge policy counsel Sara Collins: "The harms described by Ms. Haugen are fueled by unrestrained data collection and data use. A federal privacy law that addresses collection and use, rather than relies on outdated notions of notice and choice, would begin to rectify the power imbalance between internet users and tech companies."

Go deeper: Following Monday's story on how Facebook may be harder to rein in than Big Tobacco, Ina spoke to Niala Boodhoo for the Axios Re:Cap podcast about the similarities and differences between regulating cigarettes and social media.

Groups launch "How to Stop Facebook" effort

The 30+ nonprofits want laws "to end Facebook’s current business model.”

Illustration of a pattern of Facebook thumbs down.

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Axios Generate

Graph showing Google search interest in "climate change" over time.

Data: Google Trends; Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios

Google's new policy of demonetizing climate denial content marks a significant step in its efforts to rein in climate misinformation.

Why it matters: Videos promoting clear falsehoods about the existence of global warming or its causes have long found a home on YouTube, which Google owns.

Meanwhile, on search, ads for climate contrarian websites have consistently appeared next to search listings for sites offering politically neutral and scientifically rigorous evidence.

Driving the news: The company's announcement Thursday that the new policy takes effect Nov. 1, during the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow, could cool the political polarization around climate in the U.S.

How it works: Per a Google statement, the policy affects the monetization of "content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change."

"This includes content referring to climate change as a hoax or a scam, claims denying that long-term trends show the global climate is warming, and claims denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to climate change."

Google plans to use "automated tools and human review" to put the policy into practice.

The system does not seek to limit policy debate, making Google's job easier but potentially allowing the promotion of partisan assaults on established science.

Discerning denial can be tough. Google says it will "look carefully at the context in which claims are made, differentiating between content that states a false claim as fact, versus content that reports on or discusses that claim."

Our thought bubble, from Axios' Scott Rosenberg: Facebook and Google have both faced censorship accusations from conservatives who object to measures that have sought to limit misinformation on COVID, elections and other topics.

YouTube's move on climate is likely to encounter similar objections, given the politically polarized views on this issue, especially in the U.S.

Between the lines: The policy also brings Google's ad revenue strategy more in line with its sustainability agenda.

The company aims to run on 100% carbon-free energy by 2030.

On Wednesday, Google rolled out new features to help travelers limit the carbon footprint of their flights via Google Flights.

What's next: The policy will immediately be put to the test with COP26 taking place.

Spikes in social media activity around climate change over the last six months coincided with major news events, according to data from Keyhole.

Peaks in search activity also tend to occur around news events, including climate summits, according to Google Trends.

What we're watching: Whether Google's move boosts pressure on Facebook to modify its efforts to limit climate misinformation.

Facebook expanded its Climate Science Center last month and steers users there when they search for climate-related terms. Facebook also pledged $1 million to a grant program to combat misinformation.

But activists say the platform still allows denial to flourish.

Dissecting Google's climate denial crackdown

The company's announcement could cool the political polarization around climate in the U.S.

Google

Logos outside the Google Store Chelsea in New York, U.S.

While many tech firms have had their critics and whistleblowers, Facebook has a uniquely lengthy roster of ex-employees and former insiders who have sounded alarms over its practices.

Why it matters: These calls keep coming from people who were once inside the building. Such voices can carry more weight than outside agitators, though no one has yet found the key to kickstart large-scale Facebook reform. 

Driving the news: Frances Haugen, the latest Facebook whistleblower, has been everywhere this week, from "60 Minutes" to the Wall Street Journal to a Senate hearing.

Between the lines: Haugen is only the latest critical Facebook alum in a long list that includes early employees, the former heads of WhatsApp as well as plenty of rank and file employees disturbed by the products the company has built and their impact on society.

The big picture: There have been workers across tech speaking out about working conditions and product harms, including workers at Apple, Google and Amazon. However, the roster of former employees-turned-critics at Facebook is particularly long and broad.

What they're saying: Just listen to what these former Facebook employees have to say about the company they once worked for:

Haugen: "Facebook can change, but it's clearly not going to do so on its own. My fear is that without action, divisive and extremist behaviors we see today are only the beginning."

Early Facebook investor Roger McNamee, in a new Time cover story: "Facebook will not fix itself. All incentives direct the company to stay on its current course. ... But we are now at a point where further inaction by Congress will likely result in ongoing catastrophes from which we may not recover for a generation or more."

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, in a 2019 New York Times op-ed calling for the company to be broken up: "We already have the tools we need to check the domination of Facebook. We just seem to have forgotten about them."

Yes, but: So far none of the revelations and criticisms have led to much change from the company, nor to the systems and laws that regulate it.

Former Facebook employees or insiders who have spoken critically of the company's products and business practices include: 

Co-creator of the Facebook "like" button Justin Rosenstein, who now says social media is too addictive and a time waster.

Early Facebook investor Roger McNamee, who just penned this cover story for Time.

Former Facebook president Sean Parker, who said, at an Axios event in 2017: "God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains."

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who said in 2019 the company should be broken up.

Facebook operations manager Sandy Parakilas, who wrote this op-ed in 2017, appeared on PBS' "Frontline" and went on to help establish the Center for Humane Technology before joining Apple in 2019.

Bryan Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp (Facebook acquired it in 2014, leaving Acton in charge until his departure in 2017), who has urged users to delete the Facebook app.

Former Facebook product manager Antonio García Martínez, who has described the company's culture as fascist.

Former Facebook data scientist Sophie Zhang, who detailed how politicians around the globe were using fake accounts and other means to manipulate public opinion.

Frances Haugen, a former lead product manager on Facebook's civic misinformation team, who testified before Congress on Tuesday.

The long list of Facebook's insiders-turned-critics

No other tech giant has quite this extensive a roster of alumni who have turned against it dramatically and publicly.

Column / Signal Boost

Facebook is essential to our lives. Facebook is ruining our lives. Holding both these truths at once will make your head hurt.

While covering the Olympics in Tokyo, I spent a ton of time on Facebook. Each day, during several hourlong bus rides, I would see who was online in Messenger and share photos and stories there with family and friends. I also posted frequently on my news feed.

I can't count how many people told me their favorite part of the Olympic experience was living vicariously through my posts, photos and messages on the social network.

Yes, but: For all Facebook's benefits, and there are many, revelatory reporting keeps piling up stronger evidence of its harms.

The same Facebook that makes it easy to share photos and stories from the Olympics also makes it all too easy to spread lies and half truths that carry further and faster thanks to the company's powerful algorithms and vast reach. 

Driving the news: Thanks to a multipart Wall Street Journal series this week, we have learned:

Changes Facebook instituted in 2018 to turn down the dial on contentious politics in people's feeds had the opposite effect, driving extreme views instead.

A system called XCheck, the subject of Monday's story in the Journal series, placed millions of prominent users in a VIP tier that allowed them to break Facebook's rules with few or no consequences, leaving the door wide open to the spread of harmful content.

The Journal also reported how harmful Instagram can be for young girls — a huge issue that comes as the company continues to weigh a separate version of the photo and video service aimed directly at the under-18 set.

Another Journal installment Thursday detailed inadequate responses to illegal content from drug trafficking gangs in Mexico, groups inciting ethnic violence in Ethiopia, and human traffickers providing domestic workers to Persian Gulf nations.  "Most of our great integrity work over the last 2 years doesn’t work in much of the world," one Facebook review reported.

Friday morning brought another report on a flood of anti-vaccination misinformation last spring that swamped Facebook's own CEO-led effort to promote COVID vaccinations.

The big picture: While some of these challenges are specific to Facebook, similar problems also plague YouTube, Twitter and other platforms.

Of note: These stories were mostly based on internal reports and documents written by Facebook employees sounding alarms.

Facebook has argued that the Journal's information is outdated and the company has taken many steps to mitigate each problem. 

At this point, though, a good portion of the public and the media don't take the company at its word and don't trust it to be transparent.

Somewhere inside Facebook right now, people are doubtless writing timely reports about its current problems. If we're lucky, maybe someone will leak them in 2024.

What they're saying: Instagram head Adam Mosseri, speaking on the Recode podcast, compared Facebook's social impact to the automobile's: “Anything that is going to be used at scale is going to have positive and negative outcomes. Cars have positive and negative outcomes.”

Many on Twitter jumped on Mosseri to point out how heavily cars are regulated. But Facebook frequently notes its support for updating and expanding internet regulations, as Mosseri did in his interview.

More important, maybe, is the way that both autos and social media deliver convenience to users and profit to their makers while offloading their biggest harms — globe-warming carbon emissions, democracy-eroding misinformation — for governments and society to deal with.

Between the lines: Facebook continues to grow around the world, but U.S. numbers for the core Facebook product have stagnated, and it's losing ground among the young.

For many, the powerful human connections the service makes no longer outweigh the myriad ways in which Facebook is undermining society — promoting medical misinformation, political extremism, teen self-harm and even mob violence in countries halfway around the globe from the company's headquarters.

Facebook is right to note that these problems predate the social network's existence, and that it isn't solely responsible for social divisions. But it's accountable to society for what happens on its platform. If it can't regain the trust of the public and public institutions, it will face new investigations, rules and penalties — on top of a ton already in progress. 

What's next: The Journal reports have already sparked letters from Congress, and the documents the stories revealed may give investigators at the Federal Trade Commission more ammunition for the cases they are pursuing.  

Our thought bubble: Letters and committee hearings won't change Facebook. Laws and enforcement actions could, but only if they're bold — and if they can steer clear of the kind of unintended consequences that keep tripping up Facebook itself.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information about Friday's Wall Street Journal story.

Facebook's social balance is in the red

Facebook is essential to our lives. And Facebook is ruining our lives.

Illustration of the Facebook logo with a laughing emoji on one side and an angry emoji on the other.

Facebook has long said that it applies the same rules to all posts, but internal documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal paint a picture of a company that allowed millions of politicians, celebrities and other high-profile users to break those rules without consequence.

Why it matters: It's hard to limit misinformation on a platform when you give a free pass to those with the most reach.

Details: According to the Journal, Facebook's XCheck program, established to make sure that content reviews of posts by high-profile users were handled with extra care, often gave VIPs a free pass to violate the company's rules. 

Some were "whitelisted" and allowed to post whatever they want.

For others, content issues were passed along to a separate team, which often failed to take action or sometimes even follow-up on reports.

By 2020, there were 5.8 million accounts included in the program, the Journal said.

Between the lines: A confidential internal review in 2019 found the practice was both widespread and "not publicly defensible," the Journal reported.

The other side: Facebook, for its part, told the Journal that criticism of the system was "fair" but added that the company is phasing out the practice of whitelisting.

"A lot of this internal material is outdated information stitched together to create a narrative that glosses over the most important point: Facebook itself identified the issues with cross check and has been working to address them," Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said in a statement to the Journal.

Facebook allows prominent users to break rules

Facebook's XCheck program often gave VIPs a free pass to violate the company's rules.

Signage in front of the Facebook Inc. headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S., on Wednesday, April 21, 2021.

Signage in front of the Facebook Inc. headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S., on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Microsoft's M12 fund is leading a $26 million investment round for Truepic, a San Diego-based startup trying to fight the emerging wave of digitally altered photos and videos, known colloquially as deepfakes.

Why it matters: Already a problem, manipulated media is expected to become an even bigger threat in the coming years as technology makes it easier to modify video to make anyone say anything.

Adobe, Hearst Ventures and the Sony Innovation Fund are also investing, as are individuals from Stone Point Capital.

How it works: Truepic's core system works to ensure that digital images and videos haven't been modified since capture, confirming not only that the pixels have not been altered, but also the metadata, such as the date and location, haven't been changed. 

Truepic also acquired another technology designed to determine if a particular image is authentic.

The company has decided, however, that it is essential to verify media as it is captured. 

"Doing detection of a manipulated media post-capture is not a viable path forward," Truepic CEO Jeffrey McGregor told Axios. "It cannot happen at scale, and it cannot happen in a way that is accurate enough to provide business value."

Between the lines: McGregor said the primary use of the funding will be to expand from a system in which companies had to use Truepic's custom camera app to one in which Truepic's secure camera can be added to any third-party iOS or Android app.

That, he said, opens the door for use by much larger companies that already have an app that includes photo capture capabilities, as is the case for many companies across insurance, retail, home rental and other categories.

Truepic has 40 employees today but hopes to have more than 100 by the end of next year, McGregor said.

Deepfake-foiling startup gets $26M led by Microsoft

The startup's technology shows if a photo or video has been manipulated.

A faked photo showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Elvis meeting. (They didn't.) 

A faked photo showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Elvis meeting. (They didn't.) Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

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