Elections
How Russians are changing up their election interference
A wave of new indictments tells us what has changed since 2016 — and what hasn’t
Casey Newton
Founder and editor of Platformer, a publication about the intersection of tech and democracy. Prior to founding Platformer in October 2020, Newton was the longtime Silicon Valley editor of The Verge.
X
X gets banned in Brazil
For once, Elon Musk has a case worth fighting — but he has to do it in the courts
Telegram
The three cases against Telegram
Pavel Durov has a lot to answer for — but how he is prosecuted could reshape the internet
Jawboning
Zuckerberg draws a new line on government pressure
PLUS: Telegram's French press
Telegram
How Telegram played itself
Pavel Durov’s arrest over the weekend was shocking. It was also inevitable
Elections
How influence campaigns stopped working
It turns out that social networks are less susceptible to 2016-style attacks — and no one likes AI slop
Productivity
Three apps that made me more productive this year
Lessons on taking smarter notes, reducing context switching, and building a better personal archive
Deepfakes
Trump deepfakes a Swift endorsement
The Shitpost Election continues
AI
California's controversial AI bill is on the verge of becoming law
California’s SB-1047 is on a path to the governor’s desk. Will it kill the AI boom?
Deepfakes
Trump’s fakes a deepfake claim
PLUS: Trump goes to Spaces
X
X is just a political project now
As Trump returns to posting, and Musk leans even further into right-wing conspiracy theories, X has reached its final form. PLUS: On Susan Wojcicki
AI
Three reasons we’re in an AI bubble (and four reasons we’re not)
AI critics are right about the industry’s challenges — but they risk missing the larger story
X
X sues the advertising industry
The case is part of a larger conservative project to weaponize the courts against content moderation — and it appears to be gaining momentum
Google has a search monopoly, judge rules
Europe never found a remedy that increased search competition. Will the United States fare any better?
AI
The AI companies are trying to go legit
The era of scraping and praying is coming to an end. But will the web be any better off when it does?
Child Safety
KOSA and COPPA 2.0 pass the Senate
But passing the House might be another story