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Some social media platforms are potentially profiting from advertisement placements alongside searches for hate groups and extremists, according to a new review by the Anti-Defamation League and the Tech Transparency Project.
YouTube Gives Option to Disable Video Recommendations
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt helped shape legislation to expand the U.S. semiconductor industry. Now, his network of investments is poised to benefit from the new stream of government funding.
Crisis pregnancy centers pose as abortion clinics but push an anti-abortion message. Google is helping them reach their target audience of low-income women.
An obscure program linked to the former Google CEO has placed at least 24 people inside key federal agencies. Some of them explicitly identify themselves as Schmidt fellows.
Google says it’s committed to connecting voters with accurate information. But the company is again allowing misleading ads to target people searching for how to vote.
Google’s ad policies prohibit misrepresentation that can deceive users. But the company is allowing “crisis pregnancy centers” to run ads that falsely suggest they offer abortions—to lure unsuspecting users.
Google has banned some ‘stalkerware’ apps. But the company makes it alarmingly easy to use its tools and apps to track the location of other users, creating new risks in the post-Roe era
Americans want to know more about Biden’s student loan forgiveness plans. But Google is hitting them with scam ads when they search for information on the topic.
Google is unpopular with Democrats in control of Washington. But it’s still trying to steer the debate about Big Tech—by quietly building a force of progressive policy influencers.
Former Google head has assembled a secretive fund with Washington insiders to help direct US national security investments—potentially to his own benefit.
YouTube Hosts Hundreds of Militia Videos, Fueling Extremist Movement
YouTube Kids says it provides age-appropriate content to children. But the platform continues to allow harmful videos to reach its vulnerable young audience.
New TTP research shows how YouTube’s recommendation algorithm locks users into ideological echo chambers. It’s more intense for people who watch Fox News.
Google, Facebook, and Amazon have built massive influence operations, in part by funding an array of third-party groups. A new tool from TTP shows where the tech money is going.
As Facebook and Google come under pressure on privacy and antitrust, they often deploy hand-picked small businesses to push back. A plumbing company makes repeat appearances.
YouTube said it would remove disinformation about Covid-19 vaccines. But TTP found that videos spreading false vaccine claims are circulating freely on the platform.
A TTP investigation shows how deeply Big Tech-funded George Mason University has infiltrated the Federal Trade Commission, which is tasked with protecting consumers and promoting competition in the industry.
YouTube announced it would take down new videos spreading false claims about widespread voter fraud. More than a week later, violations are rampant.
Google said it removed scam ads aimed at people seeking information on how to vote. Three months later, with the November election looming, the problem persists.
Google executives needed a fighter jet to meet the terms of a special deal giving them access a NASA airfield near the company’s headquarters. The jet crashed, but the deal carried on.
Google quit China in 2010 over censorship and human rights concerns. But flight data show how its executives continued to seek a foothold in the Chinese market.
Google planes have shuttled guests each summer to a secretive gathering of policymakers and celebrities in Big Sky country, where the search giant can quietly push its corporate agenda.
Google says it’s protecting people from harm and abuse during elections. But it’s helping scammers target Americans as they search for information on voting.
Google’s policies bar misleading and fraudulent advertising. But the company is serving up scam ads when people search for information about coronavirus relief funds.
Google promised to combat misinformation about Covid-19. But the company is making money off coronavirus hoax sites that use its ad tools.
Facebook and Google executives have expressed horror at gun massacres. But their companies continued to reap the benefits of NRA advertising.
YouTube ran ads on videos promoting sham remedies like herbs and smoothies. Advertisers included Facebook and the Trump campaign.
Tech-funded Voices Dominate DOJ Panel on Key Internet Law
A remarkable confluence of interests has funneled millions to a roster of conservative and libertarian policy groups, all working to protect Google and its profits from regulation.
Google’s Defense of Immunity Law Gets a Boost From Company-Funded Allies
Whenever Google is caught doing something dubious, even “evil,” its response is always the same: It’s someone else’s fault.
Google says it’s trying to help newsrooms around the world. Where exactly is it putting its millions and what does it want in return?
The chairman of the Senate antitrust subcommittee used to be one of Google’s chief Republican antagonists. What changed?
A group of small businesses called 3C is rallying to Big Tech’s defense. Evidence suggests it's not organic.
How the Tech Giant Used its Washington Ties to Advance its Business Interests Around the Globe
Sidestepping school authorities, Google directly enlisted teachers to promote their products in the classroom, securing a valuable, lifetime supply of student data
We’ve built a simple browser extension that shows you anytime Google is monitoring you.
Silence on journalist’s killing highlights deep business interests in Gulf state
Google's multi-million-dollar payments to media organizations are redefining journalism
A third of speakers have financial ties to Google, either directly or through their employer. The FTC has not disclosed those ties to attendees.
How to Sow Discord Using Google and $100 (or 6,800 rubles)
Google has spent millions of euros funding European academics to write papers on digital policy, bankrolling university institutes and think-tanks in London, Berlin, Brussels, Paris and Warsaw
How Google Makes Millions Off of Fake News
Google has enlisted its broad network of paid policy groups to fight legislation that would remove a legal shield for websites that knowingly profit from child sex-trafficking.
Google is quietly using a renegotiation of a free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada to push for the inclusion of a controversial provision of U.S. law that has shielded child sex-trafficking sites from prosecution.
Google has paid scholars millions to produce hundreds of papers supporting its policy interests, following in the footsteps of the oil and tobacco industries
Google ingratiates itself with the Trump Administration... While cashing in on the resistance
Investigating Google's European Revolving Door
PrivacyCon Update: More Disclosure of Google Funding
As a "father of the Internet," Vint Cerf enjoys extraordinary access to top policymakers. But whose interests is he advancing?
Google-sponsored interviews of political leaders blur the line between journalism and lobbying
Google Enlisted Obama Officials to Lobby States on Driverless Cars
Google executives and nonprofits they funded dominated US delegation. Company maneuvered behind scenes with White House to derail State Department diplomatic effort
Nearly all failed to disclose funding to attendees
Analysis finds 80 revolving door moves between Google and European governments
GTP to release thousands of pages of government documents detailing Google's influence
Four White House officials met with Google representatives within two years of leaving the company
Project Compiles Data on Google’s Influence on Government and Makes It Searchable and Accessible to the Public
Google’s chairman has acted as Obama’s chief corporate supporter. He has also received unrivaled access to top policymakers
Google helped the White House get its message out. It also appears to have planted questions on policy issues crucial to its business
Google employees played a central role in creating the US Digital Service, raising questions about the procurement process, inside-knowledge and user privacy
Schmidt’s investment in the Obama campaign’s big data braintrust provided benefits to the White House on healthcare reform, while further expanding his access and influence
Google’s 'Ambassador' to the White House enjoys unrivaled access
Did the company observe rules when hiring a senior road safety official?
Top stories_
The former Google CEO has repeatedly called China’s AI ambitions a threat to the U.S. His personal investments reveal a much friendlier stance.
The U.S. imposes sanctions on individuals, groups, and countries deemed to be a threat to national security. Elon Musk’s X appears to be selling premium service to some of them.
Meta gave the green light to teen-targeted ads for drug parties and anorexia that violated its policies and used images produced by its AI image generator.
Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, have donated to a broad array of colleges and universities across the country, raising questions about their potential to influence the institutions.
Armed with blue checkmark accounts on X, white supremacists are using the war in the Middle East to advance their antisemitic, Islamophobic, and anti-immigrant narratives.
A group headed by the son of the Supreme Court nominee has become a key line of defense for Big Tech in Washington.
YouTube says it delivers ‘responsible’ video recommendations. But its algorithms steered accounts for young gamers toward content on guns, school shootings, and a serial killer.