A Governor Imposes a TikTok Ban for State Government
The move comes as the app faces increased scrutiny in the U.S. over its ties to the Chinese government.
State bans TikTok from government devices
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed an executive order banning state employees or agencies from downloading or using the app on work-issued devices.
What the world would lose with the demise of Twitter: valuable eyewitness accounts and raw data on human behavior, as well as a habitat for trolls
Twitter provides open source intelligence, insights into human behavior and a way for people to connect with government.
Police Facebook Pages Overreport Black Suspects
COMMENTARY | Police Facebook posts disproportionately highlight crimes involving Black suspects, research finds.
Twitter Turbulence Under Elon Musk Poses Headache For Governments
States and localities have come to depend on the social media platform to get information out in emergencies and other situations. But a surge in imposter accounts has some worried.
The Small Alabama City That’s Gained 117,000 TikTok Followers
Oneonta Mayor Richard Phillips’ video posts goofing around about local government and highlighting the town have attracted online fans and, in some cases, real life visitors.
States Take New Steps to Stop Election Mistruths From Going Viral
To combat the rising threat, some states are bringing on cybersecurity specialists to comb social media and flag posts that spread falsehoods about the voting process. Others have launched ad campaigns to counter disinformation.
A State Wildlife Agency That's Winning at Twitter
Oklahoma's Department of Wildlife Conservation has grown its follower count from around 8,000 to over 80,000, dishing out posts that are fun but also informative. The agency's social media team chatted with Route Fifty about the secrets to their success.
Local Election Offices Often Are Missing on Social Media
COMMENTARY | But election boards that use their social media accounts to share information may improve voter registration and participation, especially among young voters, two professors write.
House Democrats Demand Data From Social Media Firms About Threats to Law Enforcement
Lawmakers want seven online platforms to say how they are responding to growing threats against law enforcement officials nationwide following the FBI’s search of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
New Statewide System Boosts State's Mass Emergency Alerts
Emergency managers in Iowa now can automatically push out safety alerts through emails, text messages, phone calls, RSS feeds and social media—and in multiple languages.
Model Reveals How Misinformation Spreads Like a Virus
Misinformation moves in eerily similar ways.
Information Disorder Is Biggest Social Danger, Commission Warns
The Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder made multiple structural recommendations for the information ecosystem.
Scammers Are Using Fake Job Ads to Steal People’s Identities
From Facebook to LinkedIn to Indeed, ads are popping up that promise well-paying jobs — if applicants provide their Social Security numbers and other details up front. Scammers then use the information to apply for unemployment benefits.
'Vaxfluencers' Getting Residents to Get the Shot
Public health agencies are paying local Instagram and TikTok celebrities to promote Covid-19 vaccines, a relatively new outreach strategy that, so far, seems to be working.
Grab Your Mask and Your Civic Pride: It’s City Hall Selfie Day
The annual celebration, created by Engaging Local Government Leaders, encourages municipal workers and citizens to celebrate their communities by posting selfies in front of city halls.
COVID-19 messages make emergency alerts just another text in the crowd on your home screen
When emergency alerts are hard to distinguish from text messages and when they announce the availability of vaccines rather than an impending tornado, are they still emergency alerts?
Internet Ads Are a Popular Tax Target for Both Parties
Digital snooping and pandemic profits have fueled anger against tech giants.
Increasing Number of Americans Believe in Conspiracy Theories
The jump can be attributed to the rise in social media use and the spread of misinformation, like falsehoods about the 2020 election and Covid-19 vaccines, according to an analysis by The Marist Poll.
Gov. Greg Abbott Publicly Slammed Facebook. Privately, He’s Courting the Social Media Giant to Build a Second Data Center in Texas.
The effort comes as Abbott and some Texas legislators are pushing a proposal to punish social media companies for “canceling conservative speech.”
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