Author:Logan Sweeney
How Will Stronger Internet Privacy and Election Laws Impact Facebook?
During his election campaign, President Trump hired Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm, to gain access to the private data of more than 50 million Facebook users. The data included users’ personal identities, friend networks, and “likes.” The election campaign and Cambridge Analytica team used users’ data to target political and digital ads, increase online fundraising, and reach out to and sway undecided voters.
In 2019, following intense public criticism and accusations of political bias and censorship, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, began advocating for the regulation of four areas: harmful content, election integrity, privacy, and data portability. However, no legislation has been passed, no regulation has been implemented, and Zuckerberg has not offered support for any proposals. A blank promise with no action. Congress needs to work with countries around the globe in order to regulate Facebook as a public utility and ensure that hate speech and incitements of violence are not tolerated.
Voting in the 2020 Election
Most United States citizens have certain expectations when they go to their polling station; voters expect to stand in a line, to be handed a ballot by an official, or to vote on a touch screen system. Yet, amid COVID-19, for many Americans, going to a polling station presents too many opportunities for the transmission of the virus. As a result of the danger of voting in-person and the desire to vote by mail, it is projected that the United States Postal Services (hereinafter “USPS”) will deliver an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots.