Welcome, President Biden. There’s Work to Do.
What’s on President Biden’s to-do list? According to NYT’s Shira Ovide, “the new administration will try to restrain Big Tech, manage China and expand internet access.” In addition to fresh batches of executive orders and a clean slate on Twitter, a refreshed White House website aims for inclusivity and accessibility (Business Insider/NPR).
In case the new administration needs help with its ambitious Covid strategy, Amazon offered to help with Covid-19 vaccine distribution (The Hill/NBC News). “We are prepared to leverage our operations, IT, & communications capabilities and expertise to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts,” wrote Dave Clark, the CEO of Amazon’s consumer business, to Biden administration officials.
Social Media Bans, Cont.
Facebook just announced that it’s Oversight Board will review the decision to suspend Trump’s account indefinitely (TechCrunch). But it’s not just Trump that’s been shut down on social. Reuters reports that now Twitter has locked the account of China’s U.S. embassy over its defense of Xinjiang policy. And as Michael Luca points out in WIRED, Social Media Bans Are Really, Actually, Shockingly Common. Scott Galloway thinks 2021 will be a year of reckoning for Big Tech (Fast Company).
If you missed our discussion last week with three top tech authors on where big tech goes from here, you can watch the full session now.
Fall Out from the Insurrection
After the successful inauguration of President Biden, some QAnon followers lost hope (NBC News): “QAnon adherents called it ‘the storm.’ At midday on Wednesday, there were supposed to be blackouts across the US, military tribunals led by Donald Trump, and the mass execution of Democrats in the streets.” Now they’re in crisis and even the Proud Boys are mocking Trump (ArsTechnica/NYT).
Tragically and predictably, the Capitol riot was a Covid superspreader event and ripples could be spreading across the country (The Verge). Plus, a website called Faces of the Riot published every face from Parler’s Capitol riot videos (WIRED).
