Interview with Reason's "Just Asking Questions" Podcast: On the Confrontation Between the U.S. and Europe
Joining Liz Wolfe and Zach Weissmuller to discuss the progression of the disagreement between America and its European allies on speech and surveillance
This podcast interview with Liz and Zach from Reason’s “Just Asking Questions” podcast was far-reaching, interesting, and a challenge. To visit the site, and see show notes, click here.
I wanted to include a few additional links to documents surrounding an incident mentioned at the eight minute mark. These include the December 17, 2018 Senate-commissioned report, “The Tactics and Tropes of the Internet Research Agency,” by New Knowledge, which cited the oft-repeated statistic that 126 million people saw Russian posts* in 2016, although the report hastened to point out that this number was “likely lower than it should be” and was used as a source for a much larger number of 263.7 million “engagements.” Examples of credulous coverage: Washington Post, Washington Post (again), NPR, Axios, CNN, New York Times, Vox, Slate, Business Insider, etc.
Days later, New Knowledge and its chief Jonathon Morgan were outed in the “Project Alabama” scheme, involving spoofing of Russian influence. Stories included Secret Experiment in Alabama Imitated Russian Tactics, New York Times, December 19, 2018, and Researcher whose firm wrote report on Russian interference used questionable online tactics during Ala. Senate race, Washington Post, December 18, 2018.
*An earlier version of this article said New Knowledge report “provided” the 126 million number, which to some might suggest it was the first source, though Facebook came up with the estimate earlier. New Knowledge simply repeated the statistic to the Senate and suggested even that number underestimated Russian influence, in a very frequently quoted report the Washington Post called “the first to analyze the millions of posts provided by major firms to the Senate Intelligence Committee.” Apologies for the confusion.
Listened to it this am. A great conversation. The Reason folks frustrate me for some reason. I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's the whole libertarian problem of vague but smug complaint with no doable suggested course of action. I love your visible focus on the massive problem with search, preserving source docs, etc. Steve Bannon said something straightforward but eyeopening on this the other day: that the faustian bargain between the government and the tech lords (exactly the same bargain between the government and the Wall Street/ Hank Paulson thieves that you've documented at length) protected the tech titans from competition, and their products all suck beyond suckage as a consequence. Google & co. need to broken up just as the government institutions, IC, MIC, big-pharma and the rest do.
Good stuff, Matt! Thank you! Took a break at 46:00 minutes in - Wow! The Scandal of the Century, maybe? Wow! - The US intelligence apparatus builds speech control mechanisms for the EU that violate The Constitution, then use the EU laws in the US as an end-around to control online speech.
Maybe they're not as stupid as I thought they were. Maybe they're just clumsy.
At one hour into the interview, when that scary German ghost-woman speaks, I hear the words she says and I can hear myself at one time saying the same thing. I'm embarrassed to hear her say things that I once said. I think she believes what she is saying. At one time not long ago I did too.
Learning is a process. If you're smart, it's a life-long process. I've learned so much over these last few years, and I'm better off. Thank you Matt Taibbi, Zack Weissmueller, Liz Wolfe, and all that dared to defy Orwell's demons.