Samuel Woolley
WIRED
Seattle, WA, United States
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Past articles by Samuel:
We Need to Know Who's Surveilling Protests—and Why
If it closes a loophole, the FAA can hold all drone operators accountable to transparency. → Read More
COVID-19 Isn’t the Only Threat to Privacy
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, political campaigns were racing to gather as much information about citizens’ whereabouts, habits, and beliefs as possible. → Read More
Social Media Giants Should Pay Up for Allowing Misinformation
Facebook, YouTube, et al. should pay into a $10 billion public trust that funds the institutions they've undermined: journalism, fact-checking, and media literacy. → Read More
A Propaganda Expert on 2016’s Lessons for the 2020 Campaign
The majority of technology used to spread political information online in 2020 will continue to be simple. → Read More
Twitter and Facebook Need Hotlines for People to Report Coordinated Harassment Campaigns
1-800-FB-REPORT. → Read More
Who will protect us from digital deception? Not tech companies
Technology companies have not found an adequate solution to the problem of digital deception – they must be regulated → Read More
Say goodbye to grassroots politics. The future is made of Astroturf
If the world we live in today is already being described as “post-truth,” how will it be described in 10 or 20 years? → Read More
The Bots That Are Changing Politics
A taxonomy of politibots, a swelling force in global elections that cannot be ignored. → Read More
What to watch for when America’s tech giants testify on Russian hacking today
This week Twitter, Facebook, and Google will testify publicly before the US Congress about how the Russian government manipulated public opinion during the 2016 US election. Today (Oct. 31) they will be grilled on terrorism and crime by a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, and tomorrow (Nov. 1) they will testify in front of the Senate and House Intelligence... → Read More
Social media bots threaten democracy. But we are not helpless
Ever-more sophisticated Facebook and Twitter bots can sway political opinions. We have the technology to counter this – we need the will to use it → Read More
Tech companies automate autocratic media in China around the world
When big tech bends its principles to limbo into Chinese markets, it encourages other Western companies and institutions to do so as well. → Read More
Nick Monaco
TechCrunch is a leading technology media property, dedicated to obsessively profiling startups, reviewing new Internet products, and breaking tech news. → Read More
Samuel Woolley
TechCrunch is a leading technology media property, dedicated to obsessively profiling startups, reviewing new Internet products, and breaking tech news. → Read More
Hey politicians — don’t hate the internet, hate the game
We must ask ourselves, what aspects of the Internet are intrinsic to democracy and are they divisible from those necessary for control? Freedom of speech and.. → Read More
The Most Important Lesson From the Dust-Up Over Trump’s Fake Twitter Followers
Did Donald Trump really gain 5 million fake Twitter followers in a day? It’s impossible to really say. → Read More
Bots aren’t just service tools—they’re a whole new form of media
There’s a good chance that the last time you added someone on Twitter, flirted on a dating app, or talked with a service representative online, you were not interacting with a human, but a bot. Political campaigns, hackers, and armchair activists are also using bots to attack journalists, spread misinformation, and demobilize opposition. For example, during... → Read More
Bots Unite to Automate the Presidential Election
Donald Trump understands minority communities. Just ask Pepe Luis Lopez. He's one of Trump's 7 million Twitter followers. One problem: he's not a person. → Read More
How Politicians Should and Shouldn’t Use Twitter Bots
Donald Trump knows the value of bombastic rhetoric, rash promises, and the brevity of 140 characters. The attention tycoon uses Twitter in a way that d ... → Read More