How trolls, lawsuits and layoffs led to a trust and safety winter for misinformation ahead of election
Summary
Now, Jankowiczs life is filled with government inquiries, lawsuits and a barrage of harassment, all the result of an extreme level of hostility directed at people whose mission is to safeguard the internet, particularly ahead of presidential elections. In prior election cycles, researchers like Jankowicz were heralded by lawmakers and company executives for their work exposing Russian propaganda campaigns, Covid conspiracies and false voter fraud accusations. Google last month laid off several employees, including a director, in its trust and safety research unit just days before some of them were scheduled to speak at or attend the Stanford event, according to sources close to the layoffs who asked not to be named. Jankowicz was then subpoenaed as a part of an investigation by a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee intended to discover whether the federal government was colluding with researchers to "censor" Americans and conservative viewpoints on social media. Then theres House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who continues investigating alleged collusion between large advertisers and the nonprofit Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), which was created in 2019 in part to help brands avoid having their promotions show up alongside content they deem harmful.