Happy Tuesday! Here’s Tech Drop, my weekly roundup of the past week’s top stories at the intersection of technology and politics.
Trump memes are causing a rift in the MAGA world
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts aren’t happy about Donald and Melania Trump’s new “cryptocurrencies” — essentially glorified trading cards. Cryptocurrencies seem like an ideal way for anyone, including foreign governments, to transfer money to the Trump family. This is one of the reasons that prompted some experts to launch these projects Within days of Trump’s inauguration – Are mature for blatant corruption.
Even some of Trump’s biggest fans are bemoaning the move. The Wall Street Journal Published an article This quotes Trump-supporting crypto bros who worry the move will delegitimize the industry. On Monday, the Rev. Lorenzo Sewell, the pastor who gave the blessing when Trump was sworn in, announced that he had also launched a meme coin. Probably doesn’t help with this whole legal thing.
Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
TikTok’s legal quandary
Trump’s executive order requiring the postponement of the TikTok ban, which was set to take effect in the US this week, appears to have saved the app for now. At least, that’s what Trump and the app owners want us to think.
But Business Insider published an article that raises questions about Trump’s authority to single-handedly repeal the law, which received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress and was unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court.
Read more at Business insider.
Scary “monitoring prices.”
In one of its final acts during the Biden administration, the Federal Trade Commission and its then-chair, Lina Khan, unveiled the preliminary results of the agency’s “surveillance pricing” market study. The report shows how companies can manipulate pricing based on personal data. According to the FTC, “Details such as a person’s precise location or browser history can be used repeatedly to target individual consumers at different prices for the same goods and services.”
Read more at Federal Trade Commission.
Kristi Noem regarding misinformation plans
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who was nominated by Trump to lead the Department of Homeland Security, says she wants to halt the department’s efforts to combat disinformation campaigns by foreign actors targeting Americans, saying she wants to leave Americans vulnerable to manipulation.
Read more on the ReidOut blog.
Biden’s FCC Chairman warns against Trump
On her way out the door, outgoing FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel warned of Trump’s efforts to suppress free speech and press freedoms. I wrote in a post last week about the statement I issued while dismissing multiple complaints from activist groups seeking to punish media outlets for coverage they didn’t like.
Rosenworcel compared Trump’s attacks on the First Amendment to actions taken by Presidents Richard Nixon and John Adams, and also cited his push to “revoke the licenses of broadcast television stations because he disagreed with their content and coverage” — noting that the FCC “has a duty to respect the Constitution.”
Read more on the ReidOut blog.
VIPs mock Sewell’s remarks
The priest in question, Sewell, has been criticized – Including from MSNBC’s Joy Reid — for his opening blessing, which borrowed from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and relied on what seemed like the influence of an exaggerated black preacher. One thing I noticed? Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick apparently found the performance very funny as they watched and laughed in the background.
To me, the sight of MAGA-aligned elites laughing during a King-inspired performance on MLK Day – embodies some of the disrespect black people have come to expect from Trump and his movement.
