Davey Alba
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davey.bsky.social
Davey Alba
@davey.bsky.social
14K followers 1.2K following 230 posts
Bloomberg tech reporter / Google, Big Tech, misinfo / https://daveyalba.com / ask for my Signal
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davey.bsky.social
also liked the interview with the kid tbh! that one was good, what a fun assignment
October 16, 2025 at 4:54 PM
davey.bsky.social
Cybertrucks: Creating Divorced Men Since 2023
October 16, 2025 at 4:54 PM
davey.bsky.social
As a personal aside, even though this story was sobering to work on, it was cool teaming up with my former colleagues from BuzzFeed News (RIP). Hoping for more collabs with @zhirji.bsky.social @jasonleopold.bsky.social in the near future 🤍
September 18, 2025 at 1:38 PM
davey.bsky.social
In @melissaryan.bsky.social's view, this political climate—in which public officials who try to provide transparency are politicized and attacked—is an even bigger obstacle than budget cuts in the fight against false claims.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Trump’s team has already overseen a massive scale back of FEMA’s staffing, funding and programming. As part of a review of contracts, FEMA ended its agreement with ZeroFox, according to a former official familiar with the situation. A FEMA spokesperson confirmed that it ended the ZeroFox contract in April. For Melissa Ryan, founder of Card Strategies, a consulting firm that researches disinformation, the current political climate — in which public officials who attempt to provide transparency are often politicized and attacked — is a bigger obstacle than budget cuts in the fight against false claims. “So many of the new government appointees are Trump loyalists, and attempting to actually respond effectively to disinformation would make whoever made the attempt a target for MAGA and the administration,” she said.
September 18, 2025 at 1:35 PM
davey.bsky.social
FEMA even hired cybersecurity firm ZeroFox to take down misinfo on social media, but the effort was cut short. House Republicans, led by Jim Jordan, were investigating tech companies for alleged censorship; after internal discussions, FEMA quickly ended all social media content removal requests
Afterwards, FEMA put together a Workplace Protection Task Force involving security, intelligence and communications professionals to manage incoming threats. Protective measures included using specialized software to flag personnel previously targeted online as at risk of more harassment. But there were limits to how far the government could influence content moderation. At the time, outspoken Republicans led by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan were investigating tech companies, alleging that the platforms were censoring conservative viewpoints under federal government pressure. After initially approving ZeroFox to assist with facilitating takedowns, FEMA later asked that the company end all social media content removal requests. Per internal documents, the move came after staff discussions that it wasn’t advisable for the agency to contract for services that took any action beyond passive threat monitoring. ZeroFox declined to comment.
September 18, 2025 at 1:24 PM
davey.bsky.social
The new docs on hurricanes Helene and Milton reveal unreported details, including the doxxing of at least 7 senior FEMA staffers. The records also highlight how misinformation remains a major threat to the agency amid recent cuts to its staff and funding

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Chaos Inside FEMA as Death Threats Distract From Hurricane Response
Internal documents show how online conspiracies and personal attacks disrupted FEMA during back-to-back hurricanes last year.
www.bloomberg.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:16 PM
davey.bsky.social
As Mitch Stoltz of @eff.org told me, in the history of antitrust rulings over the past few decades, Mehta’s order on remedies could prove to have an even more minor impact than when Microsoft lost its antitrust case a quarter-century ago.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
In the history of antitrust rulings over the past few decades, Mehta’s order on remedies could prove to have an even more minor impact than when Microsoft Corp. lost its antitrust case a quarter-century ago, said Mitch Stoltz, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who focuses on antitrust issues. “Even though the court didn’t order a breakup of the company following the appeals, I think the case overall had a really significant effect on Microsoft’s conduct,” he said. Some of the conduct remedies that were imposed on Microsoft ironically kept it from hobbling a younger Google 25 years ago, Stoltz argued. “This ruling, I think, is going to be less consequential than that,” he said. “I don’t think it will change Google’s corporate culture.”
September 3, 2025 at 9:48 PM
davey.bsky.social
Even the data-sharing idea was defanged to the point that it is unlikely to meaningfully help competitors, critics said. The details of the court order show how Mehta severely narrowed data-sharing remedies. Google will only have to share a one-time snapshot of its search data with some competitors.
Even the data-sharing idea was defanged to the point that it is unlikely to meaningfully help competitors, critics said. “A snapshot of Google’s search index and some query data will be helpful for competitors, including OpenAI, by giving them data that will improve their results,” said Yory Wurmser, an analyst with Emarketer. But Google hasn’t been compelled to reveal its more sensitive website and personal data that lets it provide tailored responses and run its massive advertising business. “So, it could give smaller competitors a needed boost, but it probably won’t undermine Google too much.” Data-sharing The details of the court order show how Mehta severely narrowed the idea of data-sharing to help competitors. Mehta denied the government’s request to compel Google to share its Knowledge Graph, a database that links people, places, and things to provide accurate search results. He also rejected the DOJ’s request for access to a wide range of data used for ad targeting, bidding and auction models. And while Google does have to share click-and-query data — the raw user data it collects after someone types something into a search bar and decides which results are helpful — the court said that it would cap the number of times the search giant had to disclose the information. Under the ruling, Google also doesn’t have to share key ranking signals in its search index, including those related to popularity, quality and authoritativeness. Instead of a periodic disclosure of search index data to competitors, Mehta simply ordered a one-time snapshot that must be provided to each qualified Google competitor. He rejected the request for data used to train Google’s generative AI models, finding that the AI market was highly competitive and “the evidence did not show…that Google’s GenAI product responses are superior to other GenAI offerings.”
September 3, 2025 at 9:46 PM