Tech Transparency Project
@ttp-updates.bsky.social
The Tech Transparency Project is a research initiative of Campaign for Accountability that investigates the power, influence, & impact of Big Tech. https://www.techtransparencyproject.org
It’s unclear if Meta considers the US one of those countries, but lawmakers are starting to take notice. Last month, two bipartisan members of Congress wrote Mark Zuckerberg demanding answers around TTP’s findings. debbiedingell.house.gov/uploadedfile...
debbiedingell.house.gov
November 7, 2025 at 8:32 PM
It’s unclear if Meta considers the US one of those countries, but lawmakers are starting to take notice. Last month, two bipartisan members of Congress wrote Mark Zuckerberg demanding answers around TTP’s findings. debbiedingell.house.gov/uploadedfile...
According to documents reviewed by Reuters, Meta considered focusing its scam reduction efforts “on countries where it feared near-term regulatory action”—suggesting self-interest may be a stronger motivator than concern for its users.
November 7, 2025 at 8:32 PM
According to documents reviewed by Reuters, Meta considered focusing its scam reduction efforts “on countries where it feared near-term regulatory action”—suggesting self-interest may be a stronger motivator than concern for its users.
There's also an open question as to whether enforcement actions Meta takes on scammers are permanent.
TTP identified a number of “disabled” advertisers who appeared to have successfully paid Meta to run new ads months after previous ones were flagged for violating Meta policy.
TTP identified a number of “disabled” advertisers who appeared to have successfully paid Meta to run new ads months after previous ones were flagged for violating Meta policy.
November 7, 2025 at 8:32 PM
There's also an open question as to whether enforcement actions Meta takes on scammers are permanent.
TTP identified a number of “disabled” advertisers who appeared to have successfully paid Meta to run new ads months after previous ones were flagged for violating Meta policy.
TTP identified a number of “disabled” advertisers who appeared to have successfully paid Meta to run new ads months after previous ones were flagged for violating Meta policy.
Although the Reuters analysis shows a company seemingly aware of the severity of its scam problem, many of the ads identified in TTP’s report were part of a network Meta was made aware of a year ago by TTP and @propublica.org. www.propublica.org/article/face...
Exploiting Meta’s Weaknesses, Deceptive Political Ads Thrived on Facebook and Instagram in Run-Up to Election
Despite Meta's stated commitment to crack down on harmful content, it failed to catch tens of thousands of ads that used false claims and deepfakes of political figures to collect users’ sensitive per...
www.propublica.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Although the Reuters analysis shows a company seemingly aware of the severity of its scam problem, many of the ads identified in TTP’s report were part of a network Meta was made aware of a year ago by TTP and @propublica.org. www.propublica.org/article/face...
Many of the scammers that TTP found—with names like “Medicare Health Benefits USA” and “Senior Health Daily USA"—explicitly target seniors. One ad claimed Trump was giving Medicare recipients a “new spending card,” and led users to call a phone number—a common scam tactic. x.com/i/status/197...
Tech Transparency Project on X: "@propublica @RepAOC @SenWarren Others explicitly targeted seniors. One featured an image of Trump and a voiceover, claiming his “first divine act” as president was giving Medicare recipients a “new spending card.” The ad eventually led users to call a phone number—a common tactic employed by Medicare scammers. https://t.co/pzZBEafy8e" / X
@propublica @RepAOC @SenWarren Others explicitly targeted seniors. One featured an image of Trump and a voiceover, claiming his “first divine act” as president was giving Medicare recipients a “new spending card.” The ad eventually led users to call a phone number—a common tactic employed by Medicare scammers. https://t.co/pzZBEafy8e
x.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Many of the scammers that TTP found—with names like “Medicare Health Benefits USA” and “Senior Health Daily USA"—explicitly target seniors. One ad claimed Trump was giving Medicare recipients a “new spending card,” and led users to call a phone number—a common scam tactic. x.com/i/status/197...
These strategies help Meta build a counter-narrative to the idea that its platforms are harming young users—and fend off attempts to regulate its platforms.
Read TTP's full report here: www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/ins...
Read TTP's full report here: www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/ins...
TTP - Inside Meta’s Spin Machine on Kids and Social Media
As Meta comes under growing pressure over its impact on teens, it’s using a range of tactics to move the public narrative in a friendlier direction.
www.techtransparencyproject.org
August 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
These strategies help Meta build a counter-narrative to the idea that its platforms are harming young users—and fend off attempts to regulate its platforms.
Read TTP's full report here: www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/ins...
Read TTP's full report here: www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/ins...
Meta has also funded academic research that fosters a more benign view of IG. The topics of study include tech-driven mental health interventions, how social media platforms can enable women entrepreneurs, and the role of Instagram communities in promoting daily fitness activity.
August 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Meta has also funded academic research that fosters a more benign view of IG. The topics of study include tech-driven mental health interventions, how social media platforms can enable women entrepreneurs, and the role of Instagram communities in promoting daily fitness activity.
Meta has at times framed these “labs” as a separate organization to regulators and others, leaving the impression that an independent entity has signed off on its products.
August 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Meta has at times framed these “labs” as a separate organization to regulators and others, leaving the impression that an independent entity has signed off on its products.
Meta also created a unit called the Trust, Transparency and Control Labs that publishes reports about research and consultations that went into its kid-focused efforts, including IG Teen Accounts, the Messenger Kids app, and the opening of the Horizon Worlds metaverse to teens.
August 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Meta also created a unit called the Trust, Transparency and Control Labs that publishes reports about research and consultations that went into its kid-focused efforts, including IG Teen Accounts, the Messenger Kids app, and the opening of the Horizon Worlds metaverse to teens.
The National PTA—one of several parent and child safety groups Meta funds—took part in the rollout of Instagram Teen Accounts, collaborated with Meta on a parent’s guide to IG, and held a series of Meta-sponsored events across the country to promote the IG teen features.
August 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
The National PTA—one of several parent and child safety groups Meta funds—took part in the rollout of Instagram Teen Accounts, collaborated with Meta on a parent’s guide to IG, and held a series of Meta-sponsored events across the country to promote the IG teen features.
The tactics include cultivating a network of paid child advocacy groups that go to bat for Meta in PR campaigns, using a social research “lab” to publish reports in support of its kid-focused products, and funding academic research highlighting positive use cases for Instagram.
August 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
The tactics include cultivating a network of paid child advocacy groups that go to bat for Meta in PR campaigns, using a social research “lab” to publish reports in support of its kid-focused products, and funding academic research highlighting positive use cases for Instagram.
“On the face of it, it’s wrong,” William Luneburg Jr., a University of Pittsburgh law professor who co-edited a comprehensive lobbying manual published by the American Bar Association told @bloomberg.com. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Google Finds Workaround for Lobbying Rules That Omits Big Bosses
It was the end of 2018, and Google’s leaders were tired of being Number One.
www.bloomberg.com
August 14, 2025 at 2:35 PM
“On the face of it, it’s wrong,” William Luneburg Jr., a University of Pittsburgh law professor who co-edited a comprehensive lobbying manual published by the American Bar Association told @bloomberg.com. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Google said the decrease in its lobbying numbers was due to multiple reasons, including a restructuring of the company’s government affairs operation and the pandemic. It said the subsidiary “aligns with how other companies report and fully complies with disclosure laws.”
August 14, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Google said the decrease in its lobbying numbers was due to multiple reasons, including a restructuring of the company’s government affairs operation and the pandemic. It said the subsidiary “aligns with how other companies report and fully complies with disclosure laws.”
Under the new model, Google’s reported lobbying expenses fell by millions of dollars, and it dropped out of the top 20 corporate lobbying spenders for the first time in nearly a decade. www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/goo...
TTP - Google ‘Shell Game’ Shields Executive Lobbying from Public View
Google once ranked as the country’s top corporate spender on lobbying, but then its numbers dropped sharply. A little-known legal strategy played a role.
www.techtransparencyproject.org
August 14, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Under the new model, Google’s reported lobbying expenses fell by millions of dollars, and it dropped out of the top 20 corporate lobbying spenders for the first time in nearly a decade. www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/goo...
Now that Google’s parent company had no in-house lobbyists, the company reasoned, it no longer had to register at all, according to current and former employees. And, because Google’s execs didn’t technically work for the subsidiary, they wouldn’t have to disclose the cost of their lobbying, either.
August 14, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Now that Google’s parent company had no in-house lobbyists, the company reasoned, it no longer had to register at all, according to current and former employees. And, because Google’s execs didn’t technically work for the subsidiary, they wouldn’t have to disclose the cost of their lobbying, either.
For most of its existence, Google included the value of any lobbying by its senior execs in its disclosures, as most companies do. In early 2020, however, Google quietly moved its in-house lobbyists into a new subsidiary, Google Client Services LLC. www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/goo...
TTP - Google ‘Shell Game’ Shields Executive Lobbying from Public View
Google once ranked as the country’s top corporate spender on lobbying, but then its numbers dropped sharply. A little-known legal strategy played a role.
www.techtransparencyproject.org
August 14, 2025 at 2:35 PM
For most of its existence, Google included the value of any lobbying by its senior execs in its disclosures, as most companies do. In early 2020, however, Google quietly moved its in-house lobbyists into a new subsidiary, Google Client Services LLC. www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/goo...
Now, Texas regulators are engaged in an implementation process with the public and industry stakeholders to determine exactly how and when these emergency shutoffs will occur—and other states are watching.
August 13, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Now, Texas regulators are engaged in an implementation process with the public and industry stakeholders to determine exactly how and when these emergency shutoffs will occur—and other states are watching.
While the bill was still under consideration, the VP of state policy for the industry group Data Center Coalition warned of the “significant consequences” of even a “momentary interruption” to data centers. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Memories of deadly winter blackouts haunt the Texas data center boom
A newly passed law in Texas requires emergency shutoff switches for data centers, including the massive $500 billion AI supercomputer backed by President Trump.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:56 PM
While the bill was still under consideration, the VP of state policy for the industry group Data Center Coalition warned of the “significant consequences” of even a “momentary interruption” to data centers. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
This prediction appeared to light a fire under many Texas lawmakers, who earlier this year passed a bill that would require data centers be built with shutoff switches that grid operators can control remotely during an emergency. insider.govtech.com/texas/news/e...
ERCOT ‘Kill Switch’ for Data Centers Passes in Texas House
The bill would also allow ERCOT, which oversees the Texas power grid, to make more accurate demand projections.
insider.govtech.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:56 PM
This prediction appeared to light a fire under many Texas lawmakers, who earlier this year passed a bill that would require data centers be built with shutoff switches that grid operators can control remotely during an emergency. insider.govtech.com/texas/news/e...
In the three years since TTP published that report, a number of AI data centers have joined the crypto miners in calling the Texas grid their home. The state’s energy authority now expects grid capacity to double by 2030. www.texastribune.org/2024/06/20/t...
Texas electricity demand could nearly double in six years, grid operator predicts
The prediction by ERCOT reflects a new way of counting future demand and a spike in requests to connect to the grid from large power users.
www.texastribune.org
August 13, 2025 at 4:56 PM
In the three years since TTP published that report, a number of AI data centers have joined the crypto miners in calling the Texas grid their home. The state’s energy authority now expects grid capacity to double by 2030. www.texastribune.org/2024/06/20/t...
A 2022 TTP report detailed how Texas crypto miners were cashing in on deals that allowed them to resell power (they bought at hugely discounted rates) back to the grid at a massive markup in times of crisis -- leaving Texas ratepayers to foot the bill. www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/cry...
TTP - Cryptocurrency Miners' Sweetheart Deal with Texas Threatens an Already Fragile Grid
Miners Say: “Trust Us.”
www.techtransparencyproject.org
August 13, 2025 at 4:56 PM
A 2022 TTP report detailed how Texas crypto miners were cashing in on deals that allowed them to resell power (they bought at hugely discounted rates) back to the grid at a massive markup in times of crisis -- leaving Texas ratepayers to foot the bill. www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/cry...