Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, my curated list of the past week’s top stories from the intersection of tech and politics.
DOJ memory-holes Jan. 6
Trump’s Justice Department is working to wipe away publicly available evidence of Jan. 6 insurrectionists’ crimes, removing a searchable database from its website that allowed the public to obtain information about the charges filed and the convictions secured.
Read more at CNN.
Trump’s social media ignorance
Last week, President Donald Trump downplayed the security risks of China overseeing TikTok’s operation, saying China has “bigger problems” than spying on children’s social media habits. I explained why this armchair assessment is wrongheaded, and the security threats Trump’s administration has already left Americans vulnerable to through its actions just one week into his term.
Read more at The ReidOut Blog.
Meta moves on TikTok stars
Tech outlet The Information dropped a report on Instagram’s attempt to take advantage of rival social media app TikTok’s unstable legal footing. According to the report, Instagram representatives have been courting popular TikTok influencers to make content on the Meta-operated platform instead. This wouldn’t be the first time Meta has worked behind the scenes to undercut TikTok.
Read more at The Information.
Trump taps far-right activist to head global media agency
Trump selected right-wing activist Brent Bozell, whose son was convicted of assaulting police during the Jan. 6 insurrection attempt, to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media. The agency oversees state-sponsored media operations worldwide, including Voice of America.
Bozell currently leads an organization called the Media Research Center, which might best be described as a right-wing version of Media Matters for America. Bozell garnered attention in the 1990s via his previous organization, the Parents Television Council, which tried to censor World Wrestling Federation programming. If confirmed, Bozell could end up working alongside Kari Lake, whom Trump nominated to head Voice of America.
Read more at NBC News.
DeepSeek has American investors in shambles
American technology companies are in a tizzy this week over the success of Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek, in spite of U.S. export controls on China that sought to prevent the country from amassing the high-tech computer chips needed to build such tools. Stock in American AI companies tumbled Monday following DeepSeek’s release of a new AI model that appears to have surpassed the capabilities of ChatGPT at only a fraction of the cost.
Read more about DeepSeek’s technology and why American investors are “freaking out” about it at The Verge.
Google Maps leaps into the gulf
Google Maps is changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” for users in the U.S. to align with Trump’s executive order renaming the gulf. The app will also change the name of Alaskan mountain Denali to a previous name, Mount McKinley, to comply with Trump’s executive order. Denali, for the record, is the name the mountain was given by Native people, which was changed when a prospector arrived one day and named it after then-President William McKinley, who’s been denounced as a colonizer and oppressor of tribal communities. President Barack Obama changed the official name of the mountain to Denali in 2015 out of respect for these communities.
Read my MSNBC colleague Clarissa-Jan Lim’s report on Google’s decision here.
Podcast problems
To see how online spaces are shaping young men’s views on politics, Bloomberg analyzed more than 1,000 hours of YouTube videos from popular streamers and podcasters who cater to men. The report is a helpful tool for anyone trying to understand how podcasts have been and can be used to propagandize young men with right-wing ideas.
Read Bloomberg’s analysis here (sign-in required).
Gates goes at Musk
Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates called right-wing billionaire Elon Musk’s attempts to meddle in European politics, which include an alliance with the pro-Nazi AfD party in Germany, “insane s—” and “populist stirring” during a recent sit-down with The Times of the U.K. It’s hard to disagree with him there.
Read The Times’ lengthy interview with Gates here.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.