Reports

July 14, 2020

CfA Calls on Pennsylvania Officials to Terminate Contract with Anti-Abortion Group For Wasting Millions of Taxpayer Dollars, Violating Pennsylvania Law

CfA called on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and Secretary of Human Services Teresa Miller to investigate and terminate the state’s contract with Real Alternatives (RA), a non-profit organization that receives state funding to run Pennsylvania’s Alternative to Abortion Services Program (AASP). The letter details the ways RA has failed to fulfill its duty to Pennsylvania families to provide adequate pregnancy and parenting services, while simultaneously inappropriately skimming money intended for service providers, and misappropriating public funding earmarked for certain operational expenses.

July 9, 2020

Google Air: TTP Series Tracks Google’s Lobbying and Environmental Impact Through Its Private Fleet of Planes

TTP released the first in a series of reports outlining how Google’s parent company, Alphabet, uses a sprawling fleet of private aircraft to traverse the globe, despite the company’s public pledges to fight climate change. According to TTP’s investigation, Google’s collection of aircraft has included 10 Gulfstream jets, two Boeing airliners and a military-style German fighter jet.

June 29, 2020

TTP Investigation: Google Pushing Scam Ads on Americans Searching for How to Vote

TTP released a new report revealing that Google is allowing scammers to prey on Americans seeking information about how to vote in the upcoming election, despite the company’s claims that it is making efforts to provide voters with “authoritative and objective information.” TTP found that search terms like “register to vote,” “vote by mail,” and “where is my polling place” generated ads linking to websites that charge bogus fees for voter registration, harvest user data, or plant unwanted software on people’s browsers.

June 16, 2020

TTP Investigation: Google is Running Scam Ads When Americans Search for Information on Stimulus Checks

TTP released a report revealing that Google is showing exploitative ads to users searching for information about coronavirus stimulus checks. As of mid-May, millions of Americans had not received their stimulus money, and many searched Google for answers using phrases like “where is my stimulus check.” But TTP’s investigation found dozens of examples in which Google served questionable ads on such searches from websites that seek to harvest people’s personal and financial data, charge bogus fees, or plant unwanted software into their browsers.

June 1, 2020

TTP Investigation Reveals Google is Profiting from Websites Disseminating Coronavirus Misinformation

TTP released a new report revealing that Google is profiting from Covid-19 misinformation by allowing websites that peddle hoaxes about the virus to use its advertising tools. The TTP investigation identified 97 misinformation websites that use Google’s AdSense or DoubleClick and feature ads for brands and organizations including Geico, Subaru, Salesforce, the AARP, and the Donald Trump re-election campaign.

May 27, 2020

TTP Investigation Reveals Facebook’s Extensive Effort to Influence State Attorneys General

TTP examined hundreds of emails between Facebook and state officials obtained through public records requests. The emails detail Facebook’s extensive charm offensive, which included inviting AGs to private meetings with company executives, filming public service announcements for them, and providing free advertising credits. Facebook also has contributed a total of nearly $900,000 to individual attorney general campaigns and national AG associations in the past decade.

May 21, 2020

TTP Investigation: Facebook is Helping White Supremacists Organize and Spread Hate Online

TTP released a new report revealing how more than 100 white supremacist groups maintain an active presence on Facebook despite the company’s policy banning hate groups. TTP searched Facebook for 221 white supremacist groups identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and found that more than half have a presence on Facebook. In some cases, Facebook’s algorithms automatically generated pages for the white supremacist groups.

May 6, 2020

TTP Investigation: Facebook is Allowing Sales of Wildlife Linked to Coronavirus

The Tech Transparency Project released a new report revealing that pangolins, one of the world’s most trafficked mammals, are being openly sold on Facebook. Recently, pangolins have emerged as a possible conduit in the transmission of Covid-19 to humans, making the trade even more alarming. Despite Facebook’s policy banning the sale of endangered and other animals or their parts, the TTP investigation found pangolin trafficking is taking place in plain sight on the platform.

April 22, 2020

TTP Report Shows Vast Network of Right-Wing Extremists Use Private Facebook Groups to Organize for Imminent Civil War

The review by TTP found 125 Facebook groups devoted to the “boogaloo,” the term that far-right extremists use to describe a coming civil war. The number and overall membership of these public and private groups has been growing quickly during the coronavirus, and Facebook has failed to remove them despite the violent rhetoric used by “boogaloo” supporters.

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