A review of the tech trends in Q2 + July of 2023

1. Threading it all together – Q2 Tech Trends
Katie Harbath
Founder and CEO
Anchor Change
July 26, 2023

2. Introduction
For a while now, I’ve wanted to start doing a quarterly
report examining trends at the intersection of technology
and democracy and where things might be headed.
This is the second one.
Feedback/Advice is welcome! What did you want to see
more of? Less of? More context? What did I miss?
Katieharbath [at] anchorchange.com

3. Table of Contents
• Summary
• Q2 Overview
• Prediction review
• Themes
• Moments
• Reports, stats, graphs
• Tech company announcements
• Around the world
• Look ahead - what to watch for
• What aren’t people talking about that they should?
• What this means for you
• Upcoming events
• 2023/2024 election maps

4. Summary
• AI and Twitter/Twitter clones continue
to dominate the tech conversation.
Many worry about what the impact will
be on democracy.
• The U.S. courts continue to play an
increasing role in tech policy. Expect
rulings in the middle of the 2024
elections.
• The conversation around TikTok has
faded, but bans are being challenged in
court.
• Another phase in the 2024 U.S. election
kicks off with the first GOP primary
debate on August 23. Campaigns are
using new digital tactics – including AI.
• 2024 and all of the elections is only 5
months away.
Social media will survive.
Something will come out of this
moment. But a LOT of money is
going to be wasted relearning
the lessons from the last 20
years.
- danah boyd, Dear Alt-Twitter
Designers: It’s about the network!
Source

5. Q2 Overview

6. Prediction Review
Prediction Outcome
Will attempts to ban TikTok remain strong when they come back from
recess or will it fade?
Discussion of TikTok at the federal level has faded and suits have been filed
appealing bans in Texas and Montana.
Subpoenas and hearings around tech and government work on
misinformation will continue.
Representative Jim Jordan continued his investigations on the government's
and big tech's alleged censorship by releasing a report on CISA and asking
Biden’s digital director to be interviewed. Both the Washington Post and
New York Times covered the overall probes and the chilling effect it is
having on the organizations doing work around the information integrity
environment.
Which teams will Meta’s next round of layoffs affect? CNN reports that Meta cut election teams months before Threads launch,
raising concerns for 2024. However, full impact of the layoffs is not yet
known.
How will AI tools continue to improve/be integrated into products? Google removed the waitlist from Bard. Meta launched Llama 2 - billed as
the “biggest launch” since ChatGPT.
Will more governments ban Chat GPT like Italy? Italy has reinstated ChatGPT after OpenAI made the requested changes.
Overall 15 countries have banned the platform.
How fast do people pick up new AI tools? A Morning Consult poll shows consumers are more interested in AI
applications that provide advice or assistance than they are in those that
“replace” people. U.S. adults are most interested in using artificial
intelligence for online search (49%), recipes (48%) and roadside assistance
(48%).
Pew found that a majority of people have heard of ChatGPT but few have
used it.
Which companies take an early lead? Focus continues to be on Google, Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft and Amazon.

7. Themes
• AI’s threat to democracy/AI will save the world - Experts worry that
democracy is not ready for its AI test while Silicon Valley leaders such as
Marc Andreessen and Yann LeCunn say that AI will save the world.
• Chilling effect of court cases/House inquiries - Concerns that pending
court cases and injunctions on government engagement with platforms
as well as continued House inquiries will have a chilling effect on work
around the online information integrity environment.
• Trust and Safety community professionalizes - Over 800 people
attended the second annual TrustCon conference as the Trust and Safety
field continues to expand.
• Platforms evolve - Meta launches Threads which grows to over 100
million users in less than a week. ChatGPT had taken two months and
TikTok nine months to reach that milestone. Twitter rebrands to X.
• Campaigns start to take shape - The U.S. campaign strategies get into
focus. Themes include podcasting, AI generated ads, less digital spending
and influencers. Indian campaigns are embracing influencers too.

8. Moments
April May June
• White House and G7
plans for responsible AI
• OpenAI Congressional
testimony
• Concerns over
democracy and AI
• Thailand and Turkey
elections
• Media changes
• RNC AI-generated ad
• "Censorship-industrial
complex"
• Classified documents on
Discord
• EU categorized VLOP
(Very Large Online
Platform) companies
• YouTube announces
updated election policies
• Reddit blackout
• Modi visits the United
States
• Canada passes
news/social media bill.
Platforms remove news.
• Christie/Pence/Burgum/
Hurd announce candidacy
• EU conducts stress tests
for DSA
July
• Threads launched
• Louisiana judge issues
injunction on govt
engagement with
platforms
• WH signs AI pledge with
platforms
• OpenAI pays for news
• Bluesky username
moderation issues

9. Neely Social Media Index
The USC Marshall’s Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making and the Psychology of Technology
Institute released new indices on social media, AI, and mixed reality. It shows LinkedIn is used by 18 percent of U.S.
adults and is the platform where people have experienced the least negative experiences.

10. Podcasts gain steam
Pew reports that about half of Americans have listened to a podcast in the past year, and most of
those listeners come across news content. A Pew study of 451 of the top-ranked podcasts in the
United States shows a diversity of subjects: No single topic is the main focus of more than a quarter
of these podcasts. Also, a fifth of podcast listeners with a show they listen to most say it's about
politics and government.

11. Where people turn for news and events

12. Tech CEOs visiting Congress sooner
In March TikTok’s CEO testified to Congress and in May OpenAI’s Sam Altman appeared. Anthropic’s CEO
testified in July. The three were amongst the quickest in recent history of a tech CEO appearing after a
platform was created.

13. Tech Company Announcements
This doesn’t cover all companies nor news they have released. Just some key ones to pay attention to for this space.
January
• AWS Announces Generative
AI Innovation Center
• Google's AI Red Team: The
Ethical Hackers Making AI Safer
• Our Commitment to Advancing
Bold and Responsible AI
Together
• Google Licenses Content from
News Publishers under the EU
Copyright Directive
• Supporting the Sustainability of
Local News
• Our Latest Commitments to
Countering Disinformation in
Central and Eastern Europe
• Google News Initiative at the
International Journalism Festival
2023
• New Features Update for
Google Bard
• Introducing Threads, New
App for Text Sharing
• Meta and Microsoft
Introduce the Next
Generation of Llama
• How AI Ranks Content on
Facebook and Instagram
• Generative AI Community
Forum
• AI Massively Multilingual
Speech Technology
• Integrity and Transparency
Reports Q1 2023
• Meta's Adversarial Threat
Report First Quarter 2023
• With Help from Next-
Generation AI, Indian
Villagers Gain Easier Access
to Government Services
• How Do We Best Govern AI?

14. Tech Company Announcements
This doesn’t cover all companies nor news they have released. Just some key ones to pay attention to for this space.
January
• Partnership with American
Journalism Project to Support
Local News
• Insights from Global
Conversations
• New Ways to Manage Your
Data in ChatGPT
• Our Approach to AI Safety
• Snap Research Introduces
New Text-to-Image
Diffusion Model
• SPS 2023: What's Next for
My AI?
• Early Learnings from My AI
and New Safety
Enhancements
• TikTok Truths: A New Series
on Our Privacy and Data
Security Practices
• Expanding TikTok's
Research API and
Commercial Content Library
• Freedom of Speech, Not
Reach - New Updates and
Progress
• An Update on Twitter
Transparency Reporting

15. Stories from around the world
Collection of stories generated by Jiahao Chen with Responsibleai.tech
1. China 🇨🇳: is due to finalize and start enforcing their new regulations on generative AI
2. EU 🇪🇺 : enforcement of the Digital Services Act, requiring risk management plans and algorithmic
audits of designated companies, w.e.f. August 25; also, rulemaking of regulations enforcing the AI
Act has started.
3. India 🇮🇳: is expected to release the draft Digital India Act within the next week, which is
expected to include AI regulation focusing on reducing user harms
4. Indonesia 🇮🇩: is expected to unveil its national AI strategy, Stratnas AI 2045.
5. Japan 🇯🇵: declared it would investigate if copyright laws need to be modernized to handle
training data and outputs of generative AI (note that this has been widely misreported in English
media as declaring that training on copyrighted data is legal)
6. New Zealand 🇳🇿: ’s Privacy Commissioner asserted its authority over generative AI
7. Singapore 🇸🇬: just launched their AI Verify Foundation to implement their proposed model
testing framework
8. UK 🇬🇧: just updated their AI white paper, and wants to host their first global summit on AI safety
this fall
9. NYC 🗽: just started enforcement of LL 144/2021 requiring audits of automated employment
decision tools, w.e.f. July 5
10. US 🇺🇸: Senator Chuck Schumer recently announced his AI regulation strategy, while Senators
Hawley and Blumenthal propose a bill excluding generative AI from Section 230
11. The UN’s 🇺🇳: AI for Good Global Summit happened in Geneva

16. Looking Ahead

17. Looking Ahead
• All the court cases - Between the Supreme Court and others numerous
cases are working their way through the system. These cases will have a
chilling effect in many ways as companies and organizations aren’t sure
what will or won’t be legal.
• First GOP primary debate August 23 - This is the real kick off for the
2024 election. Will Trump show up?
• UK online safety bill - This bill is due to pass before the end of summer.
Will it? Former Meta public policy vice president and member of the Uk
House of Lords Richard Allan has some thoughts on how this might play
out.
• Will Trump return to Twitter - He can now. When will he? His team is
reportedly working on a strategy.
• Zuck vs Musk - From a potential cage match to competitive platforms
and a rumor that Meta owns the trademark for “X” as it relates to “online
social networking services” this might be the real match up for 2024.

18. What stories aren’t people talking about
enough
• The new debate partners - The RNC asked the Ruthless podcast with over
3 million listeners to do a pre-game show ahead of the first debate.
Rumble is the online video partner. How will this impact how people
engage with the debates?
• SCOTUS case on govt use of social media - Amicus briefs were filed in
two cases regarding if government officials can block people from their
social media platforms. SCOTUS will take this up in the Fall and it could
also have an impact on the 2024 race.
• 2024 elections are almost here - If you’ve followed me for even a little
while you know this is a message I’ve been hammering since 2020, but it’s
almost here! Taiwan’s election is in January - ONLY FIVE MONTHS AWAY.
2024 will be here before you know it. Don’t be behind.

19. What this means for you
This hasn’t changed since Q1. J
• Expect a lot of rapid change. Be flexible and adaptable.
• While Congressional legislation seems unlikely keep an eye on
state legislation, court rulings and what is happening in other
places like the European Union.
• Congressional hearings will continue focusing on organizations
and government agencies who work on misinformation. If this is
you, and haven’t been targeted yet, start risk planning for how
you could get dragged into the story.
• If you do digital strategy think through multiple plans for what
you might do about apps like TikTok, other Chinese apps and
newer platforms people are moving to. Also, what is your
influencer strategy? I promise you that there will be tools you use
for the general that no one has thought through yet.
• If you haven’t tried out ChatGPT, Bard, Bing you absolutely need
to start familiarizing yourself with how these AI tools work and
why they are different.

20. Upcoming Events
• August 2023: First GOP Presidential Primary Debate
• Mid-September: All Tech Is Human - Responsible Tech Summit NYC
• September 27-29, 2023: Athens Democracy Forum
• September 28-29, 2023: Trust & Safety Research Conference
• October 8 - 12: Internet Governance Forum – Japan
• September 28-29, 2023: The Atlantic Festival
• November 14, 2023: Book Release, Broken Code: Inside Facebook and the Fight to
Expose Its Harmful Secrets by Jeff Horwitz
• November 15, 2023: Aspen Cyber Summit
• January 15, 2024: Iowa GOP Caucus
• March 8-16, 2024: SXSW
• June 6-9, 2024: EU Parliament Elections

21. United States
Nov 5, 2024
European Union
May
2024 - 65 elections across 54 countries
Won’t see that many again until 2048
2022
2022 and 2024
2024 Key Elections
2024 Elections
Indonesia
February
Mexico
July
India
March-May
United Kingdom
TBD
Ukraine
March
Taiwan
January
EU
• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czechia
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
For an interactive map please visit: https://www.anchorchange.com/election-cycle-calendar

22. Current Projects
• Fellow - Bipartisan Policy Center
• Senior Advisor – Integrity Institute
• Senior Advisor – International Republican Institute
• Non-Resident Fellow, Atlantic Council DFR Lab
• Expert, Duco Experts
Past Employment
• Facebook Public Policy Director
• Politics and Government
• Elections
• National Republican Senatorial Committee
• DCI Group
• Republican National Committee
Katie Harbath
Founder and CEO
Anchor Change

23. Thank You
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