Jeremy B. Merrill is a former news apps developer at ProPublica, concentrating mostly on Congress data and our Represent app. Before joining ProPublica, he worked at The New York Times, building tools for journalists and using computer code to report on political Facebook ads, trains and online legalese. Before that, he worked at ProPublica as a fellow.
Jeremy B. Merrill
News Applications Developer
Facebook Hosted Surge of Misinformation and Insurrection Threats in Months Leading Up to Jan. 6 Attack, Records Show
A ProPublica/Washington Post analysis of Facebook posts, internal company documents and interviews, provides the clearest evidence yet that the social media giant played a critical role in spreading lies that fomented the violence of Jan. 6.
Trump Won Florida After Running a False Ad Tying Biden to Venezuelan Socialists
A Trump video targeting Florida’s growing Venezuelan American population falsely claimed that Venezuela’s socialist regime wanted Biden to win. But President Nicolás Maduro has said that he opposed both candidates.
Trump ganó Florida tras publicar un anuncio falso que vinculaba a Biden con los socialistas venezolanos
Un anuncio de Trump dirigido a la creciente población venezolano-estadounidense de Florida declaró falsamente que el régimen socialista de Venezuela quería que Biden ganara. Pero el presidente Nicolás Maduro ha dicho que se opone a ambos candidatos.
Al menos 800,000 residentes de estados clave recibieron robocalls pidiéndoles que se “quedaran en casa” el día de las elecciones. El FBI está investigando.
Una empresa que rastrea las llamadas automatizadas, conocidas en inglés como *robocalls*, dijo que se hicieron más de tres millones de llamadas el 3 de noviembre que contenían un mensaje críptico, instando a la gente a “permanecer seguros y quedarse en casa". Las tácticas se suman a otras que buscan confundir a los votantes en este ciclo electoral.
Robocalls Told at Least 800,000 Swing State Residents to “Stay Home” on Election Day. The FBI Is Investigating.
A firm that tracks robocalls said more than 3 million calls were made on Nov. 3, which contained a cryptic message instructing people to “stay safe and stay home.” The tactics join other efforts to confuse voters this election cycle.
“Trumpcare” Does Not Exist. Nevertheless Facebook and Google Cash In on Misleading Ads for “Garbage” Health Insurance.
The thousands of “Trumpcare” ads Facebook and Google have published show that the shadowy “lead generation” economy has a happy home on the platforms — and even big names like UnitedHealthcare take part.
Facebook’s Political Ad Ban Also Threatens Ability to Spread Accurate Information on How to Vote
Two months out from Election Day, Facebook’s changes to its political ad rules cause additional problems for the government officials running the vote.
Facebook Moves to Block Ad Transparency Tools — Including Ours
Our tool had let the public see exactly how users were being targeted by advertisers. The social media giant urged us to shut it down last year.
What We Learned From Collecting 100,000 Targeted Facebook Ads
More than 16,000 people have participated in our project to collect and analyze political ads on the social media platform during the midterm elections this year.
Georgia Voters Face Hourslong Waits as State Scrambles to Accommodate Turnout
Voters across the state are facing waits of up to five hours as lines snake out the doors and administrators rush to get additional materials to the polls.
A Mysterious Facebook Group Is Using Bernie Sanders’ Image to Urge Democrats to Vote for the Green Party
The party’s candidates, which a group called America Progress Now is endorsing, say they’ve never heard of it. The group hasn’t registered with the Federal Election Commission as required.
How Big Oil Dodges Facebook’s New Ad Transparency Rules
We’ve identified 12 ad campaigns in which energy, insurance and other industries masked their sponsorship of political messages on Facebook.
Groups Mask Partisan Attacks Behind Neutral-Sounding Names in Facebook Ads
Names like “The Voter Awareness Project” and “Breaking News Texas” are being used by political groups for negative campaign ads on the platform.
New Partnership Will Help Us Hold Facebook and Campaigns Accountable
Starting today you can download a version of the Firefox browser with the Facebook Political Ad Collector built in.
Facebook Is Letting Job Advertisers Target Only Men
A review by ProPublica found that 15 employers in the past year, including Uber, have advertised jobs on Facebook exclusively to one sex, with many of the ads playing to stereotypes.
Besieged Facebook Says New Ad Limits Aren’t Response to Lawsuits
The social network is removing 5,000 options that regulators say enable advertisers to discriminate.
Updated: Facebook Political Ad Collector
See how political advertisers target you. Use this database to search for political ads based on who was meant to see them.
Facebook’s Screening for Political Ads Nabs News Sites Instead of Politicians
The social network is letting some political ads slip through without the required verification, while blocking promotional posts by news organizations, which are pushing back.
What Facebook’s New Political Ad System Misses
Facebook announced a new system to make political ads more transparent. It’s got holes.
How to Wrestle Your Data From Data Brokers, Silicon Valley — and Cambridge Analytica
It can be done but it’s not easy.
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