ProPublica editor and reporter Ryan McCarthy and Data & Society Senior Research Analyst Cristina López G. have looked into dynamics of amplification, inconsistent enforcement of community standards, and the democratic pitfalls of hyper-targeting audiences in their reporting and research. In this Databite, they discuss their findings and recommendations for holding companies accountable, protecting voting rights, and stopping the spread of false election claims. Audience Q&A follows the discussion.
Ryan McCarthy reports and edits stories for ProPublica’s Electionland, focusing on voting rights, election security and misinformation.
Cristina López G. conducts qualitative research on political disinformation and antagonistic amplification. She was born and raised in El Salvador, where she received an undergraduate law degree from Escuela Superior de Economía y Negocios (ESEN) and led a non-profit that promotes youth participation in politics and activism. She’s been a weekly op-ed columnist for a main Salvadoran newspaper since 2010. She moved to Washington, DC in 2012 to pursue a Masters in public policy from Georgetown University. After completing her degree, Cristina joined Media Matters for America as a researcher of Hispanic and Spanish-language media, focused on media coverage of immigration policies. She eventually became the organization’s deputy director for extremism, leading its research into extremism and disinformation that proliferate on tech platforms. She’s fluent in Spanish and memes.