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    • Mark Robinson files defamation lawsuit against CNN porn chat room report
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    Mark Robinson files defamation lawsuit against CNN porn chat room report

    Kathleen William Posted on

    Happy Tuesday. Here's your Tuesday Tech Drop, rounding up the week's top stories at the intersection of politics and the all-encompassing world of technology.

    Robinson seeks revenge

    North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson has filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN over the network's coverage of chat room posts he allegedly shared on a pornographic website between 2008 and 2012. The CNN report linked Robinson to an account that published posts on the website “Nude Africa,” where the user, who identified himself as a “black Nazi,” admitted to looking at women as a teenager and expressed his support for the expressed slavery.

    The lawsuit, which seeks $50 million in damages, also names a man named Louis Money as a defendant. Money is a former porn store employee who told news outlets that Robinson had been a regular customer at his store in the past. Money stands by his claims, but Robinson claims in his lawsuit that he only stopped by the store occasionally to “socialize.”

    Robinson denied the posts when CNN first published its report, and his lawyer accused the network of a “journalistic hitman.” At a press conference on Tuesday, Robinson called the report a “high-tech lynching,” but neither he nor his lawyer presented evidence that appeared to contradict CNN's reporting.

    It's hard to imagine that this lawsuit could do much to pull Robinson's campaign out of crisis. Several of his employees have quit. Although Donald Trump refused to withdraw his support for Robinson, he did not include him at any of his events in North Carolina. The lawsuit appears to be a final attempt to salvage the legitimacy of a campaign that is seriously lacking.

    Watch Robinson's press conference in full Here.

    Heed Harris' warning

    During a conversation with journalist Roland Martin, Kamala Harris reminded his listeners of Russia's efforts in 2016 to create apathy or pro-Trump sentiment among voters, particularly black voters. Harris warned that Russia was making similar efforts this year.

    Violence against FEMA

    Authorities in North Carolina said a man who supported a far-right militia and allegedly intended to harm Federal Emergency Management Agency employees was arrested Saturday. William Jacob Parsons, 44, was charged with “arming to terrorize the public,” NBC reports; He did not respond to NBC's request for comment. This news comes after FEMA workers in certain parts of the state were reportedly forced to resign due to threats as Trump and other Republicans spread conspiracy theories online about the government's response to Hurricane Helene.

    Read more at NBC News.

    Problems with predictive policing

    A new Tech Policy report has found that officials in several states have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of high-tech tools for predictive policing. Some of these tools, such as artificial intelligence-based algorithms that purport to predict where crimes are most likely to occur, are known to perpetuate racial bias. The Tech Policy report suggests that skepticism about these tools may finally be increasing.

    Read more at Tech Policy.

    The bucket had a leak

    American Water, the largest water utility in the United States, announced last week that it had been hit by a cyberattack. The company said it had detected “unauthorized activity” on its computer networks, but that the water it provided was safe to drink and that no water or wastewater facilities were affected.

    Read more at CNBC. (For more information on cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, click here some of my previous reporting.)

    Musk's election efforts

    The New York Times published a report on an Elon Musk-backed organization called Building America's Future, a pro-Trump political organization that publishes digital ads – some of which have been denounced by Democrats as anti-Semitic – with the aim of drumming up support Blacks and Muslims for Harris “seem to be designed to drive down Ms. Harris' voter turnout” in Michigan, “using the Middle East conflict as a wedge.” The group has also reportedly funded efforts to target third-party candidates like Jill To place and keep Stein and Cornel West on state ballots across the country.

    Read more at The New York Times.

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    Kathleen William
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