June 20, 2020
giving us an edge at this weekend's socially distant cocktail parties
empowering you with insights and information from the edge of today’s headlines
Technology
Facebook has come under fire for the past few years for helping to polarize society and twisting the US election. Facebook’s ad-based business model is supported by engagement, so the more clickbait — the more ads — the more polarized we become. However, Facebook has taken an extreme view that any posts are “good” posts, and has decided to allow politicians to lie in their ads.
Due to the spread of misinformation, the NAACP, the Color of Change and several other community groups sponsored #StopHateforProfit, a challenge to businesses to stop advertising on Facebook in July.
Several large companies have joined in on the boycott including The North Face and REI. Some have pointed out that although ad spending has been pulled, the companies are still posting native content on their Instagram pages.
What to watch: We’ll have to see if more politically conscious companies join the boycott, or if it lasts for more than the month of July. We doubt Facebook will develop a conscious and bow to political pressure ahead of the election, but they will keep up the PR stunts to show they are doing something.
Climate Change
Climate Change hasn’t been on top of mind as the pandemic has forced protests (at least climate ones) online. The planet has also been able to take a breather. However, while many Americans may doubt the existence of climate change, their financial institutions seem to be subtly focusing on the story.
Local banks have been de-risking their balance sheets (selling) of mortgages in areas that are expected to flood due to rising seas. Local banks know the areas best and know which homeowners are likely to be underwater (both literally and financially) in the next few decades.
If we can’t get conservatives to acknowledge the science, maybe the lack of ability to get a mortgage for their beach properties will?
Go Deeper:
NY Times
Design
A picture is worth a thousand words, and typography can also be used to signify importance and meaning. So this week when the Associated Press changed its writing style guide to capitalize the “b” in Black, one more lever turned for inclusivity and equality.
AP’s style is now to capitalize Black in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense, conveying an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa. The lowercase black is a color, not a person.
Business
An update: Earlier this week, we discussed the lack of transparency around the PPP program. On Friday, the Administration and the SBA bowed to public pressure and agreed to make the names of the loan recipients public.
What we are watching: Wirecard, the German payments platform, reported this week that it is missing $2B in cash. The CEO resigned and its rating was downgraded to junk. While questions had been raised about Wirecard’s cash positions in the past, the extent of the potential fraud came to light when its auditor would not sign off on its annual report.
While Wirecard may be a one-off case of accounting fraud, this may send chills up the spines of the global FinTech sector. Wirecard was one of Germany’s leading tech successes and was a part of the prestigious DAX30 index. A significant number of payment platforms and micro-lenders have entered the markets recently in order to facilitate the booming e-commerce market. We may see more scrutiny as digital payment providers attempt to raise funds or go public.
Go Deeper:
Reuters
Culture
On a somewhat lighter note, Ford has decided to delay the release of their upcoming Bronco from July 9 to July 13. Why? July 9 happens to be OJ Simpson’s birthday. As you might recall, OJ was in the back of a white Bronco during his infamous police chase in 1994.
Science
Today is the summer solstice, or the longest day of the year. Today also brings a unique coincidence: if you happen to be lucky enough to live in Asia, you may be able to see a Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse. For the rest of us, you can watch it here.
— Lauren Eve Cantor
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