"Ms Murphy Madia’s intervention pushed the debate into the transparency of monetised content." Nice write-up of WTF Policy Lead @sarahmurphymadia.bsky.social's intervention at the European Parliament's @euds.europarl.europa.eu. Monetization CAN be a boon to info integrity. But not w/o big fixes.

We're back at the @europarl.europa.eu 🇪🇺 this afternoon. Our Policy Lead @sarahmurphymadia.bsky.social will be engaging in an exchange of view with the #EU @euds.europarl.europa.eu 🎬 Watch the live-stream: multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/webstream... #Monetization #FIMI #MediaViability

Such a delight to join this morning’s #MFRR summit in Brussels. It’s always cool, if sobering, to help show how social media #monetization has such an outsized impact on everything from media viability to our entire state of information integrity. Let’s get transparency already.

Happy to be back at the European Parliament’s @euds.europarl.europa.eu next Mon where we’ll talk about, among other things, how social media monetization systems currently UNDERMINE public-interest media, but also abt how such systems could reinforce media viability, even under current regulation.

🗓️Mon 13 Oct in @euds.europarl.europa.eu 🕒 15:15 - 18:30 – Debates 🛡️🌐 Online ads, media resilience & countering foreign interference w/ @sarahmurphymadia.bsky.social of "What to fix" 🇲🇩 🗳️Lessons from the recent Moldovan 🇲🇩 elections 🗳️w/ Stanislav Secrieru @davidcolon.bsky.social Valeriu Pașa 🧶1/2

Google’s Ad Transparency tool no longer shows political online advertisements that ran on its platforms, in the past or present, from any countries in the European Union, making seven years of data from 27 different countries inaccessible. 🔗 www.404media.co/google-ad-tr...

Money + politics = messy. Perhaps that’s why #Meta’s policies prohibit politicians and political candidates from its #monetization services. Yet our research reveals NUMEROUS politicians and political candidates that successfully enrolled for Facebook's various monetization services.

Our #MonetizationArchive is live! Social media monetization services are a bafflingly under-scrutinized but INCREDIBLY important factor influencing how our info landscape takes shape. (Plus an important topic re independent media viability.) Curious? Start here: www.monetization.wtf/about/meta-m...

💥 Super excited to bring the world's first Social Media Monetization Archive prototype into the world! If you ever wondered #WhoMakesMoneyFromFacebook, this is your chance at a sneak peak 👉 www.monetization.wtf

🚨Big deal announcement🚨 We’ve been hard at work prototyping the world’s first ✨social media #MonetizationArchive ✨ And we’re ready to share it with you. Read on.

Could #Facebook have been channeling money to a Mexican drug cartel? The El Makabelico Facebook page (825k+) was registered to get royalties from FB until the introduction of #OFAC #sanctions on the rapper on 6Aug for sending royalties to Cartel del Noreste 👉 home.treasury.gov/news/press-r...

Harrowing lead story and image on the Washington Post homepage right now. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

In Brussels 🇧🇪 today for the European Parliament's hearing on Generative AI and Democracy. I talked about 3 key changes: ♦️ rise of social media monetization ♦️ proliferation of inauthentic automation ♦️ redefinition of platforms' advertising models 🎬 multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/webstream...

Happening NOW: @riovictoire.bsky.social speaking at the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the Democracy Shield. Livestream: multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/webstream...

Starting in 20 min! Watch my colleague @riovictoire.bsky.social testify at a European Parliament #EUDS public hearing on generative AI and democracy.

Coming up in 45 min: @riovictoire.bsky.social joins @aa.disinfo.eu to discuss our @whattofix.tech report on how Meta seemingly monetized multiple EU-sanctioned entities through its revenue redistribution programs.

“Facebook pages affiliated with RT, Sputnik and other EU-sanctioned entities were among Meta’s active partner-publishers for months after being subject to EU sanctions. Some of these partnerships remain active as of June 2025.” Has Meta violated sanctions? www.whattofix.tech/publications...

Who profited – and how – when Meta kept revenue-sharing deals with sanctioned entities like RT & Sputnik? Our webinar on 3 July with @riovictoire.bsky.social, @whattofix.tech, will unpack the findings and what they mean for platform accountability. Join us! 👇 🔗 us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Huge John Oliver fan, and this episode was pretty solid for the most part. He makes the connection between revenue redistribution and the explosion of AI slop and automation. But his conclusion: He throws his in the air and declares epistemic fatalism in the face of AI slop onslaught. WHAT?! Nooo

🚨 Just Released 🚨 @whattofix.tech 's latest investigation into how #Facebook (Meta) engaged in revenue redistribution partnerships 💸 with RT, Sputnik and other EU-sanctioned entities for months after the introduction of sanctions. Full report -> www.whattofix.tech/publications...

So excited this report has made it out the door. There’s basically no scrutiny into or transparency around the huge revenue redistribution programs run by social platforms. There’s so much talk abt labeling for paid influencers, etc. That’s all well and good. But what abt PLATFORM monetization??

[🚨 Exclusive] Our latest investigation finds that Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. may have violated EU sanctions and channeled money to RT, Sputnik and other EU-sanctioned entities. You read that right: Facebook *pays* some content publishers. Read full report → www.whattofix.tech/publications... /🧵

When it comes to #tech, ‘’we tend to regulate for yesterday’’, says @sarahmurphymadia.bsky.social from @whattofix.tech. 💬 To keep or democracies safe, the European Democracy Shield should tackle: 💰 Social media monetisation 👤 Inauthentic automation 🌐 Massive diversification of software

It’s true! Info integrity is in peril. And at this rate, here in the EU, we risk regulating yesterday’s problem. The information landscape — including emerging automation tools & services — has drastically changed over the past few years. To protect and bolster info integrity, reg must catch up.

I’m pretty sure all these people following me on BlueSky are mixing me up with other Sarah Murphys. I just don’t post often enough?

If you care about the future of our information space, media and creator viability, or brand safety, my colleague @riovictoire.bsky.social’s op-ed is a must read. Social media monetization is a gaping hole in tech policy convos. I hope this piece can help jumpstart some new lines of inquiry.

🚨 BREAKING: #Facebook finally acknowledges it has a financially-driven “spammy behavior” problem: about.fb.com/news/2025/04... We’ve been telling them this, documenting evidence, and pointing to where the system needs fixing, since 2019. A quick🪡

Social media companies redistributed over $20bn to 6 million+ accounts last year. You may be asking: SO WHAT ?? Monetization isn't the problem. The systems that power it are. Read more: www.whattofix.tech/publications...

The #Myanmar military refused to restore the internet as hundreds died in a cyclone in 2023. Will they turn the Internet back on this time? #MyanmarEarthquake #StopInternetShutdownMM

🚨New Report🚨 tracking latest trends in social media monetization is out. We’re talking over $20b redistributed to millions of account annually thru revenue share programs, with minimal public disclosure or regulation. Here's what you need to know 🧵 www.whattofix.tech/publications...

Next Monday, we're workshopping Global Principles on #Transparency and #Accountability in #SocialMedia #Monetization. We're looking for broad input; if this is something you're concerned about and you'll be at #RightsCon, please join! Register at tally.so/r/mRvNVP #MonetizationPrinciples

👋 Join us at #RightsCon25 in Taipei from the 24-27 February! We'll be talking money - and how social media platforms are being just as irresponsible redistributing $ billions than they have been managing content.

I’m interested to know if a lot of of others had this post from Mark Zuckerberg at the very top of their Facebook feed this morning/when they opened it for the first time today?

Hello Bluesky 👋 We're a #TechPolicy and #TechAccountability non-profit, working towards a global #Internet, fostering #DigitalRights, knowledge and understanding. 👉 www.whattofix.tech

Very excited I get to have anything to do with this.

Given the global significance of the DSA, a coalition of civil society and research organizations is setting up a “Global Majority House” in Brussels to ensure their concerns and priorities are not overlooked. My latest for @techpolicypress.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/advocates-an...

One of the things I want folks to understand about the billionaires who forced the Penn pres to resign is they started all this before Oct 7 and among their complaints is that Penn “prioritizes DEI” is “too social justice focused” and is “unrecognizable” to what it looked like when they attended.

Ciao, new social platform