Listening and responding to members of the public that is a minimum expectation for public servants in any democratic state, whether those voices are raised in protest, petition, email, send letters or reply on social media. While there are practical challenges to making sense of millions of emails, tweets, call or letters, blocks that violate the First Amendment rights of the public are not the solution to filter failure.
Continue readingOn Trump, Twitter and transparency
Each public statement by a President of the United States matters. In 2017, @realDonaldTrump tweets are statements by the President. We hope that the president and his staff choose those words carefully and transparently.
Continue readingTrumping Twitter: Examining the deleted tweets of Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s Twitter account is not like other politicians’ Twitter accounts. But everyone, even Trump, tweets something they regret — and then deletes it.
Continue readingPolitwoops U.S. is back!
Sunlight reaches an agreement with Twitter on Politwoops
We’re happy to announce that we, along with our partners at Open State Foundation and Access Now, have reached an agreement with Twitter that paves the way for us to bring Politwoops back online both here in the U.S. and internationally.
Continue readingTwitter pledges to disclose political contributions within 48 hours
Twitter has announced a new policy that its PAC will disclose all contributions within 48 hours. This is perhaps the most rapid disclosure policy adopted by a major U.S. corporation.
Continue readingAs campaign ads move online, the public gets left in the dark
TV is still the juggernaut of advertising, but it's also important to look at where political campaigns are spending their money online. And the rules around Internet ads are weak to say the least.
Continue readingTwitter’s encouraging promise to “reboot” transparency
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey made a commitment to “reboot” Twitter’s relationship with the transparency sector. Even more encouraging to us here at Sunlight was he specifically named Politwoops as an example.
Continue readingTwitter shuts down 30 international versions of Politwoops
Over the weekend, Twitter shut down all remaining Politwoops sites in 30 countries around the world.
Continue readingThe public rally in support of Politwoops
It's been an intense 24 hours here at Sunlight: We've been mystified and saddened by Twitter pulling the plug on Politwoops, but we've been incredibly gratified by the support we've received from the entire opengov community.
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