Episode 111

DOJ vs. Google, Civics Education, Fake Reviews

Ravi and Rikki first welcome today’s guest host, David Dayen, before turning to the Justice Department’s antitrust suit taking aim at Google’s digital ad business. Then we discuss the state of civics education in America, asking what schools should do to mold better citizens. Finally, we take a hard look at what we’re coining the Fake Reviews Industrial Complex and whether it can be unraveled.

SHOW NOTES

Purpose of Education Index (Populace Insights, 2022)

DOJ’s Google Suit [03:25]

Monopolized by David Dayen (2020)
US sues Google over its digital ad ‘dominance’ (Financial Times, 1/24/23)
US Sues Google to Break Up Ad Unit in Heated Antitrust Fight (Bloomberg, 1/24/23)
‘A Hard Sell’: Can Biden’s DOJ really shatter Google’s grip on digital ads? (Politico, 1/26/23)
Can the DOJ Disrupt Google’s Ad Tech Dominance? (Future Tense, 1/30/23)
Why the DOJ Is Suing Google Again (The Journal., 1/25/23)
A Pitched Battle on Corporate Power (The American Prospect, 1/25/23)
Google and Meta’s Advertising Dominance Fades as TikTok, Streamers Emerge (Wall Street Journal, 1/4/23)
DOJ Suit to Break Up Google Was Years in the Making for Antitrust Chief (Wall Street Journal, 1/29/23)
The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the U.S. Antitrust Movement (Harvard Business Review, 12/15/17)
Justice Department Sues Google for Monopolizing Digital Advertising Technologies (Department of Justice, 1/24/23)

Civics Education [25:15]

Preparing the next generation of citizens requires bringing back civics (The Hill, 1/20/23)
We Need to Start Teaching Kids That Civics Is More Than Just Activism (Time, 1/12/23)
The need for civic education in 21st-century schools (Brookings, 6/4/20)
Teaching Civics After Jan. 6 (U.S. News, 1/11/22)
Forgotten Purpose: Civics Education in Public Schools (National Education Association, 3/16/17)
Where Left and Right Agree on Civics Education, and Where They Don’t (Education Next, 3/25/20)
A Look at Civics Education in the United States (American Federation of Teachers)
Fewer than half of Americans can name all three branches of government, survey finds (The Hill, 9/13/22)
Americans’ Civics Knowledge Drops on First Amendment and Branches of Government (Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, 9/13/22)
New York State Grades 9-12 Social Studies Framework (New York State Education Department, 02/17)
State course credit requirements for high school graduation, by state: 2018 (National Center for Education Statistics)
School Is for Wasting Time and Money (NYT Guest Essay, 9/1/22)
Ep. 76 – What Is School For, Nation’s Report Card, Free Range Parenting (Lost Debate, 9/8/22)

Fake Reviews Industrial Complex [43:43]

Five Stars, Zero Clue: Fighting the ‘Scourge’ of Fake Online Reviews (The New York Times, 1/25/23)
Inside the War on Fake Consumer Reviews (Time, 7/6/22)
How Policymakers Can Thwart the Rise of Fake Reviews (Center for Data Innovation, 9/12/22)
On Your Side: How to spot fake reviews of online products (CBS, 1/6/23)
FTC to Explore Rulemaking to Combat Fake Reviews and Other Deceptive Endorsements (Federal Trade Commission, 10/22/22)
Keeping Our Reviews Authentic and Trustworthy (Meta, 6/20/22)
Amazon Targets Fake Review Fraudsters on Social Media (Amazon, 7/19/22)
The Impact of Fake Reviews on Demand and Welfare (Jesper Akesson, Robert W. Hahn, Robert D. Metcalfe, and Manuel Monti-Nussbaum, 7/20/22)

Voicemails [56:05]