It’s no secret that Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg have been under close scrutiny for its handling of the 2020 presidential election. In recent weeks, the platform has come under further fire as it was revealed that they allowed Michael Bloomberg’s campaign to purchase targeted advertisements using discriminatory data. Laura Murphy, a former director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), is leading the charge against these practices. She has recently stepped down from her position at Facebook to become an advocate for more ethical digital advertising policies at both Facebook and other social media platforms. In this blog post, we will explore Laura Murphy’s fight against Mike Bloomberg’s campaign and her efforts to bring better transparency and fairness to digital advertisement practices.
Who is Laura Murphy?
Laura Murphy is the President of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). She has been a lobbyist and lawyer for more than three decades. Murphy was the director of legislative affairs for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during the 1980s. In this role, she advocated on behalf of minority communities on issues such as voting rights, affirmative action, and police misconduct.
Murphy joined the ACLU in Washington, D.C. in 1992, where she led its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. She became the organization’s first legislative director in 1994. In this role, Murphy lobbied Congress on a wide range of civil liberties issues, including freedom of speech and religion, privacy rights, and reproductive freedom. She also worked on ACLU’s campaign to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Murphy became the ACLU’s Director of Government Affairs in 2001. In this role, she oversaw all of the organization’s federal advocacy work, including its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill and its litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court. Murphy also served as the ACLU’s main liaison to executive branch agencies such as the Department of Justice and Homeland Security.
In 2008, Murphy was named President of ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, making her responsible for all of ACLU’s advocacy work at the federal level. She has held this position ever since. Under her leadership, ACLU has continued to be a powerful voice for civil liberties in Washington,
Who is Nix Bloomgberg?
Nix Bloomberg is the founder of Facebook. He was born in 1984 in the town of White Plains, New York. He attended Harvard University, where he studied computer science and mathematics.
In 2004, he launched Facebook from his dorm room at Harvard. The site quickly gained popularity, and by 2006 it had over 12 million users. Today, Facebook is the largest social networking site in the world, with over 2 billion active users.
Bloomberg has always been interested in technology and its potential to change the world. In 2010, he gave a TED talk about how Facebook can connect people and make the world more open and connected. He is also an active philanthropist, donating money to causes such as education and health care.
What is the connection between Laura Murphy and Nix Bloomgberg?
Laura Murphy and Nix Bloomgberg are connected through their mutual love of animals. Laura is the founder of the Facebook group “Nix Bloomberg Anti-Animal Cruelty” and Nix is a member of the same group. The two have also worked together on other animal rights issues in the past.
How did Laura Murphy and Nix Bloomgberg meet?
When Laura Murphy was hired as the Civil Rights Director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 2011, she had no idea that one of her first cases would involve working with a young man named Nix Bloomberg.
Nix was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who had been suspended for writing a Facebook post that criticized his school’s response to a series of on-campus sexual assaults.
Laura reached out to Nix after reading about his case in the news and offered to help him fight his suspension.
Working together, they were able to get Nix’s suspension overturned and he was able to return to school.
Laura and Nix have remained friends since their work on the case and have even collaborated on other projects, including a book about free speech on college campuses.
What is the story behind the photo?
The photo in question is a now-viral image of Laura Murphy, a Black woman, being hugged by a white man identified as Bloomberg campaign staffer Michael Highsmith. The photo was taken at a Bloomberg rally in Dallas on February 12th.
The image was originally posted to Murphy’s Facebook page with the caption “So this happen[ed] today… Michael Highsmith hugged me and said he’s sorry for the pain my people have endured throughout history.” Highsmith also commented on the photo, writing “Thank you for letting me hug you. I’m sorry for the pain that my people have caused yours.”
The photo quickly went viral, with many people praising the moment as a powerful display of healing and unity. Bloomberg himself even retweeted the image, writing “This is what it’s all about.”
Murphy later told reporters that she had met Highsmith before and that he had been very kind to her. She said she didn’t know he worked for Bloomberg until after they hugged.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Laura Murphy’s criticisms of Mike Bloomberg’s impact on the digital privacy landscape are well founded. Not only did he expand the use of surveillance technology in his time as mayor, but he also failed to address existing civil liberties concerns. His lack of meaningful action to protect people’s data has left many feeling betrayed and frustrated – a sentiment that is shared by Ms. Murphy and others who have chosen to speak out against his candidacy for president in 2020.