China's Influence on Search Results, Reviving the Iran Deal, and More

May 28, 2022

Editor's note: Thank you for reading the Brief! We are taking a short break for the Memorial Day holiday in the United States. Please look out for the next edition of the newsletter on Tuesday, May 31.

Winning the web: How Beijing exploits search results to shape views of Xinjiang and COVID-19

Beijing's state-funded publishers have considerable success using search results to push out propaganda and conspiracies across the world. Jessica Brandt and co-authors track these efforts across prominent search engines and recommend steps to mitigate undue influence by the Chinese government.

The EEOC wants to make AI hiring fairer for people with disabilities

Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released technical guidance on how algorithmic hiring tools can be discriminatory against people with disabilities. Alex Engler argues that this is a critical and practical step toward fighting algorithmic harms.

Reviving the JCPOA is the better alternative—but can it be made sustainable?

"Before pulling the plug on the negotiations, the [Biden] administration should take a dispassionate look at the implications of not having any nuclear deal in place and compare that outcome to the alternative of reviving the JCPOA. In such a comparison, a restored JCPOA, despite its shortcomings, is the better choice," writes Robert Einhorn about the Iran deal.

America's school shooting crisis

What it will take to prevent school shootings. Drawing from several studies, Robin Kowalski outlines what is known about school shooters and shares several insights that could help avert future tragedies.

U.S. views on mass shootings and gun legislation. Most Americans are dissatisfied with the status quo of gun violence and want to do something about it. But there are serious divisions on the causes and the ability of legislation to reduce incidents. In 2019, William Galston and Clara Hendrickson looked at where the public stood.

Gun violence is America's true national security threat. "No other country has even half the number of gun deaths as the United States and to a nearly insurmountable degree, none come close to the number of firearms circulating and flowing within our borders. The United States is a significant outlier amidst the community of nations on this issue, and regardless of one's views on the Second Amendment, that alone should give every American pause," writes Brookings President John R. Allen.

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