The web and social media have already become major battlegrounds in the run-up to the 2012 U.S. presidential election. Mashable is keeping you up to date on the details in this weekly series tracking the intersection of digital technology and politics. Have an opinion? Join the conversation in the comments.
White House Posts President’s Long-Form Birth Certificate Online
After years of speculation, the White House decided to release the long-form version of Obama’s certificate via the White House Blog Wednesday. The certificate, from Hawaii’s Department of Health, shows exactly what we knew from the short-form certificate released in 2008: Obama was born in the United States and is eligible to be the president. While the release calmed the debate, some — like Donald Trump — demanded more papers, such as Obama’s college records. (Trump’s actions forced at least one top-tier advertiser to distance itself from his NBC show, the Apprentice.)
"We do not have time for this kind of silliness,” Obama said, at a press conference Wednesday. “We've got better stuff to do. I've got better stuff to do."
U.S. Congresswomen Denounce Hacker Attacks on Change.org
Last week Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton asking her to publicly denounce attacks on Change.org, a social activism platform. The site recently suffered DDoS attacks from unnamed hackers following a campaign calling for the release of Chinese artist Ai WeiWei. Ai was taken into custody by police at a n airport in Beijing earlier this...
