Drew Harwell

Washington, D.C.

Technology reporter

Education: University of Florida

Drew Harwell is a reporter for The Washington Post covering technology. He was a member of an international reporting team that won a George Polk Award in 2021. He joined The Post in 2014.
Latest from Drew Harwell

TikTok knew depth of app’s risks to children, court document alleges

Internal communications of app employees were revealed in a version of a state lawsuit where redacted portions were visible.

October 11, 2024

Bitcoin’s inventor is a mystery. An HBO filmmaker thinks he found him.

The HBO documentary explores the mystery of bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, and suggests Peter Todd as a potential candidate.

October 8, 2024
Filmmaker Cullen Hoback in a still from “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery.”

TikTok faces skeptical judges in court fight over looming national ban

Even as both the Harris and Trump presidential campaigns have leaned heavily into TikTok to reach younger voters, the weeks are ticking down before the wildly popular app is banned in the United States under a new law that has drawn bipartisan backing.

September 16, 2024
TikTok's headquarters in Culver City, Calif.

The ‘feral 25-year-olds’ making Kamala Harris go viral on TikTok

Harris’s all-Gen-Z “digital persuasion” team is tapping the trends and rhythms of internet culture to create a playful online presence that’s unique in presidential politics.

September 13, 2024

Trump Media stock plunge has cost Trump $4 billion in potential wealth

The Truth Social parent company’s losing streak has erased billions of dollars from former president Donald Trump’s paper wealth.

September 7, 2024
Former president Donald Trump speaks to reporters in January in Washington.

Far-right influencers turn against Trump campaign

Hard-right provocateurs take aim at how the former president’s aides are positioning him for the November vote - though not at the Republican candidate himself.

August 18, 2024
Nick Fuentes, right center, a white supremacist and antisemite pictured in 2020, is encouraging his followers to join his attack on Trump campaign leaders for not positioning more to the right.

Trump returns to X with technical glitches, softball questions from Musk

The revival of Trump’s account on X offers him a bigger audience and also provides a boost for Elon Musk’s platform.

August 12, 2024

Trump wanted TikTok banned. Now it’s a key piece of his online campaign.

A small group of aides is racing to position the former president as the biggest entertainer on the popular video app.

August 9, 2024

TikTok, Big Tech and where your data is going

The Justice Department sued TikTok, alleging the app allows kids to make accounts and then amasses data on them. But TikTok is just one of many apps and websites that constantly observe, identify and track users.

August 7, 2024

A booming industry of AI age scanners, aimed at children’s faces

“Age assurance” checks -- increasingly popular among lawmakers trying to wall kids off from the open internet -- rely on a style of surveillance that ranges “from ‘somewhat privacy violating’ to ‘authoritarian nightmare.’”

August 7, 2024