Judge dismisses Elon Musk's suit against hate speech researchers; NPR, March 25, 2024

 Bobby Allyn, NPR; Judge dismisses Elon Musk's suit against hate speech researchers

"A federal judge has dismissed X owner Elon Musk's lawsuit against a research group that documented an uptick in hate speech on the social media site, saying the organization's reports on the platform formerly known as Twitter were protected by the First Amendment. 

Musk's suit, "is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose," wrote U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in his Monday ruling, "This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech."

Amid an advertiser boycott of X last year, Musk sued the research and advocacy organization Center for Countering Digital Hate, alleging it violated the social media site's terms of service in gathering data for its reports."

Guidelines for the governance of digital platforms: safeguarding freedom of expression and access to information through a multi-stakeholder approach; UNESCO, November 2023

UNESCO; Guidelines for the governance of digital platforms: safeguarding freedom of expression and access to information through a multi-stakeholder approach

"Guidelines for an Internet for Trust

Safeguarding freedom of expression and the right to information while dealing with dis- and misinformation, hate speech, and conspiracy theories requires a multistakeholder approach. This is the reason why UNESCO, the leading UN agency for the promotion and protection of freedom of expression and to information, is launching Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms. The Guidelines outline a set of duties, responsibilities and roles for States, digital platforms, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, media, academia, the technical community and other stakeholders to enable the environment where freedom of expression and information are in the core of digital platforms governance processes. The Guidelines were produced through a multi-stakeholder consultation that gathered more than 10,000 comments from 134 countries. These global-scale consultations  fostered  inclusive participation, ensuring a diversity of voices to be heard, including those from groups in situation of marginalization and vulnerability.

Cultivating an Internet of Trust is a shared responsibility among all stakeholders. It calls upon us all to sustain an enabling environment for freedom of expression and the right to information."

0,000 comments from 134 countries. These global-scale consultations fostered inclusive participation, ensuring a diversity of voices to be heard, including those from groups in situation of marginalization and vulnerability

Opinion: Nothing has prepared me for the antisemitism I see on college campuses now; Los Angeles Times, October 29, 2023

ERWIN CHEMERINSKY, Los Angeles Times; Opinion: Nothing has prepared me for the antisemitism I see on college campuses now

"Students have the right to say very offensive and even hateful things, but school administrators — deans, presidents and chancellors — have free speech rights too. They must exercise them and take a stand even if it will offend some and subject them to criticism.

It is a very difficult time on campuses across the country. Many of our students and faculty members have family and friends in Israel or in Gaza. Many care deeply about the suffering we are seeing, and yet there is no bridge between those who seek the elimination of Israel and those who believe it is essential to have a Jewish state. I hope there will be a time when campus officials can find ways to bring their communities together. But it is not realistic now. This makes it all the more important that they show moral leadership and speak out against the antisemitism that is rampant now, as they would condemn all other forms of racism and hate on campus.

Erwin Chemerinsky is a contributing writer to Opinion and the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. His latest book is “Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism.”

At UChicago, a Debate Over Free Speech and Cyber Bullying; The New York Times, July 3, 2023

Vimal Patel, The New York Times ; At UChicago, a Debate Over Free Speech and Cyber Bullying

"Mary Anne Franks, a University of Miami law professor who studies civil rights and technology, said that universities should pay more attention to the intimidation of faculty members.

Cyberbullying “is much more intentional, vicious and threatening to a person than someone shouting unpleasant things to a person during a talk,” she said, adding that Mr. Schmidt’s behavior “was very much calculated to generate exactly the reaction that it did.”"

Over half of Americans report targeted online harassment - ADL survey; The Jerusalem Post, June 28, 2023

 ZVIKA KLEIN, The Jerusalem Post; Over half of Americans report targeted online harassment - ADL survey

"A recent survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has revealed on Wednesday a troubling trend of online hate and harassment, affecting more than half of all Americans. The fifth annual survey found that 52 percent of respondents reported experiencing some form of online hate or harassment in their lifetimes, marking a significant increase from previous years.

The survey, which sampled 2,139 individuals across the United States, uncovered a surge in reports of hate and harassment over the past 12 months, affecting various demographic groups. Notably, the LGBT community, Black/African American individuals and Muslims experienced the highest increases in hate and harassment, with rates of 47 percent, 38 percent, and 38 percent, respectively.

Shockingly, transgender individuals faced the highest rate of harassment, with a staggering 76 percent reporting incidents of online abuse in their lifetimes. In the past year alone, 51 percent of transgender respondents experienced harassment, the highest among any reported demographic category."

Twitter takeover: fears raised over disinformation and hate speech; The Guardian, October 28, 2022

Dan Milmo and Alex Hern, The Guardian ; Twitter takeover: fears raised over disinformation and hate speech

"Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition has been polarizing, sparking reactions from politicians, regulators and non-profits across different continents.

Some have expressed concerns about potential changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies now that it’s in the hands of the Tesla billionaire, while others celebrated how they expect the platform’s newly minted leader will handle content and speech on Twitter.

Senior politicians in the UK and Europe on Friday warned Musk over content moderation on Twitter, with the EU stressing the platform will “fly by our rules” and a UK minister expressing concerns over hate speech under the billionaire’s ownership.

The EU’s internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, wrote on the platform on Friday that “in Europe, the bird will fly by our rules”, in response to Musk’s earlier tweet saying “the bird is freed” in apparent confirmation that he had bought the business.

The EU is introducing the Digital Services Act, which includes provisions for removal of illegal content including hate speech."

Realtor ethics case involving gay rights, Montana pastor garnering national attention; KTVH, December 29, 2021

Mike Dennison, KTVH ; Realtor ethics case involving gay rights, Montana pastor garnering national attention

"Weyandt said Huber can hold and express any religious belief he wants, but that he can’t profess anti-gay views and still be a member of the Realtors’ group, according to the code of ethics.

“I definitely respect the individual’s right to their freedom of speech and expression, but when you’re clearly violating the governing doctrine of a private institution, that issues membership, that’s a whole other story,” he said.

Weyandt also said Huber is free to continue selling real estate. 

However, if a Code of Ethics violation leads to Huber getting kicked out of the Realtors’ group, he would lose access to the Montana Regional multiple-listing service for properties, potentially making it difficult to conduct business as a real-estate agent."

How Facebook neglected the rest of the world, fueling hate speech and violence in India; The Washington Post, October 24, 2021

 

Cat Zakrzewski

, 

Gerrit De Vynck

, 

Niha Masih

 and 

Shibani Mahtani

 ,

The Washington Post; How Facebook neglected the rest of the world, fueling hate speech and violence in India

A trove of internal documents show Facebook didn’t invest in key safety protocols in the company’s largest market.

"In February 2019, not long before India’s general election, a pair of Facebook employees set up a dummy account to better understand the experience of a new user in the company’s largest market. They made a profile of a 21-year-old woman, a resident of North India, and began to track what Facebook showed her.

At first, her feed filled with soft-core porn and other, more harmless, fare. Then violence flared in Kashmir, the site of a long-running territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, campaigning for reelection as a nationalist strongman, unleashed retaliatory airstrikes that India claimed hit a terrorist training camp.

Soon, without any direction from the user, the Facebook account was flooded with pro-Modi propaganda and anti-Muslim hate speech. “300 dogs died now say long live India, death to Pakistan,” one post said, over a background of laughing emoji faces. “These are pakistani dogs,” said the translated caption of one photo of dead bodies lined-up on stretchers, hosted in the News Feed.

An internal Facebook memo, reviewed by The Washington Post, called the dummy account test an “integrity nightmare” that underscored the vast difference between the experience of Facebook in India and what U.S. users typically encounter. One Facebook worker noted the staggering number of dead bodies."

Facebook whistleblower revealed on '60 Minutes,' says the company prioritized profit over public good; CNN, October 4, 2021

Clare Duffy , CNN; Facebook whistleblower revealed on '60 Minutes,' says the company prioritized profit over public good

"The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook, and Facebook over and over again chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money," Haugen told "60 Minutes." 

"60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelly quoted one internal Facebook (FB) document as saying: "We have evidence from a variety of sources that hate speech, divisive political speech and misinformation on Facebook and the family of apps are affecting societies around the world.""

Whistleblower: Facebook is misleading the public on progress against hate speech, violence, misinformation; 60 Minutes, October 4, 2021

Scott Pelley, 60 Minutes ; Whistleblower: Facebook is misleading the public on progress against hate speech, violence, misinformation

"Her name is Frances Haugen. That is a fact that Facebook has been anxious to know since last month when an anonymous former employee filed complaints with federal law enforcement. The complaints say Facebook's own research shows that it amplifies hate, misinformation and political unrest—but the company hides what it knows. One complaint alleges that Facebook's Instagram harms teenage girls. What makes Haugen's complaints unprecedented is the trove of private Facebook research she took when she quit in May. The documents appeared first, last month, in the Wall Street Journal. But tonight, Frances Haugen is revealing her identity to explain why she became the Facebook whistleblower.

• Facebook's response to 60 Minutes' report, "The Facebook Whistleblower"
• Facebook whistleblower says company incentivizes "angry, polarizing, divisive content"
  
• Watch Live: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testifies before Senate committee
  

Frances Haugen: The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook. And Facebook, over and over again, chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money. 

Frances Haugen is 37, a data scientist from Iowa with a degree in computer engineering and a Harvard master's degree in business. For 15 years she's worked for companies including Google and Pinterest.

Frances Haugen: I've seen a bunch of social networks and it was substantially worse at Facebook than anything I'd seen before."

Violence at Capitol and beyond reignites a debate over America's long-held defense of extremist speech; CNN, January 19, 2021

Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN ; Violence at Capitol and beyond reignites a debate over America's long-held defense of extremist speech

"With most Americans hoping this week's expected inauguration protests look nothing like the Capitol siege, questions emerge about unrestrained free expression, long championed by First Amendment theorists as a benefit to society, no matter how ugly and hateful."

Death threats against the author of ‘American Dirt’ threaten us all; The Washington Post, January 30, 2020

Ron Charles , The Washington Post; Death threats against the author of ‘American Dirt’ threaten us all

"The co-owner of Politics and Prose, Lissa Muscatine, articulated that goal when she introduced Cummins last week. She noted that “American Dirt” raises questions such as: “Who is entitled to tell whose story? What is the purpose of literary fiction? Does a white-dominated publishing world perpetuate cultural bias in its choices of authors and books to promote?” Before turning over the microphone to Cummins, she reminded us, “Here at P and P, our only requirement is that we all remain respectful and generous as we listen to and hear from one another, even when we disagree.”

How grotesquely that modest requirement of liberal society has been soiled this week."

The New Zealand Terror Attack Shows Our Ethics Lagging Way Behind Our Technology; Forbes, March 19, 2019

Todd Essig, Forbes;

The New Zealand Terror Attack Shows Our Ethics Lagging Way Behind Our Technology

"We are failing. Collectively. Some more than others. When white nationalist terrorism struck New Zealand, after similar strikes in Norway, Pittsburgh and Charleston, it showed how we are failing to meet a central challenge posed by our technologically hyper-connected world. Namely, the cultural consequences of rapidly advancing technology require an equally accelerated and psychologically-informed life-long ethical education. The more things change, well, the more things have to change. We all have to do better.

Hate speech takes root and sprouts violence in the fertile ground of, as Christian Picciolini describes in White American Youth: My Descent into America's Most Violent Hate Movement--and How I Got Out, someone searching for identity, community, and purpose. Simply put, the developed world is failing to provide good-enough experiences of “identity, community, and purpose" suitable for 21st-century techno-culture. 

The old ways for learning how to be a good, decent person no longer work, or don’t work well enough for enough people. Of course it's an incredibly complex issue. But one piece is that people are now paradoxically isolated at their screens at the same time they are globally connected everywhere with anyone they choose. This paradox creates a feeling of community but without the responsibilities of community. The complexity and consequence of being fully with another person is diminished. Opportunities for empathy shrink to a vanishing point. But empathy creates the friction we need to slow and maybe even stop hate. So hate grows."

In These Divided Times, Is Civility Under Siege?; NPR, March 12, 2019

Leila Fadel, NPR;

In These Divided Times, Is Civility Under Siege?

"The calls for civility can feel like an effort to stifle people's outrage over injustice or hate, because civility can be a tool to build or a weapon to silence.

"To what purpose is civility going to be used? Is it going to be more inclusive?" Itagaki asks. "Is it going to mean that you're bringing more people's voices into the political debates, or are you using civility as a way to go back to the old hierarchies and the status quo since the founding of the American republic, where you only had white male propertied free landowners who were able to vote?"

So for some, now is a time to take a step back and be civil to each other. For others, it's imperative to be uncivil in a way that has led to social justice in the past."

A university gallery showed art with Confederate imagery. Then students called to remove it.; The Washington Post, February 26, 2019

Mark Lynn Ferguson, The Washington Post; A university gallery showed art with Confederate imagery. Then students called to remove it.

"Joy Garnett, program associate for the National Coalition Against Censorship, said the school had other options than taking the art down. It could have provided more context around the exhibit, such as temporary dividers to conceal the art and signs cautioning visitors on the difficult subject matter. After the exhibit closed, Baldwin did hold listening sessions, but only students and faculty were allowed to attend, according to school spokeswoman Liesel Crosier. The sessions, argued Jonathan Friedman, project director for campus free speech at PEN America, a nonprofit devoted to defending freedom of speech, “would have likely been much richer if the exhibit were able to continue.”

Garnett also found fault with the artists, who she said need to understand the communities where they are showing their work. More than half of Baldwin’s residential students are not white. “It’s not about avoiding offending people,” Garnett said. “It’s about how do you couch the offense in a way that’s productive.”

Do You Have a Moral Duty to Leave Facebook?; The New York Times, November 24, 2018

S. Matthew Liao, The New York Times; Do You Have a Moral Duty to Leave Facebook?


“I joined Facebook in 2008, and for the most part, I have benefited from being on it. Lately, however, I have wondered whether I should delete my Facebook account. As a philosopher with a special interest in ethics, I am using “should” in the moral sense. That is, in light of recent events implicating Facebook in objectionable behavior, is there a duty to leave it?"

I’m a rabbi from Pittsburgh. The way to help our community is to act.; The Washington Post, November 2, 2018

Mark Asher Goodman, The Washington Post; I’m a rabbi from Pittsburgh. The way to help our community is to act.

"Judaism is a religion of action. We are commanded in so many places by our Torah to do something; to do justice; to care for the stranger, the widow, and the orphan; to tend for the sick; to free the captive; to build a world of lovingkindness. We are commanded to “not stand idly by the blood of our neighbor.” Our most central figure is Moses, who reacted to a great massacre against children with action.

So here’s how to help: Do something."

Current Events Classroom lesson from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), re the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, October 30, 2018

Current Events Classroom lesson from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), re the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh:

[Kip Currier: I'm posting helpful information below, received from my former and now-retired University of Pittsburgh colleague Dr. Ellen Detlefsen, whose son David Reynolds works within the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Education Division. As Ellen wrote:

"David...has put together a lesson plan and resource page about the tragedy in Pittsburgh.  He has asked us to share this widely, and we urge you to do the same!  Sadly, it is more needed now than ever, so please see that this is shared with teachers, preachers, health workers, and your friends, neighbors, and relatives!"] 

"ADL has a new HS Current Events Classroom lesson: Deadly Shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

 On the morning of October 27, at Sabbath services, Robert Bowers entered the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA and yelled “All Jews must die,” then opened fire upon the congregants. He was armed with an assault rifle and several handguns and killed eleven congregants and wounded six others, four of whom are police officers.  When surrendering to law enforcement, Bowers told an officer that he “wanted all Jews to die” and that Jews “were committing genocide against his people.” This shooting is the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the U.S. This lesson provides an opportunity for students to analyze this incident in the context of the shooter’s background and history of anti-Semitism, as well as the nationwide rise of anti-Semitic incidents over the last year.  In this lesson, students will learn more about the incident, understand and consider the larger context of anti-Semitism in the U.S., explore how the escalation of hate operates and how allyship can make a difference.

We also posted a new blog: The Week in Hate and Bias and How to Talk with Young People

Here is a landing page with all the related resources that I’ve been sending the past few days plus these—all in one place!  After the Deadly Shooting at a Pittsburgh Synagogue: Resources for Educators

Dave Reynolds, Director of Professional Development and Regional Support

40 Court St. Boston, MA 02108

t: 617.406.6345 | email: dreynolds@adl.org
adl.org"

A Better Way to Ban Alex Jones; The New York Times, August 7, 2018

David French, The New York Times; A Better Way to Ban Alex Jones

"The good news is that tech companies don’t have to rely on vague, malleable and hotly contested definitions of hate speech to deal with conspiracy theorists like Mr. Jones. The far better option would be to prohibit libel or slander on their platforms.

To be sure, this would tie their hands more: Unlike “hate speech,” libel and slander have legal meanings. There is a long history of using libel and slander laws to protect especially private figures from false claims. It’s properly more difficult to use those laws to punish allegations directed at public figures, but even then there are limits on intentionally false factual claims. 

It’s a high bar. But it’s a bar that respects the marketplace of ideas, avoids the politically charged battle over ever-shifting norms in language and culture and provides protection for aggrieved parties."

UN Report Sets Forth Strong Recommendations for Companies to Protect Free Expression; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), June 27, 2018

Jillian C. York, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF);

UN Report Sets Forth Strong Recommendations for Companies to Protect Free Expression

 

"Through Onlinecensorship.org and various other projects—including this year’s censorship edition of our annual Who Has Your Back? report—we’ve highlighted the challenges and pitfalls that companies face as they seek to moderate content on their platforms. Over the past year, we’ve seen this issue come into the spotlight through advocacy initiatives like the Santa Clara Principles, media such as the documentary The Cleaners, and now, featured in the latest report by Professor David Kaye, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. 

Toward greater freedom, accountability, and transparency 

The Special Rapporteur’s latest is the first-ever UN report to focus on the regulation of user-generated content online, and comes at a time of heated debate on the impact of disinformation, extremism, and hateful speech. The report focuses on the obligations of both State actors and ICT companies. It aims at finding user-centered, human rights law-aligned approaches to content policy-making, transparency, due process, and governance on platforms that host user-generated content."