Ethically-tangled aspects of 21st century societies and cultures. In the vein of Charles Darwin’s 1859 “entangled bank” metaphor—a complex and evolving digital ecosystem of difference and dependence, where humans, technologies, ethics, law, policy, data, and information converge and diverge. Kip Currier, PhD, JD
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
New Group Joins the Political Fight Over Disinformation Online; The New York Times, April 22, 2024
Steven Lee Myers and Jim Rutenberg, The New York Times; New Group Joins the Political Fight Over Disinformation Online
"Many of the nation’s most prominent researchers, facing lawsuits, subpoenas and physical threats, have pulled back.
“More and more researchers were getting swept up by this, and their institutions weren’t either allowing them to respond or responding in a way that really just was not rising to meet the moment,” Ms. Jankowicz said in an interview. “And the problem with that, obviously, is that if we don’t push back on these campaigns, then that’s the prevailing narrative.”
That narrative is prevailing at a time when social media companies have abandoned or cut back efforts to enforce their own policies against certain types of content.
Many experts have warned that the problem of false or misleading content is only going to increase with the advent of artificial intelligence.
“Disinformation will remain an issue as long as the strategic gains of engaging in it, promoting it and profiting from it outweigh consequences for spreading it,” Common Cause, the nonpartisan public interest group, wrote in a report published last week that warned of a new wave of disinformation around this year’s vote."
Friday, April 5, 2024
How disinformation 'sabotages America'; WBUR, March 21, 2024
Monday, April 1, 2024
Conspiracy, monetisation and weirdness: this is why social media has become ungovernable; The Guardian, April 1, 2024
Nesrine Malik , The Guardian; Conspiracy, monetisation and weirdness: this is why social media has become ungovernable
"Something has changed about the way social media content is presented to us. It is both a huge and subtle shift. Until recently, types of content were segregated by platform. Instagram was for pictures and short reels, TikTok for longer videos, X for short written posts. Now Instagram reels post TikTok videos, which post Instagram reels, and all are posted on X. Often it feels like a closed loop, with the algorithm taking you further and further away from discretion and choice in who you follow. All social media apps now have the equivalent of a “For you” page, a feed of content from people you don’t follow, and which, if you don’t consciously adjust your settings, the homepage defaults to. The result is that increasingly, you have less control over what you see."
From Pizzagate to the 2020 Election: Forcing Liars to Pay or Apologize; The New York Times, March 31, 2024
Elizabeth Williamson, The New York Times ; From Pizzagate to the 2020 Election: Forcing Liars to Pay or Apologize
"Convinced that viral lies threaten public discourse and democracy, he is at the forefront of a small but growing cadre of lawyers deploying defamation, one of the oldest areas of the law, as a weapon against a tide of political disinformation."
Thursday, March 28, 2024
AI hustlers stole women’s faces to put in ads. The law can’t help them.; The Washington Post, March 28, 2024
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Monday, March 25, 2024
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."
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Magali Berdah: Dozens jailed in France's largest cyberbully case; BBC, March 19, 2024
Ian Casey, BBC; Magali Berdah: Dozens jailed in France's largest cyberbully case
"Twenty-eight people have been jailed for up to 18 months for the harassment of an influencer in France's largest cyberbullying case to date.
Judges found the accused guilty of harassing Magali Berdah, spurred on by a campaign by the French rapper Booba against "thieving influencers"...
Ms Berdah has built a prominent career in France as a lifestyle and fashion expert, while also marketing other social media stars through her company Shauna Events.
Her lawyers said posts from Booba, real name Élie Yaffa, encouraged a "mob" of people online to send hateful and insulting messages to their client, something Booba denied.
The court said that each of the defendants "made a conscious choice to join in" with the cyberbullying.
The accused, aged between 20 and 49, received jail terms ranging from four to 18 months, some of which were suspended."
Tennessee becomes the first state to protect musicians and other artists against AI; NPR, March 22, 2024
Rebecca Rosman, NPR; Tennessee becomes the first state to protect musicians and other artists against AI
"Tennessee made history on Thursday, becoming the first U.S. state to sign off on legislation to protect musicians from unauthorized artificial intelligence impersonation.
"Tennessee (sic) is the music capital of the world, & we're leading the nation with historic protections for TN artists & songwriters against emerging AI technology," Gov. Bill Lee announced on social media.
The Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, or ELVIS Act, is an updated version of the state's old right of publicity law. While the old law protected an artist's name, photograph or likeness, the new legislation includes AI-specific protections."
Thursday, March 21, 2024
‘Social media is like driving with no speed limits’: the US surgeon general fighting for youngsters’ happiness; The Guardian, March 19, 2024
Robert Booth, The Guardian; ‘Social media is like driving with no speed limits’: the US surgeon general fighting for youngsters’ happiness
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt – a pocket full of poison; The Guardian, Book Review, March 21, 2024
Sophie McBain, The Guardian, Book Review; The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt – a pocket full of poison
"The American social psychologist Jonathan Haidt believes this mental health crisis has been driven by the mass adoption of smartphones, along with the advent of social media and addictive online gaming. He calls it “the Great Rewiring of Childhood”.
Children are spending ever less time socialising in person and ever more time glued to their screens, with girls most likely to be sucked into the self-esteem crushing vortex of social media, and boys more likely to become hooked on gaming and porn. Childhood is no longer “play-based”, it’s “phone-based”. Haidt believes that parents have become overprotective in the offline world, delaying the age at which children are deemed safe to play unsupervised or run errands alone, but do too little to protect children from online dangers. We have allowed the young too much freedom to roam the internet, where they are at risk of being bullied and harassed or encountering harmful content, from graphic violence to sites that glorify suicide and self-harm...
The Anxious Generation is nonetheless an urgent and essential read, and it ought to become a foundational text for the growing movement to keep smartphones out of schools, and young children off social media. As well as calling for school phone bans, Haidt argues that governments should legally assert that tech companies have a duty of care to young people, the age of internet adulthood should be raised to 16, and companies forced to institute proper age verification – all eminently sensible and long overdue interventions."
Monday, March 11, 2024
Princess Catherine Apologizes, Saying She Edited Image; The New York Times, March 11, 2024
Mark Landler, The New York Times; Princess Catherine Apologizes, Saying She Edited Image
"Catherine, the Princess of Wales, apologized on Monday for doctoring a photo of her with her three children, which was recalled by several news agencies on Sunday after they determined the image had been manipulated.
The decision to recall the photo reignited a storm of speculation about Catherine, who has not been seen in public since she had abdominal surgery nearly two months ago. In her statement, the 42-year-old princess chalked up the alteration to a photographer’s innocent desire to retouch the image
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Catherine wrote in a post on social media. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”
The photo, which marked Mother’s Day in Britain, depicted a smiling Catherine surrounded by her children, George, Charlotte and Louis. Hours after Kensington Palace released the photo, The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse issued advisories urging news organizations to remove the image."
Monday, February 19, 2024
MAGA’s Violent Threats Are Warping Life in America; The New York Times, February 18, 2024
David French, The New York Times; MAGA’s Violent Threats Are Warping Life in America
"So we called the local sheriff, shared the threat, and asked if the department could send someone to check our house.
Minutes later, a young deputy called to tell me all was quiet at our home. When I asked if he would mind checking back frequently, he said he’d stay in front of our house all night. Then he asked, “Why did you get this threat?”
I hesitated before I told him. Our community is so MAGA that I had a pang of concern about his response. “I’m a columnist,” I said, “and we’ve had lots of threats ever since I wrote against Donald Trump.”
The deputy paused for a moment. “I’m a vet,” he said, “and I volunteered to serve because I believe in our Constitution. I believe in free speech.” And then he said words I’ll never forget: “You keep speaking, and I’ll stand guard.”
I didn’t know that deputy’s politics and I didn’t need to. When I heard his words, I thought, that’s it. That’s the way through. Sometimes we are called to speak. Sometimes we are called to stand guard. All the time we can at least comfort those under threat, telling them with words and deeds that they are not alone. If we do that, we can persevere. Otherwise, the fear will be too much for good people to bear."
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Classical Musicians Victimized by Erroneous Copyright Claims; Violinist.com, December 19, 2023
Laurie Niles, Violinist.com; Classical Musicians Victimized by Erroneous Copyright Claims
""One or more actions were applied to your video because of a copyright match."
This was just one of two copyright claims that Amy Beth Horman received from Facebook Thursday, disputing ownership of videos of her daughter's violin performances. First, she received a copyright claim for a video of Ava's live performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto this week. Then, she got another for video she had posted in 2020 of then-10-year-old Ava performing "Meditation from Thais." These are both classical works that are in the public domain - not subject to copyright.
Nonetheless, classical musicians receive these kinds of dreaded messages on a regular basis if they post videos of their performances on social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.
Has the musician violated anyone's copyright? Almost never. These are automated copyright claims created by bots on behalf of big companies like Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group or Universal Music. If the bot finds that your performance has approximately the same notes and timing as one in their catalogue, they then claim that they own rights to your recording. But musicians have every right to perform and post a public domain work. Even so, musicians often find their recordings muted, earnings from ads on their performances given instead to the company filing the erroneous claim, and threats of having their accounts suspended or banned."
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
TikTok moderators struggling to assess Israel-Gaza content, Guardian told; The Guardian, December 20, 2023
Hibaq Farah, The Guardian; TikTok moderators struggling to assess Israel-Gaza content, Guardian told
"TikTok moderators have struggled to assess content related to the Israel-Gaza conflict because the platform removed an internal tool for flagging videos in a foreign language, the Guardian has been told.
The change has meant moderators in Europe cannot flag that they do not understand foreign-language videos, for example, in Arabic and Hebrew, which are understood to be appearing more frequently in video queues."
Saturday, November 18, 2023
More Americans are getting news on TikTok, bucking the trend seen on most other social media sites; Pew Research Center, November 15, 2023
KATERINA EVA MATSA, Pew Research Center; More Americans are getting news on TikTok, bucking the trend seen on most other social media sites
[Kip Currier: This November 2023 Pew Research Center article about news consumption by Americans--particularly increasing numbers of teens--who use TikTok should be concerning to anyone who has an interest in democratic principles, informed citizenries, accuracy of information, national security, and public health.
It's not going to be easy, though, to stem access to dis- and misinformation and instill more guardrails against conspiracy theories and hate speech (--looking at you too, Elon/Twitter-cum-X) for Big Tech platforms like TikTok (though states like Montana are trying to provide bulwarks) that are well-documented for-profit purveyors of disinformation and misinformation.
One step in raising awareness of social media platform concerns is to get more informed about TikTok's meteoric rise from new-kid-on-the-social-media-block just a few years ago to prodigious social media sensation/Trojan horse threat today: the Washington Post's May 2023 "How TikTok went from teen sensation to political pariah" provides an informative timeline of TikTok's onset and vitality.
A significant concern of TikTok usage and market penetration is public health-related: Social media companies like TikTok and Meta utilize known (and unknown "trade secret-shielded") design features that foster addictive consumption of their content, which, in part, is having documented negative impacts on mental health. Bloomberg's April 2023 article "TikTok’s Algorithm Keeps Pushing Suicide to Vulnerable Kids" is one example.
Ongoing concerns about TikTok's threats to U.S. national security and cybersecurity have also prompted the Biden administration to speak out forcefully in March 2023.
The burden of addressing the "information threats" these sites present is going to be on schools and public libraries: to advance "social media information literacy" and critical thinking skills in young people, as well as persons of all ages. Unfortunately, libraries are, in many instances, jumping pell-mell on the TikTok bandwagon: rhapsodically promoting the platform, both tacitly and overtly, without commensurately weighing the substantive downsides of its use for community engagement and messaging that, admittedly, can have positive upshots, like combatting rising rates of book challenges and bans.
Notice, too, on television the increased Public Relations/Crisis Management "feel-good ad" campaigning that TikTok--like Meta/Facebook--has been engaging in the past few years to counter reporting about the burgeoning amounts of disinformation and misinformation on these sites, as well as other real concerns highlighted above. These ads employ folksy, "nothing-to-worry-about-on-here" messages in attempts to downplay the genuine dangers that they represent to individuals and democratic societies. The reality, however, is that there is bonafide "stuff" to worry about regarding TikTok and its ilk -- and ample evidence of these intersectional problems to vindicate taking affirmative steps now to mitigate and push back against their negative impacts.
Are you listening, U.S. Congress and state legislatures?]
"A small but growing share of U.S. adults say they regularly get news on TikTok. This is in contrast with many other social media sites, where news consumption has either declined or stayed about the same in recent years.
In just three years, the share of U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from TikTok has more than quadrupled, from 3% in 2020 to 14% in 2023.
TikTok, primarily known for short-form video sharing, has become especially popular among teens – two-thirds of whom report ever using the platform – as well as young adults."
Monday, November 6, 2023
Olympian Johnny Weir funds Quarryville library after Fulton Twp. cuts gift over LGBTQ+ content; Lancaster Online, November 6, 2023
JACK PANYARD , Lancaster Online; Olympian Johnny Weir funds Quarryville library after Fulton Twp. cuts gift over LGBTQ+ content
"When figure skating icon and Quarryville native Johnny Weir heard Fulton Township supervisors were defunding the borough’s library because it offers materials about LGBTQ+ life and culture, he decided to step in.
Weir, an avid supporter of both his hometown and LGBTQ+ causes, announced over social media Saturday that he would cover the township’s annual $1,000 allocation to the library for as long as he could, saying via Instagram that he wanted to “help save a community that raised me and to make sure the library represents everyone, not just the few.”
Weir’s generosity has become contagious."
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Maine Mass Shooting Disinformation Floods Social Media as Suspect Remains at Large; Wired, October 26, 2023
DAVID GILBERT , Wired; Maine Mass Shooting Disinformation Floods Social Media as Suspect Remains at Large
"“It’s as if everyone thinks disinformation is a problem, but not for them personally—only for other people,” Caroline Orr, a behavioral scientist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland who tracks disinformation online, wrote on X, adding: “When 20+ people are murdered in a mass shooting, and the reaction of most people on this website is: ‘How can I use this to push a political agenda?’ or ‘How can I use this to attack XYZ person?’ … that reflects something far more disturbing.”"
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Prominent journal editor fired for endorsing satirical article about Israel-Hamas conflict; Science, October 24, 2023
SCIENCE NEWS STAFF, Science; Prominent journal editor fired for endorsing satirical article about Israel-Hamas conflict
"Michael Eisen, editor-in-chief of the prominent open access journal eLife and a longtime critic of traditional journals, says he is losing that job for publicly endorsing a satirical article that criticized people dying in Gaza for not condemning the recent attacks on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas...
Eisen has previously been a frequent, feisty participant in debates about scientific publishing, doggedly supporting the development of free access to journal articles. In 2003, he co-founded the Public Library of Science (PLOS), whose journal PLOS ONE grew to become one of the largest open-access journals. Authors pay a fee so that their articles in PLOS journals are free to read when published. Eisen has criticized the paywalls still in place at many subscription journals as slowing the progress of science and the diffusion of useful findings. But critics of PLOS’s model have suggested author fees create an incentive for journals to maximize the number of papers published at the expense of adequate peer review and quality and can create barriers for authors with limited resources."