Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategorySocial Media

Texas_state_capitol_rotunda
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post
Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
September 15, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media
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Texas Governor Signs Law Curbing Big Tech Censorship

A similar law in Florida was halted by a federal judge. Will Texas's law face the same legal battle?
Caitlin Bassett
September 15, 2021
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Last Thursday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 20 into law, legislation that would prohibit social media companies from banning users for their political beliefs and provide users with a legal remedy for unfair discriminatory behavior. The law is very similar to legislation passed earlier this year in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 7072 into law at the end of May. Within days, technology trade groups had filed a lawsuit, and on June 30, a federal judge stopped the bill in its tracks with a preliminary injunction. For the bill’s proponents, the law’s intention is to protect the free speech rights of state citizens when using social media. “Freedom of speech is under attack in Texas,” said…

social-media-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Social media concept.
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post
Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
August 24, 2021
Categorized
Law, Social Media
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Federal Trade Commission Takes Facebook to Court… Again

The FTC hopes to prove in an 80-page complaint that Facebook holds damaging monopoly power over competitors
Caitlin Bassett
August 24, 2021
Law, Social Media

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an amended complaint against Facebook, trying again for an antitrust lawsuit after a federal judge dismissed their original complaint earlier this summer. The updated complaint alleges that Facebook has violated antitrust laws and garnered monopoly power, namely by buying up rival companies and imposing unfair policies that “neutralize perceived competitive threats.” Facebook is the world’s dominant online social network, with a purported three billion-plus regular users. Facebook has maintained its monopoly position in significant part by pursuing Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) Mark Zuckerberg’s strategy, expressed in 2008: “it is better to buy than compete.” True to that maxim, Facebook has systematically tracked potential rivals and acquired companies that it viewed as serious competitive…

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A cuban flag with holes waves over a street in Central Havana. La Habana, as the locals call it, is the capital city of Cuba
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post
Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
August 19, 2021
Categorized
Social Media
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Social Media Was Instrumental in Recent Cuba Protests

Social media broke down barriers and helped galvanize the Cuban people against their Communist government
Caitlin Bassett
August 19, 2021
Social Media

One month after protests broke out across Cuba, the island’s Communist government has released a new set of internet and social media regulations specifically aimed at cracking down on anti-government activity. The Cuban government released the new regulations on Tuesday, forbidding internet content that is critical of the state’s policies, specifically on “constitutional, social and economic” matters, as well as content that could incite actions “that alter public order.” In addition, Cubans are now encouraged to report any content violating the new regulations, using a government-created form. Penalties for violating the new internet use decrees will be determined by legislation at a later date. Why such a crackdown on internet content? It’s because social media was essential to the widespread…

law book pen
Justice and law concept. Gavel on sounding block in hand's Male judge at a courtroom, working with document law books, report the case on table in modern office.
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post
Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
August 8, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media
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Section 230: What Is It and Why the Controversy?

Does Section 230 provide Big Tech too much power, or is it necessary for the moderation of misinformation and inappropriate content?
Caitlin Bassett
August 8, 2021
Censorship, Law, Social Media

At the center of the controversy between free speech and the rights of private companies lies Section 230, the controversial U.S. code dating back to 1996. Toward the end of his term in 2020, former President Donald Trump famously tweeted that Section 230 should be “completely terminated.” Sen. Josh Hawley, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard voiced their support, but by and large, the sentiment was met with fierce resistance. Advocates for the reform (or complete repeal) of Section 230 argue that it shields Big Tech companies from accountability when they engage in politically-motivated censorship and content moderation. Supporters of Section 230 argue that it is essential to keep the internet free of misinformation and vile or obscene material. Section 230…

an-internet-email-symbol-and-a-group-of-people-are-separated-by-a-red-prohibitory-symbol-no-restrictions-on-access-to-the-global-internet-censorship-information-control-society-isolation-policy-stockpack-adobe-stock
An internet email symbol and a group of people are separated by a red prohibitory symbol No. restrictions on access to the global Internet. Censorship. Information control, society isolation policy
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post
Author
News
Date
August 6, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Censorship, Social Media
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Is “Misinformation” Another Way to Say “Unwelcome Information”?

Cameron English notes that, on social media, major media outlets can botch the science with impunity but the slightest offenses, real or imagined, get others silenced
News
August 6, 2021
Artificial Intelligence, Censorship, Social Media

At American Council on Science and Health (“promoting science and debunking junk since 1978”), Cameron English reflects on the handwringing among social media companies about how to crack down on “misinformation” on COVID-19. Given the number of authoritative statements made and suddenly reversed, tt seems that any such crackdown would largely be driven by politics. For example: Facebook recently announced that it would “no longer take down posts claiming that Covid-19 was man-made or manufactured,” and the company’s new policy nicely underscores this point about credibility. What was the social media platform’s justification for allowing users to discuss the lab-spillover hypothesis? It didn’t hire a team of virologists and foreign policy experts to assess the viability of competing explanations for…

AdobeStock_155565861
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post
Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
July 29, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media
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Federal Judge Strikes Down Florida Big Tech Law

The judge ruled that the law violates the First Amendment rights of social media companies
Caitlin Bassett
July 29, 2021
Censorship, Law, Social Media

A federal judge struck down the recent Florida legislation aimed at reigning in the censorship powers of Big Tech, hours before it was set to go into effect. Within days of Governor DeSantis signing the bill into law in May, NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) filed a lawsuit, representing the biggest names in social media (such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Amazon). They argued that the new law is a violation of their First Amendment rights as private companies. On June 30, Judge Robert L. Hinkle of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled in favor of NetChoice and CCIA, issuing a preliminary injunction on the law after determining that it violates the First Amendment…

hand-with-microphone-tied-with-rope-depicting-the-idea-of-freedom-of-the-press-idea-of-the-repression-of-the-mass-media-or-freedom-of-expression-stockpack-adobe-stock
Hand with microphone tied with rope, depicting the idea of freedom of the press, idea of the repression of the mass media or freedom of expression
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 28, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media
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Newsletter Group Creates Alarm Plus Demands for Censorship

Substack is getting a lot of ink these days — raising both hope from readers and hand wringing from old media
Denyse O'Leary
July 28, 2021
Censorship, Social Media

The traditional media our parents grew up with are slowly dying in a chronic low-ratings crises — but surprising new media are being born. Substack is getting a lot of ink these days — raising both hope and handwringing. Its very existence shows how information is rapidly changing. At Substack, an online subscription newsletter system founded in 2017, tech guys Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie point out bluntly that the “New York Times” model of information is doomed: Today, as a result of a mass shift of advertising revenue to Google and Facebook, the news business is in crisis. The great journalistic totems of the last century are dying. News organizations—and other entities that masquerade as them—are turning to increasingly…

World twitter Connection on Blackboard
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post
Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
July 16, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media
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Governments Worldwide Pressured Twitter to Censor in 2020

World governments demanded the removal of content from 199 journalist sources
Caitlin Bassett
July 16, 2021
Censorship, Social Media

Twitter released its latest Transparency Report on Wednesday, revealing that in the latter half of 2020, there was a 26% increase in requests from international governments to remove posts from verified journalists. The report tracks various data from July 1 to December 31, 2020, including global legal requests and Twitter Rules enforcement. Global legal requests are divided between information requests and removal requests. Twitter received over 14,500 global government information requests, and over 38,500 global legal demands to remove content. According to the report, “94% of the total global volume of legal demands originated from only five countries (in decreasing order): Japan, India, Russia, Turkey, and South Korea.” Of the information requests received, Twitter announced that they “produced some or…

question mark letters angle
question mark letters
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post
Author
News
Date
July 5, 2021
Categorized
Business and Finance, Social Media
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The Most “Woke” Company Could Contribute Most to Online Bias

Google has got to be one of the "Wokest" companies but there is a lesson in how Timnit Gebru got fired
News
July 5, 2021
Business and Finance, Social Media

Here’s a paper worth revisiting, “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?” (March 3, 2021), if only for the principal author’s trouble associated with publishing it. Although Google had hired Timnit Gebru to do ethics consultation, an executive, Megan Kacholia demanded that she remove all suggestion of her affiliation. In the ensuing uproar, Gebru ended up no longer employed there. The paper in question was, in Gebru’s mind, pretty unobjectionable. It surveyed the known pitfalls of so-called large language models, a type of AI software — most famously exemplified by a system called GPT-3 — that was stoking excitement in the tech industry. Google’s own version of the technology was now helping to power the…

laptop-computer-displaying-we-control-sign-stockpack-adobe-stock
Laptop computer displaying 'we control' sign
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post
Author
News
Date
July 2, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media
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Is Facebook Anti-Science or Was That Just a Bad Mood It Was In?

The curious case of the scientist who spoke up about possible misrepresentations of research points up the problem with Big Tech social media today
News
July 2, 2021
Censorship, Social Media

University of Florida geneticist Kevin Folta recently learned the hard way about the imbalancesof Facebook censorship. On June 19, the company flagged a 2015 post written by University of Florida geneticist Kevin Folta. What was his offense? Folta took two anti-pesticide activists to task for making misleading statements about the weed killer glyphosate. They falsely claimed the herbicide causes cancer and alleged that the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) acknowledged the causal link between the two. Cameron English, “Social Media Censorship: Scientist Corrects Anti-GMO Silliness, Facebook Threatens To Ban Him” at American Council on Science and Health (June 22, 2021) Folta, Cameron tells us, was informed that “his post violated Facebook’s ‘community standards’ and warned that his account may…

bottom-view-close-up-of-four-white-surveillance-cameras-stockpack-adobe-stock
Bottom view close-up of four white surveillance cameras
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post
Author
Andrew McDiarmid
Date
June 29, 2021
Categorized
Global Technology, Social Media, Surveillance
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What We Lose When We Stop Losing Things

What do we lose when we stop losing things? Amidst all this finding, do we risk losing part of ourselves?
Andrew McDiarmid
June 29, 2021
Global Technology, Social Media, Surveillance

To live is to lose. We’ve all felt the anguish of losing something important — keys, wallet, phone, bags, money, opportunities, loved ones. Loss is part of the human condition. Some things we find again, some we don’t. It has been this way throughout history. But the development of Bluetooth technology in the 1990s forever changed the way we interacted with our possessions. The wireless standard — developed by a consortium of early tech companies — uses low-power short-range radio waves to connect our gear to personal-area networks known as piconets. It got its name rather serendipitously from the medieval Scandinavian king Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson. And just as his rule united Scandinavia, so Bluetooth networking has united our favorite tech…

Big brother electronic eye concept, technologies for the global surveillance, security of computer systems and networks
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post
Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
June 28, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media, Technocracy
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A Book Review: The Tyranny of Big Tech

A beautiful defense of the common man and woman against a technological elite
Caitlin Bassett
June 28, 2021
Censorship, Social Media, Technocracy

“Our republic has never been more hierarchical, more riven by class, more managed by an elite than it is today,” writes Josh Hawley in The Tyranny of Big Tech. Who might that elite be? According to Hawley, it’s not our politicians, our lawyers, our Ivy League graduates, or our Hollywood celebrities. It’s Big Tech – those big names like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Apple, and Google that have embedded themselves in our lives to an almost irreversible degree. Hawley has spent his career as a U.S. Senator, and formerly as Missouri’s Attorney General, holding Big Tech accountable where others don’t dare tread. In investigations, in legislation, and now in this book, Hawley has confronted the antitrust and privacy violations committed by…

hunting rifle butt
hunting
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post
Author
News
Date
June 26, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Social Media
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Killing People for “Likes” on an Alien Planet: Sci-fi Saturday

If only this crisp tale didn’t sound so much like the social media we actually know
News
June 26, 2021
Arts & Culture, Social Media

“Happy Hunting” at DUST by Jess Wolinsky and Jordan M. Hahn (June 22, 2021 at DUST, 2020 at IMDB, 8:06 min) Content warning: Suicide depiction Happy Hunting is a story of Tyler (also known as @66Shadow), an influencer who will do anything to gain followers. In his quest for fame, he now finds himself live-streaming on the nearby planet Proxima Centauri B, where researchers infected with a cosmetic abnormality are hunted for sport, to break @SgtSurge’s kill record. Tyler hunts with precise skill, allowing him to track and kill three victims despite their pleas for mercy, all while hamming it up for his drone companion, who live-streams his every move. He is then attacked by a potential fourth victim, catching…

warning-cancel-culture-spreading-fast-stockpack-adobe-stock
Warning, cancel culture spreading fast
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 24, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media
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Black American Conservatives Lead Fight Against Cancel Culture

They “trigger” bullies when they say what they think needs to be said, not what the Cancel mob insists on hearing
Denyse O'Leary
June 24, 2021
Censorship, Social Media

British writer Douglas Murray dissects social media’s Cancel Culture, in a typically unsparing fashion: All ages have their orthodoxies. And if writers, artists, thinkers and comedians do not occasionally tread on them, then they are not doing their jobs. Meanwhile human nature remains what it is. And just as some children will always pull the wings off flies and fry small ants with their toy magnifying glasses, so a certain number of adult inadequates will find meaning in their lives by sniffing around the seats in the public square until they find an aroma they can claim offends them. Douglas Murray, “How to fight back against ‘cancel culture’” at Spectator (January 24, 2020) Black American conservatives “trigger” Cancel Culture when…

social-media-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Social media concept.
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post
Author
News
Date
June 23, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Social Media
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A Sad Truth: Social Media Rewards Us for Acting Badly

Our negativity sells advertising for them while polarizing society
News
June 23, 2021
Ethics, Social Media

Here’s the dismal report, from the University of Cambridge, about when we are likely to “share” information: Social media posts about the “political outgroup” — criticizing or mocking those on the opposing side of an ideological divide — receive twice as many shares as posts that champion people or organizations from one’s own political tribe. This is according to a study led by University of Cambridge psychologists, who analyzed over 2.7 million Tweets and Facebook posts published by either US media outlets or Members of Congress from across the political spectrum. Researchers also found that each additional word referencing a rival politician or competing worldview (e.g. ‘Biden’ or ‘Liberal’ if coming from a Republican source) increased the odds of a…

books-and-crumpled-paper-in-the-bin-books-that-do-not-read-low-grade-literature-copy-space-stockpack-adobe-stock
Books and crumpled paper in the bin. Books that do not read, low-grade literature, copy space
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post
Author
Caitlin Bassett
Date
June 22, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media, Technocracy
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The Tyranny of Big Tech: The Book That Almost Wasn’t

How cancel culture came for a book taking on Big Tech monopolies
Caitlin Bassett
June 22, 2021
Censorship, Social Media, Technocracy

On May 4, Regnery Publishing released The Tyranny of Big Tech, a book written by Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) uncovering the deceptive and antitrust practices of companies like Facebook and Google, and laying out a policy plan to break up the monopolies and protect the interests of America’s common men and women. The book has done well. In its first week, it became the number one bestseller in three separate categories on Amazon lists, and it made the Publisher’s Weekly list of hardcover nonfiction at No. 6. “Big Tech represents today’s robber barons,” Hawley writes in the first chapter, “who are draining prosperity and power away from the great middle of our society and creating, as they do, a new…

book threads
book
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 18, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Censorship, Social Media
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Books: The First Step in Fighting Cancel Culture

Malicious envy was always out there but before social media it could rarely assemble so large a mob
Denyse O'Leary
June 18, 2021
Arts & Culture, Censorship, Social Media
Many writers and artists are beginning to speak out and take action, recognizing that sharing the cost of speaking up reduces its burden. Read More ›
faceless army
blinded slaves in the water
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 18, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Censorship, Social Media
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Books: Cancel Culture As an Invisible Army of Censors

The new censorship is different from traditional “banned” or “challenged” lists because a younger, much more active crowd is behind it
Denyse O'Leary
June 18, 2021
Arts & Culture, Censorship, Social Media

For authors, Cancel Culture, powered by social media, is becoming a serious business. A poorly thought-out tweet from years past — or merely one to which socially powerful people take exception — may destroy a career. The mob has hit genre fiction hard. One author, studying the trend, recounts, Since March, I have been sending discreet messages to authors of young adult fiction. I approached 24 people, in several countries, all writing in English. In total, 15 authors replied, of whom 11 agreed to talk to me, either by email or on the phone. Two subsequently withdrew, in one case following professional advice. Two have received death threats and five would only talk if I concealed their identity. This is…

business-risk-control-concept-businessman-protect-wooden-block-fall-to-planning-and-strategy-in-risk-to-business-alternative-and-prevent-investment-insurance-business-stockpack-adobe-stock
Business risk control concept, Businessman protect wooden block fall to planning and strategy in risk to business Alternative and prevent. Investment Insurance Business.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 16, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media
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The Push to Break Up Big Tech Monopolies

Facebook is "acting as an arm of the state," says Florida's governor
News
June 16, 2021
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appeared on Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures, hosted by Maria Bartiromo, over the weekend. The two discussed Big Tech’s alarming censorship power and Florida’s efforts to combat that power. Recent government emails obtained through Freedom of Information Act lawsuits suggest that Dr. Anthony Fauci and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg coordinated what should and should not be dispersed through social media platforms regarding COVID-19 and its origins. “Do you believe Fauci colluded with Mark Zuckerberg? Does this expose Facebook to legal action?” Bartiromo asked DeSantis. DeSantis answered by calling Facebook “an arm of the state”: Here’s an example of working with Fauci where Facebook, you can argue, is essentially acting as an arm of the state, because they’re…

woman-hand-using-smart-phone-with-lock-icon-graphic-at-coffee-shop-technology-business-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Woman hand using smart phone with lock icon graphic at coffee shop. Technology business concept.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 9, 2021
Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media
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Censoring the Censors? Florida’s Anti-Censorship Law

What exactly does the law do, and why is Big Tech sponsoring a lawsuit to halt it?
News
June 9, 2021
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Originally published by Dr. Karl Stephan at Engineering Ethics On May 24, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill designed to stop social media firms from censoring free speech. At least that’s what the governor’s website claims it does. Two big-tech industry groups, Netchoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), sued the state of Florida in early June over the legislation, which is scheduled to take effect on July 1. What exactly does the law do, and why are organizations such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Google sponsoring a lawsuit to halt it? People of certain political persuasions need not look far for motivations to pass such a law. Following the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 of this year,…