Conversation

Notices

1. Christopher Mims (mimsical@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 05:00:44 JST Christopher Mims

   YIKES.

   Following Elon Musk’s lead, Big Tech is surrendering to disinformation

   Facebook and YouTube are receding from their role as watchdogs against conspiracy theories ahead of the 2024 presidential election

   "The evolution of the companies’ practices was described by more than a dozen current and former employees... The new approach marks a sharp shift from the 2020 election."

   https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/25/political-conspiracies-facebook-youtube-elon-musk/

   • Aral Balkan repeated this.
   • a leah (leahabshaffer@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 05:01:20 JST a leah

     in reply to

     @mimsical Tech is so overdue for regulation. They ain't gonna police themselves.

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 05:01:20 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • a leah

     @leahabshaffer @mimsical Eric Schmidt to me during a social event at a Soho bookshop: “I wake up every morning and I fight regulation, it’s what I do, it’s my job.”

     (This was when he was Google’s executive chairman.)

     It’s the only thing they’re afraid of. Sadly too many policymakers are either too clueless, awestruck, or corrupt to exercise the power they have.

     Related: https://ar.al/2019/05/11/the-dos-and-donts-of-tech-regulation/ and https://ar.al/2019/11/29/the-future-of-internet-regulation-at-the-european-parliament/

     #regulation #BigTech

   • Michael Gemar (michaelgemar@mstdn.ca)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 13:14:46 JST Michael Gemar

     in reply to

     • Aral Balkan
     • Hannu Ikonen, MD
     • a leah

     @aral @hannu_ikonen @leahabshaffer @mimsical Is that part of not doing evil?

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 13:14:46 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Hannu Ikonen, MD
     • Michael Gemar
     • a leah

     @michaelgemar @hannu_ikonen @leahabshaffer @mimsical “‘Evil,’ says Google CEO Eric Schmidt, ‘is what Sergey says is evil.’”

     https://www.wired.com/2003/01/google-10/

     (By the way, Google removed “don’t be evil” from its code of conduct in 2018. https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-dont-be-evil-from-1826153393)

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 13:22:03 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Filipe
     • a leah

     @filipesm @leahabshaffer @mimsical No, the only thing they’ve been threatened with is the fear of losing out and appearing technologically ignorant and irrelevant, the promise of “jobs”, and the allure of revolving doors.

     Google’s lobbying office is literally around the corner from the European Parliament. Their (and Microsoft’s, etc.) lobbyists are the folks the MEPs drink with at the pubs down the road.

   • Filipe (filipesm@mastodon.green)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 13:22:04 JST Filipe

     in reply to

     • Aral Balkan
     • a leah

     @aral @leahabshaffer @mimsical I sometimes wonder if EU MPs or the commissioners have literally been threatened (or their families) by "lobbyists".

     Sometimes I think the only way for any of this to keep going is if enough people get to power with somewhat good intentions but then fear for their physical safety, idk

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 17:57:49 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Filipe

     @filipesm Those terms are far too wide to be meaningful in my experience. I prefer to form my opinions after I’ve met people in person and/or seen their actions.

   • Filipe (filipesm@mastodon.green)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 17:57:50 JST Filipe

     in reply to

     • Aral Balkan

     @aral sounds right 😞

     What do you think of Green MEPs and The Left MEPs, same? :(