I have written on journalism and media trends eariler few years ago. So it is time for update. What is the state of journalism and news publishing in 2017? NiemanLab’s predictions for 2017 are a good place to start thinking about what lies ahead for journalism. There, Matt Waite puts us in our place straight away by telling us that the people running the media are the problem.
There has been changes on tech publishing. In January 2017 International Data Group, the owner of PCWorld magazine and market researcher IDC, on Thursday said it was being acquired by China Oceanwide Holdings Group and IDG Capital, the investment management firm run by IDG China executive Hugo Shong. In 2016 Arrow bought EE Times, EDN, TechOnline and lots more from UBM.
Here are some article links and information bits on journalist and media in 2017:
Soothsayers’ guides to journalism in 2017 article take a look at journalism predictions and the value of this year’s predictions.
What Journalism Needs To Do Post-Election article tells that faced with the growing recognition that the electorate was uniformed or, at minimum, deeply in the thrall of fake news, far too many journalists are responding not with calls for change but by digging in deeper to exactly the kinds of practices that got us here in the first place.
Fake News Is About to Get Even Scarier than You Ever Dreamed article says that what we saw in the 2016 election is nothing compared to what we need to prepare for in 2020 as incipient technologies appear likely to soon obliterate the line between real and fake.
Headlines matter article tells that in 2017, headlines will matter more than ever and journalists will need to wrest control of headline writing from social-optimization teams. People get their news from headlines now in a way they never did in the past.
Why new journalism grads are optimistic about 2017 article tells that since today’s college journalism students have been in school, the forecasts for their futures has been filled with words like “layoffs,” “cutbacks,” “buyouts” and “freelance.” Still many people are optimistic about the future because the main motivation for being a journalist is often “to make a difference.”
Updating social media account can be a serious job. Zuckerberg has 12+ Facebook employees helping him with posts and comments on his Facebook page and professional photographers to snap personal moments.
Wikipedia Is Being Ripped Apart By a Witch Hunt For Secretly Paid Editors article tells that with undisclosed paid editing on the rise, Wikipedians and the Wikimedia Foundation are working together to stop the practice without discouraging user participation. Paid editing is permissible under Wikimedia Foundation’s terms of use as long as they disclose these conflicts of interest on their user pages, but not all paid editors make these disclosures.
Big Internet giants are working on how to make content better for mobile devices. Instant Articles is a new way for any publisher to create fast, interactive articles on Facebook. Google’s AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is a project that it aims to accelerate content on mobile devices. Both of those systems have their advantages and problems.
Clearing Out the App Stores: Government Censorship Made Easier article tells that there’s a new form of digital censorship sweeping the globe, and it could be the start of something devastating. The centralization of the internet via app stores has made government censorship easier. If the app isn’t in a country’s app store, it effectively doesn’t exist. For more than a decade, we users of digital devices have actively championed an online infrastructure that now looks uniquely vulnerable to the sanctions of despots and others who seek to control information.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Daniel Oberhaus / Motherboard:
Researchers warn so-called “perceptual” ad blockers, which aim to visually recognize ads on a page to block them, are ineffective and create new attack vectors — Perceptual ad blockers will come out on the losing side in the war against internet advertisers and expose users …
Researchers Defeat Most Powerful Ad Blockers, Declare a ‘New Arms Race’
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwjzka/researchers-defeat-most-powerful-ad-blockers-declare-a-new-arms-race
Last year, Princeton researchers created a perceptual ad blocker, which could visually locate advertisements on a webpage and filter them out. This plugin was supposed to be the “ad blocking superweapon” that would put an end to the ad-blocking arms race since it didn’t target ads based on their code, but on the way they looked on the page.
According to new research published this week on arXiv, however, an AI was able to defeat perceptual ad blockers. Moreover, the researchers warned, ad blockers will be on the losing side of the arms race and expose their users to new attack vectors in the process.
Perceptual ad blockers will come out on the losing side in the war against internet advertisers and expose users to a host of new attack vectors in the process, the researchers warned.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Susan Wojcicki / YouTube Creator Blog:
YouTube CEO says open platforms hosting content can not be expected to enforce EU’s Article 13 copyright restrictions and none will take the financial risk
The Potential Unintended Consequences of Article 13
Monday, November 12, 2018
https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2018/11/i-support-goals-of-article-13-i-also.html
We have worked hard to ensure creators and artists are fairly compensated for their work. In the last year, YouTube paid content owners across the EU €800m. We have also paid the global music industry more than €1.5bn from advert-generated revenue alone. However, this creator economy is under threat from a section of the EU’s efforts to revise its copyright directive, known as article 13, which holds internet companies directly responsible for any copyright infringement in the content shared on their platform. While we support the goals of article 13, the European Parliament’s current proposal will create unintended consequences that will have a profound impact on the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.
The parliament’s approach is unrealistic in many cases because copyright owners often disagree over who owns what rights. If the owners cannot agree, it is impossible to expect the open platforms that host this content to make the correct rights decisions.
Take the global music hit “Despacito”. This video contains multiple copyrights, ranging from sound recording to publishing rights. Although YouTube has agreements with multiple entities to license and pay for the video, some of the rights holders remain unknown. That uncertainty means we might have to block videos like this to avoid liability under article 13. Multiply that risk with the scale of YouTube, where more than 400 hours of video are uploaded every minute, and the potential liabilities could be so large that no company could take on such a financial risk. We have already taken steps to address copyright infringement by developing technology, like our Content ID programme
To date, we have used the system to pay rights holders more than €2.5bn for third party use of their content. We believe Content ID provides the best solution for managing rights on a global scale.
We welcome the chance to work with policymakers and the industry to develop a solution within article 13 that protects rights holders while also allowing the creative economy to thrive.
Tomi Engdahl says:
China’s State-Run Media Has A Virtual News Anchor That Looks Terrifyingly Real
https://www.iflscience.com/technology/chinas-staterun-media-has-a-virtual-news-anchor-that-looks-terrifyingly-real/
Xinhua, China’s state news agency, has just revealed new additions to its team: digitally reconstructed television news anchors powered by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Dressed in crisp suits with distinctly sleek news anchor haircuts, the two new hosts were unveiled this week
Journalists simply have to type the script into a computer and the AI anchor will read out the text in a synthesized voice, complete with all the subtle gestures and expressions you’d expect to see with a real human.
“The development of the media industry calls for continuous innovation and deep integration with the international advanced technologies… I look forward to bringing you brand-new news experiences.”
The virtual puppets, which appear to be very similar to the technology used to make “DeepFake” videos, was developed by Xinhua and the Chinese search engine, Sogou.com. Xinhua says that the anchors “can work 24 hours a day on its official website and various social media platforms, reducing news production costs and improving efficiency.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
US, Russia and China refuse to back French cybersecurity initiative
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/11/12/us-russia-china-refuse-back-french-cybersecurity-initiative/
The US, China and Russia have refused to endorse a French-backed agreement designed to regulate the Internet and bolster cyber security, despite the approval of 51 other countries including all members of the European Union.
The Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace was launched by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday and represents an attempt to set clear rules for the use of cyber-weapons.
At an event organised by UNESCO, the French leader set out his ambitions for stronger international regulation of the Internet and better cooperation on cyber-attacks, foreign meddling in elections, online censorship and hate speech.
But the refusal of Washington DC, Moscow and Beijing to sign up to the agreement represents a serious blow for the initiative.
“The internet is a space currently managed by a technical community of private players. But it’s not governed. So now that half of humanity is online, we need to find new ways to organize the internet,” a French official said. “Otherwise, the internet as we know it today — free, open and secure — will be damaged by the new threats.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Helsingissä asuvan amerikkalaisyrittäjän Rob Guinnessin mielestä sosiaalinen media on rikki. Erityisesti hän on pettynyt yksityisyyskohuissa ryvettyneeseen Facebookiin ja aikoo perustaa oman kryptatun somepalvelunsa.
Mies ei ole huolensa kanssa yksin, sillä hengenheimolaisia löytyy erityisesti MyData-yhteisöstä
”Facebook yrittää tehdä liian monta asiaa kerralla.”
https://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/eilen-olit-foliohattu-huomenna-viisas-6748694
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Says Any Return to China Would Preserve Free Expression
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-14/facebook-says-any-return-to-china-would-preserve-free-expression
Facebook Inc. said if it ever returns to China, the company will do it in a way that preserves rights to free expression and privacy — issues that make such a move almost impossible today.
The social-media giant made the comments in a written response to questions from U.S. senators. Facebook’s stance is more cautious than Google, which is trying to get its search engine back into China. That project has sparked harsh criticism and debate from employees and outsiders, who say the company is violating its mission.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/11/05/the-case-fortheweb.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
New York Times:
Interviews with more than 50 people show how Facebook stumbled in dealing with multiple crises, which Zuckerberg and Sandberg initially tried to obscure
Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html
Inside Facebook’s Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, top executives gathered in the glass-walled conference room of its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. It was September 2017, more than a year after Facebook engineers discovered suspicious Russia-linked activity on its site, an early warning of the Kremlin campaign to disrupt the 2016 American election. Congressional and federal investigators were closing in on evidence that would implicate the company.
But it wasn’t the looming disaster at Facebook that angered Ms. Sandberg. It was the social network’s security chief, Alex Stamos, who had informed company board members the day before that Facebook had yet to contain the Russian infestation.
“You threw us under the bus!” she yelled at Mr. Stamos, according to people who were present.
In just over a decade, Facebook has connected more than 2.2 billion people, a global nation unto itself that reshaped political campaigns, the advertising business and daily life around the world. Along the way, Facebook accumulated one of the largest-ever repositories of personal data, a treasure trove of photos, messages and likes that propelled the company into the Fortune 500.
Mr. Zuckerberg, 34, and Ms. Sandberg, 49, remain at the company’s helm, while Mr. Stamos and other high-profile executives have left after disputes over Facebook’s priorities. Mr. Zuckerberg, who controls the social network with 60 percent of the voting shares and who approved many of its directors, has been asked repeatedly in the last year whether he should step down as chief executive.
His answer each time: a resounding “No.”
‘Don’t Poke the Bear’
Facebook’s lofty aims were emblazoned even on securities filings: “Our mission is to make the world more open and connected.”
But as Facebook grew, so did the hate speech, bullying and other toxic content on the platform. When researchers and activists in Myanmar, India, Germany and elsewhere warned that Facebook had become an instrument of government propaganda and ethnic cleansing, the company largely ignored them. Facebook had positioned itself as a platform, not a publisher. Taking responsibility for what users posted, or acting to censor it, was expensive and complicated. Many Facebook executives worried that any such efforts would backfire.
New York Times:
Source: Facebook has ended its relationship with Definers Public Affairs, the consulting firm which cast George Soros as a force behind Facebook’s critics — SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook has ended its relationship with a Washington-based consulting firm, Definers Public Affairs …
Facebook Cuts Ties With Definers Public Affairs Following Outcry
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/technology/facebook-definers-soros.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Deepa Seetharaman / Wall Street Journal:
Internal Facebook survey shows just 52% of its staff are optimistic about its future, down 32% from last year, amid scandals and a sharp stock decline
Facebook Morale Takes a Tumble Along With Stock Price
Employee surveys show weaker optimism about future, confidence in platform’s mission
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-morale-takes-a-tumble-along-with-stock-price-1542200400?mod=hp_lead_pos5
Facebook Inc.’s difficult year is taking a toll on employee morale, with several key measures of internal sentiment taking a sharp turn for the worse over the past year, according to people familiar with the matter and messages reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Casey Newton / The Interface:
One reason for Facebook’s aggressive PR against competitors was to manage declining morale, and retain employees who would otherwise jump ship
Facebook fights dirty
https://www.getrevue.co/profile/caseynewton/issues/facebook-fights-dirty-145113
For some time now, Facebook has copped to being “slow.”
Confronted with any question about Russian interference on the platform, or the scourge of misinformation, Facebook has gotten comfortable saying it was “slow to recognize” the problem, before rattling off a list of every step it has since taken to solve it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook:
Facebook plans to let users opt-in to borderline content, appeal content decisions to independent body in 2019, work with governments on content regulation — My focus in 2018 has been addressing the most important issues facing Facebook. As the year wraps up, I’m writing a series of notes …
A Blueprint for Content Governance and Enforcement
https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/a-blueprint-for-content-governance-and-enforcement/10156443129621634/
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Facebook’s second content moderation report: from April to September, 1.5B fake accounts were closed and 23.3M instances of violent content were removed — Facebook’s latest transparency report shows a big jump in spam and violent content takedowns, some advances in proactively identifying hate speech …
Facebook removed a lot of spam, violence, and fake accounts this year
https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/15/18097086/facebook-transparency-report-fall-summer-2018-community-standards-hate-speech
Tomi Engdahl says:
Saudi Arabia’s latest account of Khashoggi’s death is shocking in its audacity
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/saudi-arabias-latest-account-of-khashoggis-death-is-shocking-in-its-audacity/2018/11/15/4e236dc0-e8f1-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?utm_term=.bcd7c502163f
The Saudis change their story — again. Congress should not allow this travesty to continue.
authorities in Riyadh reverted to an earlier, discredited tale: that Mr. Khashoggi was killed spontaneously inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by a team sent to return him to Saudi Arabia.
While reporting that 11 suspects had been indicted and that the death penalty would be sought for five of them
By offering up this incredible account, the Saudi regime is baldly defying all those, including leading members of Congress, who called for full disclosure and accountability. Yet the Trump administration appears ready to accept its stonewalling.
Accepting the Saudi story means ignoring a number of well-established facts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gerret Von Nordheim / European Journalism Observatory:
Study: analysis of 3M articles from 2004 to 2016 shows quotations of social media plateaued at the start of the decade but have increased in the last few years — It feels as if half the world usually sees Donald Trump’s latest tweets – because the media quote them, comment on them and inadvertently help them to spread even further.
Journalists Quote Social Media Content Ever More Frequently
https://en.ejo.ch/research/journalists-quote-social-media-content-ever-more-frequently
It feels as if half the world usually sees Donald Trump’s latest tweets – because the media quote them, comment on them and inadvertently help them to spread even further.
Nowadays, journalists use social media as a source on a regular basis. The days when social media only counted as a legitimate source if journalists had no other access to events like disasters or civil war have long since passed. Instead, they have become part of the fabric of modern journalism.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook:
Facebook to demote borderline content in News Feed by default, publish minutes of policy meetings, and let users appeal content decisions to an independent body — My focus in 2018 has been addressing the most important issues facing Facebook. As the year wraps up, I’m writing a series …
A Blueprint for Content Governance and Enforcement
https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/a-blueprint-for-content-governance-and-enforcement/10156443129621634/
Tomi Engdahl says:
NBC News:
One lobbying firm used by Facebook runs a “news” site with good posts for clients, negative posts on rivals, and a “Media/News” Facebook page followed by 120K+
Facebook hired firm with ‘in-house fake news shop’ to combat PR crisis
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-hired-firm-house-fake-news-shop-combat-pr-crisis-n936591
Facebook’s ties to Definers Public Affairs, first reported on Wednesday in The New York Times, sparked widespread criticism and accusations of hypocrisy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Karl Bode / Techdirt:
Facebook’s use of Definers Public Affairs is by no means unique, mirroring the way the telecom industry uses think tanks, PR firms, and bogus news operations — So by now most people have probably read the New York Times deep dive into what can only be described as Facebook’s deep well of internal dysfunction and self delusion.
Facebook’s Use Of Smear Merchants Is The Norm, Not The Exception
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20181115/10073141056/facebooks-use-smear-merchants-is-norm-not-exception.shtml
So by now most people have probably read the New York Times deep dive into what can only be described as Facebook’s deep well of internal dysfunction and self delusion. While there’s a lot of interesting bits in the piece, one portion that received some extra, justified hyperventilation was the revelation of Facebook’s use of smear merchants. Smear merchants that the Times notes Facebook employed to try and discredit those pointing out that Facebook’s privacy practices have generally been hot garbage
Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis
Image
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: DOJ is preparing to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; exact charges are unclear but could possibly involve the Espionage Act — Over the past year, U.S. prosecutors have discussed several types of charges they could potentially bring against the WikiLeaks founder
U.S. Is Optimistic It Will Prosecute Assange
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-is-optimistic-it-will-prosecute-assange-1542323142
Over the past year, U.S. prosecutors have discussed several types of charges they could potentially bring against the WikiLeaks founder
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Facebook to demote “borderline content” in News Feed by default and let users appeal content moderation decisions to an independent body
Facebook will reduce reach of ‘sensationalist and provocative’ content
https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/15/18097402/facebook-borderline-sensationalist-provocative-content-algorithm-changes
The new term is ‘borderline content’
acebook is once again tweaking how stories spread through the News Feed, this time going after posts that are “sensationalist and provocative.” The goal isn’t just to cut down on clickbait, but to cut down on misinformation and problematic posts that don’t quite warrant an outright ban on the site.
In a blog post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg writes that people naturally engage more with sensationalist content. Engagement with this content, he says, increases the closer it gets to being so problematic that it has to be banned.
So instead of moving the line of what’s banned, Facebook is going to alter its distribution algorithms. Posts that Facebook’s AI detects as needlessly provocative will be distributed less and less, preventing them from seeing a spike in engagement.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/a-blueprint-for-content-governance-and-enforcement/10156443129621634/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Facebook’s second content moderation report: from April to September, 1.5B fake accounts were closed and 23.3M instances of violent content were removed — Facebook’s latest transparency report shows a big jump in spam and violent content takedowns, some advances in proactively identifying hate speech …
https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/15/18097086/facebook-transparency-report-fall-summer-2018-community-standards-hate-speech
Tomi Engdahl says:
What’s next? The top media executives on the job market
https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/12/whats-next-the-top-media-executives-on-the-job-market/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Keep an eye out for the next moves by these entrepreneurs and executives. A number of the biggest names in media left their jobs over the last year (or announced they will be leaving soon), including a handful of now-billionaires who have resources, ambition, and time on their hands to explore something new.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC:
An in-depth look at how misinformation and incendiary images on Facebook are spreading in Nigeria, where police say they contributed to a dozen recent killings — Nigerian police say false information on Facebook is killing people — Nigerian police say false information and incendiary images …
Like. Share. Kill.
Nigerian police say false information on Facebook is killing people
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/nigeria_fake_news
Nigerian police say false information and incendiary images on Facebook have contributed to more than a dozen recent killings in Plateau State – an area already torn by ethnic violence.
When BBC Africa Eye got in touch with Facebook, the company disabled the account of a man in the UK who was spreading misinformation to thousands in Nigeria.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rebecca Mead / New Yorker:
How podcasts, whose audio narratives offer a rare opportunity for slow immersion, became a seductive mode of storytelling that can sometimes be manipulative
How Podcasts Became a Seductive—and Sometimes Slippery—Mode of Storytelling
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/19/how-podcasts-became-a-seductive-and-sometimes-slippery-mode-of-storytelling?currentPage=all
In our frenetic age, audio narratives offer a rare opportunity for slow immersion. But this intimacy can become manipulative.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Website geoblocking is not that widespread, study finds
https://www.zdnet.com/article/website-geoblocking-is-not-that-widespread-study-finds/
Iran, Sudan, Syria, and Cuba are the most geoblocked countries.
Geoblocking, the practice of websites blocking users from certain countries from accessing their content, is not as widespread as most people believe, a recently published study has revealed.
Scans of the Alexa Top 10,000 and Top 1 Million sites have unveiled low percentages of websites engaging in geoblocking.
More precisely, researchers found that only 596 websites from the Alexa Top 10,000 list of sites engaged in geoblocking (also known as geofencing), and only 1,595 sites did so from the Alexa Top 1 Million.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/suosittu-googlen-palvelu-saattaa-loppua-suomestakin-panokset-kovenevat-linkkivero-kiistassa-6749732
Google News may shut over EU plans to charge tax for links
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/18/google-news-may-shut-over-eu-plans-to-charge-tax-for-links
Search engine is lobbying hard to stop proposed tax, aimed at compensating news publishers
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Hackers Are Stealing High-Profile Instagram Accounts
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/11/hackers-are-stealing-influencer-instagram-accounts-promising-lucrative-brand-deals/575662/
In the Wild West of “influencer” marketing, there are few protections and plenty of easy marks.
In early October, a publicist received an irresistible message via email.
the influencer would simply need to log into a third-party Instagram analytics tool, Iconosquare—a common request; many brands use tools such as Iconosquare to track the success of their influencer campaigns.
But the link Brooks sent wasn’t to Iconosquare.com—it was to lconosquare.biz, a cloned version of the site set up for phishing. Once the influencer logged in with the Instagram username and password, Brooks seized control of the account. Within minutes, he was spamming the influencer’s millions of followers with offers for a free iPhone.
Brooks has targeted several YouTubers, Instagram stars, and meme pages and used the stolen pages to promote scammy-looking apps and fake offers for free products.
According to its website, SCL Media is “a tech-media company building content brands for multicultural and niche audiences.”
Eric Toda, head of marketing at Hill City, a GAP brand, said that the influencer industry right now is like the Wild West. “You see a lot of people selling snake oil,” he said, “because the market is so saturated.”
Influencers as young as 13 are entering into brand deals with zero experience in negotiating high-value business partnerships. It’s all too easy for a scammer to entice them with the promise of a big paycheck, then hack their accounts or escape without paying. “It’s an underground world and what a lot of people are doing is representing themselves as Insta experts when they’re hackers and scammers,” explained Lisa Navarro, founder of Espire, a digital marketing agency that works with influencers. “They’re stealing accounts from children.”
Once hackers gain control of an influencer’s account, said Moritz von Contzen, founder of the Dutch social-media agency Avenik, they’ll often hop into the account’s direct messages and begin spamming other influencers with the same phishing links before the hacked influencer even knows what’s happening.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Instagram says it will use machine learning to find and remove inauthentic likes, follows, and comments from accounts using third-party apps to boost popularity — Instagram is fighting back against automated apps people use to leave spammy comments or follow then unfollow others in hopes of growing their audience.
Instagram kills off fake followers, threatens accounts that keep using apps to get them
https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/19/instagram-fake-followers/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Axios:
Survey: in the past year there’s been a 15% spike in the number of US adults who fear big tech won’t be regulated sufficiently with 55% now sharing this concern — Data: SurveyMonkey poll conducted Nov. 9 to 13 among 3,622 U.S. adults with a modeled error estimate of ±2.5 percent; Survey methodology.
Exclusive poll: America sours on social media giants
https://www.axios.com/america-sours-on-social-media-giants-1542234046-c48fb55b-48d6-4c96-9ea9-a36e80ab5deb.html
Silicon Valley has a big and growing problem: Americans have rising concerns with its most popular products and a growing majority wants big social media companies regulated, according to new poll conducted by Survey Monkey for “Axios on HBO.”
Why it matters: The public is more aware than ever of some of the negative consequences of the technologies that have changed their lives, which makes Silicon Valley and social media ripe political and regulatory targets.
Show less
Between the lines: This is a rare topic uniting Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
Republicans have been alleging that these companies — often founded and still led by idealistic, progressive executives — censor conservative viewpoints.
Democrats have taken issue over the past year with ways social media technologies, like niche ad-targeting, can be abused by people to discriminate against minorities.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Deepa Seetharaman / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: this June, Zuckerberg told ~50 execs that Facebook was at war and he’d act more decisively, leading to reorgs, key departures, tension with Sandberg — New approach causes turmoil, driving several key executives from the company and creating tensions with longtime Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg
With Facebook at ‘War,’ Zuckerberg Adopts More Aggressive Style
https://www.wsj.com/articles/with-facebook-at-war-zuckerberg-adopts-more-aggressive-style-1542577980
New approach causes turmoil, driving several key executives from the company and creating tensions with longtime Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is Facebook Out of Control? Investigations and Complaints Are Rising
https://www.securityweek.com/facebook-out-control-investigations-and-complaints-are-rising
Last week’s report in The New York Times (NYT), titled ‘Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis’, has again focused attention on Facebook. “Ms. Sandberg [Facebook COO],” writes the NYT, “has overseen an aggressive lobbying campaign to combat Facebook’s critics, shift public anger toward rival companies and ward off damaging regulation.”
Sheryl Sandberg responded the next day, denying two of the accusations. Firstly, she denied that Facebook had been aware of any Russian misinformation campaigns before the 2016 presidential election; and secondly, she denied any personal knowledge of an alleged campaign run by Facebook’s PR firm Definers — which had sought to discredit, for example, George Soros. Definers no longer works for Facebook.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
In a leaked internal memo, Facebook’s outgoing head of public policy, Elliot Schrage, takes responsibility for the hiring of PR firm Definers — TechCrunch has attained an internal memo published by Facebook’s outgoing head of public policy Elliot Schrage in which he blames himself for hiring PR firm Definers.
Internal Facebook memo sees outgoing VP of comms Schrage take blame for hiring Definers
https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/20/schrage-definers/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Seth Fiegerman / CNN:
In an interview, Mark Zuckerberg says he will stay on as Facebook’s chairman, defends COO Sheryl Sandberg, reiterates Facebook’s potential as a force for good
As problems pile up, Mark Zuckerberg stands his ground in exclusive CNN Business interview
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/20/tech/mark-zuckerberg-interview/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tekoäly vauhdittaa Venäjän infosotaa länttä vastaan
https://www.verkkouutiset.fi/tekoaly-vauhdittaa-venajan-infosotaa-lantta-vastaan/
Tutkija varoittaa lännen tulevan yllätetyksi, ellei uuden uhan vakavuuteen reagoida ajoissa.
Venäjän vaikuttamisoperaatiot läntisten demokratioiden horjuttamiseksi eivät osoita laantumisen merkkejä. On olemassa vahvoja viitteitä siitä, että tekoälystä on jo lähiaikoina muodostumassa Kremlin ohjaaman informaatiosodankäynnin uusi ja tärkeä väline, amerikkalaisen Brookings Institution -tutkimuslaitoksen tutkija, tohtori Alina Polyakova arvioi.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Weapons of the weak: Russia and AI-driven asymmetric warfare
https://www.brookings.edu/research/weapons-of-the-weak-russia-and-ai-driven-asymmetric-warfare/
Editor’s Note:
This report is part of “A Blueprint for the Future of AI,” a series from the Brookings Institution that analyzes the new challenges and potential policy solutions introduced by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
“Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”1 – Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2017.
“A people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please.”2 – Hannah Arendt, 1978
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook is finally rolling out its ‘how long do I spend on Facebook’ dashboard
https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/20/see-time-spent-on-facebook/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
Paris Martineau / Wired:
A look at burgeoning industry of influencer marketing, where brands routinely shell out $60K+ for one video review, or $85K+ to publicly disparage a competitor — WHEN SAHARA LOTTI started her lash extensions company, Lashify, in 2017, she didn’t know what she was getting herself into.
Inside the Pricey War to Influence Your Instagram Feed
https://www.wired.com/story/pricey-war-influence-your-instagram-feed/
Social media influencers ply their trade in realms far beyond fake lashes. Marketers of literature, wellness, fashion, entertainment, and other wares are all hooked on influencers. As brands have warmed to social-media advertising, influencer marketing has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. Unlike traditional television or print ads, influencers have dedicated niche followings who take their word as gospel.
There’s another plus: Many users don’t view influencers as paid endorsers or salespeople—even though a significant percentage are—but as trusted experts, friends, and “real” people. This perceived authenticity is part of why brands shell out so much cash in exchange for a brief appearance in your Instagram feed.
Many influencers with substantial followings “are not promoting products without being compensated,” said Kevin James Bennett, a cosmetics developer and consultant who works with brands interested in influencer marketing. “That doesn’t make them bad people, it makes them salespersons—and you, the consumer, deserve to know when you’re being ‘sold’ something.”
The Federal Trade Commission agrees. As the practice has become more popular, the agency has adopted rules governing the disclosure of paid endorsements on social media. The text is long and complicated, but can be reduced to two essential concepts: If an influencer has received anything—be it cash, free products, or something else—that could affect how a viewer interprets their mention of a brand or product, they must disclose it; and the disclosure must be displayed prominently, and plainly, in the video, photo, or blog.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Natalia Drozdiak / Bloomberg:
Google says it will require advertisers to submit documents and receive verification before being able to pay for political ads in the EU, starting in January
Ahead of EU Vote, Google Unveils New Policy for Election Ads
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-21/ahead-of-eu-vote-google-unveils-new-policy-for-election-ads
Tomi Engdahl says:
OPERATION INFEKTION | THE NEW YORK TIMES OPINION SECTION K1 • J1
Meet the KGB Spies Who Invented Fake News | NYT Opinion
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h5WjRjz5mTU&feature=youtu.be
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at the future of WikiTribune, which was designed to let anyone contribute and edit news stories but has used up its initial crowdfunding funds and grants
Wikipedia’s co-founder wanted to let readers edit the news. What went wrong?
https://www.cjr.org/analysis/jimmy-wales-wikitribune.php
It’s been almost a year since the launch of WikiTribune, the crowdsourced news site created by Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia. If you haven’t heard of WikiTribune, you’re not alone—it hasn’t made a big splash outside hardcore digital-media circles. But it’s an ambitious project, one that was designed to democratize the news as a Wikipedia-style portal where anyone could contribute to and edit news stories.
In a world where many media companies still behave as though their job is to deliver content to a waiting audience, and feedback or input from readers is generally kept to a minimum, Wales was trying to create something radically different
But earlier this month, WikiTribune hit a roadblock. In October, it laid off its entire team of about a dozen professional journalists, part of what the site described as a pivot back towards a community-driven approach. This sparked some concern among WikiTribune fans: had Wales given up on his vision of a crowdsourced news site run in partnership with journalists?
Wales tells CJR he hasn’t given up, and that the layoffs were part of a strategy to make the site more user driven. But he admits WikiTribune has also used up most of the money it raised from a crowdfunding campaign and a group of investors
https://www.wikitribune.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed News:
Facebook’s in-app activity dashboard shows us that Facebook is just adding window dressing, not the overhaul it desperately needs — On Tuesday afternoon, Facebook rolled out a new feature: an in-app dashboard that allows Facebook and Instagram users to calculate (and ideally manage) …
Why Facebook Will Never Fix Facebook
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/facebook-time-well-spent-dashboard-wont-fix-problems
The last two years have shown that what the platform needs is something closer to an overhaul — stripping out some of the guts of a system that ruthlessly prioritizes engagement.
On Tuesday afternoon, Facebook rolled out a new feature: an in-app dashboard that allows Facebook and Instagram users to calculate (and ideally manage) the time they spend on the platforms’ mobile versions. The dashboard’s timing is curious
Tomi Engdahl says:
UUDELLEENMARKKINOINTI FACEBOOKISSA – TEHOKAS TAPA TUODA KUUMAT YLEISÖT TAKAISIN VERKKOSIVUILLESI
https://www.digimarkkinointi.fi/blogi/uudelleenmarkkinointi-facebookissa?utm_medium=social-paid&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=SDM+%7C+Automaattinen+postauksien+buustaus+2.0+%7C+18&utm_content=SDM+%7C+Automaattinen+postauksien+buustaus+2.0+%7C+18+-+Lämpimät+%2B+lookalike+-+Link+Post+-+&utm_id=5bed580883957829521a8bfb
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kate Conger / New York Times:
For a NYT tech reporter, apps like Signal help minimize and secure the digital footprint from meetings with sources, but in-person ones remain the most secure
You Don’t Have to Be a Journalist to Want to Keep Chats Private
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/technology/personaltech/you-dont-have-to-be-a-journalist-to-want-to-keep-chats-private.html
It’s easy to leave behind digital evidence when talking to sources — or to friends. Here’s how Kate Conger, a tech reporter, reduces that exposure.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How China’s State-Sponsored Social Networks Control Misinformation—and Dissent
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/internet/how-chinas-statesponsored-social-networks-control-misinformationand-dissent
State regulators around the world have responded to the proliferation of online rumors and propaganda on social media sites with a broad variety of actions. Australia, Brazil, and Indonesia have deployed government task forces and investigations, while Belarus, Egypt, Kenya, France, and Cambodia have criminalized specific types of misinformation.
Elsewhere, the conversation is streamlined—and muddied—by more intimate relationships between state governments and social media platforms.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8768-alypuhelin-netin-selva-ykkosalusta
Britannian viestintäviraston eli Ofcomin tilastojen mukaan PC on menettänyt paikkansa webbiselailun ykköslaitteena ja alustana. Lähes puolet selaa webbiä älypuhelimella, mikä asettaa vaatimuksensa kaikille verkossa toimiville palveluille kaupoista uutissaitteihin.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Leigh Cuen / CoinDesk:
Current and former employees of news orgs sponsored by the blockchain startup Civil say they haven’t received the compensation they were promised when hired
Employees Say Startup Civil Hyped Crypto Returns, But Failed to Pay
https://www.coindesk.com/civil-startup-token-crypto-ethereum
Civil was supposed to create a more transparent and democratic model for journalism. But so far, journalists working on its platform have yet to receive all of the compensation they say they were promised when hired.
According to several current and former employees of news organizations sponsored by the blockchain startup, Civil told journalists in its 18 newsrooms around the U.S. that the CVL cryptocurrency – which, when issued, was supposed to comprise part of their pay – would probably end up being worth several times more than the estimated valuations mentioned in meetings and reported in tax forms.
Yet lackluster demand caused Civil to cancel a public sale of the tokens last month. Now, the reporters have no idea if or when they’ll be paid the tokens that were supposed to be part of their compensation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is It Easier to Imagine the End of the World Than the End of the Internet?
https://theintercept.com/2018/11/24/james-bridle-new-dark-age-review/
Does anyone at Facebook have the will, or even the ability, to control Facebook? That’s the question underlying last week’s New York Times investigation of the social media giant. It’s increasingly clear that the company’s growth and survival are premised on its complicity not only in the kind of invasive data exchange revealed by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but also on its ineffective, whack-a-mole approach to dealing with the promotion of violence on its platform — an approach that failed to check a coordinated campaign by Myanmar’s military to carry out a genocide of the country’s Rohingya population. These problems appear immune to the company’s attempts at reform, so its leaders have opted instead for an aggressive defense, lobbying lawmakers and trying to reassure the public by denying and downplaying their responsibility.
Are Facebook’s problems a perversion of tech’s utopian promise, or are they a logical outcome of the structure of the internet and its products?
A new book argues that technology is both clouding our understanding of the world around us and making that world more dangerous.
Tomi Engdahl says:
More fake news from mainstream journalists trying to influence Brexit
https://tompride.wordpress.com/2018/11/27/more-fake-news-from-mainstream-journalists-trying-to-influence-brexit/
https://blogs.ec.europa.eu/ECintheUK/eu-data-protection-rules-do-not-ban-christmas-wish-lists-in-bavaria-or-elsewhere/
Tomi Engdahl says:
1 in 4 Statisticians Asked to Commit Scientific Fraud
https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/1-in-4-statisticians-asked-to-commit-scientific-fraud-311329
As the saying goes, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” We know that’s true because statisticians themselves just said so.
A stunning report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concludes that researchers often ask statisticians to make “inappropriate requests.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
ACLU Seeks Secret Ruling That Stopped Feds From Hacking Facebook Messenger
https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/internet-privacy/aclu-seeks-secret-ruling-stopped-feds-hacking-facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rohollah Faghihi / Foreign Policy:
Iran’s professional currency traders seeking profit are increasingly using Telegram to spread misinformation about the Iranian rial, accelerating its crash
The App Destroying Iran’s Currency
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/22/the-app-destroying-irans-currency/
Iranians are using the messaging app Telegram to spread fake news about the rial—and make a profit for themselves.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani owes his re-election in large part to the messaging app Telegram. During Iran’s 2017 presidential election, Iranians relied on the app as a rare source of uncensored news about the race, in which Rouhani was not the candidate most favored by hard-liners.
Just one year later, Telegram may end up becoming Rouhani’s downfall. The app is at the center of Iran’s accelerating currency crash.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sci-Hub: Breaking Down The Paywalls
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/27/sci-hub-breaking-down-the-paywalls/
There’s a battle going on in academia between the scientific journal publishing companies that have long served as the main platform for peer review and spreading information, and scientists themselves who just want to share and have access to the work of their fellows. arxiv.org launched the first salvo, allowing researchers in physics to self-publish their own papers, and has gained some traction in mathematics and computer science. The Public Library of Science journals focus on biology and medicine and offer peer review services. There are many others, and even the big firms have been forced to recognize the importance of open science publication.
But for many, that’s still not enough. The high prestige journals, and most past works, are stuck behind paywalls. Since 2011, Sci-Hub has taken science publishing open by force, illegally obtaining papers and publishing them in violation of copyright, but at the same time facilitating scientific research and providing researchers in poorer countries with access that their rich-world colleagues take for granted. The big publishing firms naturally fought back in court and won, and with roughly $20 million of damages, drove Sci-Hub’s founder underground.