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:
New York Times:
Singapore introduces draft bill that requires sites to take down fake news raising concerns among human rights advocates over repression
Singapore Plans Law to Fight False News, but Critics Fear Repression
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/world/asia/singapore-fake-news-law.html
Singapore introduced draft legislation on Monday that it said would combat false or misleading information on the internet, but critics said the measure could be used as a cudgel against the government’s critics.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:
As more seniors go online, they are largely being left out of digital literacy efforts, making them targets for misinformation and hyperpartisan rhetoric
Old, Online, And Fed On Lies: How An Aging Population Will Reshape The Internet
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/old-and-online-fake-news-aging-population
Older people play an outsized role in civic life. They also are more likely to be online targets for misinformation and hyperpartisan rhetoric.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
Researchers find that Facebook appears to deliver certain ads, despite neutral targeting parameters, in a way that aligns with race and gender stereotypes — How exactly Facebook decides who sees what is one of the great pieces of forbidden knowledge in the information age …
Facebook’s Ad Algorithm Is a Race and Gender Stereotyping Machine, New Study Suggests
https://theintercept.com/2019/04/03/facebook-ad-algorithm-race-gender/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Discovering Hidden Twitter Amplification
https://labsblog.f-secure.com/2019/04/03/discovering-hidden-twitter-amplification/
As part of the Horizon 2020 SHERPA project, I’ve been studying adversarial attacks against smart information systems (systems that utilize a combination of big data and machine learning). Social networks fall into this category – they’re powered by recommendation algorithms (often based on machine learning techniques) that process large amounts of data in order to display relevant information to users.
In this article, I’d like to share methodology I’ve been developing to observe “behind the scenes” amplification on Twitter
Tomi Engdahl says:
Paul Karp / The Guardian:
Australia passes law penalizing social media platforms for failing to expeditiously remove abhorrent violent content, despite strong opposition from tech firms
Australia passes social media law penalising platforms for violent content
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/04/australia-passes-social-media-law-penalising-platforms-for-violent-content
Labor supports legislation in response to Christchurch shooting that threatens jail for executives, despite media companies’ concerns
The Australian parliament has passed legislation to crack down on violent videos on social media, despite furious reaction from the tech industry, media companies and legal experts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rob Price / Business Insider:
Facebook is paying the UK’s The Daily Telegraph for dozens of sponsored stories, produced by the newspaper’s sponsored content unit, on topics like hate speech
Facebook is partnering with a big UK newspaper to publish sponsored articles downplaying ‘technofears’ and praising the company
https://nordic.businessinsider.com/facebook-daily-telegraph-positive-sponsored-news-stories-2019-4?op=1&r=US&IR=T
Tomi Engdahl says:
Anna Orso / Philly.com:
Anti-press rhetoric has not deterred students from pursuing a career in journalism, with some J-Schools reporting an increase in enrollment numbers
In the age of ‘enemy of the people’ rhetoric, do young people still want to be journalists?
https://www.philly.com/news/journalism-young-people-donald-trump-fake-news-temple-penn-state-enemy-of-the-people-central-conestoga-20190401.html
Emily Erdos wanted to be a reporter so badly that she begged administrators at Princeton to allow her to study journalism — a major the Ivy League school didn’t offer. She was denied. “Too vocational,” they said.
But the Massachusetts native kept at it, and, along with a dedicated professor, eventually helped persuade faculty members to approve a formal journalism program, a first for the school.
It’s an industry that’s being decimated by layoffs — from the tiniest weekly newspapers to the sexiest digital start-ups to the largest legacy conglomerates — and facing more distrust from the public than ever before, thanks in no small part to a president who has deemed journalists “the enemy of the people.”
Nonetheless, Erdos still wants to be a reporter — one whose work proves to critics how the work serves American democracy.
“I don’t see backing down as an option,” she said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jessica Patterson / fipp.com:
National Journal says it has stopped offering advertising across all of its journalism properties, which are now completely supported by subscription revenue — It’s been five years in the making, but National Journal has successfully pulled away from advertising, as a revenue stream.
National Journal moves away from advertising revenue completely
https://www.fipp.com/news/features/national-journal-moves-away-from-advertising
Tomi Engdahl says:
Steve Beatty / Newspack:
WordPress has announced which 12 newsrooms it will work with on its business platform Newspack, including The Lens and The Hechinger Report
Newspack Chooses 12 Publishers to Drive the Creation of the New Platform
https://newspack.blog/2019/04/03/newspack-chooses-12-publishers-new-platform/
WordPress.com has chosen the 12 newsrooms that will help shape Newspack, the core business platform for small and medium-sized news organizations. Newspack is a project of WordPress.com and its parent company, Automattic, and operating partners News Revenue Hub and Spirited Media.
Together, they will produce a ready-to-go business and publishing offering that will let publishers dedicate more resources to their journalism.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Memo: Guardian aims to hit 2M readers supporting it financially by its 200th anniversary in 2022, says it has reduced its costs by 20% over last three years
Guardian sets goal of 2m supporters in next stage of ambitious strategy
Company says it remains on track to break even
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/03/guardian-sets-goal-2m-supporters-next-stage-ambitious-strategy
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Guardian:
Leaked UK government plans propose that social media companies be policed by an independent regulator, with annual “transparency reports” on harmful content
Social media bosses could be liable for harmful content, leaked UK plan reveals
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/04/social-media-bosses-could-be-liable-for-harmful-content-leaked-uk-plan-reveals
Exclusive: Long-awaited government white paper proposes regulator to enforce duty of care and fine offenders
Social media executives could be held personally liable for harmful content distributed on their platforms, leaked plans for a long-awaited government crackdown obtained by the Guardian reveal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook’s dirty work in Ireland: ‘I had to watch footage of a person being beaten to death’
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/facebook-s-dirty-work-in-ireland-i-had-to-watch-footage-of-a-person-being-beaten-to-death-1.3841743?mode=amp
WORKERS IN DUBLIN ARE PAID TO WATCH DISTURBING MATERIAL ON FACEBOOK – SO THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO. BUT AT WHAT COST TO THEMSELVES? MEET THE CONTENT MODERATORS…
Tomi Engdahl says:
EEVblog #1198 – 10 Years On Youtube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyKjgOF2cw
April 4th 2009 Dave started the EEVBlog
Forum: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1198-10-years-on-youtube/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jason Kint / Nieman Lab:
Survey: fewer than 50% of US adults expect Google to collect data on users’ activities on its platforms or apps, track personal browsing for ad targeting, more — Numerous privacy scandals over the past couple of years have fueled the need for increased examination of tech companies’ data tracking practices.
Does Google meet its users’ expectations around consumer privacy? This news industry research says no
https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/04/does-google-meet-its-users-expectations-around-consumer-privacy-this-news-industry-research-says-no/
A significant majority of consumers do not expect Google to track their activities across their lives, their locations, on other sites, and on other platforms.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arielle Pardes / Wired:
Founder of Change My View subreddit, which has 700K+ subscribers, launches Change A View, a site with paid moderators and some funding from Alphabet’s Jigsaw — A FEW MONTHS shy of his high school graduation, Kal Turnbull came to a realization: Conversations on the internet are broken.
‘Change My View’ Reddit Community Launches Its Own Website
https://www.wired.com/story/change-my-view-gets-its-own-website/
A few months shy of his high school graduation, Kal Turnbull came to a realization: Conversations on the internet are broken.
Turnbull’s little invention, a subreddit called r/changemyview, began in 2013 as a simple forum for debate: State your belief, explain your reasoning, and ask the many voices of Reddit to convince you otherwise.
Six years later, it’s grown to a community with over 700,000 subscribers
CMV has captured the attention of journalists, who have called it “our best hope for civil discourse,” and researchers, who have used it to study the effective online rhetoric.
Reddit’s ranking algorithm often pushed flash-in-the-pan controversial threads to the top of the page, displacing the threads with deep, meaningful conversations.
Eventually, Turnbull started to think that the community had outgrown its home.
The new Change A View website works a little differently. There are still moderators on the custom platform, but Turnbull says they’re paid for the work they do. There’s a public mod log, so you everyone can see which moderator took which action. And the platform will make use of Jigsaw’s comment-ranking engine, called Perspective API, which scores comments to weed out abuse and harassment while taking some of the load off of moderators.
The foundation for Change A View, as with r/changemyview, is a strict set of rules. Each post needs a clear title title, an explanation of the view, and the reasoning behind it. You must genuinely hold the view. You must be genuinely open to changing it. You have to respond to replies within three hours, and those responses have to be substantive; you can’t just write, “I disagree.” You can’t be hostile. You have to communicate.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC:
UK whitepaper proposes “code of best practice” for how internet platforms should deal with harmful content, suggests expanding liability to tech company execs — Internet sites could be fined or blocked if they fail to tackle “online harms” such as terrorist propaganda and child abuse, under government plans.
Websites to be fined over ‘online harms’ under new proposals
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47826946
Internet sites could be fined or blocked if they fail to tackle “online harms” such as terrorist propaganda and child abuse, under government plans.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has proposed an independent watchdog and a code of practice for tech companies to follow.
Senior managers would be held liable for breaches, with a possible levy on the industry to fund the regulator.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Murray / NBC News:
Poll: 69% of Americans use social media at least once a day, 82% believe it wastes their time, 55% think it spreads lies and falsehoods, 57% say “it divides us”
Poll: Americans give social media a clear thumbs-down
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/poll-americans-give-social-media-clear-thumbs-down-n991086
A sizable majority say social media does more to divide the country than unite it, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
The American public holds negative views of social-media giants like Facebook and Twitter, with sizable majorities saying these sites do more to divide the country than unite it and spread falsehoods rather than news, according to results from the latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
What’s more, six in 10 Americans say they don’t trust Facebook at all to protect their personal information, the poll finds.
But the public also believes that technology in general has more benefits than drawbacks on the economy, and respondents are split about whether the federal government should break up the largest tech companies like Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gabe Bullard / Nieman Reports:
As more people use voice-activated smart speakers to request news, publishers are turning newscasts into conversations, challenging the foundations of radio
Smart Speaker Use Is Growing. Will News Grow With It?
https://niemanreports.org/articles/reimagining-audio-news/
Smart speakers are challenging the foundations of radio, and news outlets are racing to find a place on the platform
Tomi Engdahl says:
Megan Farokhmanesh / The Verge:
YouTube staff are using their own channels to better understand creators’ work as YouTube tries to balance creators’ well-being and their career sustainability
Creators find their second act with YouTube — as employees
https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/4/18294257/youtube-influencers-personalities-employees-creators-career
How can creators maintain career sustainability? For some, that answer is going corporate
Tomi Engdahl says:
UK Wants to Hold Companies Liable for Harmful Online Behavior
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/uk-wants-to-hold-companies-liable-for-harmful-online-behavior/
The UK government announced today a set of online safety laws designed to hold the companies behind social media platforms liable for the harmful behavior spreading through their platforms.
As detailed in the Online Harms White Paper joint proposal published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the UK Home Office, the law package “comprises legislative and non-legislative measures and will make companies more responsible for their users’ safety online, especially children and other vulnerable groups.”
At the moment the Online Harms White Paper is under an open consultations status
Online Harms White Paper
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/online-harms-white-paper
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ajit Mohan / Facebook:
As it preps for India’s elections, Facebook says it removes ~1M accounts/day using AI, will open centers on election integrity in Singapore and Dublin this week — As Facebook continues to play a larger role in civic discussions and debate, we are committed to working hard to prevent abuse on our services, especially during elections.
Preparing for Upcoming Indian Elections
https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/04/preparing-for-indian-elections/
Tomi Engdahl says:
James Ball / MIT Technology Review:
Some fear the sweeping nature of UK’s proposal to combine work done by 8+ regulators into a new “super-regulator” with the power to block online platforms, more — Technology giants will be forced to have a “duty of care” for their users, if a proposal announced by the government on Monday becomes law.
The UK’s online laws could be the future of the internet—and that’s got people worried
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613285/the-uks-online-laws-could-be-the-future-of-the-internetand-thats-got-people-worried/
While they’re a welcome warning to big tech, some fear that if the implementation is botched they could easily lead to censorship.
Technology giants will be forced to have a “duty of care” for their users, if a proposal announced by the government on Monday becomes law.
The proposal—a “white paper,” in UK legal parlance, which is one of the first stages of a formal government policy—is, on the surface at least, sweeping in scope and is a serious shot across the bows for big tech companies. But it has also raised some serious concerns about how it will be implemented and the possible consequences it might have on citizens’ free speech.
Tomi Engdahl says:
News organizations have all but abandoned their archives
https://boingboing.net/2019/04/04/the-memory-hole-2.html
Ringel and Woodall find that news organizations are cavalier, even negligent, about archiving their news, and contrast this with the heyday of newspapers where dedicated librarians staffed a “morgue” of carefully clipped and cross-referenced print articles. By contrast, today’s news organizations rely primarily on their CMSes, the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, reporters’ personal Google Docs accounts, and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to store their articles, social media posts, and other materials.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gizmodo Media Group acquired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners
https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/08/great-hill-partners-acquires-gizmodo/?tpcc=ECFB2019
Tomi Engdahl says:
“hate speech” is an entirely made up and completely subjective term used to discredit ideas someone doesn’t like.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Chinafication of the internet continues as the UK proposes blocking any service that hosts “illegal” or “harmful” material
https://boingboing.net/2019/04/09/constitutional-monarchs-r-us.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://kaarisade.home.blog/2019/04/09/keijo-kaarisateen-tekijan-viesti-suomen-kansalle-vaalien-alla/
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190401-why-theres-so-little-left-of-the-early-internet
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU Tells Internet Archive That Much Of Its Site Is ‘Terrorist Content’
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190410/14580641973/eu-tells-internet-archive-that-much-site-is-terrorist-content.shtml
Update: The Internet Archive has issued a minor correction to its original story, noting that it was not actually Europol who sent the demand, but rather the French Internet Referral Unit using the Europol system, so that it looked like it was coming from Europol.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sensuroitu parodiapoliisi Keijo Kaarisade SU:n haastattelussa –
https://www.suomenuutiset.fi/sensuroitu-parodiapoliisi-keijo-kaarisade-sun-haastattelussa-sananvapauden-rajoituksia-tehda-pimeina-007-operaatioina/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Guide to International Law and Surveillance (2.0)
https://privacyinternational.org/feature/993/guide-international-law-and-surveillance-20
Tomi Engdahl says:
UK: Online Harms Strategy must “design in” fundamental rights
https://edri.org/uk-online-harms-strategy-must-design-in-fundamental-rights/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Top 5 ways to do SMO
https://haxnology.com/top-5-ways-to-do-smo/
In this post i am going to share information about Top 5 ways to do SMO(Social Media Optimization).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Where did social media go wrong?
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/24/where-did-social-media-go-wrong/
For most of my life, the internet, particularly its social media — BBSes, Usenet, LiveJournal, blogosphere, even Myspace, early Twitter and Facebook — consistently made people happier. But roughly five years ago it began to consistently make people more miserable. What changed?
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Brexit Party gets its domain claimed by pro-Remain group
https://mashable.com/article/brexit-party-domain-pro-remain/?europe=true&utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=mash-com-fb-main-link&utm_content=culture#kIPR71qCyOqz
Listen, it’s hard launching a new political party. There’s a lot of stuff to remember and a to-do list the length of your arm.
But, if there’s one thing that should be pretty high up on that list, it’s claiming the .com domain.
Oops-a-daisy, looks like Nigel Farage forgot to complete this rather crucial step
Tomi Engdahl says:
Elizabeth Grieco / Pew Research Center:
Pew poll: 62% of urban residents say their local news media mainly cover their area; 57% of rural residents say their local media mostly cover some other area
For many rural residents in U.S., local news media mostly don’t cover the area where they live
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/12/for-many-rural-residents-in-u-s-local-news-media-mostly-dont-cover-the-area-where-they-live/
Americans in urban communities are more likely to say local news media mostly cover the area where they live, while rural residents say that their local news media mostly cover another area, such as a nearby city, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Assange is hard to defend, but prosecuting him would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organizations — For press-freedom advocates, Julian Assange has long been a polarizing figure. — And his arrest Thursday in London once again ignited the seemingly endless debate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/traditional-journalists-may-abandon-wikileaks-assange-at-their-own-peril/2019/04/11/45ae985c-5c84-11e9-842d-7d3ed7eb3957_story.html
CNN:
First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams on Assange’s case: relief that the Espionage Act wasn’t used, but “some level of broader risk” still exists for journalists
Julian Assange’s arrest could end as a test for press freedom
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/11/media/reliable-sources-julian-assange-arrest-media/
This debate has spanned the decade: Is Julian Assange a villainous hack working in concert with countries that regularly squash a free press? Or is he a symbol of freedom of speech and the public’s right to know?
The debate is back on now that Assange has been arrested in the UK and charged in the US — not under the Espionage Act for publishing classified material, as many press freedom advocates had feared, but under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
“engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning”
Several prominent groups that advocate for the press say they are very concerned about the implications of Thursday’s charges, even though, as the Committee to Protect Journalists noted, “the indictment does not explicitly charge Assange for publication.”
Reporters Without Borders expressed a similar set of concerns. “The persecution of those who provide or publish information of public interest comes at the expense of the investigative journalism that allows a democracy to thrive,” the group said.
The UK’s National Union of Journalists said it is “shocked and concerned by the actions of the authorities today… The NUJ recognises the inherent link between and importance of leaked confidential documents and journalism reporting in the public interest.
Snowden says the US case is shockingly weak
Assange ally Edward Snowden tweeted, “The weakness of the US charge against Assange is shocking. The allegation he tried (and failed?) to help crack a password during their world-famous reporting has been public for nearly a decade: it is the count Obama’s DOJ refused to charge, saying it endangered journalism.
CNN’s Evan Perez reports: “Justice Department officials expect to bring additional charges against Assange, a US official briefed on the matter said. It is unclear when such charges would be brought.”
Vinograd writes: WikiLeaks “served as a Russian information laundromat during the 2016 campaign — we don’t know if Assange will be charged with conspiring with the GRU to release DNC emails, for example — and Wikileaks doesn’t just target the US…”
The Intercept website has been a home for detailed and sometimes supportive coverage of WikiLeaks and Assange over the years. Right now there’s a “WAR ON WIKILEAKS” section on its home page.
– Greenwald also highlighted this statement from the ACLU’s Ben Wizner: “Prosecuting a foreign publisher for violating U.S. secrecy laws would set an especially dangerous precedent for U.S. journalists, who routinely violate foreign secrecy laws to deliver information vital to the public’s interest.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
China’s internet laws are catching on across the world as Washington, US tech giants face ideological battle in budding Southeast Asia
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3006144/chinas-internet-laws-are-catching-across-world-washington?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1555296819
Much of the world is adopting China’s vision for a tightly controlled internet over the unfettered American approach
Vietnam and Thailand are among the neighbouring nations warming to a governance model that combines sweeping content curbs with uncompromising data controls – because it helps preserve the regime in power
The more freewheeling Silicon Valley model once seemed unquestionably the best approach, with stars from Google to Facebook to vouch for its superiority. Now, a remoulding of the internet into a tightly controlled and scrubbed sphere in China’s image is taking place from Russia to India.
“For authoritarian countries in general, the idea of the state being able to wall off to some extent its internet is deeply appealing,”
Southeast Asia
a region home to more than half a billion people whose internet economy is expected to triple to US$240 billion by 2025.
“This is about the regimes’ survival in an authoritarian situation.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Mozilla executives reflect on how Google web products would often break in Firefox but not Chrome and on other issues perceived as anti-competitive tactics
Former Mozilla exec: Google has sabotaged Firefox for years
https://www.zdnet.com/article/former-mozilla-exec-google-has-sabotaged-firefox-for-years/
Former and current Mozilla engineers are reaching their boiling points.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Starz apologizes for “inadvertently” issuing DMCA takedown notices for tweets to stories merely reporting about TV show leak, says it suffered a security breach
Starz Apologizes for Taking Down Tweets to Torrentfreak Article Following Security Breach
https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/starz-torrentfreak-tweet-take-down-apology-1203189742/
Facing a backlash over overzealous copyright enforcement, Starz issued an apology on Monday for inadvertently taking down tweets to articles about TV show piracy. The TV network said in a statement that it recently incurred a security breach, which prompted the company to hire a third party for copyright enforcement.
“The techniques and technologies employed in these efforts are not always perfect, and as such it appears that in this case, some posts were inadvertently caught up in the sweep that may fall outside the DMCA guidelines,” the network said in a statement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Joi Ito / Wired:
Locking kids out of big internet platforms is not the solution to commercial bad actors, we should optimize algorithms instead to make them safer for kids
Optimize Algorithms to Support Kids Online, Not Exploit Them
https://www.wired.com/story/optimize-algorithms-support-kids-online-not-exploit-them/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google announces support for Signed Exchanges in Chrome, which will show the original, correct URL for a page in the address bar for AMP pages
Google takes a tiny step toward fixing AMP’s URL problem
It’s only supported on Chrome right now
https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/16/18402628/google-amp-url-problem-signed-exchange-original-chrome-cloudflare
When you click a link on your phone with a little lightning bolt next to it in Google search, you’re getting something in the AMP format.
ou may have also noticed that the URL at the top of your browser started with “www.google.com/somethingorother” instead of with the webpage you thought you were visiting.
Google is trying to fix that today by announcing support for something called “Signed Exchanges.” What it should mean is that when you click on one of those links, your URL will be the original, correct URL for the story. Cloudflare is joining Google in supporting the standard for customers who use its services.
In order for this thing to work, every step in the chain of technologies involved in loading the AMP format has to support Signed Exchanges, including your browser, the search engine, and the website that published the link. Right now, that means the URL will be fixed only when a Chrome browser loads a Google search link to a published article that has implemented support.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NBC News:
About 4,000 pages of leaked Facebook documents from 2011-2015 shed light on its approach to sharing and selling data, giving more access to friendly companies — Facebook’s leaders seriously discussed selling access to user data — and privacy was an afterthought.
Mark Zuckerberg leveraged Facebook user data to fight rivals and help friends, leaked documents show
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/mark-zuckerberg-leveraged-facebook-user-data-fight-rivals-help-friends-n994706
Facebook’s leaders seriously discussed selling access to user data — and privacy was an afterthought.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chris O’Brien / VentureBeat:
European Parliament passes new regulations aimed at curtailing the power of digital platforms operated by tech giants; EU council must now approve the measures
European Parliament passes online platform rules placing new limits on Amazon and Googl
https://venturebeat.com/2019/04/17/european-parliament-passes-online-platform-rules-placing-new-limits-on-amazon-and-google/
The European Parliament passed a new set of regulations aimed at curtailing the power of digital platforms operated by tech giants like Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook.
In recent years, European leaders have been getting tougher with U.S. tech giants on issues such as taxation, antitrust concerns, and privacy and data.
Just last week, the European Union officially approved a controversial and sweeping reform of its copyright rules to protect content creators. The new legislation includes provisions critics and tech giants have argued will significantly reduce free speech online.
The latest set of platform regulations
idea is to curb what the EU sees as unfair practices by app stores, search engines, ecommerce sites, and even hotel booking services. While the EU says the rules target about 7,000 online platforms, those most likely to be impacted are Amazon, eBay, Apple’s App Store, Google Play, Facebook, and Booking.com.
According to the proposal, online marketplaces must also specify more clearly when they are selling their own products and services in competition with small businesses. The EU says such sales must be “exhaustively disclosed” going forward. In addition, greater disclosures will be required around what data is gathered on these platforms and how it is used.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Leo Kelion / BBC:
UK government announces that porn websites will have to introduce age-checks by July 15; sites failing to comply will face being blocked by ISPs
UK to introduce porn age-checks in July
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47960775
An age-check scheme designed to stop under-18s viewing pornographic websites will come into force on 15 July.
From that date, affected sites will have to verify the age of UK visitors.
If they fail to comply they will face being blocked by internet service providers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Why I write fake online reviews’
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47952165
“I’ve learned never to rely on reviews for anything,” says Iain Taylor, from East Sussex.
In his spare time and to supplement his income, the 44-year-old writes fake online reviews in exchange for money and free products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube’s algorithm added 9/11 facts to a live stream of the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire
https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/15/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-youtube-factcheck/?tpcc=ECFB2019
Tomi Engdahl says:
United States added to list of most dangerous countries for journalists for first time
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/united-states-added-list-most-dangerous-countries-journalists-first-time-n949676
At least 63 professional journalists were killed doing their jobs in 2018, a 15 percent increase over last year, Reporters Without Borders said
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU Member States give green light for copyright censorship
https://edri.org/eu-member-states-give-green-light-for-copyright-censorship/
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU Parliament Takes Up Its Next Attempt To Wipe Out An Open Internet: Terrorist Content Regulation Vote On Wednesday
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190415/17130042019/eu-parliament-takes-up-next-attempt-to-wipe-out-open-internet-terrorist-content-regulation-vote-wednesday.shtml
if you were worried about the EU Copyright Directive, you should be absolutely terrified about the EU Terrorist Content Regulation, which has continued to march forward with very little attention compared to the Copyright Directive
Terrorist Content Regulation, starting with the requirement that any site (even a one-person blog somewhere outside of the EU) be required to take down content within an hour of notification by an ill-defined “competent authority,” but also covering other aspects, such as requiring mandatory content filters.
left in the 1 hour content removal requirement. And the largest group in the EU Parliament, the EPP, has already put forth amendments to bring back all the other bad stuff in the proposal.
As MEP Julia Reda notes, the EU Parliament will now vote on the Terrorist Content Regulation on Wednesday
https://juliareda.eu/2019/04/reject-terror-filters/