In this fortnight’s Tech Talk we review the US Senate hearings into social media algorithms, evaluate competing models for data protection and take a walk through Melbourne’s not-so-secret city.
Key points:
– Facebook Oversight Board’s ruling on Donald Trump’s suspension from the platform opens up a lot of different implications
– Facebook is being assailed from both sides of politics for very different reasons
– The Oversight Board is also toothless, Facebook ultimately doesn’t have to act on any of their recommendations
– Creating safe platform norms is an important way to moderate behavior, rather than trying to (post) moderate content in essentially harmful platforms
– Regulation hasn’t caught up with digital platforms – there are many rules for election advertising in other media for example, while there are almost none online
– We should further unpack “harm” online through product design – particularly when there is clear evidence of user issues through sustained product use
– Algorithmic opacity is an issue particularly for the largest companies – i.e. Google, whose algorithm essentially powers the commercial internet
– Surveillance in cities is not often thought about, and Digital Rights Watch hosted a tour of Melbourne city to help people become aware of this