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Tag: social media
June 4, 2024
TECH

NY May Regulate Tech Algorithms That Promote Content To Children.

New York state lawmakers are on the brink of enacting landmark legislation that would bar tech platforms such as Instagram and TikTok from utilizing algorithms to curate social media feeds for users under the age of 18. Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is reportedly close to an agreement with lawmakers in Albany that would secure the bill’s passage.

The proposed legislation mandates social media companies to display posts chronologically, bypassing algorithm-driven content streams for minors. Proponents believe this change will mitigate the addictive nature of these platforms and reduce the mental health toll on young users. Additionally, the bill aims to halt late-night and early-morning notifications to minors without parental consent.

Governor Hochul criticized social media companies at a recent Albany press event, accusing them of “bombarding young people with these absolutely addictive algorithms.” A corresponding Senate bill echoes similar concerns, arguing that children are particularly vulnerable to the addictive qualities of content algorithms used by social media companies.

The legislation is backed by a bipartisan group of state legislators and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Meanwhile, TechNet — a trade organization representing major tech firms like Google, Meta, and Amazon — has opposed the bill, as has the industry-funded Chamber of Progress.

New York’s move to regulate social media and addictive algorithms follows a similar action in Florida, which requires parental consent for social media use by minors under the age of 14. The National Pulse previously reported that the United Kingdom is considering restricting smartphone sales to children under the age of 16.

The New York legislative session concludes on Thursday, providing a limited window for lawmakers to pass the measure. Should it pass, Governor Hochul is expected to sign it into law, though legal challenges and enforcement issues may follow.

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New York state lawmakers are on the brink of enacting landmark legislation that would bar tech platforms such as Instagram and TikTok from utilizing algorithms to curate social media feeds for users under the age of 18. Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is reportedly close to an agreement with lawmakers in Albany that would secure the bill's passage. show more
May 24, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Corruption
TECH

‘Ex’ CIA Staff, Contractors Tried to Take Over Twitter’s ‘Content Management’ System.

The latest installment of the Twitter Files, authored by Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi, and Alex Gutentag, reveals “ostensibly ‘former’ IC [Intelligence Community] and CIA analysts were involved in a 2021-2022 effort to take over Twitter’s content management system,” despite the fact “the law strictly prohibits” employees and contractors of the Central Intelligence Agency from “spying upon or running clandestine operations against American citizens on U.S. soil.”

The takeover attempt also involved Nina Jankowicz, who led Joe Biden’s infamous Disinformation Governance Board, a.k.a. the “Ministry of Truth,” and Jim Baker, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) General Counsel and Twitter Deputy General Counsel, who pushed the Russiagate hoax at the former and the censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal at the latter.

“These existing or former IC employees, contractors, or intermediaries weren’t satisfied with simply controlling Twitter. They also wanted to use PayPal, Amazon Web Services, and GoDaddy in a totalizing effort to de-platform, de-monetize, and excommunicate from the Internet entirely those individuals that the IC et al. deems to be a threat,” Shellenberger reports.

Shellenberger and his colleagues have been given access to internal communications at Twitter, now rebranded X, by South African tech billionaire Elon Musk, who took over the social media platform in April 2022.

Musk previously revealed that the FBI operated a portal it used to demand sweeping censorship measures on Twitter, “so broad that they accidentally demanded a suspension of a journalist on CNN and an elected Canadian politician.”

However, Musk has been unable to publicize all of these communications, as the FBI auto-deleted them — likely in violation of the Freedom of Information Act.

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The latest installment of the Twitter Files, authored by Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi, and Alex Gutentag, reveals "ostensibly 'former' IC [Intelligence Community] and CIA analysts were involved in a 2021-2022 effort to take over Twitter’s content management system," despite the fact "the law strictly prohibits" employees and contractors of the Central Intelligence Agency from "spying upon or running clandestine operations against American citizens on U.S. soil." show more
May 15, 2024
Jack Montgomery
News
TECH
War

‘Orban Next!’ Pro-Ukraine Accounts Celebrate Assassination Attempt on Slovak PM Fico.

Pro-Ukraine social media accounts are cheering the shooting of Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia. The 59-year-old European Union (EU) and NATO leader, an ally of Hungary’s Viktor Orban, has opposed continuing to fund the Western proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, as well as the sanctions duel that has disrupted European energy supplies while having no meaningful impact on Russia’s growing economy.

“Hero!” declared one user of the suspect. He posted a separate message asking, “Victor [sic] Orban you watching?” — as if to suggest the Trump ally, who also opposes open-ended support for Ukraine, will be shot if he doesn’t change his stance.

Other users echoed this sentiment, with one user posting “Orban should take notice” and many users, often with the Ukrainian flag by their name, posting messages reading “Orban next” or “Orban is next.”

“Karma. In the future, all Kremlin vassals will have to take this into account,” gloated one user.

“Finally, some good news,” reacted a user with Hungarian, European Union, and Ukrainian flags in their handle.

“Soon he will meet [P]rigozhin in the hell [sic],” added another user, who also included the Ukrainian flag and the hashtags #Fuckrussia #Fuckputin #SlavaUkraini #NATO and #NATOWAVE in their account biography. Yevgeny Prigozhin was the leader of Russia’s Wagner Group, who died in a plane crash last year.

Fico’s condition and the identity and motive of his shooter were unknown as of the time of publication.

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Pro-Ukraine social media accounts are cheering the shooting of Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia. The 59-year-old European Union (EU) and NATO leader, an ally of Hungary's Viktor Orban, has opposed continuing to fund the Western proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, as well as the sanctions duel that has disrupted European energy supplies while having no meaningful impact on Russia's growing economy. show more
May 9, 2024
TECH
World

Ireland to Tech Giants: Censor Social Media or Face ‘Consequences.’

Ireland‘s Electoral Commission Chief Executive Art O’Leary is demanding that Big Tech companies censor social media platforms or face “reputational consequences.” O’Leary wants tech giants to squash so-called “disinformation” that can damage “democracy.”

“They [social media companies] are very conscious that their platforms are a place where quite serious damage can be done to democracy,” O’Leary said. “The implications for social media companies [if they fail to act on disinformation] aren’t good. To be accused after the event of having impacted on the outcome of an election is huge,” O’Leary continued.

The kind of “disinformation” from which O’Leary wants to protect “democracy” appears to be anything that could help right-wing parties in the upcoming Irish and European elections. Reports the Irish Examiner: “Garda Security & Intelligence and broadcasting regulator Coimisiún na Meán, which is charged with dealing with disinformation and online harm more generally, are increasing their level of cooperation to investigate disinformation from the far-right, which is expected to ramp up in the next few weeks.”

Ireland has been rocked by widespread popular protests against the government’s mass migration policies, with another major organized protest planned in Dublin on Saturday. A recent poll found that half of the Irish population now wants checkpoints at the Northern Irish border to keep out waves of asylum seekers. Such border checkpoints at the border were once seen as symbols of British oppression.

As in much of the European Union (EU), right-wing populist candidates in Ireland are expected to see a significant surge of support in the upcoming European elections. The EU, equally concerned about right-wing electoral success, has begun mobilizing a mass online censorship plan.

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Ireland's Electoral Commission Chief Executive Art O'Leary is demanding that Big Tech companies censor social media platforms or face "reputational consequences." O'Leary wants tech giants to squash so-called "disinformation" that can damage "democracy." show more
May 8, 2024
Jack Montgomery
TECH

TikTok Sues America.

China’s TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have responded with legal action against the U.S. legislation recently signed by Joe Biden, which orders ByteDance to divest from TikTok within nine months or face a ban on the app in the U.S.

“Congress has taken the unprecedented step of expressly singling out and banning TikTok,” the petition to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland complains, although the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act could impact several other apps.

“Banning TikTok is so obviously unconstitutional, in fact, that even the Act’s sponsors recognized that reality, and therefore have tried mightily to depict the law not as a ban at all, but merely a regulation of TikTok’s ownership,” the petition alleges, demanding Garland “review the constitutionality” of the legislation.

A TikTok ban cannot come into force until 2025, so it will likely influence the November presidential election, whether or not it is eventually prohibited. The Biden campaign has established a presence on TikTok, and Democratic political action committees (PACs) have invested heavily in influencers on the platform.

Most Americans believe China uses TikTok to manipulate users’ opinions, and research suggests few users buck the app’s algorithm.

While ByteDance claims to be independent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the government holds “golden shares” in the business, and a CCP official wields a veto on its board. The Chinese Embassy also directly lobbied against the TikTok legislation in Congress, indicating Beijing regards Chinese control over the app as being in the Chinese national interest.

ByteDance has said it would rather see TikTok shut down in the U.S. than divest from it.

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China's TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have responded with legal action against the U.S. legislation recently signed by Joe Biden, which orders ByteDance to divest from TikTok within nine months or face a ban on the app in the U.S. show more
May 1, 2024
Jack Montgomery
NatSec
TECH

DATA: Majority Admit China Uses TikTok to ‘Influence American Public Opinion.’

A clear majority of Americans believe TikTok is an influence tool for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with 58 percent of respondents to a Reuters/Ipsos poll agreeing the app is used to “influence American public opinion.” Only 13 percent of respondents disagreed.

A plurality, if not an outright majority, of Americans support banning TikTok, with 50 percent in favor versus 32 percent opposed. Notably, the pollsters only surveyed U.S. adults, not the under-18s, who account for a significant share of the app’s user base.

Reuters/Ipsos found a generational divide on the issue, with around six in 10 Americans over 40 supporting a ban but only four in 10 Americans aged 18 to 39.

Forty-six percent of Americans also believe the CCP uses TikTok to “spy on everyday Americans.”

Sixty percent said they did not believe U.S. political candidates should use TikTok to promote their campaigns. Joe Biden has refused to exit the platform, despite signing a bill that could ban the app — but only after the presidential election in November.

While TikTok is headquartered outside China, its parent company, ByteDance, is headquartered in Beijing. The CCP denies controlling ByteDance, but the Chinese Embassy directly lobbied Congress against the aforementioned bill, which requires ByteDance to divest from TikTok or else it will be blocked in the U.S.

In fact, the Chinese state owns “golden shares” in ByteDance, and a CCP official wields veto power on its board. The app strongly influences its users, with only 14 percent bucking its ‘For You’ content algorithm.

China recently forced Apple to remove several applications from its app store, including WhatsApp and Threads.

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A clear majority of Americans believe TikTok is an influence tool for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with 58 percent of respondents to a Reuters/Ipsos poll agreeing the app is used to "influence American public opinion." Only 13 percent of respondents disagreed. show more
April 29, 2024
William Upton
Politics
TECH

West Wing Creator Aaron Sorkin Is Working on a Jan 6 Movie.

Aaron Sorkin — creator of liberal television and film mainstays, The West Wing, The Newsroom, and The Social Network — is claiming Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook bear responsibility for the January 6 Capitol riots. During a recent appearance on “The Town with Matthew Belloni” podcast, Sorkin explained how he believes Facebook’s algorithm promotes increasingly extreme content, ultimately radicalizing its more politically engaged users.

“Facebook has been, among other things, tuning its algorithm to promote the most divisive material possible,” Sorkin said. He added: “Because that is what will increase engagement and because that is what will get you to, what they call inside the hallways of Facebook, the infinite scroll.”

Sorkin’s comments echo a similar concern raised by Representative Clay Higgins (R-LA). The National Pulse previously reported that Higgins, through his own investigation, uncovered evidence that federal law enforcement infiltrated online social networks — including Facebook — where American veterans groups would communicate.

Higgins said it was through interactions with veterans in these groups that the FBI appears to have created agents provocateurs. According to the Louisiana Republican: “The original seeds of riotous or illegal or occupation-type behavior amongst these groups were planted by the FBI agents embedded in those groups.”

The comments by Sorkin may also appear intended to stoke interest in his new film project — an untitled movie about the January 6 Capitol riots. He would not confirm whether the project will be a direct sequel to his Oscar-winning screenplay for the 2010 film The Social Network.

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Aaron Sorkin — creator of liberal television and film mainstays, The West Wing, The Newsroom, and The Social Network — is claiming Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook bear responsibility for the January 6 Capitol riots. During a recent appearance on "The Town with Matthew Belloni" podcast, Sorkin explained how he believes Facebook's algorithm promotes increasingly extreme content, ultimately radicalizing its more politically engaged users. show more
April 23, 2024
NatSec
World

Regulators Launch Probe Into TikTok’s ‘Addictive’ Features.

European Union (EU) regulators are proceeding with an investigation into the TikTok app regarding its age-verification process and addictive features. The investigation comes as the EU warned TikTok on Monday that it would face fines over what they allege are addictive features used by a version of the social media giant’s app called TikTok Lite. Regulators accuse TikTok’s Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, of failing to carry out risk assessments on the new features added to TikTok Lite, including a rewards program that allows users to win gift cards for watching videos.

According to EU regulators, the gift card program may breach European laws as it creates a financial incentive for users to spend more extended periods on the TikTok app and could facilitate social media addiction in children. Additionally, European lawmakers are concerned that the social media app could be exacerbating mental health issues among its population.

The social media company — deemed noncompliant with the EU’s Digital Services Act — will have until April 23 to provide the European Commission with its risk assessment. Additional supplementary documents are due by May 3. If TikTok fails to comply with the regulatory request, it faces penalties of up to 1 percent of its annual income and a rolling penalty of up to 5 percent of its average daily income.

TikTok and ByteDance are also facing renewed scrutiny in the United States. The U.S. Senate will soon consider a broad package of foreign aid and regulatory provisions, a subset of which addresses concerns over TikTok’s Chinese ownership. The provision will require the Chinese technology conglomerate ByteDance to either divest itself from the ownership of the TikTok app or face its ban in the U.S.

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European Union (EU) regulators are proceeding with an investigation into the TikTok app regarding its age-verification process and addictive features. The investigation comes as the EU warned TikTok on Monday that it would face fines over what they allege are addictive features used by a version of the social media giant's app called TikTok Lite. Regulators accuse TikTok's Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, of failing to carry out risk assessments on the new features added to TikTok Lite, including a rewards program that allows users to win gift cards for watching videos. show more
April 18, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Politics
TECH

China’s DC Embassy is Directly Lobbying for TikTok.

The Chinese Embassy is directly lobbying congressional staff to oppose a bill forcing ByteDance to sell its TikTok app or be banned in the U.S., despite the Chinese government claiming it does not control the company.

The House of Representatives has already passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications bill with broad bipartisan support. It must still pass the Senate, however, where it is opposed by lawmakers such as Rand Paul, who has received multi-million-dollar donations from ByteDance investor Jeff Yass.

It is not only Yass lobbying against the bill’s passage but also the Chinese government itself. At least three congressional aides, two from the Senate and one from the House, have held meetings or been invited to hold discussions with the Chinese Embassy, initiated by the Chinese.

Revealingly, Chinese diplomats suggested at the meetings that TikTok was being mistreated because it is Chinese, despite the company officially disclaiming links to China and stressing that it is registered in Singapore and the U.S.

China hawks argue that the embassy’s lobbying efforts prove TikTok is viewed as an essential tool of influence by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), underscoring the need for a ban.

“By lobbying congressional staff to protect TikTok’s relationship with ByteDance, [People’s Republic of China] officials are revealing how valuable TikTok is to the Chinese Communist Party. Losing control of the app would neuter Beijing’s most potent weapon against Americans,” argued American Foreign Policy Council fellow Michael Sobolik.

The embassy, however, argues it “tries to tell the truth about the TikTok issue to people from all walks of life in the U.S.” and insists its actions are “not about lobbying for a single company but about whether all Chinese companies can be treated fairly.”

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The Chinese Embassy is directly lobbying congressional staff to oppose a bill forcing ByteDance to sell its TikTok app or be banned in the U.S., despite the Chinese government claiming it does not control the company. show more
April 5, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Politics
TECH
World

EU Mobilizes Online Censorship Plan for Upcoming Elections.

The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), initiated in late August, could severely curtail free speech in Europe and even worldwide ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.

To comply with the DSA, so-called Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Search Engines (VLSEs) with over 45 million monthly users in the EU are required to monitor and censor content deemed harmful by EU officials.

This can include so-called hate speech, supposed disinformation and misinformation, and content alleged to cause harm to people’s physical or mental well-being.

If platforms refuse to adhere to DSA diktats, they face severe economic penalties, including fines of up to six percent of their global revenue. Even the ostensibly pro-free speech Elon Musk seems to be complying to avoid these heavy fines for content posted to his X platform, formerly Twitter.

The European Commission, an unelected body that initiates most EU-level legislation and serves as the bloc’s executive, previously launched formal proceedings against Musk under the DSA.

This followed Commissioner Thierry Breton having expressed his displeasure at the South African tech mogul for dropping a supposedly voluntary EU code of conduct, which required Twitter to boost “authoritative sources” and “empower the fact-checking community.”

Social media firms have also been pressured into censoring users on the other side of the Atlantic, with the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) having people censored for questioning mail-in voting.

Joe Biden’s White House also pressured Facebook to take down posts containing accurate information about COVID-19 vaccine side effects or suggesting COVID-19 was made in or leaked from a Chinese laboratory.

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The European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA), initiated in late August, could severely curtail free speech in Europe and even worldwide ahead of the European Parliament elections in June. show more