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AI and Canada's proposed Online Harms Act
Canada wants to hold AI companies accountable with proposed legislation | GZERO AI

AI and Canada's proposed Online Harms Act

In this episode of GZERO AI, Taylor Owen, professor at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University and director of its Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy, takes at a look at the Canadian government’s Online Harms Act, which seeks to hold social media companies responsible for harmful content – often generated by artificial intelligence.

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What is a technopolar world?
Technopolar world | GZERO Media

What is a technopolar world?

Who runs the world? In a series of videos about artificial intelligence, Ian Bremmer, founder and president of GZERO Media and Eurasia Group introduces the concept of a technopolar world––one where technology companies wield unprecedented influence on the global stage, where sovereignty and influence is determined not by physical territory or military might, but control over data, servers, and, crucially, algorithms.

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Why social media is broken & how to fix it
Why Social Media Is Broken & How to Fix It | Frances Haugen | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Why social media is broken & how to fix it

Social media companies play an outsize role in global politics — from the US to Myanmar. And when they fail, their actions can cost lives.

That's why Frances Haugen blew the whistle against her then-employer, Facebook, when she felt the company hadn't done enough to stop an outrage-driven algorithm from spreading misinformation, hate, and even offline violence.

On GZERO World, Haugen tells Ian Bremmer why governments need to rethink how they regulate social media. A good example is the EU, whose new law mandating data transparency could have global ripple effects.

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What happens in Europe, doesn’t stay in Europe — why EU social media regulation matters to you
Why EU Social Media Regulation Matters To You | GZERO World

What happens in Europe, doesn’t stay in Europe — why EU social media regulation matters to you

The EU just approved the Digital Services Act, which for the first time will mandate social media companies come clean about what they do with our data.

Okay, but perhaps you don't live there. Why should you care?

First, transparency matters, says Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.

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GOP battle with Big Tech reaches the Supreme Court
Tech Wars Have Just Begun | US Politics In :60 | GZERO Media

GOP battle with Big Tech reaches the Supreme Court

Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, discusses Republican states picking fights with social media companies.

Why are all these Republican states picking fights with social media companies?

The Supreme Court this week ruled that a Texas law that banned content moderation by social media companies should not go into effect while the lower courts debated its merits, blocking the latest effort by Republican-led states to try and push back on the power of Big Tech. Florida and Texas are two of the large states that have recently passed laws that would prevent large social media companies from censoring or de-platforming accounts that they think are controversial, which they say is essential for keeping their users safe from abuse and misinformation. The courts did not agree on the constitutionality of this question. One circuit court found that the Florida law probably infringes on the free speech rights of the tech companies.

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Ari Winkleman

The Graphic Truth: Twitter doesn't rule the social world

Elon Musk aside, does anybody else love Twitter? The platform’s 280-character tweets are an essential tool for governments, institutions, politicians, and journalists — as well as eccentric billionaires, of course — but in the grander scheme, not a lot of regular folks are hooked. We look at the brave — and scary — user numbers of social media, where not many care whether you RT’d or simply liked their thread.

Meta's moves to malign TikTok reveal common dirty lobbying practices
Dirty Lobbying Practices by Tech Companies Pose Danger to Public | Cyber In :60 | GZERO Media

Meta's moves to malign TikTok reveal common dirty lobbying practices

Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director at Stanford's Cyber Policy Center, Eurasia Group senior advisor and former MEP, discusses dirty lobbying practices by the biggest tech companies.

Meta reportedly hired a GOP firm to malign TikTok. How dangerous is this move to the public?

Well, I think it is important that we know these kinds of dirty lobbying practices that apparently looked attractive and acceptable to Meta or Facebook. It seems like a desperate effort to polish a tarnished image of the company and they must have thought that offense is the best defense. But generally, the public, the audience, readers of the news have no way of knowing which stories have been planted or that they are planted in media at all. And I think the fact that this is a common practice is revealing and cynical. But the problem is that for many of the biggest tech companies all kinds of lobbying, sponsoring, influencing has become accessible in ways that very few can compete with, they just have a lot of money to spend. I was surprised to hear, for example, that WhatsApp's lead, Will Cathcart, claimed this week that his company was not heard by European legislators when it came to the Digital Markets Act while a public consultation was held. And Meta, which owns WhatsApp, spent 5.5 million euros on lobbying in Brussels last year. So I'm pretty sure they did have an opportunity to engage.

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Tech companies' role in the spread of COVID-19 misinformation
Tech Companies' Accountability for Spread of COVID-19 Misinformation | Cyber In :60 | GZERO Media

Tech companies' role in the spread of COVID-19 misinformation

Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director at Stanford's Cyber Policy Center, Eurasia Group senior advisor and former MEP, discusses trends in big tech, privacy protection and cyberspace:

Why is misinformation about the COVID-19 test spreading so fast across social media platforms?

One underlying reason is that the US has been so reluctant to hold tech companies to account at all. There are understandable sensitivities about online speech, and the First Amendment gives tech companies a lot of room to say that they simply don't want to censor anyone. Or that they're just platforms, connecting messenger and audience, buyer and seller, without responsibility. But what is missing in these reflections is how other rights or principles can get crushed, public health being an obvious one in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies so far have taken a hands-off approach. They've not been reigned in by lawmakers. And some very cynical actors are happy to profit off the pandemic or to spread conspiracy theories. Sadly, they are having a field day.

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