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Graphic Truth: Who has the highest youth voter turnout?
Ah, the elusive youth vote, a demographic that has been historically unreliable in terms of turnout — but will be key in the extremely close US election. In the 2020 election, about half of voters under 30 voted, up from 39% in 2016. Meanwhile, in Canada, youth participation tends to be higher and more stable, with projections indicating about 60% turnout for young voters in the next federal election.
Following the debate on Tuesday, Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris, leading337,000 people to visit vote.gov, a website that helps first-time voters register to vote.
The pop icon’s endorsement, while unlikely to change the minds of many Donald Trump supporters, could have an outsized impact on turning out Democratic-leaning young voters to write Harris’ name in the “Blank Space”on their ballots.
For context, we looked at youth turnout in recent elections in the UK and France, which helped illuminate that when it comes to young voters nothing is guaranteed. In France, the rise of the far right in the first round of parliamentary elections led to a surge in youth turnout, at 57% of voters. This was up from 31% in 2022. Meanwhile, the UK saw youth turnout plummet to a mere 35% in the 2024 general election. This record low highlights deepening disengagement and frustration among British youth with the political establishment.
American singer songwriter Taylor Swift performing during the first night of the The Eras Tour in Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Friday, February 16, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Swift concerts canceled, UK rioters sentenced, Puigdemont’s return, Family sues over sub implosion, China’s imports grow, Sudan's deadly flooding, Squad’s Bush loses primary
3: It’s a Cruel Summer indeed for Austrian Swifties who just learned that three of Taylor Swift’s upcoming concerts in Vienna had to be canceled because of suspected terrorist attacks. Two men have been arrested in Islamic State-linked plots that were allegedly targeting Swift’s concerts set for this week in the Austrian capital. The superstar has yet to comment, but the tour has promised to issue refunds.
7: Catalonian independence leader Carles Puigdemont set off a major manhunt in Barcelona on Thursday, having unexpectedly returned to Spain after seven years of self-imposed exile in Belgium. He is a wanted fugitive who fled in the trunk of a car in 2017 to avoid arrest for issuing an illegal — and ultimately failed — declaration of independence for Catalonia.
3: Three men were sentenced in a British court Wednesday in the first big sentencing since last week’s far-right riots broke out. Derek Drummond was sentenced to three years for punching a police officer in Southport, and two other defendants were sentenced to 20 and 30 months respectively for violence in Liverpool. Meanwhile, thousands of anti-racism protesters took to the streets nationwide on Wednesday, and police braced for more anti-Muslim riots because far-right groups have vowed to target asylum-seekers and law firms representing migrants.
50 million: Last summer, the world was gripped by news of a submersible that had fallen out of communication during its descent to the site of the Titanic. Within days, debris from the Titan submersible was found on the ocean floor, confirming that all five aboard had perished. On Wednesday, the family of French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, one of the men who died in the sub, filed a wrongful death lawsuit accusing the operator, OceanGate, of gross negligence. Lawyers say the family is seeking $50 million in damages and answers as to what happened.
7.2: China’s economy, which has been struggling with sluggish growth, got a little good news today: Its import growth in July topped expectations, with US dollar-dominated imports rising 7.2% — more than double the forecasted 3.5%. This suggests that domestic demand may be on the rise, signaling a potential burst in economic activity. But exports did not grow as much as expected, rising just 7% last month, compared to the predicted 9.7%.
17: Heavy rains in northern Sudan this week caused about 11,500 homes to collapse, killing 17 people and injuring 170 more. The Nile River often peaks this time of year, but owing to a year and a half of fighting between rival security forces, millions more have been displaced into flood zones, putting them at risk.
8.5 million: Second-term Democratic Rep. Cori Bush, a progressive member of the “Squad” and a favorite to win her Missouri primary on Tuesday, lost in an upset to St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. Bush, who has been critical of the Israeli government in recent months, garnered just 45.6% of the vote. The pro-Israel Bell, meanwhile, saw the American Israel Public Affairs Committee throw $8.5 million behind his candidacy, helping him secure 51.2% of the vote.
A drone view shows a flooded area following heavy rainfall in Rock Valley, Iowa, U.S. June 22, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video.
Hard Numbers: Massive US floods, Dagestan attacks, Bad booze, Deadly Hajj, Toodaloo to Taylor Swift
1,000,000: Over a million people in the Upper Midwest were under flood warnings on Sunday after several days of heavy rain forced thousands to evacuate in parts of Iowa and South Dakota. Iowan officials said the inundation has already exceeded the 1993 flood that killed 50 people, and the worst of the flooding is expected Monday and Tuesday.
15: Terrorists in Russia’s Dagestan province killed at least 15 police officers, four civilians and an Orthodox priest in coordinated attacks on churches, synagogues, and police stations in two cities on Sunday. Dagestan is a majority Muslim region with a history of extremist violence, and the tragedy follows ISIS-K's brutal slaying of 140 civilians in a Moscow concert venue in March, but no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.
54: At least 54 people in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu have died after drinking alcohol polluted with methanol. Dozens more have been hospitalized. Methanol is, chemically speaking, also a type of alcohol, but it needs to be filtered from ethanol (the fun stuff) or it can cause severe liver damage, blindness, and death. The likely culprit is homebrewed alcohol, which many in India consume despite the health risks because store-bought booze is too pricey.
1,000: Over 1,000 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi officials said Sunday. No explanations were offered for the deaths, but the governments of Jordan and Tunisia blamed excessive heat, and reporters on the scene witnessed pilgrims passing out, vomiting, and collapsing under the searing sun.
88,446: Taylor Swift said 88,446 people attended her concert in London’s iconic Wembley Stadium on Friday. The Prince of Wales attended – he was celebrating his 42nd birthday – and netted a selfie with the pop star and two of his children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.Singer Taylor Swift performs at her concert for the international "The Eras Tour" in Tokyo, Japan February 7, 2024.
Swifties rejoice: DOJ sues Ticketmaster
The Department of Justice announced Thursday it is suing Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, alleging the company has built an anti-competitive monopoly in live events. Over 70% of all major concert venue tickets in the US are handled via Ticketmaster, and the DOJ says their market dominance has crushed competition in the sector, stagnating innovation and subjecting consumers to unfairly high prices.
The lawsuit has been in the works for nearly two years, but it received a big jolt last year after Taylor Swift fans found themselves unable to buy tickets for the singer’s “Eras” tour because of a botched rollout on Ticketmaster. Suddenly, senators were holding hearings about Live Nation with one eye on the approval of these newly minted antimonopolists.
But Live Nation says it has little to do with the high prices fans are experiencing, alleging that artists and venues themselves are driving up the costs for fans. They claim that breaking up the company would not lower ticket prices for fans, but the DOJ disagrees and says the case isn’t solely about price. With Live Nation’s dominant market share, smaller companies can’t survive and roll out products that could make tickets cheaper and the industry more competitive.
The DOJ says it wants a full jury trial, and the attorneys general of 30 states have all signed on to the federal case. No verdict is expected anytime soon, but don’t worry Swifties — GZERO is on the beat.
American singer songwriter Taylor Swift performing during the first night of the The Eras Tour in Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Friday, February 16, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Swift rocks the vote, ICC targets Russian commanders, Subianto eyes growth, Big Apple’s cash splash
2: The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two senior Russian commanders, Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov, over alleged crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
8: Indonesia’s newly elected president, Prabowo Subianto, said Tuesday that within five years, his country can grow at 8% per year … without a government spending spree that unbalances the government’s books. That’s what Willis Sparks’ grandfather used to call a “good trick if you can do it.”
70: High interest rates continue to take a toll as nearly 70% of homes in New York City purchased in the final three months of 2023 were bought without a mortgage. (Some folks have apparently saved up their cash). It’s a record high and a jump from 55% in the same period of 2022.
Taylor Swift AI images & the rise of the deepfakes problem
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, examines how Taylor Swift's plight with AI deepfake porn sheds light on the complexities of the information ecosystem in the biggest election year ever, which includes the US elections.
Okay, so full disclosure, I don't love the NFL and my ten-year-old son is more into Ed Sheeran than Taylor Swift, so she hasn't yet flooded our household. However, when one of the most famous people in the world is caught in a deepfake porn attack driven by a right-wing conspiracy theory, forcing one of the largest platforms in the world to shut down all Taylor Swift-related content, well, now you have my attention. But what are we to make of all this?
First thing I think is it shows how crazy this US election cycle is going to be. The combination of new AI capabilities, unregulated platforms, a flood of opaque super PAC money, and a candidate who's perfectly willing to fuel conspiracy theories means the information ecosystem this year is going to be a mess.
Second, however, I think we're starting to see some of the policy levers that could be pulled to address this problem. The Defiance Act, tabled in the Senate last week, gives victims of deepfakes the right to sue the people who created them. The Preventing Deepfakes of Intimate Images Act, stuck in the House currently, goes a step further and puts criminal liability on the people who create deepfakes.
Third, though, I think this shows how we need to regulate platforms, not just the AI that creates the deepfakes, because the main problem with this content is not the ability to create them, we've had that for a long time. It's the ability to disseminate them broadly to a large number of people. That's where the real harm lies. For example, one of these Taylor Swift videos was viewed 45 million times and stayed up for 17 hours before it was removed by Twitter. And the #TaylorSwiftAI was boosted as a trending topic by Twitter, meaning it was algorithmically amplified, not just posted and disseminated by users. So what I think we might start seeing here is a slightly more nuanced conversation about the liability protection that we give to platforms. This might mean that they are now liable for content that is either algorithmically amplified or potentially content that is created by AI.
All that said, I would not hold my breath for the US to do anything here. And probably, for the content regulations we may need, we're going to need to look to Europe, to the UK, to Australia, and this year to Canada.
So what should we actually be watching for? Well, one thing I would look for is how the platforms themselves are going to respond to what is both now an unavoidable problem, and one that has certainly gotten the attention of advertisers. When Elon Musk took over Twitter, he decimated their content moderation team. But Twitter's now announced that they're going to start rehiring one. And you better believe they're doing this not because of the threat of the US Senate but because of the threat of their biggest advertisers. Advertisers do not want their content but put aside politically motivated, deepfake pornography of incredibly popular people. So that's what I'd be watching for here. How are the platforms themselves going to respond to what is a very clear problem, in part as a function of how they've designed their platforms and their companies?
I'm Taylor Owen, and thanks for watching.
- AI at the tipping point: danger to information, promise for creativity ›
- Hard Numbers: Faking Taylor, Powering Perplexity, Keying change, Risking extinction, Embracing AI in NY ›
- Will Taylor Swift's AI deepfake problems prompt Congress to act? ›
- Deepfake porn targets high schoolers ›
- Deepfakes and dissent: How AI makes the opposition more dangerous - GZERO Media ›
- Voters beware: Elections and the looming threat of deepfakes - GZERO Media ›
- AI and Canada's proposed Online Harms Act - GZERO Media ›
- AI vs. truth: Battling deepfakes amid 2024 elections - GZERO Media ›
FILE PHOTO: Taylor Swift attends a premiere for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in Los Angeles, California, U.S., October 11, 2023.
Taylor Swift controversy sparks new porn bill
After nonconsensual deepfake porn of pop singer Taylor Swift bounced around the internet in recent weeks, US lawmakers have proposed a fix.
The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act, introduced by Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin with Republican cosponsors, would give victims of this digital abuse the right to sue for damages from anyone who “knowingly produced or possessed the digital forgery with intent to disclose it.”
Swift has reportedly considered taking legal action in light of the new images. Microsoft, meanwhile, has taken steps in response to the incident to close loopholes in its software that allowed users to make such images.The bill has bipartisan support in the Senate, but squeezing it through a legislative agenda crowded with bills on government funding, border security and Ukraine aid, there’s no clear path to a swift passage.
Perplexity AI logo is seen in this illustration taken January 4, 2024.
Perplex me not
When we talk about how artificial intelligence is a revolutionary technology, it comes with caveats. Chief among them is that large language models, which power popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT, are very good at giving stylistically accurate answers but often fall short with factually accurate answers.
AI hallucinations mean the answers sound right but are often made up. Case in point: Lawyers keep getting in trouble for citing fake cases, a trend wholly attributable to the advent of AI chatbots.
Perplexity, which bills itself as an AI search engine, won plaudits recently from The New York Times, particularly for its accuracy, so I decided to take this would-be Google replacement for a spin.
Sunday night was Grammy night, so I started simple: “Are the Grammys on right now?” to which I was told, nope, they aired last February. “Therefore, the event has already concluded and is not currently on.”
Well, that wasn’t right.
Next, I asked the chatbot to tell me who is nominated for Best Album at the awards ceremony, and it responded correctly with a bulleted list of this year’s nominees, nevermind that it didn’t know that the ceremony was taking place as we chatted.
Next, I asked a series of probing questions about the band Boygenius, which was nominated for numerous Grammy awards, and it performed quite well. There was one funky answer, but it pointed directly to a New York Times Magazine profile of the band, from which it sourced the information. (The nice thing about Perplexity is it cites its sources as it responds).
Having failed my first test, I decided to see how up-to-date Perplexity is. Mere minutes after Miley Cyrus won her first-ever Grammy, I asked Perplexity, “Has Miley Cyrus won a Grammy Award?” This time, it didn’t disappoint. “Yes, Miley Cyrus won her first Grammy Award in 2024 for Best Pop Solo Performance for her song ‘Flowers.’ This marked her first Grammy win after being nominated eight times throughout her career.” Correct! It cited just-published stories from NBC News, Rolling Stone, and Variety.
When Taylor Swift announced live in her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album that she’s releasing her new album “The Tortured Poets Department” in April, it took about five minutes to get up-to-speed on that information.
My initial experiment showed that Perplexity was either up-to-date or out-of-date, not merely accurate or inaccurate like the other hallucination-prone chatbots I’ve tried. There are plenty of free and paid features I still have yet to try, but Perplexity very quickly took me to a place with AI that I didn’t think was near.