[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #646: Digital censorship battles are just getting started

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OPLIN 4Cast #646: Digital censorship battles are just getting started
May 15th, 2019

[image: insubordinate man with zipped mouth] This last week, among the
usual product announcements, IPOs, cybersecurity warnings, and so on, were
sprinkled several stories orbiting around the problem of content control:
governments, businesses, platforms, and consumers all trying to find ways
to prioritize information so that the "good" stuff is surfaced and the
"bad" stuff is suppressed, while trying to preserve intellectual and
commercial freedom, whatever the scope is in that particular environment.
There are no answers here, but it's worth checking in to see the different
approaches to try, where they go right, and where they have the potential
to go very wrong.

   -
   - Instagram will begin blocking hashtags that return anti-vaccination
   misinformation
   <https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/9/18553821/instagram-anti-vax-vaccines-hashtag-blocking-misinformation-hoaxes>
   (*The Verge*) "The news comes as Facebook has been under increasing
   pressure to remove anti-vaccine propaganda from its network of sites, where
   its recommendation algorithms have helped to create large audiences for the
   hoaxes."
   - Putin signs “Internet sovereignty” bill that expands censorship
   <https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/05/putin-signs-bill-tightening-government-grip-on-the-russian-internet/>
   (*Ars Technica*) "Centralizing control over Internet routing in Russia
   also gives the Russian government stronger powers to monitor, control, and
   censor its own population's Internet use. In an extreme case, it could
   allow the government to cut Russian Internet users from external sources."
   - Amazon mistakenly told some sellers that it’s now blocking ads with
   ‘religious content’
   <https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/11/amazon-blocks-ads-with-religious-content.html>
   (*CNBC*) "Multiple sellers have seen their product ads get suspended in
   recent months for having language about religion... These sellers were told
   by email that their ads were getting blocked due to a 'new policy update'
   at Amazon which bans any ad that contains 'religious content.'"
   - Europe Is Reining In Tech Giants. But Some Say It’s Going Too Far
   <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/technology/europe-tech-censorship.html>
   (*New York Times*) "Heralded as the world’s toughest watchdog of Silicon
   Valley technology giants, Europe has clamped down on violent content, hate
   speech and misinformation online through a thicket of new laws and
   regulations over the past five years. Now there are questions about whether
   the region is going too far, with the rules leading to accusations of
   censorship and potentially providing cover to some governments to stifle
   dissent."

*From the Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Whyte, Chelsea. “AI Can’t Stop Violent Video Going Viral
   <https://proxy.oplin.org:2111/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=122726117&site=ehost-live>
   .” *New Scientist*, vol. 234, no. 3123, Apr. 2017, p. 25.
   - Galvin, Gaby. “Trolls, Bots and Anti-Vaxxers
   <https://proxy.oplin.org:2111/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=131444462&site=ehost-live>
   .” *U.S. News - The Report*, Aug. 2018, p. C39.
   - Leung, Hillary. “Singapore Is the Latest Country to Propose Tough
   Legislation Against Fake News
   <https://proxy.oplin.org:2111/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=135689357&site=ehost-live>
   .” *Time.Com*, Apr. 2019, np.

------------------------------
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