Mike StuartGoogle's "Good Censor" research shows "right wing" Breitbart leading the discussion on free speech, with "progressive" CNN and NBC trailing #GoodCensorship https://quitter.im/attachment/1479874
Not sure we should be using "Free Speech" and "utopian" in the same sentence Google. https://quitter.im/attachment/1479876
In a leaked document that seeks to map out what "Good Censorship" is, Google uses POTUS' image on a slide titled "But recent global events have undermined this utopian narrative" https://quitter.im/attachment/1479878
"When they’re angry, people vent their frustrations. But whereas people used to tell friends and family about bad experiences, the internet now provides a limitless audience for our gripes. As more and more people vent, online conversations fill with anger and nastiness."
- Is social media imitating life or is life imitating social media?
- Is social media imitating life or is life imitating social media?
Why are internet users behaving badly?
Clearly Google didn't include the Fediverse in their censorship research
https://quitter.im/attachment/1479889
Clearly Google didn't include the Fediverse in their censorship research
https://quitter.im/attachment/1479889
Google is worried about a "land grab" for power in their Digital Superstate / supranational platform
- "People unite across borders and time zones. But this global explosion has created a land grab for power."
https://quitter.im/url/1479900 #PlatformMonopoly
- "People unite across borders and time zones. But this global explosion has created a land grab for power."
https://quitter.im/url/1479900 #PlatformMonopoly
Peak irony:
Google acknowledges that "Global internet freedoms have gone downhill for the past seven years" in a document that seeks to map out "Good Censorship" https://quitter.im/attachment/1479906
Google acknowledges that "Global internet freedoms have gone downhill for the past seven years" in a document that seeks to map out "Good Censorship" https://quitter.im/attachment/1479906
Whose internet is it anyway?
"Bots account for more web traffic than humans" (Google) https://quitter.im/attachment/1479912
"Bots account for more web traffic than humans" (Google) https://quitter.im/attachment/1479912
This graph shows the explosion in requests by governments to censor YouTube (and Search) https://quitter.im/attachment/1479917
Are you an authoritative voice or just a "have a go" commentator?
Google knows best.
- "And rational debate is damaged when authoritative voices and ‘have a go’ commentators receive equal weighting"
- I guess NYT is an authoritative voice? Their WMD story on Iraq certainly had authority to create a war.
Google knows best.
- "And rational debate is damaged when authoritative voices and ‘have a go’ commentators receive equal weighting"
- I guess NYT is an authoritative voice? Their WMD story on Iraq certainly had authority to create a war.
Google acknowledges that "even the most sophisticated tech can censor legitimate and legal videos in error" with "mistakes in understanding context and nuances" #GoodGoogleCensorship
https://quitter.im/attachment/1479932
https://quitter.im/attachment/1479932
Some refreshing honesty in a Google document on "how to do good censorship"
- "And as revelations have come out, they’ve come to seem not only inconsistent, but misguided and sometimes actively dishonest"
https://quitter.im/attachment/1479944
- "And as revelations have come out, they’ve come to seem not only inconsistent, but misguided and sometimes actively dishonest"
https://quitter.im/attachment/1479944
And this is how Google labels its hypocrisy in censorship
- "digital spaces are rife with user’s frustrations about removed posts and suspended accounts, especially when it seems like plenty of bad behaviour is left untouched." https://quitter.im/attachment/1479954
- "digital spaces are rife with user’s frustrations about removed posts and suspended accounts, especially when it seems like plenty of bad behaviour is left untouched." https://quitter.im/attachment/1479954
Major tech firm says that bad censorship is because of bad technology
- "befuddled onlookers are left to sift through rival stories in the press.” https://quitter.im/attachment/1479958
- "befuddled onlookers are left to sift through rival stories in the press.” https://quitter.im/attachment/1479958
The URL of the leaked Google document "The Good Censor" is https://www.scribd.com/document/390521673/The-Good-Censor-GOOGLE-LEAK#from_embed. Alternatively a version without the irritating watermark is here: https://anonfile.com/Wfl7J7j8b4/Google_The_Good_Censor_-_without_pdf
From a Google document on good censorship:
"From a users’ perspective, the tech platforms are quick to censor and slow to reinstate content that was wrongfully taken down... users often endure a slow and laborious appeals process, compounding the https://quitter.im/attachment/1479987 feeling of unfair censorship."
"From a users’ perspective, the tech platforms are quick to censor and slow to reinstate content that was wrongfully taken down... users often endure a slow and laborious appeals process, compounding the https://quitter.im/attachment/1479987 feeling of unfair censorship."
Hopefully Google is not just worried about "looking bad" in their document on Good Censorship https://quitter.im/attachment/1479994
Censorship seems to turn progressives into reactionaries
https://quitter.im/attachment/1479999
https://quitter.im/attachment/1479999
Google document on good censorship asks:
- "users and governments recognise that our online platforms hold as much (if not more) sway over public opinions and the outcomes of elections, more people are asking - “Isn’t ‘big tech’ really ‘big media’ in disguise?”
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480039
- "users and governments recognise that our online platforms hold as much (if not more) sway over public opinions and the outcomes of elections, more people are asking - “Isn’t ‘big tech’ really ‘big media’ in disguise?”
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480039
"Tech firms have been moving from passive facilitation to active curation" (Google) https://quitter.im/attachment/1480045
Google asks if it is a neutral, aggregator, Platform or a politicised, editor, Publisher? https://quitter.im/attachment/1480067 https://quitter.im/attachment/1480068
"we’re in an era in which people are starting to realise that private companies, probably more than ever before, control people’s ability to amplify their voices, and whether or not their speech stays up or comes down"
- is Google "The Good Censor"? https://quitter.im/attachment/1480072
- is Google "The Good Censor"? https://quitter.im/attachment/1480072
Google explains in one chart why your news and information is now censored on their platform (warning: nothing here about values or ethics, sorry):
- appease users
- maintain global expansion
- monetize content
- protect advertisers
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480078
- appease users
- maintain global expansion
- monetize content
- protect advertisers
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480078
By abandoning the original vision of the internet as "an unmediated marketplace of ideas", Google has opened a huge opportunity to new, decentralised, censorship resistant tech platforms like the SAFE Network - http://safenetwork.tech/
Are we heading towards a world of Two Internets?
One that is centralised, commercialised and sanitised.
Another that is decentralised, unmediated, open and vibrant?
“We’re witnessing a massive shift in the whole idea of the internet; from an open platform for the discussion of ideas to something that must be moderated and editorialised.”
- Brendan O'Neill, The Spectator https://quitter.im/attachment/1480091
One that is centralised, commercialised and sanitised.
Another that is decentralised, unmediated, open and vibrant?
“We’re witnessing a massive shift in the whole idea of the internet; from an open platform for the discussion of ideas to something that must be moderated and editorialised.”
- Brendan O'Neill, The Spectator https://quitter.im/attachment/1480091
"journalism, activism and public debate are being silenced in the effort to stamp out extremist speech" - Franklin Foer
- source: "The Good Censor" by Google
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480098
- source: "The Good Censor" by Google
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480098
"Being critical of big tech’s censorship powers was once a niche stance, coming mostly from those on the Right... but now, concern about big tech’s ‘abandonment of neutrality’ has gone mainstream"
- "The Good Censor" by Google https://quitter.im/attachment/1480102
- "The Good Censor" by Google https://quitter.im/attachment/1480102
If it advertises like a media company, spins like a media company and censors like a media company - then its a media company
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480107
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480107
Internal Google document on good censorship says there's no such thing as finding "the right amount" of censorship https://quitter.im/attachment/1480108
The recommendations at the end of "The Good Censor" document by Google would be an improvement on the current "black box" situation, but still an abandonment of the original vision of the internet as expressed for example in the Cluetrain Manifesto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cluetrain_Manifesto https://quitter.im/attachment/1480221
"The Good Censor" by Google includes an amusing quote from George Soros who advises what dictatorial leaders want in terms of population control
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480258
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480258
“Much of social media’s editorial guidelines are a black box, inaccessible to the public since they belong to private companies. That lack of transparency means it’s unclear what factors go into the decision to take down a post.”
- Chava Gourarie, Columbia Journalism Review
- Chava Gourarie, Columbia Journalism Review
Some funny (inferred) moments in "The Good Censor" by Google. For example:
Google asks Facebook to be more responsive and take problems seriously https://quitter.im/attachment/1480280
Google asks Facebook to be more responsive and take problems seriously https://quitter.im/attachment/1480280
Don't tell us what to think, give us the raw materials to form our own conclusions
- "People are asking for empowering tools that help them identify contentious issues and content, rather than platforms that control conversations"
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480289
- "People are asking for empowering tools that help them identify contentious issues and content, rather than platforms that control conversations"
https://quitter.im/attachment/1480289
Summary of recommendations in "The Good Censor" by Google (paraphrased):
1) Explain your position on censorship in global markets
2) No black boxes - enforce standards and policies clearly
3) Explain the algorithms
4) Give better customer service for censorship complaints and appeals
5) Take responsibility for your failures
6) Give positive guidelines (not just "don't do this and don't do that")
7) Don't control conversations https://quitter.im/attachment/1480299
1) Explain your position on censorship in global markets
2) No black boxes - enforce standards and policies clearly
3) Explain the algorithms
4) Give better customer service for censorship complaints and appeals
5) Take responsibility for your failures
6) Give positive guidelines (not just "don't do this and don't do that")
7) Don't control conversations https://quitter.im/attachment/1480299