WEBVTT - Tech News: Amoral Algorithms and Anticompetitive App Stores

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Be there and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host,

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<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio

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<v Speaker 1>and a love of all things tech. It is time

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<v Speaker 1>for the tech news for Thursday, July one. Let's get

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<v Speaker 1>to it. Yesterday, former President Donald Trump announced he was

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<v Speaker 1>filing class action complaints against YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook in

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<v Speaker 1>a Florida court, claiming that the company has violated his

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<v Speaker 1>First Amendment rights by banning his accounts in the wake

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<v Speaker 1>of the January sixth Capital riots. Numerous experts in law

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<v Speaker 1>have pointed out that this kind of sounds like a

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<v Speaker 1>lost cause. The First Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees

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<v Speaker 1>that the government shall not infringe upon the freedom of

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<v Speaker 1>expression the freedom of speech. But last I checked, Twitter, YouTube,

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<v Speaker 1>and even Facebook are not the US government. You might

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<v Speaker 1>argue that these entities are, at least in some ways

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<v Speaker 1>on a level with some parts of the government, but

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<v Speaker 1>that does not make them government entities. They are instead businesses,

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<v Speaker 1>and well, as such, they're allowed to do stuff like say,

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<v Speaker 1>here are the rules for being part of this platform,

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<v Speaker 1>and if you violate the rules, you get banned. Kind

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<v Speaker 1>of like, if you have someone come in your house

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<v Speaker 1>and they are bad mouthing you and your loved ones,

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<v Speaker 1>you can tell them to leave and not allow them

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<v Speaker 1>back in your house. That's not violating the First Amendment. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>what this does seem to be to me, and I

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<v Speaker 1>stressed this is just my opinion and it's total armshare observation,

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<v Speaker 1>but it seems to be an effort to raise money

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<v Speaker 1>from supporters, and ostensibly that money is supposed to go

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<v Speaker 1>to this legal fund. And maybe also it's an attempt

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<v Speaker 1>to stay in the news cycle, which I mean, you

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<v Speaker 1>know it worked because here I am covering it. But

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<v Speaker 1>if these complaints actually make their way through the system

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<v Speaker 1>and ultimately go to court like a trial, and that

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<v Speaker 1>the court finds in favor of the former president, it

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<v Speaker 1>would mean a monumentally huge shift in how the US

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<v Speaker 1>handles the First Amendment, and it would no doubt immediately

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<v Speaker 1>get moved to a court of appeals. It would be

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<v Speaker 1>pushed up the court system from there. But most of

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<v Speaker 1>the legal experts I've read seemed to indicate that this

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<v Speaker 1>is at most a frivolous lawsuit, and that in fact,

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<v Speaker 1>the law team supporting Trump could find themselves reprimanded for it. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>I thought I had to reference it because it is

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<v Speaker 1>something that's happening within the world of tech. Let's move on. Mozilla,

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<v Speaker 1>the company behind Firefox, create a browser extension called Regrets Reporter,

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<v Speaker 1>and this was all to be, you know, part of

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<v Speaker 1>an informal study. So Firefox users could install this extension

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<v Speaker 1>onto their browser and the extension would log that users

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<v Speaker 1>viewing activity on YouTube. This was all on the up

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<v Speaker 1>and up. That was the stated intent and purpose of

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<v Speaker 1>this extension. So it was essentially Mozilla looking for volunteers.

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<v Speaker 1>So these volunteers could then flag clips of stuff that

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<v Speaker 1>they wished they had not seen. That's why it's called

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<v Speaker 1>regrets Reporter. So the idea was to see how frequently

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<v Speaker 1>YouTube's recommendation algorithm might submit videos that people just plain

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<v Speaker 1>wish they had never encountered. And it turned out to be,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, a fairly decent number. Users would flag videos

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<v Speaker 1>that they found upsetting or nonsensical or just playing unappealing,

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<v Speaker 1>and some of them were videos that were dedicated to

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<v Speaker 1>spreading misinformation. Uh somewhere the bizarre and and offensive parodies

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<v Speaker 1>or mash ups that started making headlines a few years ago.

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<v Speaker 1>When they began to pop up on YouTube frequently. Nearly

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<v Speaker 1>forty thousand people volunteered to take part in this project

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<v Speaker 1>across one countries, and over the course of a little

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<v Speaker 1>less than a year, the app extension collected three thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>three hundred sixty two reports about recommended videos that people

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<v Speaker 1>regretted watching, which I mean three thousand, three d sixty two.

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<v Speaker 1>That's not an enormous number for a full year of

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<v Speaker 1>this project going on, or almost a full year of

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<v Speaker 1>it going on. Generally, areas in non English speaking countries

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<v Speaker 1>had more incidents than English speaking countries, which suggests that

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps YouTube's algorithms work less well in those countries, and

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<v Speaker 1>some of the recommended videos videos that YouTube's own algorithm

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<v Speaker 1>was pushing seemed to violate YouTube's own content policies, which

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<v Speaker 1>is not great. YouTube is pretty guarded about how it's

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<v Speaker 1>algorithm actually works, and in a way that makes sense

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<v Speaker 1>because if word got out how the algorithm worked, then

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<v Speaker 1>people could figure out ways to potentially game the system

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<v Speaker 1>even more than they already do. But at the end

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<v Speaker 1>of the day, the purpose of the algorithm isn't really

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<v Speaker 1>to serve up the perfect video to you. The purpose

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<v Speaker 1>of the algorithm is to keep you on YouTube for

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<v Speaker 1>as long as possible. It's an engagement algorithm designed to

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<v Speaker 1>have you stick to the platform for longer because that

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<v Speaker 1>means you watch more videos and you see more ads,

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<v Speaker 1>and that makes YouTube more money. So if you think

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<v Speaker 1>about it like that, the algorithm doesn't quote unquote care

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<v Speaker 1>about the content or quality of any given video. The

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<v Speaker 1>algorithm doesn't care if the video even violates YouTube's policies.

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<v Speaker 1>The algorithm's job is to suggest videos that are like

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<v Speaker 1>need to keep each individual on YouTube longer. That's it.

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<v Speaker 1>While YouTube says that the company has refined its algorithms

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<v Speaker 1>so that the time it's working perfectly well and it's

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<v Speaker 1>not going to push any sort of borderline content your way,

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that the company remains so guarded about that

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<v Speaker 1>algorithm means there's not really any way for someone to

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<v Speaker 1>verify that claim. Now, I have no idea how effective

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<v Speaker 1>the algorithm really is at serving up content without it

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<v Speaker 1>being borderline or in violation of YouTube's policies, but I

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<v Speaker 1>do know that the recommendation algorithms on various social platforms

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<v Speaker 1>can easily exacerbate problems sticking with Google. A collection of

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<v Speaker 1>thirty seven states in the United States have brought a

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<v Speaker 1>class action lawsuit against the company, claiming it is exercised

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<v Speaker 1>quote monopolistic leverage end quote with the Google play Store.

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<v Speaker 1>Now that's the Android app store in case you weren't familiar.

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<v Speaker 1>So Google imposes a comm sition on purchases made within

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<v Speaker 1>the play Store, and it takes up to thirty percent

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<v Speaker 1>of that money. And that's pretty standard in the industry.

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<v Speaker 1>So in other words, this is the same sort of

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<v Speaker 1>practice that's used by Apple, by Amazon, and by Microsoft.

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<v Speaker 1>In addition, this one is a bit odd because Google

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<v Speaker 1>is actually fairly lax when it comes to how you

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<v Speaker 1>get apps on your Android devices. You can actually download

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<v Speaker 1>apps directly from developer websites and not go through the

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<v Speaker 1>play Store at all, so you can bypass that whole system. Plus,

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<v Speaker 1>if you are an Android user, you can elect to

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<v Speaker 1>allow side loading. That means you can load apps that

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<v Speaker 1>developers never even submit to Google. So another you know,

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't have to be in the Google play Store

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<v Speaker 1>for you to be able to use it. You can

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<v Speaker 1>just sideload it from wherever. This is a little risky

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<v Speaker 1>because it could involve installing malware to your Android device,

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<v Speaker 1>so it's not recommended for everyone, but it is something

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<v Speaker 1>you can do. Apple famously does not allow for sideloading,

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<v Speaker 1>So it seems to me like Google has a fairly

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<v Speaker 1>decent argument to make here about how the company allows

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<v Speaker 1>for alternatives then going through the Google Play Store. But

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<v Speaker 1>let's say this does go to trial and that Google loses,

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<v Speaker 1>that would be some pretty scary news for the other

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<v Speaker 1>companies that I've mentioned, like Apple and Amazon. We've heard

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<v Speaker 1>a lot about app stores and the cut that companies

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<v Speaker 1>like Google and Apple take. I mean, that's at the

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<v Speaker 1>heart of the ongoing battle between Apple and Epic Games,

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<v Speaker 1>So we will keep an eye on this particular story.

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<v Speaker 1>Speaking of Apple, Steve Wozniak, who co founded Apple with

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<v Speaker 1>Steve Jobs back in the nineteen seventies, gave what amounted

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<v Speaker 1>to a nearly ten minutes speech in support of the

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<v Speaker 1>right to repair. This was in response to a cameo request. Cameo,

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<v Speaker 1>just in case you're not familiar, is a service that

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<v Speaker 1>allows celebrities to set a price for personalized video messages

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<v Speaker 1>that fans and then buy, usually for someone else. I

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<v Speaker 1>tried to set up a cameo for myself, but turns

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<v Speaker 1>out I can't afford to pay people to have me

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<v Speaker 1>send them videos, so I'm out anyway. Louis Rossman, who

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<v Speaker 1>is a supporter of the right to Repair movement, purchased

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<v Speaker 1>a cameo request from Wosniac and asked him to speak

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<v Speaker 1>about the idea of right to repair, and Wosniac did

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<v Speaker 1>not disappoint You can actually watch this video on online.

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<v Speaker 1>And the right to repair is a general movement that

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<v Speaker 1>pushes for legislation that would require companies to stop making

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<v Speaker 1>it difficult or even impossible for someone to make alterations

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<v Speaker 1>or repair the technology that they purchase. So one example

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<v Speaker 1>I always like to give with this is with John

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<v Speaker 1>Deer equipment, as in like farming equipment like tractors, John

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<v Speaker 1>Dear restricts the ability to repair those products. So you

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<v Speaker 1>know what you're supposed to do is take your your

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<v Speaker 1>John Deer equipment and go to an authorized repair shop

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<v Speaker 1>that has a license with John Dear and they have

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<v Speaker 1>the equipment that is necessary to diagnose and repair the equipment.

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<v Speaker 1>If you try and do it yourself, uh, you get

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<v Speaker 1>you run into roadblocks, like figurative roadblocks. So for the

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<v Speaker 1>d I Y types out there, this is a slap

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<v Speaker 1>in the face, and I mean particularly for people like farmers,

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<v Speaker 1>who often can be very self reliant, having this can

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<v Speaker 1>mean not just it's it's not just inconvenient for some people,

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<v Speaker 1>it can be an enormous hassle. Wozniak spoke about how

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<v Speaker 1>in the not too distant past you could buy whatever

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<v Speaker 1>electronics he wanted. It could be a TV or a

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<v Speaker 1>radio or whatever, and you could make repairs on that

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<v Speaker 1>technology yourself. As long as you had to know how

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<v Speaker 1>and you had the components. You could just go out

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<v Speaker 1>and buy something like, you know, a vacuum tube and

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<v Speaker 1>replace it yourself. He even said that Apple started off

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<v Speaker 1>with that kind of pilosophy, which is a far cry

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<v Speaker 1>from how the company operates now. Wozniak asked the question,

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<v Speaker 1>is it your computer or is it some company's computer?

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<v Speaker 1>As an is it a company's computer that you get

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<v Speaker 1>to use but you don't actually own it. We've seen

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<v Speaker 1>the right to repair movement pick up support both here

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<v Speaker 1>in the United States and overseas in Europe, and I

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<v Speaker 1>am curious to see where it goes and whether or

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<v Speaker 1>not it actually leads to any meaningful change. Next security

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<v Speaker 1>firm trust Wave Spider Labs published a report that says,

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<v Speaker 1>the malicious code in ransomware used by hacker groups like

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<v Speaker 1>REvil have a feature that looks for Russian or Russian

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<v Speaker 1>related languages on computer systems, and if it detects that

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<v Speaker 1>language is present, like if it detects that most of

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<v Speaker 1>the programming and code and documents are in Russian, the

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<v Speaker 1>malware does not activate itself on that system. It doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>infect those systems. So why is that well? The owing

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<v Speaker 1>theory is that these criminal hacker groups are largely located

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<v Speaker 1>out of Russia or former parts of the USSR, and

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<v Speaker 1>that the Russian government is at the very least ignoring

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<v Speaker 1>these criminal groups as they target various computer systems in

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<v Speaker 1>other countries, particularly in the West, and that the hacker

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<v Speaker 1>groups wish to keep it that way, and so they

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<v Speaker 1>make sure that the code they unleash isn't going to

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<v Speaker 1>affect Russian systems. In other words, you just you don't

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<v Speaker 1>poop where you eat, as they say. Russian authorities have

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<v Speaker 1>so far proven to be uninterested in cracking down on

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<v Speaker 1>hacker groups, which has led to suspicions that perhaps the

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<v Speaker 1>Russian government might even go so far as to encourage

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe even subcontract these hacker groups. Now, those allegations

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<v Speaker 1>are difficult to prove, but the discovery that the malware

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<v Speaker 1>being used as specifically avoiding Russian systems suggests that the

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<v Speaker 1>hackers at least know that they are more likely able

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<v Speaker 1>to operate freely as long as they don't step on

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<v Speaker 1>Russian toes. We recently had Pride Month here in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, and while people within the LGBT communities still

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<v Speaker 1>face struggles here significant ones in other countries, the threats

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<v Speaker 1>can be even more overt. Take China, for example, we Chat,

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<v Speaker 1>the most popular social networking platform within China, recently shut

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<v Speaker 1>down multiple accounts relating to LGBT topics, and allegedly we

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<v Speaker 1>Chat sent out messages to the account administrators claiming that

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<v Speaker 1>these channels that were you know, being hosted by these

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<v Speaker 1>admins were violating me chats policies, but gave no details

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<v Speaker 1>as to how they were doing that, and the lack

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<v Speaker 1>of information has led to speculation, and some of that

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<v Speaker 1>speculation questions if perhaps the communist government in China is

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<v Speaker 1>cracking down on these groups, potentially because they the government

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<v Speaker 1>might view these groups as maybe questioning the government's authority

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<v Speaker 1>or challenging that authority. In some way, and that the

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<v Speaker 1>government then puts pressure on companies like we Chat, because

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<v Speaker 1>in China, the Communist government is heavily involved in every

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<v Speaker 1>major company within the country. China classified homosexuality as being

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<v Speaker 1>criminal until but while homosexuality is now decriminalized, at least

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<v Speaker 1>on paper, people in LGBT communities still must deal with

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<v Speaker 1>a great deal of discrimination in China. Now. To be fair,

0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:40.080
<v Speaker 1>that's also the case in many other parts of the world,

0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:45.360
<v Speaker 1>including the United States. It's not like China is an

0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:48.560
<v Speaker 1>outlier in that regard. It's just that this is one

0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:53.160
<v Speaker 1>of those cases where it looks particularly overt. As I

0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:56.080
<v Speaker 1>said earlier for my last story today, I want to

0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.240
<v Speaker 1>preface this by saying I'm not a car guy, and

0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:04.240
<v Speaker 1>also I find hyper masculine marketing to be absolutely ridiculous.

0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.800
<v Speaker 1>I think it's laughable. So perhaps it comes as no

0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:11.120
<v Speaker 1>surprise that I was rolling my eyes so hard that

0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:14.240
<v Speaker 1>you could probably hear it at a recent video revealing

0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:18.760
<v Speaker 1>that Dodge will release an all electric muscle car in Now.

0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:21.400
<v Speaker 1>To be fair, I think muscle cars are kind of cool,

0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:23.640
<v Speaker 1>and I think an all electric muscle car is a

0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:27.320
<v Speaker 1>really neat idea. It's kind of in a way antithetical

0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.360
<v Speaker 1>to the way muscle cars typically get positioned in the market.

0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:37.080
<v Speaker 1>But the way the video unfolded really kind of I

0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.280
<v Speaker 1>don't know. I guess it pushed some buttons with me.

0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.640
<v Speaker 1>It would have to, it's an electric vehicle anyway. The

0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:46.440
<v Speaker 1>video includes a narrator who at one point incredulously says,

0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:50.520
<v Speaker 1>wait a minute, did we hear that right? Dodge as

0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:55.120
<v Speaker 1>an Dodge making an electric muscle car. And then there's

0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:56.960
<v Speaker 1>a shot of a dude who's behind the wheel of

0:15:57.000 --> 0:16:01.400
<v Speaker 1>a Dodge muscle car saying, you mean hypothetically right, Like

0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:06.360
<v Speaker 1>they wouldn't Dare make an electric muscle car because internal

0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:09.920
<v Speaker 1>combustion engines are manly and whatnot, and going electric is

0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:14.200
<v Speaker 1>antithetical to muscle cars aesthetic. I suspect this is really

0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:17.800
<v Speaker 1>just Dodge getting ahead of the inevitable reaction of the

0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:21.200
<v Speaker 1>thought of an all electric muscle car. But seeing as

0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:24.000
<v Speaker 1>how the automotive industry in general is having to switch

0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:26.440
<v Speaker 1>to e v s or at least alternatives to internal

0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:30.800
<v Speaker 1>combustion engines, it was kind of bound to happen. I mean,

0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:34.440
<v Speaker 1>it either had to happen this way, or muscle car

0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.720
<v Speaker 1>variants of vehicles would just have to go away anyway.

0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:39.600
<v Speaker 1>I really do think an electric muscle car is a

0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.040
<v Speaker 1>cool idea. I just find the marketing approach to me

0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.360
<v Speaker 1>a bit laughable. But I feel that way, like I said,

0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:49.400
<v Speaker 1>about all hyper masculine advertising. I mean, if it's if

0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.760
<v Speaker 1>it's an ad for steak or beer or something like that,

0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:57.960
<v Speaker 1>typically it just makes me kind of get exasperated at

0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:02.880
<v Speaker 1>the the the way that masculinity is depicted. I feel

0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:10.240
<v Speaker 1>like it tends to reinforce perhaps not the healthiest of stereotypes.

0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:14.040
<v Speaker 1>But hey, I'll get off my soapbox. We'll stick with tech.

0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:19.040
<v Speaker 1>That's it for the tech news for today, Thursday, July one.

0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.439
<v Speaker 1>We'll be back next week with some more news. If

0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:23.600
<v Speaker 1>you have suggestions for topics I should cover in future

0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:26.120
<v Speaker 1>episodes of tech Stuff, let me know the best way

0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:27.959
<v Speaker 1>to do that is send me a message on Twitter.

0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:31.000
<v Speaker 1>The handle for the show is tech Stuff H s

0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:39.600
<v Speaker 1>W and I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech

0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:43.160
<v Speaker 1>Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts

0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:45.920
<v Speaker 1>from my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,

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