WEBVTT - Tech News: US Senate Takes Stand Against TikTok 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:14.520 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.400 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.759 and how the tech are you? It is time for 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:24.840 the Tech News for Thursday, December twenty two. And you know, 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:29.080 I do news episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and every 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:31.400 time a Thursday rolls around, I worry that I'm not 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:34.559 gonna have enough material to really do a decent episode. 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:38.040 But that is definitely not a problem. Today we have 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:41.400 a ton to talk about, including some updates on stories 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:46.159 that we've chatted about in previous news episodes, including Tuesdays. 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.040 So let's begin with f t X. Now, I'm not 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:51.640 gonna do a full catch up on f t X 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:55.800 because I actually did that on Tuesday's episode. So if 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:57.360 you don't know what f t X is and you 0:00:57.440 --> 0:00:59.680 want to know, I recommend just listening to the first 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.200 five minutes or so of Tuesday's show and then that'll 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.880 get you up to speed. So first up is the 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:10.120 matter of Sam Bankman Freed or SBF. He's a co 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:15.080 founder of the cryptocurrency exchange f t X, so he 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.720 was arrested on Monday evening, which I talked about on 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:22.000 Tuesday's episode. But now we've learned that if he's convicted 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:25.560 of the crimes he stands accused of, he could face 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:30.000 a maximum of a hundred fifteen years in prison. He 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:33.240 could spend the rest of his life in prison. He 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:37.120 has eight federal counts against him. Those charges range from 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:42.039 wire fraud to securities fraud to money laundering. Now, all 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:45.360 that being said, I think it is highly unlikely he'll 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:49.240 face anything close to a hundred fifteen years. Uh, He's 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.600 still likely to end up with a prison sentence, perhaps 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:56.360 a considerable one, like ten years or so. But one 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.680 challenge for the prosecution is proving beyond a reasonable doubt 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:04.400 that SPF was committing fraud. So here in the United States, 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:07.960 we have a saying that goes ignorance of the law 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:11.280 is no excuse. Now, generally, what that means is that 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:14.600 if you unknowingly break a law, it still means you 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:17.440 broke a law, and you can still be held accountable 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.560 for it. Being ignorant of law does not excuse you 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:26.040 from accountability. However, there are a few crimes that require 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:31.440 things like intent and understanding to be considered a crime. 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:36.200 So fraud is an example fraud, at least in some jurisdictions. 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:39.200 Fraud is a crime that carries with it the concept 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:44.480 of intent that you intended to defraud someone. If you 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:48.320 did not intend to do it and it happened by accident, 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.200 then it's not really fraud at least in those jurisdictions. 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:55.400 It could still be some other crime, but it would 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.760 not be fraud. There are other examples of crimes where 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.520 intent makes a different. So that's what separates something like 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:09.040 voluntary manslaughter from involuntary manslaughter. Is intent. Anyway, I think 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:12.920 the odds are at least some charges will stick to 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:15.280 SBF and he's going to be looking at a prison 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:19.320 sentence of at least a few years, just I don't 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:26.000 expect the hundred fifteen max to to fall on his shoulders. Meanwhile, 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:30.799 f t X is in the process of going through bankruptcy, 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.560 and really what they're going through is liquidating assets and 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:37.240 trying to recapture as much value as they can to 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:42.200 return to creditors and investors. So Tuesday I mentioned how 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:45.480 the government of the Bahamas wanted to get involved in 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.800 how certain f t X assets are being handled because 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:54.280 f t X established headquarters in the Bahamas a while back, 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:58.120 and SPF and one of his buddies bought thirty five 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:02.640 properties around New Providence, Bahamas, and in total those properties 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:06.480 value at around two fifty million dollars. You've got a 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:08.720 couple of branches of f t X that are involved 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:12.480 in this as well. There's f t X, the American company. 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:17.080 There's f t X Digital Markets that's the Bahamanian branch 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.400 of f t X. And what the American branch of 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:23.920 f t X is essentially saying is we don't want 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:27.320 to share any information with f t X Digital Markets 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:31.640 because we don't trust the government of the Bahamas and 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:36.039 we worry that the government will steal stuff that we're 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.360 trying to liquidate, that they will lean on ft X 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:43.960 Digital Markets and get that information, and then our investors 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:47.440 will not get the value that they deserve. Meanwhile, ft 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:51.520 X Digital is saying this is nonsense. We were appointed 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:55.640 by a court order and our job is to liquidate 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:59.560 assets to recover money for investors and creditors too. But 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:03.360 we do that unless we actually have access to data. 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.560 So our job is the same as your job is 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.080 essentially what they're saying, then you have the government of 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:12.159 the Bahamas and it's like, hey, it's against the law 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:17.000 for matters involving Bahamanian land to be arbitrated outside of 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:20.920 the Bahamas. So it's a big old mess. In other words, Ultimately, 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.880 the only job FTX really has right now is to 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:27.240 get as much value from whatever assets it has and 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:30.159 to then hand that over to the creditors and the investors. 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:31.919 So it's no surprise that we're seeing this kind of 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.919 tug of war between the branches as well as the 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:39.719 Bahamanian government. So yeah, everybody feels like they're owed a 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.880 piece of this, and so there's gonna be probably some 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:45.720 pretty nasty arguments about how it needs to be divvied up, 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:48.719 because there are a lot of people who are holding 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.480 the bag right now and they don't. They don't want 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:54.159 to They don't want to be holding the bag. If anything, 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:56.200 they want that bag to be very very small, if 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.960 they have to hold a bag at all. So yeah, 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:02.960 this isn't over with. Then. Over at Binance, which is 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.800 the largest cryptocurrency exchange, it's also an entity that had 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:11.160 let's say, a contentious relationship with f t X. The 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:15.479 CEO of Binance is trying to calm matters. Internally, his 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:18.520 name's Chong Peng Zoo. He's also known as c Z 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:23.360 because we just love initialisms in crypto. And he sent 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.800 a memo to employees and acknowledge that folks have recently 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:31.080 withdrawn a lot of money from Finance, more than a 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:35.640 billion dollars in one day. Some estimates say that in 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:41.240 the week leading up to yesterday that customers have removed 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:44.360 more than three and a half billion dollars from the exchange. 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.160 But he says, you know, this happens like there are 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:50.320 days where we might have a billion in deposits in 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:52.560 other days where you might have a billion in withdrawals. 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:56.360 It's not a cause for alarm. He did also warn 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:59.479 that crypto in general is in for rough time, but quote, 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:03.160 this organization was built to last. As long as we 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:07.240 continue to offer users the best product, user experience, and 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:12.720 frictionless trading environment, Finance will survive any crypto winter end. 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:17.080 Quote Now, as I mentioned on Tuesday, Binance is also 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:21.240 the subject of a US Department of Justice investigation. There 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:24.200 are concerns that some of the shenanigans that we're going 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:27.720 on at f t X are also happening over at Binance, 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:34.320 including like ten billion dollars of illegal payments processing. While 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:37.320 Binance did commission a report from a third party to 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:41.560 be more transparent about the company's reserves, that report has 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:44.360 not satisfied everyone out there, So this too, is a 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:49.040 developing story. Another developing story revolves around the US government's 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:53.120 stance on TikTok. So on Tuesday, I talked about how 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:56.920 there are some proposals developing in Congress that would ban 0:07:57.080 --> 0:07:59.720 TikTok in the United States unless the company becomes a 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.800 true the US based business, essentially cutting all ties to 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:07.160 China because right now TikTok is a subsidiary of a 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:10.160 Chinese company called byte Dance. Well, now the U s 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:14.520 Senate has voted to ban federal employees from installing TikTok 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:18.720 on government owned devices. Now, this is obviously not like 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:23.800 a nationwide ban on TikTok for everybody. It's rather another 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:27.800 display of how government officials are worried that TikTok the 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:32.080 video platform could be used by the Chinese Communist Party 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:36.280 as a way to gather information about people in the US, 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:39.960 something that TikTok reps have denied repeatedly in the past. 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:44.120 A few state governments have already passed similar laws for 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:47.800 state government employees, so this federal vote will also have 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:50.640 to pass the House of Representatives before it can then 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:53.800 be sent to President Biden's office for his signature, which 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.200 would be interesting to see because Biden and his administration 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:01.160 have been an active negotiations with to Talk in an 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:03.960 effort to find a way where TikTok can operate within 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:08.920 the US without fear of it serving as spyware for China. Now, personally, 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:12.760 I actually think it's okay to tell federal government employees, hey, 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:16.720 if the phone belongs to the federal government, don't put 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.960 TikTok on the phone. You can save TikTok for your 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:23.360 own personal device. Now, maybe that's because I also think 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:26.440 it would be weird for a lot of companies to say, oh, sure, 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:29.520 go ahead and put TikTok on your corporate device. I 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:32.120 think it's totally fair for a corporation and say, hey, 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:34.080 you know, just don't You can do it for your 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:36.559 own personal one, but for your work phone, don't put 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:38.680 it on there. I think the same thing should be 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:42.720 true for government employees. But then, as I have said 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:46.840 many times, I am old and grouchy and I'm only 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:51.080 getting more so with every passing day. Now. Speaking of TikTok, 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:55.920 the Center for Countering Digital Hate released a report that 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:59.880 claims TikTok's algorithm is regularly serving up harmful in the 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:04.839 sial to young users. So researchers with the organization created 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:09.240 accounts fake accounts on TikTok. So the accounts claimed to 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:13.720 be representing a thirteen year old user. That's the minimum 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.800 age that you can be on TikTok. They then chose 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:21.760 mental health, embody image as areas of interest. With one 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.760 of these accounts they used a female user name, and 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:27.439 the other one they used the user name that had 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:29.760 lose weight as part of the name, just to see 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:32.400 if that would have any effect on the content they received. 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:35.120 And according to the researchers, it took less than three 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.480 minutes before they started to encounter content related to suicide 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:43.000 and within eight minutes they started seeing content about eating disorders. 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:47.120 And when I say content about, I mean content promoting 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:51.440 these things, not content raising awareness about them. Are trying 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:56.320 to counsel people or to prevent problems, but rather to 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:59.560 incite them. So the researchers said it was clear that 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:03.480 TikTok algorithm was amplifying these harmful messages and that the 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.560 effect on young users could be really dangerous. It could 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:10.200 contribute to mental health issues. Now, behind the scenes, what 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.720 appears to be going on is that TikTok's algorithm selects 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:17.560 from content that the algorithm estimates will be of interest 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:21.439 to the user. When something is a hit, the algorithm 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:24.760 looks for similar content, and by a hit, I mean 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:28.000 did did a person watch the video all the way through? 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:31.400 So as you spend more time paying attention to certain 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:34.280 types of content, what the algorithm is doing is just 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:38.000 trying to serve up similar content to you in the 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:41.240 thought that this will keep you on TikTok longer. So 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.800 at best you could say that the algorithm is ultimately 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:49.680 content agnostic. It's not necessarily trying to harm anyone, but 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.960 it's not trying to save anyone either. Instead, it's just 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.280 trying to keep people on the app for as long 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:59.960 as possible. And if terrible traumatic content is what's keeping 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.680 someone on there, well it's just gonna keep on sending 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:06.559 that content on. So if people are watching videos that 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:11.079 contain harmful messages, they'll keep getting more of those. And again, 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:15.400 the issue here is one of amplification. It's not so 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.360 much that you're you know, shouldn't be allowed to say 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:23.120 bad things, although you should always know that consequences can 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:28.400 come from saying bad things, but that it's the artificial 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:32.080 amplification of those messages and the potential harm that can 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:36.160 cause two users. So it's similar to problems that we've 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:39.640 seen on other platforms like Facebook, where recommendation algorithms have 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:43.280 played a big part in, say, the proliferation of misinformation. 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:46.640 I'm sure these kinds of studies will fuel more efforts 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.800 on the regulatory and government side as well. A lot 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:53.360 of that focus has been on the potential use of 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:57.760 TikTok as spywear essentially, but some of it is also 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:01.240 on a concern about how it could be affecting the 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:05.480 mental health of users, particularly young users. There's a lot 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.480 of armchair psychology too about whether or not TikTok is 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:13.760 absolutely ruining attention spans and making it impossible for younger 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.400 people to pay attention to anything that lasts longer than 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:19.960 a few seconds. Uh. Again, I don't have any actual 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:22.520 hard data on that. I don't know if that's really 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.720 the case. If it is, I'm doomed because all these 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:28.240 episodes are long. Alright, with that, we're gonna take a 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:40.319 quick break. When we come back, we've got some more news. Okay, 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:46.360 we're back. So Tesla's stock price hit their lowest point 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:51.600 in two years yesterday. Reuters sites investors who are concerned 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.800 that CEO Elon Musk is spending too much of his 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:58.040 time and energy over at Twitter, which you know, at 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:01.080 least from the surface, appears to be a valid concern. 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.920 According to filings with the U S Securities and Exchange 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:10.720 Commission or the SEC, Elon Musk himself offloaded millions of 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:14.400 his own personal shares of Tesla. Now, keep in mind, 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.520 Musk is still the majority owner of Tesla. He still 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.040 has the more most shares of anybody, So while he 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:24.000 sold off millions, he's got millions more. But the value 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:26.720 of the stocks he sold off, according to those filings, 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:33.760 was three point five billion dollars yauza. Now, generally speaking, 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:37.880 when a CEO sells off large chunks of their own 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.680 shares of the company, they're they're headed um. Investors can 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.840 get a little worried because sometimes they'll take it as 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:49.160 a sign that the CEO foresees troubled waters ahead. And 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:53.280 that the CEO has lost confidence in their own business. However, 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:57.240 in this case, Musk's ongoing Twitter issues maybe playing a 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:00.240 part in his decision to sell off stocks. But because 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:04.240 Twitter has billions of dollars of debt and massive interest 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.800 payments coming in off that debt, and the banks that 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:11.800 helped Musk secure financing for his purchase of Twitter have 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:16.320 reportedly been looking at margin loans on Musk's Tesla stock, 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:20.240 and the declining price of the stock is likely not 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.840 a welcome site to those banks. But with all that 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.360 being said, I just checked the Tesla stock as I'm 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.840 recording this episode, and it's currently trading at a hundred 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:34.480 fifty seven dollars, so it's up slightly from its low 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:37.480 of around a hundred fifty six dollars. So it could 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:39.920 be that Musk's cashing out of those stocks won't have 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:42.640 as big a ripple as some might suspect. We'll have 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:46.200 to wait and see. And across town over at Twitter, 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:50.160 the New York Times reports that Twitter has kind of 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:55.080 stopped paying rent on its offices, you know the offices 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.720 that Elon Musk has demanded that everyone who still works 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:02.120 at Twitter returns to those offices, In fact, there are 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:04.960 offices that, at least in the San Francisco branch, employees 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:08.840 had set up beds so they could work increasingly long 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:12.920 hours without actually leaving because Elon Musk is determined to 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:16.080 be visited by three spirits in you know, nine days 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:20.560 or so. Now, apparently employees have been instructed to not 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.080 pay vendors, which you know, is another great sign of 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.640 a company doing a okay. It's also a totally cool 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:30.720 business practice to not pay the people who provided goods 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:34.480 and services to you. It's not at all scummy. This 0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:38.400 also includes a nearly two hundred thousand dollar bill for 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:41.880 private charter flights. At least according to a lawsuit, these 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:44.680 would be flights that Twitter arranged when Musk was taking 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:47.440 over the company and flying back and forth to visit 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.880 various offices. There have allegedly been discussions at the executive 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:54.920 level about what consequences the company might face if it 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:59.800 were to you know, not pay severance on all those 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:03.440 in employees who received a severance package upon being laid 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.320 off from the company, The question being would it be 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.240 cheaper to pay severance or just fight the lawsuits that 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:13.320 would come in. Would we rather just fight lawsuits, which 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:17.600 gross right, and if anyone in Twitter were to go 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:20.919 blabbing to the press about stuff happening when the company, 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.840 Musk says he would bring the wrath of the gods 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:27.080 down on them, though not in so many words. He 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:29.560 would just say, you sign a non disclosure agreement and 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:32.359 we will take you to court and sue you to 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:34.880 the fullest extent of the law. In fact, he might 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:40.000 need six ghosts. Then there's the matter of Ahmad abu Amo. 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:43.879 He's a former Twitter employee who is now facing three 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:48.600 and a half years of prison. Why well, he was 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:52.280 convicted earlier this year of spying on behalf of the 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:56.399 Saudi Arabian government while he was working for Twitter, and 0:17:56.400 --> 0:18:00.760 he worked at Twitter from fifteen. During that time, he 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:05.159 apparently used his access as a media partnerships manager to 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.399 gather data about people who have been critical of the 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:13.400 Saudi Arabian government. Then he sent that data too, said government. 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:17.120 And just a reminder, this is the same government that 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:21.240 allegedly ordered the murder of a journalist named Jamal ka Shogi. 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:27.920 I say allegedly because until it's completely proven, I guess 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:32.320 I need to. But everyone essentially agrees that Jamalka Shogi 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.959 was assassinated on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government. This 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:40.080 is also the government that has sentenced people to more 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:44.600 than ten years in jail for criticizing the government on 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:48.320 social media in the past. And it's also the same 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:51.840 government that has a significant ownership stake in the current 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:55.280 version of Twitter. In fact, there I believe the second 0:18:55.480 --> 0:19:01.679 largest stakeholder behind Elon Musk. Anyway, secutors showed how abu 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:05.160 Omo received large payments from the Saudi government as well 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.360 as the gift of a watch valued at more than 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:13.639 forty grand which oh, come on. Anyway, he has already 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.280 been convicted, as I said, and now he has been 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:18.639 sentenced to three and a half years in prison on 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:23.639 counts of acting as a foreign agent, acting in the 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:28.440 in the context of a money launderer, uh falsification of records, 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.560 and other charges as well. By the way, the fact 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:34.200 that he's just looking at three and a half years 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:35.919 is kind of why I said at the beginning of 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:38.399 this episode that I don't think SPF is going to 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:43.360 have that full hundred fifteen year sentence thrown at him 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:48.240 if he should be convicted. And Kenya Amnesty International is 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:52.560 backing a lawsuit against Meta that claims that the company 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:57.720 allowed hate speech and calls for inciting violence to spread 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:03.000 without moderation on Facebook and it exacerbated the war and 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:08.680 Uh Tigrai, which is a northern province in Ethiopia. Now, 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:11.720 the conflict in Ethiopia is a really complicated one. It 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:16.520 involves a very long history of different ethnic groups and 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:22.400 foreign uh countries within the country vying for power. Honestly, 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:26.120 the country has been in conflict way more frequently than 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:30.560 it has enjoyed peace in modern history. The recent conflicts 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:35.040 have largely revolved around Ti Gray, which in recent Ethiopian 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:39.720 history had been a dominant political power before the balance 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:45.520 shifted to other groups within Ethiopia. In early November, these 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:48.639 various parties involved in the war agreed to a ceasefire, 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:53.160 but this lawsuit is arguing that Meata was complacent by 0:20:53.200 --> 0:20:58.280 allowing messages that encouraged violence and abuse throughout Ethiopia and 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.560 made it harder for these opposing parties to arrive at 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:05.320 any sort of ceasefire, and that as a result, many 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:10.280 people suffered and died, some indirectly from the fact that 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:15.280 this kind of language was spreading like wildfire on Facebook 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:18.520 in Ethiopia, some directly that there have been arguments that 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:22.920 some people were targeted as a result of hate speech 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:27.040 that was spreading across Facebook. The lawsuits aim is to 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:30.560 force Meta to create a compensation fund valued at around 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:34.280 one point three billion dollars for the purposes of paying 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:37.680 restitution to people who are victims of hate and violence 0:21:37.760 --> 0:21:40.479 on Facebook. Now, if you've listened to tech stuff long 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:44.080 enough or paid attention to world news, you know that 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:47.120 while Facebook has been in the spotlight for allowing harmful 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:50.959 misinformation to spread here in the United States, it's way 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:55.760 more of a problem in non English speaking countries. The 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:58.800 company has fewer resources dedicated to preventing that kind of 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.760 abuse on the platform. They have frankly not made it 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:06.800 a priority to really tackle those problems in non English 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:11.000 speaking countries, particularly in the developing world. So far, Facebook's 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.960 response has been fairly boiler plate. The company has rules 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:17.159 and policies about the types of stuff that's allowed on 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:20.160 the platform, and it works hard to remove any material 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:23.080 that violates those rules. So we'll have to keep an 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:26.240 eye on this. See where this lawsuit develops from here. 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:30.639 Wired reports that several Russian cities have experienced disruption in 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:34.440 GPS signals over the last week. This sort of thing 0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:38.040 can sometimes be the result of attacks on infrastructure. I mean, 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:42.120 it's possible to actually jam signals or to otherwise inhibit them, 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:45.480 to spoof them so that you get incorrect information. But 0:22:45.560 --> 0:22:48.359 in this case, the Russian government may be the reason 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:52.160 for the disruption itself. Ukraine forces have been relying on 0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:57.679 drones to strike important cities within Russia as Ukraine and 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:01.680 Russia continue their war, and so it's possible that Russian 0:23:01.680 --> 0:23:06.280 authorities have ordered the disruption of GPS in an attempt 0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:10.879 to foil drone navigation systems and thus protect potential targets. 0:23:11.359 --> 0:23:15.600 According to analysts, the zones affected by GPS disruption measure 0:23:15.680 --> 0:23:19.399 hundreds or sometimes even thousands of kilometers in diameter around 0:23:19.440 --> 0:23:23.439 important cities. Now I imagine that it must be pretty 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:26.359 challenging to navigate in those cities for a lot of 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:29.920 folks right now. Just as a side note, this also 0:23:30.000 --> 0:23:34.520 demonstrates that there's real value in learning how to read 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:38.280 a paper roadmap, and having a physical roadmap in your 0:23:38.359 --> 0:23:42.320 vehicle is a good idea, and over dependence on technology 0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:45.800 can become a problem if that technology should fail for 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:49.840 whatever reasons. So just maybe one of your stocking stuffers 0:23:49.840 --> 0:23:53.280 this holiday season, or your Hanukkah gifts, or you know, 0:23:53.440 --> 0:23:55.720 just something you want to buy for yourself should be 0:23:55.800 --> 0:23:59.640 a roadmap and just familiarize yourself with it so that 0:23:59.800 --> 0:24:02.120 in case you should ever need it, you know how 0:24:02.160 --> 0:24:05.440 to read it. Okay, that's enough of that. We're gonna 0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:07.840 come back after this break and finish up with a 0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:11.680 few more news items. But first let's listen to these messages. 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:23.720 We're back. Okay, I've got a positive story here. It's 0:24:23.720 --> 0:24:26.720 a short one. A couple of motorists are really thankful 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:30.359 for the iPhone fourteen's satellite connectivity, which is available on 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:33.960 the iPhone fourteen and the iPhone fourteen Pro. These two 0:24:34.000 --> 0:24:37.080 motorists were in a car accident. They were driving down 0:24:37.119 --> 0:24:41.240 a road in California through some canyons and cell services 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:43.800 pretty hard to come by in this particular region of 0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:47.560 Los Angeles County, not the city of the county, and 0:24:47.840 --> 0:24:50.520 their vehicles slid off the road and it went down 0:24:50.600 --> 0:24:54.280 the side of a mountain. Fortunately, the two were able 0:24:54.320 --> 0:24:56.199 to get out of the car. They were able to 0:24:56.240 --> 0:24:59.840 connect the their iPhone fourteen to a satellite and they 0:24:59.840 --> 0:25:04.480 were able to contact emergency services. Emergency services, then we're 0:25:04.520 --> 0:25:07.680 able to use the location data to direct a rescue 0:25:07.680 --> 0:25:10.960 helicopter to their location where they were rescued and then 0:25:11.000 --> 0:25:14.000 taken to a hospital for observation. And I wanted to 0:25:14.040 --> 0:25:16.800 include the story because it has a happy ending and 0:25:16.840 --> 0:25:19.320 it shows how tech really can make a huge and 0:25:19.480 --> 0:25:22.920