1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: There Are No Girls on the Internet, as a production 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio and Unbossed Creative. I'm Bridget Todd, and this 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: is there Are No Girls on the Internet. Okay, producer Mike. 4 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: You ever listen to podcasts and on the first couple 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: of minutes, they just start with some like light banter. 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: They're acting, how they're doing, They're checking in on their week, 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: what are you watching on TV? YadA, YadA, YadA. Have 8 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: you experienced this? 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 2: I have experienced this. I feel as like the norm 10 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 2: among podcasts and maybe we should give it a shot. 11 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: Yes, So for folks who have been listening to their 12 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: No Girls on the Internet since the very beginning, all 13 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: the way back in twenty twenty, you'll probably know that 14 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:49,520 Speaker 1: I don't do a ton of banter. I just get 15 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: right into the episode because I really respect the time 16 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: of the listener. You know, you're giving me your forty 17 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: five minutes, your hour whatever. I appreciate it. But I 18 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: listen to podcasts and I'm like, oh, well, I wish 19 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: that I could talk about my day for like just 20 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,679 Speaker 1: a couple of minutes, Like see how like I'm I'm 21 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: rewatching shows on TV. I'm doing a six feet under rewatch, like, 22 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:10,960 Speaker 1: I want to talk about what's going on in my life. 23 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: So we're this is us soft launching a little bit 24 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: of light banter before we get into the topics. Yeah. 25 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, that sounds good to me. I mean, I think, 26 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 2: you know, people want to be able to ease in. 27 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 2: We don't need to just jump straight into Elon Musk 28 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 2: and Google and you know, whatever else is going on. 29 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 2: We can just start with some light banter like six 30 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 2: feet Under. Rewatch. That sounds fun. How's that going? 31 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going well. If folks don't know what six 32 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: feet Under is, it's an HBO show that took place 33 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: that started in like two thousand and one about a 34 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,919 Speaker 1: family that owns and runs a funeral home. It's very good. 35 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: I'm doing a rewatch also. By the way, I literally 36 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: this is how pathetic things are. I googled when we 37 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: were we were like brainstorming podcast banter, so I was like, well, 38 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: kind of what do you people talk about? I spent 39 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: twenty minutes trying to think about topics that were good 40 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: for banter. The first one was Linda Yaharino, and you 41 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: were like, maybe let's not have it be related to 42 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: the content of the show. I googled podcasts known for 43 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,119 Speaker 1: good banter. The one that came up is like an 44 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: iHeart icon stuff you should know. I listened to a 45 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: bit of their banter. I was like, oh, it's very 46 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: good banter. 47 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, they've got really good banter. You think that's the 48 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 2: secret to their success. 49 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: They've been bantering for like however a month. That show 50 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 1: has been on forever, so like they're they've just gotten 51 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: they've gotten a secret sauce. Also, they have they do 52 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: a really good job of referencing other folks on the team, 53 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 1: so it'll be like, oh, Jerry, our producer is not here, 54 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: but here's a little joke about Jerry. Like they're they're 55 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: they're really they have a they have a fleshed out universe. Okay, 56 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: you know the stuff you should know. Universe is very vast. 57 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 2: Okay, So maybe that's the secret to good banter, just 58 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 2: having a fully fleshed out universe, full of characters, things 59 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 2: that people will talk about. 60 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: Maybe that's it, y'all. This is our this is our 61 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: first attempt. This is our banter soft launch. When you 62 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: listen to later episodes, there will be a little bit 63 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: of banter, not too much. We're not talking like twenty 64 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: minutes of banter on an hour long podcast. Absolutely not never, 65 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 1: but you you know, you could give me, I could 66 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 1: get I could get five minutes to talk about my day. 67 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 2: Be like a Daniel Da Lewis podcast. There will be banter. 68 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: There will be banter. Expect it. It's it's gonna it's 69 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: gonna happen. 70 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, we're gonna get better at it. We just gotta 71 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 2: keep bantering. It'll start to feel natural. We can talk 72 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 2: about things that are not Linda Yakarino. Uh not, there's 73 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 2: anything wrong with talking about her, but you know, it 74 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 2: feels a little bit like the substance of the show, 75 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,119 Speaker 2: not really like banter. 76 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: Because the banter has to be unrelated to the topic. 77 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: It's like you're easing in, so it's like, how was 78 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: your week, what are you watching, how's therapy going? All 79 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: of that. Like, it's like unrelated to the meat of 80 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: the show. So it'll it'll get better. If this sounds awkward, 81 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: it's our first time. Cut us some banter slack. We 82 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: are banter neophytes, but we will get better together. Yeah. 83 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 2: I think that went okay. Can we get into it now? 84 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:17,919 Speaker 1: I think we can get into it. I think four minutes. 85 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: That's a sufficient amount of banter respectful to the listener 86 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:22,280 Speaker 1: and eases you in. 87 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 2: Okay, we got through it, thank god. Let's get into it. 88 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: Okay. So I have to start with something that is 89 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: a little bit of a personal pet peeve of mine, 90 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: and that is bad reporting on tech that is so 91 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: hell bent on fear mongering that it actually ends up 92 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: obscuring the real issue. So recently, Apple released a feature 93 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: for iPhone called name Drop, where if you have two 94 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: unlocked iPhones or other Apple devices you know, iPad, Apple Watch, 95 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,719 Speaker 1: and then bring them close together, you can trade contact 96 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,480 Speaker 1: information automatically. I can see this having all kinds of 97 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: use cases, networking, happy hours, all of that. Police in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 98 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: and other states put out warnings about this feature, saying 99 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: that it was potentially unsafe and that kids and other 100 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: vulnerable populations should be wary of it. If you google 101 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,280 Speaker 1: Apple name Drop, the first things that you get are 102 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: these like breathless headlines from local news outlets and then 103 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: bigger outlets that I think should know better, and also 104 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: Fox News. 105 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 2: I mean, to Fox News's credit, I would not expect 106 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 2: them to know better. 107 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: That's true. So Fox News's headline about it. Police urge 108 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,839 Speaker 1: parents to turn off Apple iPhone setting dangerous to kids. 109 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: So it already just like to deems, this setting is 110 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 1: dangerous to kids. So here's the actual reality. Unlike something 111 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: like air drop or your phone, does it need to 112 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: be very close to another person's phone. Your phone needs 113 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 1: to be pretty close to use name drop, almost touching 114 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: at Both phones need to be unlocked, So it is 115 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: really unlikely that some creep is going to be able 116 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: to get your information without you meaning to give it 117 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: to them. And if a stranger who you don't know 118 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:02,039 Speaker 1: is already that close to your unlocked phone, trust me, 119 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,919 Speaker 1: you have bigger privacy and security issues to attend to 120 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: in the immediate then someone getting your contact information via 121 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:11,160 Speaker 1: name drop. Do you know what I mean? 122 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 2: If you've got your phone unlocked, just like sitting out 123 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 2: and somebody can get close to it, yeah, that you 124 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 2: can get way more than just your name. They can 125 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 2: take your phone, they can do all kinds of stuff. 126 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: Yeah. I've actually heard of a scam where people ask 127 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:25,159 Speaker 1: you like, oh, can I make a phone call on 128 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: your phone? I'm lost? And then if you unlock your 129 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: phone and then hand it to them then they have 130 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,480 Speaker 1: access to like your unlocked phone, right, and so like, yes, 131 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: like if somebody is if a stranger who means to 132 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: do you harm is like close physically close that close 133 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: to your unlocked phone, that is a problem. But not 134 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: just because of this new feature name drop. And I 135 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: think there is like some wider conversation to be had 136 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: about the risks inherent in having things like default settings 137 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: or features on your phone that you're really not thinking about. 138 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: Because name drop is a default setting, like having it 139 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: switched on is a d fault setting on iPhone now, 140 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: and so I do think that like there's a conversation 141 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: about the risk inherent in that, Like how Venmo's default 142 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: setting is to set to show everybody your transactions all 143 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: the time unless you go in and change that. 144 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, that one is wild. People should be talking about that. 145 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 2: I you know, we had somebody at work the other 146 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 2: day who had a personal family situation where we were 147 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 2: all collecting money to send them. We're going to send 148 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 2: them flowers and like a gift card, and the person 149 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 2: who's coordinating said, hey, Venmo, MIHI, And so I lugged 150 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 2: in and venmoed them some money. And I could just 151 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 2: see in the public feed, Like several of my coworkers 152 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 2: had not turned off the setting to make all of 153 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 2: their transactions public, and you know that was like a 154 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 2: harmless thing. But it's just so wild to me that 155 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 2: people are out there living their lives publicly posting their 156 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 2: Venmo transactions for all of the Internet to see. 157 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 1: Well, that's exactly what I'm saying. I don't think that 158 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: if you've never really thought about it, people might not 159 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: know that the default setting is public. I'm sure folks 160 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: like Matt Gates would love to have could love to 161 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: be able to go back in time and know that 162 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: information and change it right. Also, I feel like it's 163 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: one of those things where it's like if you are 164 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 1: way deep in the trenches of online monitoring, like an 165 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: X or an ex's new flame, and everything is set 166 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: to private, and you're like, all I have is the 167 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: Venmo emojis trying to discern like what's going on over 168 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: there VIA That's when you know you're like in the trenches. 169 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,320 Speaker 1: But that's how you know you're really in the trenches. 170 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: So Yeah, I do think that there is a conversation 171 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: to be had about default settings that you just sort 172 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: of don't think about and I should say that if 173 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: you don't want to use name Drop on your phone, 174 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: or you do have a child who has an Apple device, 175 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: or like an elderly person who has it, you can 176 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: turn it off. Will throw the instructions of how to 177 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: do that in the show notes. However, that is very 178 00:08:56,280 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: different than police and local media spilling so much over 179 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: breathless warnings about some nebulous threat that is so unlikely 180 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: to happen, without giving any kind of appropriate context. In 181 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: a piece called name drop is safe, the fear mongering 182 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: about it is not. Shia Ovid for Washington Post breaks 183 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 1: down what I find so frustrating about this reporting that 184 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: is basically trying to scare you about nothing when it 185 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,079 Speaker 1: comes to technology. She writes, we spend too much time 186 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: worrying about the wrong things in technology, and that is 187 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 1: partly the fault of public officials and news organizations that 188 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: can make anything sound scarier than it really is. I 189 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: think she really hit the nail on the head here. 190 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:38,319 Speaker 1: She's absolutely right. I think local media loves a big, scary, 191 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: puffed up tech story, and what annoys me about that 192 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: is that there are very real reasons to be worried 193 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,599 Speaker 1: about technology. Skeptical of technology, asking questions about new technology 194 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: that has rolled out. If you listen to this podcast, 195 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: you already know that I am the biggest proponent in 196 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: the world of that. We cover it all the time. However, 197 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 1: there's also a finite amount of things that we can 198 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: worry about and like keeping our own heads, and that 199 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:04,440 Speaker 1: is also true when it comes to technology. So we 200 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,200 Speaker 1: should really be encouraging folks to be savvy consumers of 201 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: technology and also helping them educate themselves about the actual 202 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 1: risks that are in a way that is grounded in reality, 203 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: not just fear mongering it. 204 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 2: It's such a weird story to be picked up and 205 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 2: to become like a scary tech story, Like I wonder 206 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 2: what it is about this one that got the attention 207 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 2: of people or fit. 208 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: I mean, this is just my opinion, but I think 209 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 1: it kind of relates back to some of the ways 210 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:38,839 Speaker 1: that we've heard kind of threats to children online being 211 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: talked about by lawmakers or police. Like I just think 212 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: that it's an issue where there are actual, very real 213 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: threats to everybody, children being a vulnerable population very much included, 214 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: and I think that there is just like inherent anxiety 215 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: around that and so when you have police going on 216 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: and be like, oh, this is a threat, they never 217 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: explain like what the threat actually is. Like again, like 218 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: if a stranger is that is that close to your 219 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: child and both of their phones are unlocked, that is 220 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:16,440 Speaker 1: that is a that is a threat. But not just 221 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: because of name drop, Like it's it's such a weird 222 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:20,959 Speaker 1: way to frame that, And I think it's rooted in 223 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: an anxiety of technology is proposing a harm to children, 224 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: a harm that we don't really know enough about, a 225 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: harm that we're not really prepared to really deal with meaningfully. 226 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 1: So let's just scare people and they will definitely like, like, 227 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: this story really blew up. It was everywhere. And I 228 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: think because people feel so powerless when it comes to 229 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: keeping their kids safe around technology that of course it's 230 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: going to go viral. 231 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 2: That makes a lot of sense. And there's something about 232 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 2: this particular threat, you know, real or imagined, that is 233 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 2: very familiar and easy to understand and like comforting. It's 234 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 2: like some creep is going to get your child's name 235 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 2: and phone number, Like I can understand that. I can 236 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 2: wrap my head around that. When we talk about a 237 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 2: lot of the threats of like AI you know, the 238 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:13,560 Speaker 2: threat is that your group might be underrepresented in the 239 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 2: training data that might cause nebulous systems to do things 240 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:25,359 Speaker 2: that harm you. That's much more difficult to understand. 241 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,199 Speaker 1: Absolutely, And I just had another thought. I think last 242 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: summer we did a couple of episodes about the moral 243 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,080 Speaker 1: panic around things like trafficking and stranger danger, and I 244 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: just think that, like, this is tech facilitated stranger danger. 245 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:43,000 Speaker 1: Of like, oh, this technology is going to weaponize strangers 246 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: to be a harm to your child in new, unforeseen ways. 247 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: And it's like, yeah, if a stranger is that close 248 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,320 Speaker 1: to your child, it might be dangerous, but not just 249 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 1: because of name drop. 250 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good perspective too. It's like, yeah, tech 251 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 2: enabled stranger danger. It's so yeah, it's interesting that this 252 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:04,679 Speaker 2: story picked up so much steam, got so much attention. Meanwhile, 253 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 2: the real threat is out there on a different platform. 254 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 3: Let's take a quick break. 255 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: At our back. Gotta throw a quick heads up on 256 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: this one because it does involve harm to children. And 257 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,959 Speaker 1: that is a new damning Wall Street Journal report on 258 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram just dropped, and this time it is 259 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: in partnership with the Canadian Center for Child Protection. So 260 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 1: this damning report found that when someone searches hashtags on 261 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,560 Speaker 1: Instagram that a child abuser might be searching things like 262 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: children's gymnastics. Disgusting. I know, ads from big brands are 263 00:13:55,160 --> 00:14:00,040 Speaker 1: then surfaced next to pretty disturbing content containing children. In 264 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,199 Speaker 1: this report, they basically got a dummy account and then 265 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: search things like children's gymnastics. The report reads Instagram system 266 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 1: served jarring doses of salacious content to those test accounts, 267 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: including riskay footage of children, as well as overtly sexual 268 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: adult videos and ads for some of the biggest US brands. 269 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: In a stream of videos recommended by Instagram, an ad 270 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 1: for the dating app Bumble appeared between a video of 271 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: someone stroking the face of a life sized latex doll 272 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: and the video of a young girl with a digitally 273 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: obscured face lifting up her shirt to expose midrift. In another, 274 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:37,600 Speaker 1: a pizza hook commercial followed a video of a man 275 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: lying on a bed with its arm around with a 276 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,240 Speaker 1: caption said was a ten year old girl. Disgusting. So 277 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: after the report dropped, Bumble and Match, which is the 278 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: parent company of the dating app Tender, actually suspended their 279 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: advertising across all Meta owned platforms. We have no desire 280 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: to pay meta, to market our brands to predators, or 281 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:59,520 Speaker 1: place our ads anywhere near this content, said Match spokeswoman 282 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: just Sacho. 283 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 2: Justine Sacho, Why does that name sound familiar? 284 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: So, Justine Sacho, this is such an aside. The reason 285 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 1: why that name sounds similiar to you is from has 286 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: Justine landed yet? So Justine Sacho was this woman who 287 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: she's been working for Match Company or like, I don't know, 288 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 1: since twenty fifteen. She was on a plane and she 289 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 1: tweeted something like, oh, on my way to Africa, hope 290 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: I don't get AIDS. Just kidding, I'm white. And then 291 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: she got on a plane to Africa and turned off 292 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 1: her phone. And I guess during this flight there was 293 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 1: like such pandemonium that I remember this so clearly. Has 294 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: Justine landed yet trended? Like people were like, we got 295 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: to meet her at the airport. This woman tweeted this 296 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: probably had no idea the like chaos that was happening online, 297 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: while she had probably had her phone off on this flight. Yeah, 298 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:00,480 Speaker 1: so that's why that happened in twenty fifteen. That's why 299 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: Justine Sacho's name sounds familiar to you. And at the 300 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: time she worked for match Group, then still works for 301 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 1: match Group. 302 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 2: Now, damn that was her. I remember that story that 303 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 2: was It was obviously like a pretty offensive thing to tweet, 304 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 2: but the story itself was so hilarious because, Yeah, this 305 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 2: whole internet firestorm like exploded while yeah she was probably 306 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 2: asleep and like tossing back cocktails on the flight. 307 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: Yeah it is the Internet lives forever. And when that happened, 308 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: when I followed that story in twenty fifteen, who would 309 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: have thunked that here in twenty twenty three, I'd be 310 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: citing her as as apokeswoman still at match Group. You know, 311 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: what can you say? 312 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 2: But you know, it seemed like, at least in this quote, 313 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 2: she's on the right side of justice. 314 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 1: That's right, That's right. So the way that Meta is 315 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 1: responding to this is really similar to the episode that 316 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: we did recently breaking down Twitter's lawsuit against Media Matters, 317 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: where Twitter accused Media Matters of manufacturing the circumstances for 318 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: inappropriate content to be shown alongside ads because Media Matters 319 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: did probably make a dummy account where they followed a 320 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,160 Speaker 1: bunch of Nazi accounts or at least interacted with them. 321 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: And then we're surfaced that kind of content by the platform. 322 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: Facebook's response is basically the same that the Wall Street 323 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,479 Speaker 1: Journal and the Canadian Center for Child Protection were only 324 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:32,200 Speaker 1: surfaced this inappropriate content because it's what they were searching for. 325 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:36,440 Speaker 1: In a statement, Meta said that the experience was quote manufactured, saying, 326 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 1: these results are based on a manufactured experience that does 327 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: not represent what billions of people around the world see 328 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 1: every single day when they use our products and services. 329 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:47,960 Speaker 1: So basically, they're arguing that only a very small group 330 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 1: of people interested in content that sexualizes children and interested 331 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:55,919 Speaker 1: in finding that content on their platform would be getting 332 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: that experience as a user. 333 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 2: It's a pretty weak defense, very weak, and to me, it. 334 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:03,440 Speaker 1: Really goes back to what doctor Caroline or Bueno said 335 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,679 Speaker 1: about Twitter, that these are a known thing called informational 336 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: dark spaces that occur when somebody combines search terms that 337 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: are probably not being searched by a ton of people, 338 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: but are being searched by bad actors, often extremists, people 339 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: who are interested in doing bad stuff online, and they 340 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,360 Speaker 1: can coordinate in those spaces because generally people are not 341 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: really looking there and the powers that be aren't really 342 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: looking there either. So saying like oh well, only a 343 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:32,000 Speaker 1: handful of people searching like very specific things would see 344 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: this is not really a way to address it, Like 345 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: these kinds of dark zones are easily exploited by bad 346 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:41,400 Speaker 1: actors precisely because of that attitude that says that tech 347 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:43,880 Speaker 1: platforms really don't need to be paying attention to them, 348 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 1: let alone solving for them. And I also think this 349 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: defense is really telling, Like part of me wonders if 350 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,880 Speaker 1: this is another symptom of what I heard someone describe 351 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:58,919 Speaker 1: as Musk contagion syndrome, where Elon Musk sort of sets 352 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: a tone and that other people in tech are like, 353 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:03,960 Speaker 1: oh well, if Elon Musk is getting away with that, 354 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 1: I guess I'll do it too, because Musk really got 355 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: defensive when Media Matters pointed out, you know that anti 356 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: Semitic content on Twitter was showing up next to ads, 357 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: And that is how it sounds to me like these 358 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: facebooks books people are responding as well. And I don't know, 359 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: I don't think, having done a lot of like platform 360 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 1: accountability work before, I haven't really heard Facebook respond in 361 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 1: this way, and so I do wonder if this is somehow, 362 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:32,440 Speaker 1: you know, learning how to do it from Elon musk 363 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: or being like, oh, well, we could just get defensive 364 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: about it and be like, well, only a few people 365 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,440 Speaker 1: are seeing that, rather than outlining how they are going 366 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:42,359 Speaker 1: to fix it and taking accountability for it. 367 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 2: Yeah, it does sound exactly like what Twitter said. What 368 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 2: was it like last week or maybe the week before? Uh? 369 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,119 Speaker 2: And I guess they kind of did get away with it, 370 00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,159 Speaker 2: So why wouldn't Meta just try the same defense. But 371 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 2: it's it's such a weak defense, And it's like, not 372 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 2: only is it a weak defense, but it's just morally 373 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:15,440 Speaker 2: bankrupt right, Like they're serving up child sexual exploitation material. 374 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 2: Maybe they should try to like stop doing that. That 375 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 2: would make a lot more sense to me. 376 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 1: And I think that's ultimately my problem with the entire thing. 377 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: Like I am grateful to the Wall Street Journal for 378 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:30,879 Speaker 1: staying on Facebook's neck in this way, because they've been 379 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: really doing a lot of good reporting about Facebook. And 380 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: I'm grateful to the Canadian Center for Child Protection. But 381 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 1: the thing that really gets me about even the framing 382 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: of this story is that it seems like the only 383 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: real way to make any noise about this is to 384 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 1: get brands to pressure platforms. It is great that these 385 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: brands are responding and like pulling their ads and you know, 386 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,120 Speaker 1: letting these companies feel the heat. I think that's great, 387 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 1: but the fact of the matter is these platforms have 388 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:00,679 Speaker 1: content that sexualized children on them and it shouldn't Like 389 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,199 Speaker 1: I guess my concern is not that there would be 390 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:08,199 Speaker 1: an ad for Tender next to that content. Like, I 391 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:12,120 Speaker 1: think it's great that these brands are responding about how 392 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,440 Speaker 1: inappropriate that is, but ultimately I don't think it should 393 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: take like a dating app getting upset for the platform 394 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: to address it publicly, And I think especially doing so 395 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:23,439 Speaker 1: in such a defensive way just does it make me 396 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: think that it's something that these companies really see as 397 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 1: a problem insofar as it is not a problem for 398 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 1: them making money from these advertisers. 399 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:36,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, I completely agree. It fuels a little gross and 400 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 2: just strange that so much of this conversation is about 401 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 2: the impact on brands and how this kind of material 402 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,239 Speaker 2: is going to cause brands to not advertise on a 403 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:55,440 Speaker 2: certain platform. Like that makes sense as an organizing strategy 404 00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:02,399 Speaker 2: for organizations like Media Matters, but it feels like it 405 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 2: takes up an inappropriate amount of space, and the larger 406 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 2: conversation about why this is something that we should care about. 407 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: I could. I could not agree more. And it's like, ultimately, 408 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,679 Speaker 1: Tinder and match Group and Bumble will be fine. They 409 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:18,879 Speaker 1: have billions of dollars, They'll be okay. What about the 410 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: kids who are being exploited? What about the young people 411 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,159 Speaker 1: who are in this content? What about like on Twitter? 412 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: What about the people who were harmed by the fact 413 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:29,359 Speaker 1: that there is antisemit content on the platform? Like, I 414 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:35,160 Speaker 1: guess I don't like that the brands responses. We're at 415 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: this point where the brands are like the voices that matter. 416 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,399 Speaker 1: But it does seem to be the way it is 417 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: that like that is the way to get companies to 418 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: respond publicly, is like that bottom line, And I guess 419 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:48,679 Speaker 1: it just makes me sad that that seems to be 420 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,880 Speaker 1: the only way to get any kind of real accountability. 421 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, it is said. 422 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,360 Speaker 1: Okay, So, speaking of Canada, we do have a quick 423 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: update on a story that we covered earlier this summer. 424 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,639 Speaker 1: Y'all might remember that after Facebook threatened to and news 425 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,720 Speaker 1: content on the platform to protest the Online News Act, 426 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: a Canadian law that would require Facebook and other tech 427 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: companies to pay news publishers, Facebook actually went through with 428 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 1: it and did ban news in Canada, so when you 429 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,879 Speaker 1: shared a news story on Facebook or Instagram in Canada, 430 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,399 Speaker 1: it just showed up as like a blacked out post. 431 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: And they did this before the law went into effect 432 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 1: during a really deadly wild fire season in Canada, which 433 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: actually prevented people from getting critical news about things like evacuation. 434 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,639 Speaker 1: So really nice going, Mark Zuckerbird. Well, when this was 435 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: all going on, Google was similarly threatening to block news 436 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: in Canada. But now that is not going to happen 437 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: because Google announced on Wednesday that they will not be 438 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: pulling links to Canadian news outlets after all, Google and 439 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 1: the Canadian government came to an agreement. In a statement, 440 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,920 Speaker 1: Google said, following extensive discussions, we are pleased if the 441 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: Government of Canada has committed to addressing our core issues 442 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 1: with the bill. We don't yet know the specifics of 443 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:55,920 Speaker 1: this agreement. If we find out more, we will definitely 444 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: let you know. But a Google spokesperson did say that 445 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 1: the government addressed Google's previews concerns about creating quote uncapped 446 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: financial liability for linking articles, and a report indicates that 447 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,160 Speaker 1: they will pay millions of dollars to publishers as part 448 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 1: of this deal. 449 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 2: Huh, so this is a story where people talk through 450 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:19,160 Speaker 2: it like reasonable adults and reached an agreement that everyone 451 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 2: found acceptable. 452 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:21,200 Speaker 1: It seems that way. 453 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:22,560 Speaker 2: That's pretty great. 454 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: We don't get to report a lot on that. 455 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:27,640 Speaker 2: I don't I don't really know what to say about it. 456 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,439 Speaker 2: I like want to be sarcastic and cynical, but this 457 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:33,920 Speaker 2: sounds kind of like a win. 458 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 1: You know, on this show, we always say we got 459 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: to take our w's where we can. It's true and 460 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: major shout out to the Verge for great reporting on 461 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:43,440 Speaker 1: this whole situation. 462 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I thanks for bringing this up again. You know, 463 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,719 Speaker 2: I think this is a really important story, even though 464 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:53,879 Speaker 2: it's in Canada. A lot of Americans don't spend a 465 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 2: lot of time thinking about Canada, but uh, you know, 466 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 2: it's pretty important country, pretty great country. And and uh, 467 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,440 Speaker 2: I you know, I think they're really addressing some serious 468 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:12,160 Speaker 2: issues with that bill about trying to get news organizations 469 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 2: paid for the content that social media platforms monetize. And uh, 470 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 2: and it's really nice to see that news seems like 471 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:27,400 Speaker 2: news organizations are going to get paid and uh, Google 472 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:32,600 Speaker 2: will continue to be able to return news results. It 473 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:33,920 Speaker 2: seems like a win win. 474 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 1: I hope so, And like I said, if we get 475 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 1: more information, we will definitely let y'all know. So I 476 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: have another quick update for y'all. We did an episode 477 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,120 Speaker 1: about TikTok shop and why it is taking over everyone's TikTok. 478 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,360 Speaker 1: For you, Paige, Mike, I know you don't use TikTok, 479 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:53,919 Speaker 1: but TikTok shop is like this very aggressive in app 480 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,199 Speaker 1: shopping functionality that TikTok rolled out, and it's just like 481 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: ad after ad after ad after ad. So's it's like 482 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:06,639 Speaker 1: regular sponsored content on top of TikTok shop ads that 483 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: are like seem like they're just regular TikTok's like oh, 484 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: I'm just your friend telling you about this really cool 485 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:17,560 Speaker 1: body oil set or whatever on top of the regular ads. 486 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,960 Speaker 1: So it's like ads city on TikTok right now? 487 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,720 Speaker 2: Okay? Interesting? Are the ads good? Are they like relevant stuff? 488 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: Oh? What a good question? Sometimes sometimes I will say 489 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,359 Speaker 1: tiktoks and we if folks want to know more, We 490 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,120 Speaker 1: did an episode about this with a friend of mine, Tamika, 491 00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 1: who goes by pretty critical on TikTok, who is the 492 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,960 Speaker 1: most successful TikToker I know in real life? Some of 493 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:42,919 Speaker 1: it so TikTok is sort of known for having an 494 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,959 Speaker 1: algorithm that's supposed to like really be tailored to you 495 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: and who you are as a person and all of that. 496 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 1: I will say that TikTok, in my experience anecdotally, it's 497 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,960 Speaker 1: good at knowing your insecurities and it is surfacing you 498 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,120 Speaker 1: items to buy based on what it what it thinks 499 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:00,399 Speaker 1: to your insecurities. 500 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:05,440 Speaker 2: Are okay, interesting, You're like, that sounds awful. I don't 501 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 2: why it does. I mean, it sounds like an effective 502 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:11,119 Speaker 2: way to sell stuff, but yeah, it sounds awful. Uh, 503 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,159 Speaker 2: you're right, I don't. I'm not really on TikTok. I 504 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 2: look at Instagram more often, and you know, I do 505 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,680 Speaker 2: have to hand it to them there. Their ads are 506 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 2: generally stuff that I'm interested in, Like they've cracked that code. 507 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:30,640 Speaker 1: Oh the algorithms they know, they know. So in that episode, 508 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,159 Speaker 1: we talked about some of the issues on the platform, 509 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: including sellers selling unsafe and counterfeit products. Well, literally right 510 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: after that episode was published, a bunch of TikTok creators 511 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,440 Speaker 1: woke up to find their TikTok shops disabled. Overnight, TikTok 512 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,800 Speaker 1: cracked down on thousands of sellers who were allegedly selling 513 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,679 Speaker 1: illegal goods on the platform right before Black Friday. This 514 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:53,960 Speaker 1: means the money that they made on the platform that 515 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:58,920 Speaker 1: was in their TikTok account they can no longer access now. Honestly, 516 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,120 Speaker 1: this might be a little bit of a fue go take, 517 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: so hear me out. Generally, I have a lot of 518 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 1: sympathy for people who feel like they have been harmed 519 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:12,320 Speaker 1: by big tech platforms. Generally, like usually that's how I 520 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,359 Speaker 1: show up. However, I gotta say I don't really feel 521 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: bad for these people. You know, I would definitely be 522 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,560 Speaker 1: pissed if I had actual money in a TikTok account 523 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: that I could not access, So like, I get that, 524 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: but this is a consequence, And I would argue an 525 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: obvious consequence of selling illegal goods online. You just can't 526 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,760 Speaker 1: do that, Like, I like part of me. I remember 527 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: when I was like researching for that episode and just 528 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,480 Speaker 1: my experiences of being on TikTok, I would be like, Wow, 529 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: when is TikTok going to crack down on this? It 530 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,080 Speaker 1: is only a matter of time. As we discussed in 531 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,520 Speaker 1: that episode, some of the things that they that people 532 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 1: were selling weren't just counterfeit goods. Like, I don't really 533 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: care if, like you know, Christian Dior is losing money 534 00:28:57,320 --> 00:28:59,960 Speaker 1: because somebody is counterfeiting their perfume. Some of the stuff 535 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 1: they were selling were genuinely harmful, right, beauty products that 536 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:05,800 Speaker 1: had ingredients that you actually need to talk to a 537 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:10,120 Speaker 1: doctor to get, or counterfeit goods that actually had led 538 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:12,880 Speaker 1: in them, Like I think somebody was selling Stanley tumblers 539 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: that were knockoffs that weren't safe, and so people could 540 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: be selling things that could actually make you sick and 541 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: hurt you. And I don't really feel a lot of 542 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: sympathy for people facing consequences for using TikTok to do that, 543 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: And if TikTok had not cracked down on it, they 544 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: were obviously risking being fined as a platform. So what 545 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: I think is really interesting about this whole conversation is 546 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: that I've seen so many creators on TikTok complaining about 547 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 1: this being like I woke up and my TikTok shop 548 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: was banned, like in credulous as to how their shop 549 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 1: could have been banned. I will say this, TikTok does 550 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: use kind of an opaque point system where if you 551 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: get a certain number of points, then you're banned from 552 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,440 Speaker 1: using selling on TikTok Shop, which I don't really agree with. 553 00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: I think that if you're violating a rule, there should 554 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: be transparency from the side of the platform about what 555 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:04,479 Speaker 1: rule you broke, how you broke it, and like in 556 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: what way you were going to face consequences. So, like, 557 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: I can kind of understand why some of these people 558 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 1: felt like they didn't get enough warning. If they went 559 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: to bed and they had three violation points and then 560 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: they woke up and they had over the limit of 561 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: violation points that led to their platform being shut down. 562 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: I get why people feel like they were not adequately warned. 563 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,920 Speaker 1: But I also have seen people say, like I wasn't 564 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 1: doing anything wrong, Like I was just selling things that 565 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: I made, And it's like, yeah, the things that you 566 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:34,760 Speaker 1: were making were obviously knock off Stanley tumblers, but you 567 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: were then putting a Disney logo on, so like that's 568 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,880 Speaker 1: the claim right there, Like it's copyright claim, right So 569 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: like you would go to these people's pages and it's like, oh, well, 570 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: those obviously you were selling knockoff Lululemon. That's why you 571 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:50,400 Speaker 1: got popped for it. And so I think the vibe 572 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 1: around people being like like I saw someone say that 573 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:58,240 Speaker 1: they felt like TikTok was targeting small, smaller creators, and 574 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: I was like, I don't think that people are being targeted, 575 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 1: Like I think that people were genuinely doing something illegal 576 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:09,320 Speaker 1: and that TikTok did not want to get fined themselves. 577 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: And I think that TikTok probably saw Black Friday as 578 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,480 Speaker 1: a big test to how their shopping functionality was going 579 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 1: to go, and they knew they had to get some 580 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: of these people selling illegal and counterfeit goods off the 581 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: platform before that happened. 582 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, it makes sense, And I mean there are still 583 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:28,440 Speaker 2: Congress people talking about trying to ban TikTok, so I 584 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 2: can imagine that's another incentive the platform might have to 585 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 2: crack down on illegal activity happening on the platform, and 586 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:40,680 Speaker 2: not just illegal activity, but like illegal commercial activity, right, 587 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 2: Like that's one of the most flagrant illegal things you 588 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 2: can do, is like sell illegal stuff. 589 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 1: A legal commercial activity that runs a foul of Disney. 590 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:54,680 Speaker 1: Of all the people that I would not want their 591 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,040 Speaker 1: lawyers on my back, Disney is a problem. It's like 592 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:01,520 Speaker 1: it might not be number one, but it's up there. 593 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 2: They literally wrote our copyright laws. 594 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 1: Is that true? 595 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:10,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, people call it the 596 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:14,120 Speaker 2: Mickey Mouse Act. It's like it what was it like, 597 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:21,000 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety ninety eight, ninety nine. It like because Mickey 598 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 2: Mouse was about to become public domain and Disney aggressively 599 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:34,040 Speaker 2: lobbied to pass this like sweeping overhaul of copyright law 600 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:40,239 Speaker 2: to like extend their their copyright on Mickey Mouse and 601 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,440 Speaker 2: like other stuff. And so I mean it's a little 602 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 2: facetious to say that they like wrote the entirety of 603 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:53,720 Speaker 2: US copyright law, but US copyright law is very much 604 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 2: shaped by Disney's lawyers and lobbyists. 605 00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: So yeah, if you're a TikToker that has seven thousand followers, 606 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: what makes you think they're like of course, of course, 607 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: of course TikTok doesn't want that smoke, Like, of course. 608 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 2: Who woulds I guess. 609 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:12,840 Speaker 1: He did for a little bit, and then he was like, 610 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 1: can't we all just get along, Like I. 611 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,520 Speaker 2: Think we can call it good. 612 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,600 Speaker 1: Please, Let's just agree mistakes were made on both sides 613 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:25,960 Speaker 1: and go our separate ways. 614 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:27,960 Speaker 2: We're cool, right, right, right? 615 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 1: So I do think, I mean, I think the conversation 616 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 1: that TikTokers were having about like how they didn't understand 617 00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: what they had done wrong and all of that. I 618 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:40,920 Speaker 1: think that is a symptom of a larger issue, which 619 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:44,320 Speaker 1: is when the online retail landscape is full of drop 620 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 1: shippers and people selling stuff who really have no business 621 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: in retail, like we really don't know what they're doing. 622 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:54,959 Speaker 1: Like if you don't understand that you are selling an 623 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:59,520 Speaker 1: illegally copyrighted knock off, I don't think that you should 624 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 1: be like like running a TikTok shop, right, And so 625 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:06,160 Speaker 1: we cited a piece in The Atlantic in the episode 626 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: that we did about TikTok Shop called the Junk Has Won. 627 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:12,080 Speaker 1: How on platforms like TikTok shop, you know, TikTok is 628 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 1: not responsible for finding, marketing, packaging, selling and shipping the items, 629 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:18,640 Speaker 1: but they're taking a cut of the items sold while 630 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,240 Speaker 1: pushing that on to a third party. And so this model, 631 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:23,120 Speaker 1: of course is going to come with issues like people 632 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 1: selling knockoffs or illegal goods or just thinks not being 633 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:30,239 Speaker 1: on the up and up because it's incentivized by the platform, right, 634 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:34,160 Speaker 1: TikTok moves so quickly whatever the trendy new thing is, 635 00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:37,319 Speaker 1: whether it's a body oil or a workout set, or 636 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:41,160 Speaker 1: a tumbler or whatever. The demand for it is so 637 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: churn and burn that it doesn't surprise me that people 638 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,600 Speaker 1: who are just like trying to make money are turning 639 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 1: to sketchy knockoffs and sketchy counterfeit goods just to ride 640 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 1: that wave. And I do think it's incentivized by how 641 00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 1: the platform works. So maybe this is TikTok's attempt to 642 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:02,640 Speaker 1: course correct on this TBD. However, the one piece of 643 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:04,279 Speaker 1: advice I can give to anybody out there who is 644 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:07,279 Speaker 1: thinking about doing this is don't run a foul of 645 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:10,520 Speaker 1: the FTC because they will come after you. This is 646 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,319 Speaker 1: very serious. I think that people think that like, oh, well, 647 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:17,319 Speaker 1: I'm just a small creator. It doesn't matter if I 648 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:20,040 Speaker 1: don't follow the rules. It absolutely does matter. And this 649 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:22,759 Speaker 1: stuff is like serious and like you can wind up 650 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:25,920 Speaker 1: with fines or worse. So yeah, don't mess with Disney, 651 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:29,080 Speaker 1: don't mess with the FTC. Stay on the up and up, 652 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 1: trust me, trust me? 653 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, and don't scam people, right like, don't sell fake stuff. 654 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,919 Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, I we might have different opinions about 655 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:41,359 Speaker 1: this because I feel like, do I really care if 656 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: Lululemon is losing money? I mean, I guess it's not great. 657 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:49,680 Speaker 2: But like I mean, I don't know that you even 658 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:51,879 Speaker 2: need to care about Lulu Lemon, but like think about 659 00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 2: the person who's buying it, who thinks that they're buying 660 00:35:57,040 --> 00:36:01,080 Speaker 2: like legit Lulu Lemon garment, and then it arrives and 661 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:03,719 Speaker 2: it's definitely not that right. 662 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,799 Speaker 1: But why would Lululemon be six dollars, It's like one 663 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:07,600 Speaker 1: hundred dollars. 664 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 2: So you're saying they should know better. 665 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:11,879 Speaker 1: I'm not saying they should know better. I'm sare I 666 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:17,799 Speaker 1: can't I get I'm feeling defensive, maybe because I'm I 667 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:20,719 Speaker 1: can't sit here and say that I don't have some 668 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 1: knockoff items. Maybe a few of us have bought a 669 00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:26,960 Speaker 1: knockoff handbag here and there, not on TikTok shop, or 670 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:29,319 Speaker 1: I bought it as my business. Maybe people that I 671 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 1: know have bought a couple of knockoff items in their day, 672 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,840 Speaker 1: and they were looking for knockoff items, and they procure 673 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:40,120 Speaker 1: knockoff items and knock off items they happily have. Maybe 674 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:40,880 Speaker 1: that's the situation. 675 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:43,239 Speaker 2: Well, you know, in that situation, that's different from what 676 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:47,160 Speaker 2: I was talking about, where somebody was being deceived. If 677 00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:51,520 Speaker 2: both the seller and the buyer. Everybody understands that it's 678 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:56,000 Speaker 2: a knockoff item. That's one situation. But if you know, 679 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,719 Speaker 2: if the buyer is being deceived and thinking that they're 680 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:02,480 Speaker 2: buying a legit but it is actually a knockoff item, 681 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:06,920 Speaker 2: then you've got deception happening, and now you're in unethical territory. 682 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: That's fair, that's fair. 683 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:24,680 Speaker 3: More after a quick break, let's get right back into it. 684 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:31,560 Speaker 2: Speaking of unethical deceptive behavior, what's going on as Sports Illustrated. 685 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 1: Okay, this is a very weird story. There's already been 686 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:39,760 Speaker 1: a couple of cases of media outlets publishing bad, inaccurate 687 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,280 Speaker 1: AI generated content. It happened at av club and BuzzFeed. 688 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:47,399 Speaker 1: But what's happening at Sports Illustrated is really something. So 689 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:51,400 Speaker 1: the tech media outlet Futurism found that Sports Illustrated not 690 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:56,480 Speaker 1: only published AI generated pieces, but also attributed those pieces 691 00:37:56,520 --> 00:38:01,480 Speaker 1: to fake journalists with fake names and fake very specific bios, 692 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,239 Speaker 1: whose head shots were all found on a website that 693 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:09,120 Speaker 1: sells AI generated headshots. Futurism spoke to somebody at Sports 694 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:11,840 Speaker 1: Illustrated who didn't want to be named for obvious reasons, 695 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,440 Speaker 1: who said, this happens all the time this person said 696 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:17,120 Speaker 1: there's a lot they told us of the fake authors. 697 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:19,799 Speaker 1: I was like, what are they? This is ridiculous. This 698 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:22,360 Speaker 1: person does not exist. At the bottom of the page, 699 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:23,840 Speaker 1: there would be a photo of a person and some 700 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:27,480 Speaker 1: fake description of them, like, oh, John lives in Houston, Texas. 701 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:30,240 Speaker 1: He loves yard games and hanging out with his dog Sam, 702 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:32,440 Speaker 1: stuff like that. It's just crazy. 703 00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:35,760 Speaker 2: Do you think they like ab tested where John lives 704 00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:38,080 Speaker 2: and whether he has a dog or a cat and 705 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:39,560 Speaker 2: what the pet's name is. 706 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:42,560 Speaker 1: I feel like something is going on because I looked 707 00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:46,960 Speaker 1: at some of the bios and they're all so specific, 708 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:50,520 Speaker 1: like something is. They've done something, whether it's ab testing 709 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:53,240 Speaker 1: to figure out what people like or what works or whatever. 710 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:54,160 Speaker 1: Something's up. 711 00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:56,799 Speaker 2: We got twenty percent more reads when he lived in 712 00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:58,439 Speaker 2: Houston than Saint Louis. 713 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:01,480 Speaker 1: Swap that dog out for a cat and we're good 714 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,880 Speaker 1: to go. So you might be asking yourself, are the 715 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:06,239 Speaker 1: articles any good? Well, they kind of someone they were 716 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:09,759 Speaker 1: written by aliens. Here's one line from an AI generated 717 00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:13,200 Speaker 1: neutral white young adult male with short brown hair and 718 00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:16,719 Speaker 1: blue eyes, as he is described in the AI headshot 719 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,600 Speaker 1: website where his image came from. Drew Ortiz is the journalist. 720 00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:24,319 Speaker 2: Wait, Drew Ortiz is a neutral, white, young adult male 721 00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:25,960 Speaker 2: with short brown hair and blue eyes. 722 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:31,920 Speaker 1: That's correct, that's how Drew Ortiz, the journalist is described 723 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:36,279 Speaker 1: on this AI headshot website. Sure so Ortez warns that 724 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:39,400 Speaker 1: the sport of volleyball quote can be a little tricky 725 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:43,000 Speaker 1: to get into, especially without an actual ball to practice with. 726 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:45,920 Speaker 2: Wait, what happened to his ball? 727 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:49,680 Speaker 1: They have them on the planet floor lawn. 728 00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:53,480 Speaker 2: All he wanted to do was move to Earth and 729 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:54,680 Speaker 2: practice volleyball. 730 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:59,240 Speaker 1: Futurism reached out to the magazine's publisher, the Arena Group. 731 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:06,080 Speaker 1: Suddenly all of the articles were deleted. That's suspicious. 732 00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:07,680 Speaker 2: Maybe they were beamed up. 733 00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:15,120 Speaker 1: So after Futurism published their report, the Arena Group did 734 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:18,160 Speaker 1: put out a statement. The statement is I'll just let 735 00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:21,359 Speaker 1: y'all decide for yourselves. Today. In articles published a leging 736 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:25,640 Speaker 1: that Sports Illustrated published AI generated articles. According to our 737 00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:29,080 Speaker 1: initial investigation, this is not accurate. The articles in question 738 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:32,600 Speaker 1: were product reviews and were licensed content from an external 739 00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:36,719 Speaker 1: third party company, Advon Commerce. A number of Advon's e 740 00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:40,960 Speaker 1: commerce articles ran on certain arena websites. We continually monitor 741 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:43,440 Speaker 1: partners and we're in the midst of review. When these 742 00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:46,840 Speaker 1: allegations were raised, ADVON has assured us that all of 743 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:49,760 Speaker 1: the articles in question were written and edited by humans. 744 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,920 Speaker 1: According to ADVON, their writers, editors and researchers create and 745 00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:57,520 Speaker 1: curate content, and follow up policy that involves using counter 746 00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:01,960 Speaker 1: plagiarism and counter AI software on all content. However, we 747 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:04,960 Speaker 1: have learned that Advon had writers use a pen or 748 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:09,200 Speaker 1: pseudonym in certain articles to protect author privacy actions we 749 00:41:09,239 --> 00:41:12,680 Speaker 1: don't condone and are removing the content while our internal 750 00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:17,080 Speaker 1: investigation continues and have such ended the partnership. Weird. 751 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:22,840 Speaker 2: So they were protecting author privacy in the article about volleyball. 752 00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:26,359 Speaker 1: That's right, that is some sensitive stuff you can't have. 753 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:31,120 Speaker 1: You think, Drew Ortiz, this neutral, blue eyed guy is 754 00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 1: gonna have his name. He's a dog owner from Texas, Mike, 755 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:37,920 Speaker 1: you think he needs this eat? 756 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:43,600 Speaker 2: He just wants to contemplate practicing volleyball in the privacy 757 00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:45,240 Speaker 2: of his own Texan home. 758 00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:49,839 Speaker 1: So it honestly sounds like their big investigation into this 759 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:53,800 Speaker 1: was like asking this company like, hey, are these articles 760 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:56,319 Speaker 1: AI generated? And Edbaum was like nah, and they were 761 00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:59,640 Speaker 1: like okay, cool. And what's also weird? Is there a statement. 762 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:03,040 Speaker 1: It's like, okay, it was humans, it was actual humans 763 00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:06,319 Speaker 1: using pen names. They don't address why they would need 764 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:09,120 Speaker 1: to be using pen names for like articles about volleyball. 765 00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:13,080 Speaker 1: They also don't address why their pictures were from AI 766 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,040 Speaker 1: headshot vendors either. Like the whole thing just stinks to 767 00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:17,759 Speaker 1: high Heaven to me. 768 00:42:18,239 --> 00:42:21,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's obviously nonsense, Like they were in the middle 769 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:27,560 Speaker 2: of a review when the allegations were raised. Why they're 770 00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:32,360 Speaker 2: just like constantly reviewing everything that their vendor writes for them. 771 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,600 Speaker 1: It's so silly. And I think that, like, as ridiculous 772 00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:37,600 Speaker 1: as this is, like, at the end of the day, 773 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:40,439 Speaker 1: readers do deserve to be told that the content they're 774 00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:43,680 Speaker 1: reading is AI generated or if it's written by a human. 775 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:46,640 Speaker 1: I think, like, I don't want to empathize with like 776 00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:50,600 Speaker 1: neutral blue eyed Drew Ortiz if he's not a real person. 777 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:52,880 Speaker 1: I deserve to know if he's a real person or not. 778 00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:55,239 Speaker 1: And I do think, you know, as funny as all 779 00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:58,400 Speaker 1: this is, it does underscore how I've been a feeling 780 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:01,080 Speaker 1: about the state of the Internet lately, where everything feels 781 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:03,960 Speaker 1: like a scam or a lie to make somebody money. 782 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,600 Speaker 1: Like it sounds like these reviews. Probably Sports Illustrated might 783 00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,080 Speaker 1: get a kickback if people like click through or like 784 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:13,239 Speaker 1: buy the thing or whatever. And I just feel like, 785 00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:17,080 Speaker 1: how can anybody trust anything they come across online in 786 00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:18,560 Speaker 1: a digital landscape like that? 787 00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:22,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's uh, you know, it's a funny story about 788 00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:26,200 Speaker 2: Drew and his dreams of someday touching a volleyball, but 789 00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:31,000 Speaker 2: it is kind of a bleak story about how uh like, 790 00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:32,000 Speaker 2: what the hell is anything? 791 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:35,279 Speaker 1: The futurism Peace put it really well. They wrote, the 792 00:43:35,400 --> 00:43:38,480 Speaker 1: undisclosed AI content is a director front to the fabric 793 00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:41,400 Speaker 1: of media ethics. In other words, not to mention a 794 00:43:41,520 --> 00:43:44,520 Speaker 1: perfect recipe for eroding reader trust. At the end of 795 00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:48,240 Speaker 1: the day, it's just remarkably irresponsible behavior that we shouldn't 796 00:43:48,239 --> 00:43:52,120 Speaker 1: see anywhere, let alone normalized by a high visibility publisher. 797 00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:54,680 Speaker 1: It does scare me that, like, this is the way 798 00:43:54,719 --> 00:43:59,279 Speaker 1: the Internet is going. Just AI generate a gobbledebook that 799 00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:03,400 Speaker 1: doesn't really make sense, scams and platforms just trying to 800 00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:04,440 Speaker 1: generate revenue. 801 00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:08,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, it is a weird time for the Internet. It 802 00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:12,560 Speaker 2: does feel like everything is lies and scams and deception. 803 00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:18,000 Speaker 2: And you know, when you think about brands like Sports 804 00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:23,080 Speaker 2: Illustrated that aren't actually real media outlets but do have 805 00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:27,200 Speaker 2: like big brand visibility doing stuff like this where they're 806 00:44:27,239 --> 00:44:32,880 Speaker 2: just lying and purporting that their articles are written by 807 00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:37,520 Speaker 2: humans when they're AI. You kind of can't blame those 808 00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:42,239 Speaker 2: TikTok creators for getting in on the action and doing 809 00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:44,799 Speaker 2: some illegal scammy stuff of their own, right, Like if 810 00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:46,319 Speaker 2: everybody else is doing it, why not them? 811 00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:50,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think it's a hate the game, 812 00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:54,279 Speaker 1: not the player kind of situation where it's like it's 813 00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:58,400 Speaker 1: hard for me. I don't necessarily feel sympathy for TikTok 814 00:44:58,520 --> 00:45:02,040 Speaker 1: creators who are like scamming people, but I do think 815 00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:05,279 Speaker 1: that it is they are but small players in a 816 00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:09,680 Speaker 1: larger system of scams and exploitation that I think people 817 00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:12,520 Speaker 1: have come to expect online and it's really a problem. 818 00:45:12,719 --> 00:45:17,440 Speaker 1: And I will say Sports Illustrated today, I don't think 819 00:45:17,560 --> 00:45:21,400 Speaker 1: is like a like a well respected publication, certainly high visible. 820 00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:25,520 Speaker 1: John Updike used to publish there, like it is an 821 00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:30,200 Speaker 1: organization that had a legacy, And I think what an 822 00:45:30,239 --> 00:45:34,040 Speaker 1: outlet like Sports Illustrated that did have a legacy starts 823 00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:37,360 Speaker 1: doing this kind of thing where they're just like turning 824 00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:42,560 Speaker 1: out fake AI volleyball stories by not Alien Drew Ortiz. 825 00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:46,800 Speaker 1: It really says something about how far we've fallen. I hope, 826 00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:49,640 Speaker 1: I genuinely hope and kind of believe that we will 827 00:45:49,640 --> 00:45:52,279 Speaker 1: get to a better place, a place where people can 828 00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:54,800 Speaker 1: trust what they read online, trust that it is written 829 00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:57,360 Speaker 1: by humans, trust that it has been vetted, trusted it 830 00:45:57,400 --> 00:45:59,239 Speaker 1: is accurate. When you cook a link, it's not going 831 00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:02,040 Speaker 1: to be some sort of scale or bot or some 832 00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:05,640 Speaker 1: other kind of exploitation. It is going to be actual information, 833 00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:08,359 Speaker 1: actual connection, because we deserve it. 834 00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:09,439 Speaker 2: Yeah, let's get there. 835 00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:13,120 Speaker 1: So we are actually working on an episode right now 836 00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:16,040 Speaker 1: that I'm really excited about all about just what I 837 00:46:16,120 --> 00:46:21,560 Speaker 1: was just talking about, AI generated fake women in tech 838 00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:25,239 Speaker 1: to catfish people into checking out a tech conference. If 839 00:46:25,280 --> 00:46:27,359 Speaker 1: you heard about that story or saw it popping off 840 00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:30,760 Speaker 1: on Twitter, it was a real doozy. So yeah, rest assured. 841 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:32,719 Speaker 1: We saw it too. We were going to talk about 842 00:46:32,719 --> 00:46:34,879 Speaker 1: it on the newscast, but honestly, I have so much 843 00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:36,840 Speaker 1: to say about it that it was it would have 844 00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:39,000 Speaker 1: been the whole newscast. So we're doing a whole episode 845 00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:41,439 Speaker 1: about it. Keep an eye out for that next week. 846 00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:43,040 Speaker 1: If you know what I'm talking about, If you know 847 00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:45,600 Speaker 1: you know. If you don't know, trust me, it is 848 00:46:45,680 --> 00:46:50,080 Speaker 1: a wild ride. You're gonna want to listen. I'm very 849 00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:51,080 Speaker 1: excited to talk about it. 850 00:46:51,160 --> 00:46:52,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm excited to hear that that's going to be 851 00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:53,280 Speaker 2: a good one. 852 00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:58,640 Speaker 1: Also, it is officially Spotify Rap Season. Happy Spotify Rap Season, Mike. 853 00:46:58,719 --> 00:47:01,399 Speaker 2: Thank you, Bridget Happy Spotify Rap Season to you as well. 854 00:47:01,560 --> 00:47:04,240 Speaker 1: So over on the Patreon, we're digging into Spotify Rapped 855 00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:08,680 Speaker 1: and I'm exposing my own Spotify Rapped most Played songs. 856 00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:11,759 Speaker 1: I did it on the main feed I think like 857 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:15,880 Speaker 1: last year, and it was really embarrassing. Uh, this year, 858 00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:18,480 Speaker 1: I have to put it behind the Patreon because I'm 859 00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:22,640 Speaker 1: it's it's not great. I'll give I'll give folks a 860 00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:26,680 Speaker 1: little hint third eye blind. I'll leave it there. Can 861 00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:29,120 Speaker 1: check it out at tangody dot com slash Patreon. 862 00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:33,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, and in addition to Spotify Rap Season, it is 863 00:47:33,960 --> 00:47:38,760 Speaker 2: now officially holiday season since Thanksgiving has passed, and folks 864 00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:43,840 Speaker 2: can get some sweet Tangoty merch for everybody in their 865 00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:48,040 Speaker 2: gift giving list at tangoty dot com slash store. Check 866 00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:48,359 Speaker 2: it out. 867 00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:51,160 Speaker 1: We're throwing all the plugs. Yeah, this bye this by 868 00:47:51,239 --> 00:47:52,360 Speaker 1: our crap people. 869 00:47:54,960 --> 00:47:59,640 Speaker 2: If we started with banter, plug and stuff, at the end, we're. 870 00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:03,120 Speaker 1: Really like polishing this podcast up all of the stuff. 871 00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:06,400 Speaker 2: We should get some AI in here to like write 872 00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:07,440 Speaker 2: the content for us. 873 00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:14,520 Speaker 1: I know a guy, Drew Ortiz, neutral, blue eyed human 874 00:48:14,640 --> 00:48:18,759 Speaker 1: male in search of volleyball one day. 875 00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:21,960 Speaker 2: Well, thanks for having me here, Bridget. This was fun. 876 00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:26,640 Speaker 2: I enjoyed the banter, I enjoyed the news U, and 877 00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:27,840 Speaker 2: I enjoyed the friendship. 878 00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:35,080 Speaker 1: See you on the Internet. If you're looking for ways 879 00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:37,319 Speaker 1: to support the show, check out our mark store at 880 00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:41,040 Speaker 1: tenggodi dot com, slash store. Got a story about an 881 00:48:41,080 --> 00:48:43,000 Speaker 1: interesting thing in tech, or just want to say hi, 882 00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:45,600 Speaker 1: You can reach us at Hello at tenggodi dot com. 883 00:48:45,719 --> 00:48:48,160 Speaker 1: You can also find transcripts for today's episode at tengody 884 00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:50,279 Speaker 1: dot com. There Are No Girls on the Internet was 885 00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:53,160 Speaker 1: created by me Bridget con. It's a production of iHeartRadio 886 00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:57,279 Speaker 1: and Unboss Creative, edited by Joey pat Jonathan Strickland as 887 00:48:57,280 --> 00:49:00,720 Speaker 1: our executive producer. Tari Harrison is our producer and sound engineer. 888 00:49:01,120 --> 00:49:04,360 Speaker 1: Michael Amado is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Todd. 889 00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:06,560 Speaker 1: If you want to help us grow, rate and review. 890 00:49:06,480 --> 00:49:07,480 Speaker 3: Us on Apple Podcasts. 891 00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:11,080 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio app, 892 00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:16,920 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.