Accountability (34)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 7 min
- The New York Times
- 2021
On October 4th, 2021, Facebook’s servers experienced an outage which left its apps, including the commonly used Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, out of commission for several hours. The problem is said to be caused by a incorrect configuring of Facebook’s servers, which ultimately led to a Domain Name System error in which the numerical IP addresses determined by the computer became inaccessible. The myriad effects of this outage spread across the globe as businesses were effected by the lack of access to these social networks. Additionally, certain other internet services linked to Facebook became inaccessible.
- The New York Times
- 2021
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- 7 min
- The New York Times
- 2021
Facebook and all of its apps go down simultaneously.
On October 4th, 2021, Facebook’s servers experienced an outage which left its apps, including the commonly used Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, out of commission for several hours. The problem is said to be caused by a incorrect configuring of Facebook’s servers, which ultimately led to a Domain Name System error in which the numerical IP addresses determined by the computer became inaccessible. The myriad effects of this outage spread across the globe as businesses were effected by the lack of access to these social networks. Additionally, certain other internet services linked to Facebook became inaccessible.
What are the dangers of relying on fallible networks to perform essential functions such as business? How can network infrastructure be more protected? How much data and information should Facebook be trusted with?
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- 3 min
- Politico
- 2021
Live streaming technologies are challenging to moderate and might have a negative effect on society’s perception of violent events. They also raise the question of how such content can be deleted once it has been broadcasted and potentially copied multiple times by different recipients.
- Politico
- 2021
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- 3 min
- Politico
- 2021
Library of Congress bomb suspect livestreamed on Facebook for hours before being blocked
Live streaming technologies are challenging to moderate and might have a negative effect on society’s perception of violent events. They also raise the question of how such content can be deleted once it has been broadcasted and potentially copied multiple times by different recipients.
What are the ethical trade-offs of live-streaming through social media? Is it possible to remediate a socially undesirable broadcast? What actors are responsible for moderating live streaming on social media?
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2020
In discussing the history of the singular Internet that many global users experience every day, this article reveals some dangers of digital technologies becoming transparent through repeated use and reliance. Namely, it becomes more difficult to imagine a world where there could be alternatives to the current digital way of doing things.
- Wired
- 2020
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2020
Hello, World! It is ‘I’, the Internet
In discussing the history of the singular Internet that many global users experience every day, this article reveals some dangers of digital technologies becoming transparent through repeated use and reliance. Namely, it becomes more difficult to imagine a world where there could be alternatives to the current digital way of doing things.
Is it too late to imagine alternatives to the Internet? How could people be convinced to get on board with a radical redo of the internet as we know it? Do alternatives need to be imagined before forming a certain digital product or service, especially if they end up being as revolutionary as the internet? Are the most popular and powerful digital technologies and services “tools”, or have they reached the status of cultural norms and conduits?
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- 5 min
- TechCrunch
- 2020
At the end of 2020, Twitch, a social network predicated on streaming video content and commenting, expanded and clarified its definitions of hateful content in order to moderate comments or posts which harassed other users or otherwise had a negative effect on other people. However, as a workplace, the Twitch company has much to prove before validating this updated policy as something more than a PR move.
- TechCrunch
- 2020
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- 5 min
- TechCrunch
- 2020
Twitch updates its hateful content and harassment policy after company called out for its own abuses
At the end of 2020, Twitch, a social network predicated on streaming video content and commenting, expanded and clarified its definitions of hateful content in order to moderate comments or posts which harassed other users or otherwise had a negative effect on other people. However, as a workplace, the Twitch company has much to prove before validating this updated policy as something more than a PR move.
How can content moderation algorithms be used for a greater good, in terms of recognizing hate speech and symbols? What nuances might be missed by this approach? What does the human part of content moderation look like? What responsibilities does such a position come with? How might content moderation on digital platforms moderate harassment behaviors in real life, and vice versa?
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- 5 min
- ZDNet
- 2020
In recent municipal elections in Brazil, the software and hardware of a machine learning technology provided by Oracle failed to properly do its job in counting the votes. This ultimately led to a delay in the results, as the AI had not been properly calibrated beforehand.
- ZDNet
- 2020
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- 5 min
- ZDNet
- 2020
AI Failure in Elections
In recent municipal elections in Brazil, the software and hardware of a machine learning technology provided by Oracle failed to properly do its job in counting the votes. This ultimately led to a delay in the results, as the AI had not been properly calibrated beforehand.
Who had responsibility to fully test and calibrate this AI before it was used for an election? What sorts of more dire consequences could result from a failure of AI to properly count votes? What are the implications of an American tech monopoly providing this faulty technology to another country’s elections?
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- 5 min
- Vice
- 2020
Robot researches in Japan have recently begun to use robotic “monster wolves” to help control wildlife populations by keeping them out of human civilizations or agricultural areas. These robots are of interest to robot engineers who work in environmentalism because although the process of engineering a robot does not help the environment, the ultimate good accomplished by robots which help control wildlife populations may outweigh this cost.
- Vice
- 2020
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- 5 min
- Vice
- 2020
Robotic Beasts, Wildlife Control, and Environmental Impact
Robot researches in Japan have recently begun to use robotic “monster wolves” to help control wildlife populations by keeping them out of human civilizations or agricultural areas. These robots are of interest to robot engineers who work in environmentalism because although the process of engineering a robot does not help the environment, the ultimate good accomplished by robots which help control wildlife populations may outweigh this cost.
What are all the ways, aside from those mentioned in the article, in which robots and robotics could be utilised in environmentalist and conservationist causes? How could robots meant to tell wildlife where not to travel be misused?