oversight
Latest
Elon Musk must continue to have his Tesla tweets checked before posting
Elon Musk won't be able to get out of his agreement requiring oversight of his tweets about the company.
Oversight Board slams Facebook’s lack of transparency in VIP moderation
Facebook's Oversight Board has issued a strong rebuke to the company in a new report, claiming it was not "fully forthcoming" about its XCheck VIP program.
Facebook's oversight board's first judgments overturn four moderation decisions
The Oversight Board has issued its first judgments.
Epic, Spotify and others ally against Apple and Google app policies
A diverse variety of companies including Epic Games, Spotify, Match Group, Tile and others have formed an alliance to pressure Apple, Google and others to change their app store rules. The Coalition for App Fairness debuted today stating that “Apple taxes consumers and crushes innovation,” and that it will advocate “freedom of choice and fair competition across the app ecosystem.” The group plans to push for new regulations governing how app stores can be run.
Facebook's new content oversight board can overrule Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook has unveiled the finished charter for its content oversight board, and it's evident that the social site wants to give the board at least some meaningful independence. The new rules will let users appeal content decisions directly to the board instead of through Facebook's usual channels, and any decisions will be binding no matter who at Facebook disagrees with it, according to Mark Zuckerberg. The charter also outlines how Facebook intends to keep the board independent throughout the overall process, and how it will choose and work on cases.
Facebook's FTC punishment could involve 20 years of oversight
Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are edging closer to negotiating the tech giant's multibillion dollar penalty for security failures. Reuters reports that the deal "could be a month away" and could put the company under 20 years of privacy oversight.
Facebook reportedly invites federal oversight of its privacy practices
During Facebook's F8 keynote this week, the company repeatedly hammered one idea: the future is private. While its privacy-focus might be flawed, it looks like Facebook is putting its money where its mouth is. According to The Washington Post, the company told the US government it's open to greater oversight of its data-collection practices, in exchange for ending a federal probe into a series of privacy flops that surfaced last year.
Facebook wants your input on its content oversight board
Facebook may have a way to address the lingering questions surrounding its planned content oversight board: ask everyday people for input. It's launching a public consultation process that uses a survey to ask how you would run the oversight body. The survey asks a wide range of questions about how you'd shape the board, including how it chooses members, how they make decisions and its overall governance. Every participant has to fill out a multiple-choice questionnaire, but there's also an optional essay section where you can share your specific ideas.
Facebook drafts charter for content oversight board, but questions remain
Mark Zuckerberg talked about creating an independent body that would oversee Facebook's content decisions, and now that plan is taking shape. The social site has published a draft charter for an oversight board that would handle appeals for content decisions. There are still many unknowns, but it gives you an idea of the focus and scale for the new organization when it's ready.
Swarm to pay $900,000 for unauthorized satellite launch
The FCC announced today that it had reached a settlement with Swarm over the startup's unauthorized satellite launch in 2017. The trouble started in December of last year when the FCC denied Swarm a licence to launch a set of small satellites called SpaceBEEs, with the commission claiming the satellites were too small to be reliably tracked. But Swarm launched them anyway in January and once the FCC got wind, it initiated an investigation. The settlement requires Swarm to pay a $900,000 penalty and submit to extended FCC oversight over the next few years.
UK oversight board discloses potential Huawei security issues
Chinese phone maker Huawei continues to get quite a bit of scrutiny as it tries to push into western markets like the US and UK. The FBI, CIA and NSA have warned against buying the company's phones, AT&T backed out of reported plans to bring the handsets to the US and Best Buy stopped ordering its smartphones. In the UK, the annual report from the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) oversight board says that it has continued concerns with Huawei's software engineering processes and the possible risks it could cause UK telecommunication networks.
Senator pushes for stronger FTC oversight of Facebook
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to FTC Acting Chairwoman Maureen Ohlhausen today, encouraging the commission to consider evidence that Facebook may have violated a 2011 consent decree and to pursue regulations that will protect consumers. The requests come as Facebook continues to face scrutiny over the privacy policies that led to Cambridge Analytica obtaining information on 87 million Facebook users. "Recent revelations about the illegitimate harvesting of personal data on tens of millions of Americans have shed new light on the systemic failure of Facebook to address privacy risks and keep its promises to users," Blumenthal wrote. "Despite Mark Zuckerberg's recent apology tour, Facebook's history of negligence demonstrates that the company can no longer be trusted to self-regulate."
Google's AI fears are adorably mundane, for now
If Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and other ultra-IQ folks fear AI, shouldn't we? Even Google -- which produces terrifying robots (for now) -- sees the downsides, so its researchers have produced a paper called "Concrete Problems in AI Safety." Put your underground bunker plans away, though, as it's aimed at practical issues like adaptability, cheating and safe exploration. "Maybe a cleaning robot should experiment with mopping strategies, but clearly it shouldn't try putting a wet mop in an electrical outlet," the researchers note.
Intel Sandy Bridge chipset flaw identified as a rogue transistor affecting SATA ports
Intel raised quite a few eyebrows yesterday by disclosing that its Cougar Point chipsets suffer from an incurable design issue that would potentially degrade Serial ATA transfers over time. AnandTech has gone to the trouble of getting in touch with Intel to seek more information and the problem, as it turns out, is a single transistor that's prone to a higher current leakage than tolerable. This can not only diminish performance over the 3Gbps SATA ports, it can actually make them fail altogether. There is more comforting news, however, in that the pair of 6Gbps SATA ports on the chipset are untroubled by this ailment, so devices and users that never plug into the 3Gbps connections can just carry on as if nothing's ever happened. For everyone else, a repair and replacement service is taking place now, with Intel's budget for dealing with this problem said to be a generous $700 million.
