Quick Thoughts on the Oversight Board’s Decision in Cambodia
Happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans
On the way to the airport this morning, it occurred to me that by Sunday, many of us - at least those in the States - should be getting settled into the long Fourth of July weekend and won’t want to read about tech. That includes me.
As soon as I get to the cabin, I’m going to settle into the routine of coffee on the deck listening to the loons, breakfast made by Chef Dad (eggs most days except for pancake Sunday), morning kayak rides, afternoon lounging in the lake and evenings fishing ended with sitting by the campfire. Knowing my nephews - and my dad - there will be fireworks too.
This is my way of saying I’m taking next week off.
I do have a few quick things to share.
First, a hamburger correction. Another point was taken off my Wisconsin card this week when I said Louis’ Lunch was the home of the hamburger. I TOTALLY forgot that Seymour, Wisconsin (a small town near where I grew up) claims that honor. Louis’ Lunch got the honor after a Connecticut Congresswoman convinced Congress to proclaim that they invented it - but the history is actually quite messy. This a fun trivia question for your family when you’re hanging around the BBQ.
Second, yesterday Meta’s Oversight Board announced their decision involving a case with the Prime Minister of Cambodia and a video he posted in January threatening his opponents. The Oversight Board said Meta was wrong to keep the video up under its newsworthiness policy and that the Prime Minister should be suspended for six months. Here are a few quick thoughts on this:
It's good this decision comes before the election on July 23, but Meta is only obligated to action the video asap. The recommendation of suspension is not binding, and Meta has 60 days to respond. That date is August 28 - a month after the election. I wish the Oversight Board had expanded its POV on these actions happening during versus after an election time. Cambodia isn’t a democracy, and Freedom House ranks it as not-free - so the speech questions of suspending a candidate during an election aren’t as hard because there’s no opposition. This gets more complicated in a partly-free country.
In a move that looked to pre-empt the decision, the Prime Minister announced that he would no longer use Facebook and would move to apps like Telegram, Twitter, and TikTok. Should legacy platforms like Facebook and Google/YouTube start to suspend more people - including world leaders - they will move to other places on the internet that might not have different values and systems in place. A reminder that we must pay attention to the actions of these newer platforms - even if they have fewer users.
Reasonable people can disagree regarding judgments about what speech rises to the level of causing imminent harm. The Oversight Board walked through the process human rights law recommends, but the problem is that it is still very subjective. I understand where the Board and Meta are coming down on this. I’m very glad the Oversight Board is focusing on elections and government use of social media as part of their strategic plan, but it’s not great that they only got 18 public comments on the case. I’ll admit I wanted to, but I just couldn’t do so by the deadline. I hope we can see more engagement and discussion on these tradeoffs as we go into 2024.
I hope you have a lovely week, and send me good fishing vibes! 🎣
Jobs
What I’m Reading
Stratechery: An Interview with Marc Andreessen about AI and How You Change the World
WSJ: Silicon Valley's Growing Trend of Microdosing Ketamine, LSD, and Magic Mushrooms
The Washington Post: ChatGPT maker OpenAI faces a lawsuit over how it used people's data
Niantic Labs: Trust and Safety Update
Twitch Blog: Introducing Content Classification Labels
Politico Magazine: Opinion | One of the Most Effective Political Fundraising Pitches Is Actually a Scam
Facebook Newsroom: How AI Ranks Content on Facebook and Instagram
Facebook Transparency: Explaining Ranking Algorithms
The New York Times: The Taliban Government Runs on WhatsApp. There's Just One Problem.
France 24: Social democrats to go head-to-head in Guatemala's August election runoff
Tech Policy Press: Platforms are Abandoning U.S. Democracy
PEN America: Shouting into the Void - Report on Digital Spaces and Free Expression
Calendar
🚨NEW 🚨
August 20, 2023 - Guatemala runoff
August 28, 2023 - Meta response due to Oversight Board decision on Cambodian Prime Minister
September 10, 2023: Russia to hold elections in four Ukrainian provinces
Topics to keep an eye on:
TV shows about Facebook - Doomsday Machine and second season of Super Pumped
June 27, 2023 - July 23, 2023 - SXSW Panel Picker Open
July 10, 2023 - Trust and Safety Hackathon
July 11-13, 2023 - TrustCon
Mid-July - Code of practice on disinformation platform reports due
July 2023 – Sudan election (likely to have further changes due clashes erupted mid-April, despite temporary humanitarian ceasefire,)
July 23, 2023 – Cambodia election
July 23, 2023 - Spain Election
August 10 - 13, 2023 - Defcon
August 21, 2023 - Meta responses to Oversight Board recommendations in Brazil election case due
August 23, 2023 - Zimbabwe Election
August-2023 – Eswatini election
August 23, 2023 - First GOP Presidential Primary Debate
August - End of UK parliamentary session. Must pass Online Safety Bill by then.
Mid-September: All Tech Is Human - Responsible Tech Summit NYC
September 19, 2023 - UN General Assembly high-level debate begins
September 27-29, 2023: Athens Democracy Forum
September 28-29, 2023 - Trust & Safety Research Conference
TBD September: Atlantic Festival
TBD September: Unfinished Live
September 2023 – Bhutan election
September 2023 – Tuvalu election
September 9, 2023 – Maldives election
September 28-29, 2023 - The Atlantic Festival
September 30, 2023 – Slovakia election
September 2023 – Rwanda election
October 2023 – Oman election
October 2023 Poland election
October 8, 2023 – Pakistan election
October 10, 2023 – Liberia election
October 14, 2023 – New Zealand election
October 22, 2023 – Switzerland election
October 29, 2023 – Argentina election
October 2023 – Gabon election
October 2023 – Ukraine election
November 15, 2023 - Aspen Cyber Summit
November 20, 2023 – Marshall Islands election
November 29, 2023 – Argentina election
December 1-3, 2023: Build Peace 2023 Conference
December 20, 2023 – Democratic Republic of the Congo election
December 2023 –Togo election
2023 or 2024 – Peru election
TBD – Dominica election
TBD – Luxembourg election
TBD – Myanmar election
TBD – Spain election
TBD – Gabon election
TBD – Madagascar election
TBD – Haiti election
TBD – Libya election
TBD – Singapore election
2024
January 2024 – Bangladesh election
January 2024 – Finland election
January 13, 2024 – Taiwan election
February 4, 2024 – El Salvador election
February 4, 2024 – Mali election
February 14, 2024 – Indonesia election
February 25, 2024 – Senegal election
February 25, 2024 – Belarus election
March 17, 2024 – Russia election
March 31, 2024 – Ukraine election
April 10, 2024 – South Korea election
April 2024 – Solomon Islands election
April 2024 – Maldives election
May 5, 2024 – Panama election
May 19, 2024 – Dominican Republic election
June 2024 – Mongolia election
June 6-9, 2024 - EU Parliament Elections
July 7, 2024 – Mexico election
July 15 - 18, 2024 - Republican National Convention
August 19 - 22, 2024 - Democratic Convention, Chicago
October 27, 2024 – Uruguay election
October 2024 – Mozambique election
October 2024 – Chad election
November 2024 – Guinea Bissau election
November 2024 – Moldova election
November 2024 – Romania election
November 5, 2024 – United States of America election
November 12, 2024 – Palau election
December 2024 – Croatia election
TBD – Algeria election
TBD – Austria election
TBD – Belgium election
TBD – Botswana election
TBD – Burkina Faso election
TBD – Chad election
TBD – Comoros election
TBD – Croatia election
TBD – Dominica election
TBD – Egypt election
TBD – Ethiopia election
TBD – Georgia election
TBD – Ghana election
TBD – Iceland election
TBD – India election
TBD – Iran election
TBD – Jordan election
TBD – Kiribati election
TBD – Kuwait election
TBD – Lithuania election
TBD – Madagascar election
TBD – Mauritania election
TBD – Mauritius election
TBD – Montenegro election
TBD – North Korea election
TBD – North Macedonia election
TBD – Romania election
TBD – Rwanda election
TBD – San Marino election
TBD – Slovakia election
TBD – South Africa election
TBD – South Sudan election
TBD – Syria election
TBD – Tunisia election
TBD – United States of America election
TBD – Uzbekistan election
TBD – Venezuela election