FIGHTING FAKE NEWS
CAMILLE FRANÇOIS | 30
By Mark Warner
It shouldn’t come as a surprise
that terms like bots, trolls and
even algorithms were relatively
unknown to most members
of Congress when the Senate
Intelligence Committee began its
investigation into Russia’s attack
on the 2016 election. Like many
social-media companies, the
federal government was caught
flat-footed by the tactics and tools
used against us. Fortunately our
committee had help.
Camille François was one of
those brilliant researchers who
ultimately helped us uncover a
vast assault on our democracy.
She and her colleagues at
Graphika utilize innovative tools
to track and combat online
disinformation. Her work for the
committee showed how Russia
and other adversaries continue
to manipulate our social-media
feeds and divide us as a nation. As
we head into the 2020 election, we
must learn from our past mistakes
and heed the call of talented
and prescient researchers like
Camille François.
Warner, a Democrat, is the vice
chair of the Senate Intelligence
Committee
RECIPE FOR CHANGE
KWAME ONWUACHI | 30
By Tom Colicchio
Every chef is taught how to
manage a team and learns tech-
nique, like how to break down
a dish and put it into produc-
tion. These are the bare bones
of being a good chef.
But having a point of view
that is different from everyone
else’s and taking that point
of view and unapologetically
making it an integral piece of
your restaurant and your food—
to me, that’s what sets chefs
apart. And Kwame Onwuachi
has done that. He learned to be
truthful with his food at a very
young age, at a pivotal point
in his career. That’s what sets
him and his Washington, D.C.,
restaurant, Kith and Kin, apart:
his decision to say, This is the
food I should do. This is the
message I want to put out there
in the world.
When a chef does that, it’s
not pretty food on a plate any-
more. It’s about telling a big-
ger story. The restaurant world
is changing, and it’s becoming
more inclusive. We’re starting
to hear from different voices,
and because of his honesty and
his willingness to hold up a mir-
ror to our industry, Kwame is
one of the leading figures in that
movement.
Colicchio is the head judge on
Top Chef
DECODING BIAS
JOY BUOLAMWINI | 29
In 2015, Google infamously issued
an apology after one of its algorithms
misidentified a photo of software engineer
Jacky Alciné and a friend—both of whom
are black—as gorillas.
This kind of error is the result of
what computer scientist Joy Buolamwini
calls the “coded gaze”: when
supposedly un biased algorithms foster
discrimination—in insurance rates, prison
sentences, photo labeling and more—
because they lack sufficient data about
people of color. It’s why she founded the
Algorithmic Justice League in 2016: to
highlight that bias, provide a space for
users to report it, and help companies
eliminate it in their own products.
Buolamwini has since provided her
expertise in two congressional hearings
and is now working with government
agencies in Europe. “The more I engage
with companies and policymakers,
the more I am convinced responsible
innovation cannot happen if we leave
companies to sort themselves out,” says
Buolamwini. “The age of ‘just trust us’
is over.” —Patrick Lucas Austin
PORTRAIT-ILLUSTRATION BY GLUEKIT FOR TIME; FRANÇOIS: MARK LENNIHAN—AP; BUOLAMWINI: CHRISTOPHER PLEDGER—EYEVINE /REDUX
