The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-02)

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TRANSACTIONS

BillionaireentrepreneurElon
Musk haspledgedto bring
changes to Twitterontwomajor
frontsif hisdealto buythesocial
networkcloses.Hewantsto
boost“free speech”andto
“defeatthespambots”in partby
“authenticatingallhumans”on
theplatform.
Butthetechnologymogul
mayfindthosegoalsto bein
directconflict. WhileMusk has
offeredlittleto nodetailabout
howheintendsto carryout
thoseplans,legalexperts say
thatcrackingdownon
automatedor inauthentic
accountscouldunderminefree
expression.
Doingso couldthreatenthe
abilityofusersto speak
anonymouslyor to use
pseudonyms,whichexperts on
freeexpressionsaycanbe
crucialto protecting
marginalizedindividuals.
“Ifhemeansyouhave to use
yourrealnameonsocialmedia
platforms,Iwould have real
concernsaboutthat,”Jameel
Jaffer,executivedirectorof the
KnightFirstAmendment
Instituteat ColumbiaUniversity,
toldmelastweek.
Blockingusersfromusing
pseudonymsor anonymous
accounts,Jaffer said,could
exposecriticsof governments
aroundtheworldto retribution.
“Someof ourcasesinvolve
politicaldissidentswhoare
worriedaboutpersecutionby
SaudiArabiaor Turkey or other
repressive regimes,andtheyare
notgoingto turnovertheirreal
namesto Americansocialmedia
companies,”hesaid.
Onealternative,Jaffer said,is
thatTwitter couldmakeusersto

verifytheir identitytothe

platformbutnotpublicly

discloseit. That way, Twitter

couldstill potentially

“authenticate allrealhumans,”

as Musk hascalledfor,without

banninganonymityor

pseudonymity. Butthatwould

not eliminateconcernsabout

thatdatabeingsharedwith

governments,Jaffer said.

“Thereis arichAmerican

traditionof speakingoutagainst

thepowerfulunderassumed

namesthatgoesbackto the

FederalistPapersandearlier,so

Itakeitextremelyseriously

whenhumanrightsactivists

warnthatanonymousspeechis

essentialformarginalized

peopleto beheard,”Sen.Ron

Wyden(D-Ore.)toldThe

Te chnology202.

It is notjustgovernments.

Sensitivepersonalinformation

usedto authenticateuserscould

alsobeseizedbyhackers,who

alreadycausedmajorbreaches

of Twitterdata.

“Thereis ahugetroveof

identifyingdata,so Imean,I

wouldratherthedata notbe

collectedat all,”saidJeff Kosseff,

aU.S.Naval Academylaw

professorwhohasresearched

anonymousspeech.

Headded,“Ifthereis at leasta

chancethatsomeonecangoto

Twitterandgetyouridentifying

information,youarenotgoing

to beas likelyto speakoutabout

youremployercommitting

illegalacts online,or youarein

anoppressiveregime.”

Musk,whodidnotreturna

requestfor commentonhowhe

plansto executehisvision,is far

fromthefirstpersonto pinpoint

botsandanonymityasamajor

problemforsocialmedia.

FormerpresidentBarackObama

alsosingledit out.

Duringanaddressat Stanford

Universitylastmonth,Obama

saidthatthe“veilof anonymity”

has“compoundedtheproblem”

of disinformationonsocial

media.

Obamasaidin aseparate

interviewlastmonththat“in

somecircumstances,it is

importantto preserve

anonymitysothatthere is space

in repressivesocietiesto discuss

issues.”

But,headded,“aswehave all

learned,it is alot harderto be

rude,obnoxious,cruel,or lie

whensomebodyknowsyouare

lyingandknowswhoyouare.”

Whiletheconventional

wisdomis thatanonymitycan

helpfuelvitriolonline,Kosseff

saidtheresearchonitsimpactis

moremixed,andsomestudies

have evenfoundusersto be

moreaggressivewhenposting

undertheirrealnames.

Hepointedto otherplatforms

thatdomakeconsumersto use

theirrealnames,likeFacebook,

as casestudiesin howbanning

anonymitydoesnotfixtoxicity

onsocialmedia.

“Nobodywouldlookat

Facebookandsaythatitisa

bastionof civilityorthatother

harmsneveroccur onit,”Kossef

said.

It is alsopossiblethatTwitter

underMusk coulddevise

anotherwaytoauthenticate

usersthatwillnot pose free

speechor securityconcerns.

Onesimplisticalternative,

Kosseff said,couldberequiring

usersto fill out“captcha”tests,

thevisualor text challenges that

manywebsitesuseto verify

usersarehumanandnotbots.

Buteventhosecouldposetheir

own,albeitmoretrivial,

problems.

It “wouldbereallyannoying,”

Kosseff said.Anotherpossibility

is thatthispledge, likeothers

Musk hasmade,amountsto

nothingat all.

Elon Musk wants to ‘defeat the spam

bots’ but faces afree speech problem

TheTechnology 202

CRISTIANOLIMA

Oneof themost APPOINTMENTS
annoyingtrapsof
digitallifemight
be software
upgradesthatare
secretly
downgrades.
Iwantto share
acautionarytale
aboutadowngradefromGoogle
thatcouldendupcostingyou
money. Aftermuchbackand
forth withme,Googledescribed
it as a“bug,”but it exposesan
ongoingriskto ourvirtualfuture.
ReaderMatt Hirschfrom
outsideof Bostongotintouch
withHelp Deskaboutastrange
phenomenononhisGoogle
smartspeakers.Heandhis wife
bothusedthemto streammusic
fromYouTubeMusic,aGoogle
alternativeto Spotify.
Butsoonthemusicstopped
workingforhiswife.Shewould
hearadsbeforeit wouldplaya
songsheaskedfor.
Onethinghadchanged.
Hirschandhiswiferecently
activatedtheGoogleVoiceMatch
service.
This optionalupdate trains
GoogleAssistant,poweredby
artificialintelligence,to
recognizedifferentvoicesand
presentthemwithpersonalized
responses.VoiceMatchcanbe
usefulif,for instance,youwant
to accessindividualcalendarsor
shoppinglists.
ButtheHirschfamilycertainly
hadnotexpectedVoiceMatch
wouldkeep theirhouseholdfrom
sharingamusicaccount.Asked
Hirsch,“Isthissomethingthatis
intentionalto getustobuythe
familyplanor anaccidental
oversight?”
WhenItoldGoogleabouthis
experience,thecompanyinitially
deniedit couldhappen.SoItried
to replicate hissituationusinga
GoogleNest Hubspeaker,which
containsasmallscreen,withthe
helpof thevoicesof afewfamily
andfriends.
Sureenough,thesmart
speaker wouldnotletanother
VoiceMatchuserin myhouse
playfrommyownpremium
YouTubeMusicsubscription.The
otherusergotbootedto the
“free”versionof YouTubeMusic
withads.Ourchoiceswereto

have everyonejoinamore

expensivefamilyplanor turnoff

VoiceMatch.

Theexperienceremindedme

of thedigitalrightslockson

musicfilesyouusedto buyonthe

iTunesStorebackin theday. Now

thelocksareonthemodern

worldof streaming,andtheonly

keyisyourownvoice.

Isharedtheresultsof my

experimentwithGoogle,andit

deniedthiscouldhappena

secondtime.OnlyafterIsentit a

videoof theexperiencedid

Googlechangeits tune.“This

issueis beingcausedby abug

impactingsmartdisplays.Weare

workingonafix as soonas

possible,”saidGooglespokesman

RobertFerrara.

Theexplanationsof howVoice

Matchandmusicserviceswork

withinahouseholdareaboutas

complicatedas logicpuzzles.The

rootof theproblemis that

Googleproducts arebuiltfor

individuals,whosedata canbe

collectedandadvertisedto,not

homesfilledwithpeoplewho

rightlyexpecttheycanallshare

in experienceslikelisteningto

music.

TheGooglepolicyisthatifthe

ownerof smartspeakershasa

musicsubscription,other

membersof thehouseholdcan

alsoaccessit. Whenthesmart

speakersdonotrecognizethe

voiceof anindividual,it defaults

themusicserviceto theowner.

Butsomethingclearlywent

haywirewhentheprimaryuser

of thespeaker subscribesto

YouTubeMusicandaseconduser

turnsonVoiceMatch.

Thingsmakemoresensewith

AmazonAlexa andAppleSiri,

bothof whichalsohave voice

capabilities.Icheckedin with

bothcompanies,andneithercuts

offothermembersof a

householdwithvoicematches

fromusingasharedstreaming

musicaccount.

TheGooglespokesmandidnot

respondwhenIaskedhimto

replyto thequestionfromHirsch

aboutwhetherusingvoice

identificationas alockwas

intentional.It mayhavejustbeen

anoversightfromGoogle.

ButIalsowouldnotputit past

abusinessdevelopmentperson

in thecompanyfromthinking

theycouldnickel anddimeus to

driveincrementalrevenuefrom

YouTubeMusic.

Weshouldpushbackagainst

theideathatcompaniescanuse

softwareupdatesto encroachon

or changethefunctionalityof

deviceswepaidfor.

Butwehave seenit timeand

againwithproducts suchas

printersthatget updatesto limit

whereyoucansourceink.We

nowhave overadecadeof

remindersthatwhensomething

connects to theInternet, youare

notreallyin controlof it.

Myfavoriteexampleis even

moreludicrous.In 2019,Nike

releasedsneakersconnectedto

theInternetthatusedanappto

lacethemselves.Thecompany

pushedoutasoftwareupdate

thatinadvertentlybrokesome

themotorizedmechanismonthe

shoes,so theycouldnolonger

evenlaceup.Thesoftware

update turnedshoesintobricks.

ASK HELPDESK

Some varieties of smart speakers can get dumberafter learning your voice

Geoffrey

A. Fowler

ISTOCK/WASHINGTONPOSTILLUSTRATION

Googlesmartspeakersmightstopyoufromsharingamusicsubscriptionwithotherfamilymembersafterthefeaturelocksinyourvoice.

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