Bumble Inc.’s Post

I try to steer clear of mixing politics and work but in the case of #childsafety, I'm ok with crossing the line. An encouraging hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday on child safety and #socialmedia in which senators from both parties "hammered the CEOs" of social media companies. MZ even dramatically stood up and apologized to the families in attendance. It's nice to see bipartisan support for this issue - let's see what results from it. But I can't help noting the irony. Every parent in America knows intrinsically that social media is a threat to their children's safety and well-being and that the companies behind the platofrms need to do more to protect them - that there's only so much parents can do in the face of pervasive and accessible tech. Sound familiar? Every parent in America knows intrinsically that gun violence is a threat to their children's safety and well-being and that the companies that manufacture the guns need to do more to protect them - that there's only so much parents can do in the face of such pervasive and accessible tech. What's different? No bi-partisan outrage. No action on Capitol Hill on behalf of families to protect their children. No CEOs of gun companies standing in front of parents apologizing for the agony of losing their children to #gunviolence . I'm not an anti-gun zealot and I believe the issue is more complex than "ban guns." Mental health is a related and massive problem that needs to be addressed as well. But it's fair for us to ask our representatives to be consistent in their outrage. Set politics aside and just always be on the side of protecting children.

On 01/31/2024, several heads of the largest social media companies were called to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing on the harm that their products cause to children. These CEOs were afforded the opportunity to publicly support pending legislation before congress that would hold tech companies accountable and enhance protections for children online. Most of the CEOs refused to publicly support the legislation outlined below: Since the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on kids’ online safety in February 2023, the Committee has unanimously reported multiple bipartisan bills to help stop the exploitation of kids online, including: The STOP CSAM Act, which supports victims and increases accountability and transparency for online platforms; The EARN IT Act, which removes tech’s blanket immunity from civil and criminal liability under child sexual abuse material laws and establishes a National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention; The SHIELD Act, which ensures that federal prosecutors have appropriate and effective tools to address the nonconsensual distribution of sexual imagery; The Project Safe Childhood Act, which modernizes the investigation and prosecution of online child exploitation crimes; and, The REPORT Act, which combats the rise in online child sexual exploitation by establishing new measures to help strengthen reporting of those crimes to the CyberTipline. https://lnkd.in/gE9KP_Q7

With the UK General Election just three weeks away, the three main parties have now published their manifestos and we’ve produced a comparison table on how their pledges on #onlinesafety and wider policy and regulatory initiatives stack up. Both #Labour and the #Conservatives are promising further measures to build on the #OnlineSafetyAct but neither have gone down the route of promising bans on #smartphone use by children; the Conservatives have, however, promised to put their guidance on banning mobile phones in schools on a statutory footing and to provide funding to schools to implement it and will consult on further measures to protect children online. Labour have committed to bringing back the provision to allow coroners to access information held by tech companies after a child’s death - which had been included in the now-scrapped Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. The #LiberalDemocrats propose setting up a new independent advocacy body for children and a new Online Crime Agency to “tackle illegal content and activity online, such as personal fraud, revenge porn and threats and incitement to violence on social media”. On #violenceagainstwomenandgirls, both Labour and the Conservatives are promising to introduce a ban on the creation of sexually explicit #deepfakes - measures that would have been included in the Criminal Justice Bill, had that not fallen once the election was called - while the Lib Dems will put a requirement on social media companies to report on their activities to address #onlineabuse of women and girls, as well as others with protected characteristics. Labour promise a series of new offences (extremism, #fraud, sale of weapons) that have an online dimension while the Liberal Democrats are promising a Digital Bill of Rights. Labour and the Lib Dems also promise #ArtificialIntelligence regulation, along with a number of other related measures; notably, the Conservatives only offer investment in innovation and research into AI with no regulation. You can see our full comparison table at the link below. #digitalpolicy #digitalregulation #socialmedia #onlineharms #AIgovernance #AIregulation https://lnkd.in/eBCNDHgY

We often write "Safety and Privacy" as if they're two different things. In the British Colonies (1700s, early USA) and under all authoritarian regimes, privacy and safety were/are closely coupled. It's the reason one of the first ten amendments in the US is against forced quartering of soldiers in your home. Why do we care? Well, if you had such a 'guest' around, then they had access to your books, writings, guests, and conversations. And it could lead to your incarceration or death if you were the wrong sort of subject. When your entire history becomes available to anyone on the street by simple Face ID, we also increase the risks of harm. People today are too often judged by their outward appearances and treated with disrespect or malice if they're the 'wrong sort' according to someone biased, or vulnerable according to someone even slightly malicious. Imagine that soon includes everything you did on or off-line, or even a predictive judgement of what you may do. There are a few valid uses of that info for personal safety. But there are way more bad uses: more prejudice, inequity and injustice for all. Biometrics should be for personal (empowerment) use only, not a tool for sorting other people.

95% of victims of image-based sexual abuse are women. (https://lnkd.in/erk8QM28) 95%. Women bear the brunt of the impact from deepfake imagery, experiencing life-altering consequences when their faces are extracted from online photos and superimposed onto nude bodies. I came across the trailer of a documentary called, “Another Body” that tracks the journey of an American college student as she seeks answers and justice upon discovering the circulation of deepfake pornography featuring herself online. I recommend you watch the trailer in the link below if you are unfamiliar with the devastating effects that can happen to these women or to learn more about the alarming rise of deepfake imagery. Check out the film here: https://lnkd.in/eZk2aemU To learn more about the rising concern of deepfake imagery, connect with me at 201-488-7211 ext. 215 or mfarhi@nklaw.com. . . . #DeepfakeJustice #OnlineHarassment #PrivacyRights #DigitalAbuse 

Breaking news! The long awaited reforms to the Privacy Act 1988 finally have a timeline - August 2024: "The Government will also bring forward legislation in early August to outlaw the release of private information online with an intent to cause harm (known as doxxing), and overhaul the Privacy Act to give all Australians and particularly women who are experiencing domestic and family violence greater control and transparency over their personal information." The more proactive organisations have already been preparing, by maturing their privacy and information governance postures and moving toward global best practice. But if you haven't thought about it yet, now is the time to start. It remains to be seen how the proposals around doxxing and online misogyny will be implemented, or how this will affect the Privacy Act reforms.

There's a lot of moving parts in this bill. Not sure if it will pass. Basically it says.... The PA bill would require social media platforms to allow users to report “hateful conduct,” such as threats or bullying, and publicize a policy for how they will respond to such reports. It also would require users under 18 to get parental consent and bar the platforms from “data mining” users under 18, or sifting through their user data to find specific information or develop insight into patterns or habits. https://lnkd.in/eRF2rz2d

This is what happens when we normalize and incentivize (and have leaders or influencers that drive) bad behavior and feel free to denigrate “others”. Nina Jankowicz spells it out: “until we disincentivize and stigmatize the underlying behavior and motivations behind it. Its normalization is, in part, driven by the vitriol and sexism endemic to our political discourse today”. NET: who we are, how we act, how we treat others, what we demand of leaders, influencers, and our fellow citizens matters more than ever in a world run through the digital information environments. Societies are shaped —for good or for bad— by individuals that people most hear from. Like algorithms, we are trained (consciously and unconsciously) on what we hear, see, and ingest across our information environments. We must train towards and demand integrity & decency. Celine Sue Matt Mark

On the heels of the Senate hearing last week, and a focus on #SaferInternetDay (February 6th), I wanted to share what I believe are six critical components that should comprise legislation focused on social media & youth: https://lnkd.in/egAH2h4u #SID2024

Happy Monday, Linkedin ☕ Here are some of the news stories that caught our eye this past week: Deepfake abuse ‘new frontier’ of violence against women, peers warned #Deepfake abuse is the “new frontier” of violence against women and creating such content should be outlawed, according to a former adviser to Boris Johnson. https://lnkd.in/eXCVZf42 ____________________________________________________ Yubo expands its real-time audio moderation technology to the UK, Australia and Canada Yubo is expanding its audio moderation technology to the U.K., Australia and Canada. The company first launched the technology in the U.S. earlier this year in partnership with Hive. https://lnkd.in/ekC-zGix ____________________________________________________ US court upholds Texas law mandating age verification for online porn A federal appeals court has upheld a Texas law mandating that pornography websites verify that their users are adults, though it struck down a part of the law requiring them to display health warnings about their content. https://lnkd.in/eRKUXRgM