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NOV U.S. NEWSLETTER 

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New CDT Report Examines Platform Approaches to Moderating Livestreamed Content

Through increasingly available “livestreaming” tools, users and content creators around the world can easily broadcast their activities to potentially large global audiences, facilitating activities like live gaming, music-making, and interactive discussions. These tools, though, are also used to disseminate a wide range of problematic or illegal content, including self-harm, violent extremism, and child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) materials.

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Graphic for CDT Research report, entitled “Real Time Threats.” Illustration of a smartphone showing a warped grid and a recording button; the phone is surrounded by a “LIVE” icon, a warning icon in front of a cloud of smoke, chat bubbles, image icons, an eye, a video, a voice note; Tetris-like blocks are interspersed between all the elements.

In a new CDT report ([link removed]), we examine the range of trust and safety tools and practices that platforms and third-party vendors are developing and deploying to safeguard livestreaming services. Our review, based in part on interviews with experts tackling this problem in industry, civil society, and academia, finds that industry is taking three main approaches to address CSEA in livestreaming: design-based steps that determine a user’s ability to stream; various forms of manual or automated content detection and analysis; and interventions based on the behavioral characteristics and metadata of user accounts.

These tools can be important steps towards online safety, but without transparency and evidence of effectiveness, they can pose risks to users of any age. Our report lays out recommendations to make these practices both more effective and better at respecting users’ rights.

Given the profound impacts of CSEA, this is a hugely consequential and high-stakes area of platform governance, and measures to address it must be well designed and effectively implemented. Better understanding the measures platforms are taking, along with increased multistakeholder engagement, will improve trust and safety systems in ways that minimize the risk of CSEA in livestreamed content, while also minimizing unintended impacts on ordinary users.

In Case You Missed It

— CDT is on Bluesky! As more users join the platform (including tech policy thought leaders), we’re finding more exciting content and we want you to be part of the conversation. Be sure to follow us at @cendemtech.bsky.social ([link removed])!

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Graphic for CDT Research report, entitled “Screened Out: The Impact of Digitized Hiring Assessments on Disabled Workers.” A multi-panel color illustration includes a wheelchair user typing, a person with headphones facing an error on a laptop, a close-up of a person with a hearing aid, and a person with glasses. Geometric shapes and icons connect these panels, highlighting hiring assessments and discrimination disabled people face.

— In a new CDT study ([link removed]), we interview disabled workers about their experiences with AI-powered hiring tools and other digitized employment assessments, as well as the impacts of those tools. We also provide recommendations for reducing harm and promoting inclusivity in hiring practices that include digitized assessments.

— CDT joined civil society organizations and spyware experts in calling on the Department of Homeland Security ([link removed]) to release details about its $2 million contract with spyware vendor Paragon Solutions. The contract is reportedly under review for compliance with President Biden’s groundbreaking executive order on spyware ([link removed]).

— On our blog, we detailed the shortcomings of the TAKE IT DOWN Act ([link removed]) and discussed improvements to support victims of nonconsensual distribution of real or AI-generated intimate images.

— CDT joined a Second Circuit amicus brief in FuboTV v. The Walt Disney Company et. al. ([link removed]) in support of enabling independent streaming service providers to offer “skinny bundles” for live sports programming.

CDT in the Press 

— CDT President and CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens discussed AI chatbots in the election context with CNBC ([link removed]): “Voters categorically should not look to AI chatbots for information about voting or the election — there are far too many concerns about accuracy and completeness,” she said. “Study after study has shown examples of AI chatbots hallucinating information about polling locations, accessibility of voting and permissible ways to cast your vote.”

— CDT’s Tim Harper spoke with Route Fifty ([link removed]) about election officials’ adoption of .gov domains: “Elections officials are the experts who are responsible for making sure that your vote is counted. That should be the case, but to make sure people trust their online presence, it's important that election officials have an authoritative website they can point to, and one of the best ways of doing that is to have a .gov domain. When users see that a .gov domain is used, it is a trust indicator that that is the official government website.”

— CDT’s Elizabeth Laird was quoted by the Washington Post ([link removed]) on AI harms: “The lack of transparency around whether and how AI is used in our daily lives creates an environment in which harm can remain undiscovered and unchecked,” she said.

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CDT President & CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens speaks onstage at CDT's Tech Prom on November 14, 2024.

CDT "in Person"

— Thank you to all who joined us for our annual Tech Prom ([link removed]) on November 14! At the event, CDT President & CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens spoke about the profound changes taking place in technology and in government ([link removed]), highlighting the critical role that companies and civil society will play in furthering responsible innovation that unleashes the power of technology by protecting the rights and interests of ordinary users.

Partner Spotlight

Thank you to all our sponsors ([link removed]) for their partnership in making this year’s Tech Prom possible! Our partners are true leaders in innovation and the tech policy community who are committed to innovation and impact. 

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Kevin Donnelly, smiling outside with a beard while wearing a blue suit and yellow tie.

Staff Spotlight
Kevin Donnelly ([link removed]), Assistant Director, Foundation Relations

How long have you been working in digital rights? As a development professional new to CDT, this is my first role primarily supporting digital rights projects. I was on the periphery of this work in my previous role with New America, where I would sometimes collaborate with the Open Technology Institute on development tasks and planning. I believe that technology policy has to be human-centered to be effective, and since joining CDT, it has been really rewarding to help support exciting projects across the organization bringing this perspective to the fore.

What is your proudest moment while here at CDT? Though I can't take much credit for it, it was so gratifying to see this year's Tech Prom bring together tech policy leaders from across sectors for a night of conversation and fun. More specific to my work, we have seen a number of grant proposals approved in the past month-and-a-half to support AI-related research and policy work, both domestically and in the EU. I am incredibly grateful to our partners for their trust and investment in our vision at this inflection point for responsible AI development and deployment.

What is your fandom? I'm a big fan of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game, which I think by definition makes me a nerd—but I'm okay with that. I first got into Magic in college and have since amassed quite a collection of cards and related ephemera that I cherish more than I probably should. The fact that it is a game that is constantly evolving, with new frontiers for creativity and competition opening up with each subsequent release, keeps me coming back year after year.

What is the most recent cultural activity you attended? I recently attended a Knocked Loose concert at The Anthem that really blew me away. The band's newest album, You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To is one of my favorites of the year, and to hear their blistering riffs and introspective lyrics live made for an incredible experience. Even if I am well past my moshing days, there's something truly cathartic about the intensity and sense of community at Knocked Loose shows that I really appreciate.

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