What should we do about big tech?

Big tech has been hitting the headlines for all sorts of reasons this week. But it’s Elon Musk-owned Twitter that continues to keep the world enthralled with its ups and downs, including the revelation that it has installed beds in the company’s headquarters. Of more concern for those interested in freedom of expression, the social media platform has banned a number of users for so-called doxxing - the revelation of identifying information, such as their address or real identity, about someone online without their permission. Musk says the company now has a policy of suspending users for seven days if they engage in this.

Among those suspended is user @elonjet, which posts the live location of Elon Musk’s private jet.

“Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not,” Musk said in a tweet.

Our policy and campaigns officer Nik Williams has carried out his own one-man test of the new rules. He tweeted “Elon Musk is somewhere on planet earth” – which some may argue as debatable. His account is still live as we write this.

A number of tech journalists have also been kicked off for alleged doxxing, including Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell, the New York Times’ Ryan Mac and Aaron Rupar, who has almost 800,000 followers on the platform and posts on Substack. Rupar says his ban is permanent. “I have no idea what rules I purportedly broke,” said Rupar, but noting that he had reported about the suspension of @elonjet.

Musk dismissed concerns over the ban on these journalists. He tweeted, “If anyone posted real-time locations & addresses of NYT reporters, FBI would be investigating, there’d be hearings on Capitol Hill & Biden would give speeches about end of democracy.”

Twitter and journalism have become intricately intertwined in recent years. While Twitter might have its faults, it has overall been a key tool in the fight against autocracy and for news amalgamation and spread. The accounts of these journalists should be reinstated immediately. A Twitter poll by Musk shows that most people agree. At the time of writing, nearly 60% of users have called for their immediate reinstatement on the platform.

Twitter rival Mastodon has also had its account suspended while Twitter users are discovering they can no longer post Mastodon links in their tweets.

Meanwhile, TikTok has come under fire from various quarters this week over content moderation and perceived security risks. The Center for Countering Digital Hate revealed it had carried out a research study into the TikTok algorithm. TikTok uses a recommendation algorithm that takes into account a user’s likes, follows and watch time to create a personalised and never-ending feed of short videos. It’s basically the perfect dopamine rush delivered through your smartphone.

The CCDH study involved the creation of fake new accounts in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia for 13-year-olds. The new accounts paused briefly on videos about body image and mental health, and liked them. In less than three minutes, TikTok recommended suicide content. Within eight minutes, TikTok served up content around eating disorders. CCDH says the study shows that TikTok “must provide full transparency of its algorithms and rules enforcement, or regulators should step in and compel the platform to do so”.

Others are more concerned about the risks that the app, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, poses for security. On Wednesday, the US Senate unanimously passed legislation which will see TikTok banned from US government devices.

Also this week, a trio of US lawmakers, led by Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from the Senate Intelligence Committee, proposed the ‘‘Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act’’ - a wordy title that can be abbreviated to the snappier ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act. The bill is designed to “protect Americans from the threat posed by certain foreign adversaries using current or potential future social media companies that those foreign adversaries control to surveil Americans, learn sensitive data about Americans, or spread influence campaigns, propaganda, and censorship”.

The bill specifically mentions TikTok but would cover all social media companies with at least one million monthly users based in or under the substantial influence of countries such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.

Maybe feeling left out, Facebook owner Meta has been in the news too over content moderation. It is being sued in Kenya for $2 billion for allegedly inciting hatred around Ethiopia’s civil war. Researcher Abrham Amare argues that his father was murdered after being targeted by posts on the platform that shared his address because he was ethnically Tigrayan. Amare’s lawyer Rosa Curling told DW that "content moderation decisions that are being taken by Facebook are matters of life and death".

It perhaps feels like that because the big tech companies have, frankly, shown they cannot manage content moderation. This is leading to a concerning outcome, namely a creep towards global government regulation. And we all know just how bad that can be. Take a look at Saudi Arabia.

It’s not just England

Turns out the police hate environmental protesters in Australia too. As reported by our assistant editor Katie Dancey-Downs, Australian authorities are dramatically ramping up punishments for climate crisis protesters. What might once have incurred a fine is now resulting in prison sentences. Will they target journalists too in the way the UK has? 

A year in freedom of expression

Our CEO Ruth Anderson reflects on the events of the past 12 months, yet another year of challenges to human rights around the world. She looks at events from Azerbaijan to Ukraine, South Sudan to the United States and many places in between.

"For regular readers you’ll know I have at various points over the last year despaired at the sheer volume of news. Too many crises, too many heartbreaking stories, too many people and families destroyed by the actions of tyrants," she writes.

Vote for your Tyrant of the Year 2022

Voting continues in our annual Tyrant of the Year poll and the early frontrunner Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing has been overtaken. Who by though? Make sure your authoritarian leader of choice picks up the award this year.

Who has done their worst to oppress their opponents, through threats, detention, torture and worse? It's a tough competition with some truly despicable despots - read here about this genuinely awful bunch. We'll announce the winner in this newsletter in early January. Don't forget to cast your vote now.