Bits: We Might Be Regulating the Web Too Fast

Catch up on everything you missed from the world of tech this week. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, April 11, 2019 [For the latest updates, go to nytimes.com/bits »]( We Might Be Regulating the Web Too Fast [A Facebook advertisement in London. Britain is proposing sweeping new government powers to combat the spread of violent and extremist content, false information and harmful material aimed at children.] A Facebook advertisement in London. Britain is proposing sweeping new government powers to combat the spread of violent and extremist content, false information and harmful material aimed at children. Henry Nicholls/Reuters Each week, we review [the week’s news]( offering analysis about the most important developments in the tech industry. Hi, I’m Jamie Condliffe. Greetings from London. Here’s a look at the week’s tech news: Web regulators are getting into their groove. But are they going too quickly? This past week, the British government [proposed new powers]( to issue fines and make individual executives legally liable for harmful content on their platforms. My colleague Adam Satariano said it “would be one of the world’s most aggressive actions to rein in the most corrosive online content.” Days earlier, Australia [passed legislation]( that threatens fines for social media companies that fail to rapidly remove violent material. And there’s a growing pipeline of other internet regulation, along with existing laws like the European Union’s sweeping [General Data Protection Regulation](. “We’re entering a new phase of hyper regulation,” said Paul Fehlinger, the deputy executive director of the Internet and Jurisdiction Policy Network, an organization established to understand how national laws affect the internet. This flurry of content rules is understandable. Much of the material they would police is abhorrent, and social media’s rapid rise has caught lawmakers off guard; now the public wants something done. But the regulations could have unintended consequences. Difficulties in defining “harmful” mean governments will develop different standards. In turn, the web could easily look different depending on your location — a big shift from its founding principles. (This is already happening: The Chicago Tribune’s website, for example, doesn’t comply with General Data Protection Regulation, so there’s no access to it from Europe.) There may be less visible effects. If regulation required differences at a hardware level, that could fragment the infrastructure, said Konstantinos Komaitis, a senior director at the nonprofit Internet Society, which promotes the open development and use of the internet. That could make the internet less resilient to outages and attacks. And bigger, richer companies will find it easier to comply with sprawling regulation, which could reinforce the power of Big Tech. “There is a major risk that we end up in a situation where short-term political pressure trumps long-term vision,” Mr. Fehlinger said. Mr. Komaitis said avoiding unintended consequences was “very simple, yet very difficult.” “It is all about collaboration,” he added. The idea: lawmakers work together across borders to ensure rules are more consistent. The challenge is that collaboration could slow the pace of regulation that lawmakers desire. But Mr. Komaitis said many proposed regulations lack clear plans for implementation, and envisions snags when governments come to apply them. If they struggle, he said, collaboration and sharing of expertise may be the only way to make their plans work. [How is technology blurring the lines between public and private? [Sign up to Charlie Warzel’s new limited-run newsletter]( to find out more — and what you can do stop it.] A.I. ethics: Work in progress Artificial intelligence could make our lives easier and more efficient. But, like any powerful technology, it’s more complicated than that. A.I. can be used for surveillance. To control autonomous weapons. It can be biased. It could erode jobs. The list goes on. None of those are reasons to reject A.I. outright. But they underscore how its development must be approached with care. Big Tech has struggled to publicly demonstrate that care. Amazon, Google and Microsoft have all drawn criticism for their A.I. work with military and government agencies. Just this month, Google’s plan to create an A.I. ethics board ended disastrously when backlash about board members [led to its dissolution](. Missteps should be called out, especially when they’re made by such powerful corporations. But in an emergent field, mistakes also serve as lessons. And a [new set of A.I. ethics guidelines]( from the European Commission is a good example of how trial and error will be a fundamental part of ethical A.I. development. The guidelines, developed by 52 experts, contain seven requirements that A.I. systems should meet to be deemed trustworthy. What stands out about them for Charlotte Stix, a policy officer at the Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence at Cambridge University, is that they’re designed to be carried out. Unlike other A.I. ethics guidelines, they attempt to join ethical principles to firm recommendations — something that has divided opinions among some people working in the field. That’s why the European Commission hopes companies will adopt and test them between now and 2020, so that they can beimproved. Frank Buytendijk, a vice president in Gartner’s data and analytics group, said the guidelines sent a message to big tech companies that may have struggled with A.I. ethics in the past: “Here’s your chance to do the right thing.” Why Big Tech loves satellites Amazon joined the ranks of tech companies wanting to blanket the world with the internet. Its [Project Kuiper plan]( which came to light in filings made by the Federal Communications Commission, would put 3,236 satellites into low Earth orbit to deliver the internet to “underserved communities around the world.” It has been likened to a network under development by SpaceX. Facebook has plans for a similar system, and Google has teamed up with the satellite operator Telesat along the same lines. These initiatives seek to provide affordable internet connections to people who currently lack it — from Alaska to sub-Saharan Africa. Satellites appear to be a front-runner: [Christopher Mims of The Wall Street Journal noted]( that, according to the satellite industry veteran Shayn Hawthorne, “some kind of affordable satellite internet now appears inevitable.” For big tech companies, this is not selfless. A good example of why is the Free Basics program offered by Facebook’s nonprofit Internet.org: a zero-cost data service that provides access in some developing countries to a curated group of websites, including Facebook. In locations that are essentially untapped markets, its provision of the web can help it secure new users. Other Big Tech players are unlikely to want to miss out. And some stories you shouldn’t miss ■ Does privacy matter? What do companies know, and how do they know it? And what can we do about it? The New York Times is [trying to answer those questions for you](. ■ What you’ve heard about Chinese A.I. may be bluster. Jeff Ding from Oxford University says [the West has overhyped China’s abilities](. ■ China might ban Bitcoin mining. A government agency added it to [a list of industries that it proposes to eliminate](. ■ It’s all I.P.O.s. Uber and [Pinterest]( are the next big tech unicorns to go public, in the coming month. ■ Amazon’s cloud might be a potent spy tool for the United States. That’s why it’s unsuitable for storing German police data, Germany’s top data protection officer [told Politico](. ■ Big Tech’s data tricks are under scrutiny. Facebook will [change its terms of service]( to explain its use of data in response to pressure from the European Commission. And Senators Mark Warner and Deb Fischer introduced [a bill]( aimed at clamping down on user-interface tricks that encourage data sharing. ■ Amazon or Microsoft will build the Pentagon’s cloud. They were [the only bidders to meet the “minimum requirements”]( to win the $10 billion contract. One will be chosen. ■ YouTube had to shut down comments on a House hearing about social media. The live stream of the event, focused on white nationalism, was [overrun by racist comments](. ■ The House passed a bill to revive net neutrality. But the legislation faces [long odds in the Republican-led Senate](. ■ Amazon workers are listening to our Alexa commands. They even [share some amusing ones in an internal chat room](. Jamie Condliffe is editor of the DealBook newsletter. He also writes the weekly Bits newsletter. Follow him on Twitter here: [@jme_c](. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [bits_newsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:bits_newsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Bits%20Newsletter%20Feedback%20223). ADVERTISEMENT LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. In Case You Missed It [Uber, Losing $1.8 Billion a Year, Reveals I.P.O. Filing]( By MIKE ISAAC AND KATE CONGER The world’s largest ride-hailing service unveiled its prospectus for what is likely to be the biggest initial public offering for years. [Over 4,200 Amazon Workers Push for Climate Change Action, Including Cutting Some Ties to Big Oil]( By KAREN WEISE They say Amazon should stop offering custom cloud computing services that help the oil and gas industry explore for and extract more fossil fuels. [Disney Prepares to Unveil Its Streaming Service]( By BROOKS BARNES AND JOHN KOBLIN In a lavish presentation, the company is expected to offer long-awaited details about its counter to the tech giants that have moved into entertainment. DealBook [To Purge Some of Social Media’s Ugliness, an Unlikely Lesson From Wall St.]( By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN A simple rule that bolsters the banking system — “know your customer” — could help combat fake news and hate speech online if companies like Facebook and Twitter embraced it. Times Insider [When Trash Is a Journalist’s Treasure]( By THOMAS FULLER Jake Orta was not aware he was searching the bins of Mark Zuckerberg’s house until we told him who owned the place. [China, a Major Bitcoin Source, Considers Moving Against It]( By CAO LI China, whose initial enthusiasm about cryptocurrencies has waned, may order its local governments not to support the industry. [Pinterest Dials Down Expectations as I.P.O. Nears]( By ERIN GRIFFITH AND MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED The digital pin board company set a price range for its I.P.O. that would value the business below its last private market valuation of $12 billion. [The Hottest App in China Teaches Citizens About Their Leader — and, Yes, There’s a Test]( By JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ Millions of Chinese are using the app as part of President Xi’s efforts to strengthen ideological control in the digital age. Critics say it fuels a personality cult. [The Privacy Project]( The New York Times is launching an ongoing examination of privacy. We’ll dig into the ideas, history and future of how our information navigates the digital ecosystem and what’s at stake. NEED HELP? Review our [newsletter help page]( or [contact us]( for assistance. ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW BITS [Twitter] [@nytimesbits]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Bits newsletter. 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