Giliann Karon
Accountable Tech Executive Director and Co-Founder Nicole Gill issued the following statement in response to a new rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:
Giliann Karon In response, on behalf of 200+ creators, Accountable Tech and GLAAD sent an open letter to Meta speaking out against the changes, which have several implications for free expression, especially during an election year in the US and globally.
Giliann Karon GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy group that organized the open letter from creators alongside Accountable Tech, called the decision to include social topics as part of political content an “appalling move.”
Giliann Karon In turn, more than 200 creators signed onto a letter — organized by Accountable Tech, a nonprofit big tech reform advocacy organization, and GLAAD, a nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy organization — sent to Meta that called on the tech giant to adjust its policy.
Giliann Karon Now a letter – signed by more than 200 creators, and launched by LGBTQ organisation GLAAD and activists Accountable Tech – has urged Meta to reverse that change. Users should have to opt into the ban if they want to mute political content, they argue.
Giliann Karon The letter, first reported on by the Washington Post, was organized by the groups Accountable Tech—a nonprofit that advocates for better regulation of Big Tech companies—and the LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD, and includes the handles of more than 200 accounts, including popular accounts like the @feminist account, with which has 6 million followers on Instagram.
Giliann Karon The letter was organized by Accountable Tech, a nonprofit that says its mission is “to curb the societal harms driven by Big Tech’s toxic business practices,” and GLAAD, an LGBTQ rights organization. LGBTQ creators have been particularly concerned by the limitations because they were imposed as some states were placing restrictions on medical treatments for transgender youths.
Giliann Karon Accountable Tech and GLAAD organized an open letter signed by more than 200 creators with a collective following of more than 18 million Instagram users calling on Meta to give users the autonomy to adjust their algorithm by making the setting to limit political and social issues content opt-in rather than on-by-default.
Giliann Karon Hundreds of creators, convened by GLAAD and Accountable Tech, have signed an open letter demanding that Instagram make the political content limit an opt-in feature, rather than on by default.
Giliann Karon The bill has gained the backing of groups, including Accountable Tech, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, and encrypted email and cloud storage provider Proton. Digital rights activist Cory Doctorow also voiced his support, sharing in a statement through Wyden’s office that “Interoperability — the ability to plug something new into a technology, with or without permission from the manufacturer — is the key to defeating Big Tech.”
Giliann Karon Following today’s Supreme Court oral arguments on Murthy v. Missouri, Accountable Tech Executive Director and Co-Founder Nicole Gill issued the following statement:
Giliann Karon Accountable Tech scorecard comes as estimated two billion people worldwide head to the polls in 2024
Giliann Karon New polling from Accountable Tech and Data For Progress reveals that voters are concerned about Big Tech’s work to overturn regulations; new report sheds light on the hypocrisy of Big Tech leaders
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Giliann Karon Accountable Tech Executive Director and Co-Founder Nicole Gill issued the following statement on the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).
Giliann Karon It's hard to know who to trust in politics these days. Can we even trust ourselves? Artificial intelligence has already made its presence felt in this year’s election, from AI-generated ads to fake Biden robocalls, and it can be very hard to tell what’s real. Nicole Gill founded Accountable Tech four years ago to monitor AI’s increasing impact on politics. She talks to CNN Political Director David Chalian about the biggest threats it presents, and how lawmakers are responding in real time.
Giliann Karon Ahead of tomorrow’s Big Tech hearing on youth online safety, the ad buy targets Snap Inc. employees urging them to call on the company to stop funding lobbying efforts against legislation to protect kids online
Giliann Karon Ahead of CEO Evan Spiegel's appearance before Senate Judiciary Committee next week, AT asks Snap to pull out of lobby group NetChoice, clarify position on children’s online safety
Giliann Karon The complaint was also signed by the nonprofit tech watchdog project Accountable Tech, which found in November 2023 that in eight experiments across the country, Google retained abortion seekers’ location data about half of the time. The findings, first reported by The Guardian, followed a similar Accountable Tech analysis in 2022 finding that Google was still retaining the data weeks after the announced policy change. The complaint says that practice puts Google afoul of its 2011 FTC Consent order agreeing to not misrepresent how it maintains and protects the privacy of data including physical location.
Giliann Karon Data gathered by Accountable Tech in 7 states found that Google still collects and retains Location History data for visits to abortion clinics despite promising 18 months ago to “delete these entries”
Giliann Karon Groups representing nearly 2 million educators, physicians, legal experts, tech whistleblowers, technologists, plus 21 bipartisan state Attorneys General, and the FTC file briefs urging Ninth Circuit to block Big Tech’s effort to weaponize First Amendment, overturn the nation’s first comprehensive children’s privacy law and imperil existing consumer safety laws
Giliann Karon “In July 2022, Google promised to delete sensitive location data to protect people seeking abortion care in a post-Roe America, but in the past year and a half, [it] has fallen short,” said Nicole Gill, executive director of the advocacy group Accountable Tech. “We are encouraged by their latest announcement to better protect the privacy of the millions of people who use their products every day.”
Giliann Karon The platform “will continue playing a key role in shaping political discourse so long as it remains the platform of choice for reporters,” said Jesse Lehrich, a spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and co-founder of the left-leaning advocacy group Accountable Tech.
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