Media Type The Verge

The Verge
Apr 08, 2024
A new bill would try to make tools like Zoom and Teams work together securely

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 Giliann Karon
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The Verge
Dec 06, 2023
Climate groups say Biden AI order doesn’t address AI’s climate impact

The groups sent a letter to the White House urging the Biden administration, including national climate advisor Ali Zaidi, to add more climate-centered policies in its AI executive order released earlier in October. Seventeen groups signed the letter, including Accountable Tech.

Zach Praiss Zach Praiss
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The Verge
Aug 14, 2023
AI companies must prove their AI is safe, says nonprofit group

Nonprofits Accountable Tech, AI Now, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) released policy proposals that seek to limit how much power big AI companies have on regulation that could also expand the power of government agencies against some uses of generative AI.

Avatar Victoria Vinall
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The Verge
Jul 27, 2023
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to build a new agency to police Big Tech

“An independent regulatory commission tasked with challenging the monopolistic power of Big Tech companies will not only provide the additional oversight needed to keep the industry in check, but also complement the work of our existing regulatory bodies,” Nicole Gill, Accountable Tech executive director and co-founder, said in a statement to The Verge on Wednesday.

Avatar Victoria Vinall
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The Verge
May 24, 2023
Elon Musk fails to launch Ron DeSantis in disastrous Twitter Space

“Elon Musk has already turned Twitter into a hellscape of hate and conspiracy. But his full-throated embrace of Ron DeSantis – only weeks after Tucker Carlson announced he would revive his Fox News show on Twitter – is a new low for what was once one of the world’s most important communication platforms,” said Nicole Gill, co-founder and executive director for Accountable Tech, in a statement Wednesday.

Avatar Victoria Vinall
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The Verge
Oct 05, 2021
The whistleblower hearing hits Facebook where the company is weakest

“It’s the focus on the business model at the crux of this, because that is what ties all of these scandals together,” Rishi Bharwani, director of partnership and policy at Accountable Tech, told The Verge in an interview Monday. “It’s why Facebook is profiting off of and playing a determining role in the Rohingya genocide. It’s why Facebook is allowing the continued spread of COVID mis- and disinformation. It’s because they’re profiting off of it.”

Kenya Juarez Kenya Juarez
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The Verge
Dec 04, 2020
Biden coronavirus appointee has cut ties with Facebook, transition team says

On Thursday, Accountable Tech co-founder Jesse Lehrich called Zients a “talented problem-solver” but said Facebook’s role in spreading anti-vaccine misinformation could not be ignored. “Facebook must be held accountable for amplifying misinformation that has undermined our pandemic response and sown baseless distrust in vaccines,” Lehrich said. “In order to guard against conflicts of interest, Mr. Zients should immediately divest of the significant equity he earned in Facebook from his service on the Board and commit to hiring an online misinformation expert to handle his team’s engagement with major social media platforms.”

Avatar Victoria Vinall
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The Verge
Nov 11, 2020
Facebook extends political ad ban another month as Trump refuses to concede

“If Facebook and Google are truly incapable of reviewing and safely running Georgia Senate ads without opening the floodgates of paid disinformation across their platforms, it’s a damning indictment of their own business model,” said Nicole Gill, executive director of tech policy advocacy group Accountable Tech, said in a statement. “These companies are already failing to curb the viral spread of conspiracy theories designed to delegitimize our elections. As has always been the case, deceptive organic content — boosted by toxic algorithms – continues to drive social media’s disinformation crisis; not paid content. Preventing campaigns from running ads to inform Georgians about how and why to participate in these critical runoff elections is actively harmful to democracy.”

Avatar Victoria Vinall
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The Verge
Jul 28, 2020
Can Brett Kavanaugh be impartial about Facebook?

On July 24th, a coalition of nine progressive groups, including Demand Justice, Freedom From Facebook and Google, and Accountable Tech, released a statement calling on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to recuse himself from a case involving Facebook due to his close friendship with the company’s vice president of public policy, Joel Kaplan.

Zach Praiss Zach Praiss
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