YouTube’s trending section shows it has a fake news problem, too

In discussions of the ongoing battle over fake news, we often hear Facebook and Google criticized for playing a hand in spreading false information. And while both have made efforts recently to stem the spread of misinformation on their platforms, they’ve each had some major missteps.

YouTube is talked about less often when it comes to fake news, though it isn’t short of scandals itself. Last year, a number of companies and groups pulled their ads once it became known that they were appearing alongside extremist content and YouTube has also had to deal with predatory comments on children’s videos, content falsely parading as being appropriate for kids and of course Logan Paul. But today, YouTube has stepped into the fake news spotlight. The number one trending video on the site earlier today was a video purporting to be evidence that David Hogg isn’t a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student but instead an actor paid to speak out during crises.

Hogg has been one of the many students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who have chosen to voice their opinions and concerns following the massacre that took place on their campus last week. And that spotlight has attracted hoards of trolls who have made claims ranging from Hogg being coached by his ex-FBI father to him being a paid “crisis actor.” The latter was the claim being made in the comments of the YouTube trending video. The video itself was a CBS News clip from last year that reported on an altercation that took place between a friend of Hogg’s and a Redondo beach lifeguard. Hogg was included in the news report.

Hogg, who was visiting Los Angeles during that time, published his own video about the event, but while the the CBS clip offers no evidence that Hogg is in fact a paid actor rather than a high school student, trolls have pushed it as evidence of such nonetheless. As Snopes writes, “Conspiracy theorists and trolls alike heavily implied that a months-old video (despite the facts that he readily identified himself with the same name, that people occasionally travel across the United States, and that his family moved to Florida from Los Angeles) is somehow ‘proof’ that he is a trained ‘crisis actor,’ a baseless rumor that is inevitably pushed after horrific mass shootings.”

YouTube has removed the video and a company spokesperson told us, “This video should never have appeared in Trending. Because the video contained footage from an authoritative news source, our system misclassified it. As soon as we became aware of the video, we removed it from Trending and from YouTube for violating our policies. We are working to improve our systems moving forward.”

Google, which owns YouTube, has come under fire for spreading fake news in the past. Following the 2016 US presidential election, Google search surfaced a WordPress site rife with inaccuracies about the final election numbers and after the Las Vegas shooting last October, it promoted a 4chan thread spreading misinformation about the massacre. Last year, Google took steps to prevent its search from surfacing fake news, which included adding Fact Check tags, promoting more authoritative sources and partnering with the International Fact-Checking Network. It also began to show more information on publishers, use Trust Indicators and stopped showing news from sources that don’t provide their country of origin. Last month, it also announced that it would start doing more to prevent fake news from seeping into its snippets.

when i go on facebook and click on the trending topic “david hogg,” and then on videos, it brings up a search for “david hogg actor,” which at the top includes videos from a facebook-verified users spouting conspiracy nonsense pic.twitter.com/TJBxnBxtyj

— maya kosoff (@mekosoff) February 21, 2018

But what’s next for YouTube? Though it deleted the offending video, there are plenty more out there still claiming David Hogg is an actor — which is also currently a problem on Facebook as well. YouTube’s Trending section is curated by algorithms, not people, and as today’s news failure shows, that is clearly a problem. Google has become increasingly aware that it may need more actual humans on board moderating its content and training its algorithms and it announced last year that it would hire 10,000 people to review content across its platforms. Similarly, YouTube said earlier this year that it would start manually vetting content included in its Preferred ad program following the Logan Paul scandal.

But that’s not enough. YouTube is a major platform with millions of viewers and when fake news makes its way into Trending, even if only for a short while, it can do irreparable damage. You can’t search for David Hogg anywhere without seeing conspiracy theories making wild, unfounded claims. Today’s event is just the latest issue to highlight YouTube’s content problems, and it’s going to have to do more than cut ad money and vet a handful of videos if it wants to not be a source of fake news and misinformation. It says it’s working to improve its systems, but what those efforts may be aren’t clear. Some transparency and details on what it’s going to do in the future to prevent egregious blunders like today’s would go a long way.

Maybe Logan Paul wasn’t enough to really change YouTube’s culture, but hopefully a vile smear campaign of a teenager and school shooting survivor will.

Disney reportedly plans ‘Muppets’ reboot for its streaming service

It’s no secret that Disney’s upcoming streaming service will bank on familiar names, but we’re now getting a clearer sense of what that means. Hollywood Reporter sources have claimed that Disney is working on a “reboot” of The Muppets, the short-lived ABC comedy that followed the lives of Kermit, Miss Piggy and crew. Other details aren’t clear, but the series is reportedly in its earliest stages — Disney hasn’t even found a writer yet.

The tipsters also said that Disney was exploring projects based on other recognizable names, including Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Father of the Bride, The Mighty Ducks and The Parent Trap. In essence: if you have any positive memory associated with a Disney production, there’s a chance (if just a chance) it’s coming back as a streaming series.

You probably won’t hear about a definitive show roster until closer to the actual launch, which is currently expected in fall 2019. However, The Muppets and other titles reinforce the belief that Disney sees its service as a complement to the likes of Netflix rather than a direct competitor. It’s focusing on the family-friendly programming you’d expect from a Disney-branded offering rather than trying to match the selection you see elsewhere.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Tinder security flaw granted account access with just a phone number

Security researchers at Appsecure found a way to access anyone’s Tinder account via their phone number. The exploit took advantage of a software flaw in both the dating app’s login process as well as the Facebook API that it’s based on. The issues have been fixed since, but represent a pretty big security lapse.

“Both the vulnerabilities were fixed by Tinder and Facebook quickly,” wrote Appsecure’s Anand Prakash on Medium. Facebook and Tinder rewarded the company $5000 and $1250, respectively, for its report. This isn’t the first report of Tinder security flaws, either, like when the company failed to encrypt user photos and (back in 2014) exposed users’ exact locations for months.

When you login to Tinder, you have the option of using your phone number, which is then passed along to Facebook’s Account Kit for authentication to Tinder. The Appsecure folks found that they could get a valid access token with an API request to Facebook’s Account Kit using a phone number. In addition, Tinder’s login system wasn’t checking these access tokens to make sure they matched the associated user’s client ID, which means that any valid access token could let someone log in to your Tinder account.

Via: The Verge

Source: Appsecure

Kids play mechanics for Marvel heroes with the Electro Hero Kit

Not every child wants to be a coder or an engineer, which can make it hard to get them playing with STEM toys if they don’t really care about making their own video games or building a cool robot. However, many kids are into role playing and telling stories, which is what Tech Will Save Us’ newest set focuses on instead. The Electro Hero Kit asks children to build stuff to help out their favorite Marvel characters, while imparting some basic lessons about electricity in the process.

Tech Will Save Us is probably best known for its Dough Universe kits, which ask kids to build all sorts of electricity-powered toys out of conductive dough. Each set comes with an assortment of electrical parts and a few tubs of colorful dough. It’s very similar to Play-Doh, but with a higher salt content — if you run out, Tech Will Save Us even provides recipes on its site for making more. The sets are basically a more tactile, squishier way to teach STEM skills.

The Electro Hero Kit follows the same basic formula, asking kids to mold pieces and connect them with wires. It comes with a similar assortment of wires, LEDs and batteries too, but also a few superhero-themed molds and some custom play mats that correspond to the Hero Kit app. When kids open the app they’ll be assigned small engineering tasks set within the Marvel Universe. Now their play becomes more narrative-based: Instead of just saying “build something cool,” it’s now more along the lines of “help Captain America test his new shield.”

The kit was developed with some assistance from Disney and Marvel Studios, who approached Tech Will Save Us about building STEM products using popular Avengers like Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk. Each mission outlined in the Hero Kit revolves around something that character is known for, like asking children to mold the individual bits of Iron Man’s arc reactor and then connecting them with LED bulbs to create a ring of light. The Hulk task is probably the most fun: Kids create a wall of bricks and a giant green fist to smash it with, with both parts wired to a speaker. When the Hulk fist makes contact with the bricks it completes the circuit, which activates a variety of smashing and crushing noises, along with some “Hulk smash!” sound bites.

Even if kids complete all the included tasks it doesn’t mean they’re done with the kit: Tech Will Save Us plans to expand the app with more missions, along with additional content on its website. There’s also the possibility of expansions and future kits that incorporate more characters like Black Panther. For now, though, the $35 Electro Hero Kit will hit stores March 5th, just in time for kids to watch their favorite heroes duke it out on the big screen again in May.

Spotify’s hardware ambitions seem like a risky distraction

Look, it’s no secret that Spotify is out to make its own hardware. As of last April, Spotify was already looking for people to help craft “a category defining product akin to Pebble Watch, Amazon Echo and Snap Spectacles.” (In hindsight, Spotify’s HR team probably should’ve left that last thing off the list.) More recently, a new set of job listings for hardware production managers and operations manager suggest Spotify is finally gearing up to build… well, whatever these things are. Consider us skeptical. After all, this is a company with zero hardware and supply chain experience — the odds of striking it big with gadgets don’t seem great.

We can’t be sure about what Spotify is actually trying to build in Stockholm, but its search for employees are in line with what you’d expect from a company trying to make a smart speaker. Last April, Spotify was looking for people with expertise in voice recognition and natural language processing. And more recently Spotify sought out someone with “graduate-level expertise” in natural language understanding to join its team in Boston and “multiple years of industrial experience in building conversational agents via speech or text (e.g., chatbots).” This focus on a spoken interface could apply to future, voice-controlled versions of the Spotify app, but it’s not much of a stretch to think Spotify could be trying to build a Google Home or Sonos rival.

Let’s say for the sake of argument that’s what’s going on. The initial cost of research, development and production will be significant, but it could be worth it. If that effort yields a firm foundation for Spotify to build on, revenue for hardware like smart speakers could help boost Spotify’s bottom line in the long run. I do mean long run: hardware projects are notoriously hard, and ambitious attempts like Apple’s HomePod are proof that even with loads of money and brainpower, first attempts at a new kind of product often feel unfinished. It could be years before the unprofitable Spotify starts to hit its stride in an industry its unfamiliar with, and that’s assuming the company has the guts to stick it out that long.

The move into the smart speaker market is also peculiar because, HomePod aside, you can access Spotify’s extensive library of songs and playlists on Amazon’s Echos or Google’s Homes or Sonos’ everythings. Spotify is like the WhatsApp of streaming music services — you can basically use it everywhere. The company’s stated desire to build a “category defining product” could alienate its Spotify Connect partners, but I’m honestly not too worried about that. I am, however, concerned that the head-starts enjoyed by potential competitors mean it’ll never fully catch up.

Given the potential headaches of building a completely new kind of business inside an existing one, I’d honestly rather see Spotify devote that money and resources into making its service even better. Right now, Spotify is arguably the best at figuring out what you might enjoy hearing based on things you’ve chosen to listen to in the past. That nuanced ability to predict your preferences through raw listening data forms the core of my love for Spotify, and I’m not the only one who feels that way. Connecting those musical dots in new ways and forging more lucrative — or at least, less odious — deals with big music labels might be enough to guarantee continued growth for the world’s largest streaming company. I can’t imagine the Spotify’s inevitable shareholders to turn their noses up at that.

It’s far too early to tell whether Spotify’s hardware plans will be an absolute boondoggle. We (obviously) love gadgets around here, and I honestly hope Spotify proves me wrong — as a subscriber, I have something of a vested interest in the company doing cool, impactful things. Cautious optimism is called for here, so Spotify, show us what you’ve got.

Medium suspends alt-right trolls following major rules change

Medium is taking its own steps in the fight against fake news and following a major reworking of its rules, has suspended the accounts of a handful of writers. As The Outline reports, the accounts of Mike Cernovich, Jack Posobiec and Laura Loomer now link to a largely blank page that says, “This page is unavailable.”

Earlier this month, Medium revamped its Rules page, saying at the time, “Beyond Medium itself, we recognize that we are also part of the larger internet ecosystem. Just as we rely on outside technology, systems and information to run Medium, we also consider off-platform signals when assessing potential rules violations. We have all seen an increase and evolution of online hate, abuse, harassment and disinformation, along with ever-evolving campaigns of fraud and spam. To continue to be good citizens of the internet, and provide our users with a trusted and safe environment to read, write and share new ideas, we have strengthened our policies around this type of behavior.”

Comparing the current Rules page with one from last November, The Outline points out an entirely new section among the many changes. Under the new “Related Content” heading, Medium says, “We do not allow posts or accounts that engage in on-platform, off-platform or cross-platform campaigns of targeting, harassment, hate speech, violence or disinformation. We may consider off-platform actions in assessing a Medium account, and restrict access or availability to that account.” And that alone could be enough to explain the suspensions of far-right personalities Cernovich, Posobiec and Loomer.

Posobiec had a strong hand in spreading the PizzaGate conspiracy theory as did Cernovich. Cernovich also pushed lies about the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs shooter being linked to antifa, Hillary Clinton hiding a serious illness and date rape not existing. Laura Loomer, who was banned from both Lyft and Uber last year following a string of anti-Muslim tweets, sometimes writes for Alex Jones’ conspiracy-focused Infowars and is currently under a temporary Twitter ban due to her tweets about the recent Florida school shooting. According to its rules, Medium can suspend accounts based on the writer’s non-Medium content, and in that regard, these suspensions make sense.

Additionally, Medium also expanded its section on hate speech adding, “We do not allow posts or accounts that glorify, celebrate, downplay, or trivialize violence, suffering, abuse, or deaths of individuals or groups. This includes the use of scientific or pseudoscientific claims to pathologize, dehumanize, or disempower others. We do not allow calls for intolerance, exclusion, or segregation based on protected characteristics, nor do we allow the glorification of groups which do any of the above.” It also now specifically states that it doesn’t allow hateful images and symbols in usernames, profiles or bios.

While these accounts are rather prominent and, therefore, their suspensions easily spotted, there could be more suspensions already dished out as well as more to come. Cernovich now claims he’s suing Medium for violating his civil rights and says the platform is discriminating against him based on his race and gender. We’ve reached out to Medium and we’ll update this post if we hear anything more.

Via: The Outline

T-Mobile Announces $200 Rebate Offer for iPhones and BOGO Deal for Apple Watch Series 3

T-Mobile today announced a new iPhone offer for customers thinking about purchasing one of Apple’s latest smartphones. Following a BOGO deal from January, T-Mobile is now offering customers the chance to get a $200 rebate when purchasing the iPhone X, 8, 8 Plus, 7, or 7 Plus on a 24-month Equipment Installment Plan, received in the form of a prepaid MasterCard card. That’s in addition to the value of an eligible smartphone that users can trade in to T-Mobile.

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The company said that customers can combine this deal with its current free line offer from Valentine’s Day, letting them add a line to any T-Mobile ONE family plan and get another for free. T-Mobile’s new offer will go live this Friday, February 23, and customers who purchase an eligible iPhone should see their rebate card arrive in the mail within eight weeks. Full details on the new deal can be found on T-Mobile’s website, and the carrier is still running its BOGO iPhone sale as well.

Additionally, another deal is launching this Friday at T-Mobile, this one focusing on the Apple Watch Series 3. Anyone who purchases a model of Apple’s latest smartwatch will be able to get another one for 50 percent off (up to $215, according to T-Mobile). The company didn’t release any more details about the Apple Watch sale yet, so it’s unclear which models and collections will be available for the BOGO deal. Once the sale goes live this Friday, we’ll update this post with more information.

Head over to our full Deals Roundup for more on the latest deals happening right now, today including an Amazon sale on certified refurbished 12-inch MacBooks from early 2015.

Related Roundup: Apple DealsTag: T-Mobile
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Netgear’s ‘Arlo Baby’ Smart Cameras Now Offer HomeKit Support

Starting today, all of Netgear’s existing Arlo Baby smart monitoring cameras are compatible with Apple HomeKit following the release of a HomeKit update for the Arlo app.

To connect the Arlo Baby camera to a HomeKit setup, Arlo Baby owners will need to download the update and then toggle on the HomeKit option in the Settings section of the Arlo app.

With HomeKit compatibility, Arlo Baby cameras can be viewed in the Home app on iOS devices right alongside other HomeKit-compatible cameras.

Using the Home app, parents can also view a live stream, access two-way audio controls, view the most recent screenshot recorded by the Arlo Baby, open up the camera live stream via Siri, and access live video remotely with an iPad, Apple TV, or HomePod as a home hub.

Netgear first announced HomeKit compatibility for Arlo Baby at CES in 2018, launching a new line of HomeKit-compatible Arlo Baby cameras. At the time, Netgear also promised to bring HomeKit to existing cameras, a promise that was fulfilled with today’s update.

The Arlo Baby cameras will also continue to work with the Arlo app, which can be used for specific features like accessing footage stored in the cloud, tweaking settings, controlling the light, and more.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Arlo Baby line, it’s a camera that’s designed to be used in an infant’s room. It offers 1080p video recording and seven days of free cloud storage, along with infrared recording at night, ambient air quality sensors, a music player, and a built-in dimmable night light that can be set to one of several colors.

Netgear sells several Arlo Baby accessories to personalize the camera to fit into a child’s room, such as bunny, kitten, and puppy suits. Arlo Baby can be purchased from Amazon.com for $200.

Tags: HomeKit, NETGEAR
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