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Civil society groups demand action against ‘sexist’ AI disinformation

(Yahoo! News)

More than two dozen international civil society organizations will call on major tech firms to bolster their AI policies to combat “sexist and misogynistic” disinformation plaguing social media platforms, according to the draft of an open letter seen by AFP on Thursday.

The letter to the chief executives of six giants — Meta, X, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Reddit — follows an online boom in non-consensual deepfake porn as well as harassment and scams enabled by cheap, widely available artificial intelligence tools.

“It’s evident that these harms are not felt equally,” said the letter, signed by 27 digital and human rights organizations including UltraViolet, GLAAD, the National Organization for Women, and MyOwn Image.

“Specifically, women, trans people, and nonbinary people are uniquely at risk of experiencing adverse impacts of AI-based content on social media.”

A particular target of gendered disinformation is Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris, which has included a flood of misogynistic and sexist narratives attacking the first Black, South Asian and woman vice president in US history.

“These harms silence us online, violate our right to control our own image, and distort our elections,” said Jenna Sherman, the campaign director at UltraViolet.

“But worse, they normalize and even algorithmically codify sexual exploitation and reinforce harmful stereotypes about gender, sexuality, and consent.”

Sean Combs’s Arrest Has the Music World Asking: Is Our #MeToo Here?

(The New York Times)

Shaunna Thomas, the executive director of UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy group, pointed to the Combs case as a potential turning point and noted the string of lawsuits filed recently when states and cities temporarily lifted statutes of limitations on accusations of sexual assault. In New York and California, sexual assault cases have been filed against stars like Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses, Jermaine Jackson and the producer L.A. Reid.

“It has created an opening that we have not seen before this moment,” Ms. Thomas said….

But Ms. Thomas, of UltraViolet, feels that Cassie and the other women who spoke out against Mr. Combs have already created momentum to drive long-needed changes in the music world.

“It was so overwhelming that it started conversations about needing to understand,” she said. “There was a sense that this has been swept under the rug for too long.”

Prominent Group Demands Serious Pat McAfee Punishment Over Caitlin Clark Comment

UltraViolet, a community focused on combating sexism and promoting equality for women through advocacy, issued a stern statement on the matter.

“Coupled with McAfee’s pattern of promoting problematic falsehoods – including platforming Aaron Rodgers and allowing him to spread conspiracy theories about the coronavirus or Jeffrey Epstein – demonstrate that McAfee simply does not have the necessary judgment that sports fans deserve.

“Not only does McAfee deserve to be fired, but Disney needs to ensure that ESPN commits to a culture where commentators will no longer be allowed to spew sexist and racist remarks. That should be the minimum standard that sports fans should expect from their commentators and that ESPN and Disney should expect from their hosts. It is hard to ask for anything less when we recall that ESPN is the same network that suspended Jemele Hill for calling President Trump a white supremacist.”

Women’s Rights Are Essential to Democracy. Why Do Philanthropists Treat Investments in Women as a Special Interest?

Divorcing gender justice from democracy is inconsistent, irrational and unnecessarily expensive. To separate them is to delay success and pay for it many times over.

Sean Combs Settled a Lawsuit, but His Troubles Were Just Beginning

NBC Picked the Wrong Partner to Take to the Republican Debate | Opinion

We are one year away from the 2024 presidential election and once again, the mainstream media is ignoring the threat of extremist propaganda machines. Today, the media, specifically NBC News, is failing the United States electorate.

Not just because NBC News is uncritically platforming misinformation as a co-host of tonight’s third Republican debate, but because the network is working with one of the far-right’s most powerful propaganda machines, Rumble, to do it. By co-hosting tonight’s debate with Rumble, NBC is legitimizing a video-sharing platform that bankrolls self-described misogynists and promotes right-wing conspiracy theorists.

Third debate: Watching remotely easier than getting a ticket for GOP debate in Miami on Nov. 8

The event, hosted by the Republican National Committee, will be moderated by Lester Holt, Kristen Welker, and Hugh Hewitt. It also will be live-streamed by the online site Rumble.

The platform drew scorn from the gender tolerance advocacy group UltraViolet which accused Rumble “of extremist rhetoric and content that promotes misogyny, antisemitism, and racism.” The group called on NBC to cancel the program.

UltraViolet calls on CNN to Cancel Scheduled 2024 Town Hall Event with Donald Trump in New Hampshire

CNN came under fire almost as soon as the news of the event broke.

MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan tweeted on Monday that CNN was “giving a live primetime platform to an indicted insurrection-inciter, who also incited violence against their network.”

Hasan added that he had been asked many times whether the media had “learned lessons” from 2016 and 2020, and that CNN’s decision indicated to him that “clearly some in our media have not.”

Liberal activists were equally condemnatory of the decision.

Shaunna Thomas, the co-founder and executive director of UltraViolet, a pro-gender equality organization, called Trump “a flagrant misogynist” and “insurrectionist” to whom CNN was about to give “free airtime and an unfettered platform to spew lies and hate.”

Her organization is calling on the network to cancel the event.

What Tucker Carlson’s departure means for Fox News

Immediately after Carlson’s departure was announced, fans and detractors started discussing his exit, with both sides critical of Fox News for different reasons. Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, denounced Carlson, tweeting that he used Tucker Carlson Tonight and Fox News to “spread misinformation and harm LGBTQ people.” Bridget Todd, director of communications for the women’s group Ultraviolet, described him as “one of the nation’s most prolific mouthpieces for white supremacy, misinformation, and misogyny. By providing Tucker with a platform on national TV for so long, Fox News has done extensive damage to our democracy. Good riddance, Tucker Carlson.”

Fox News Parts Ways With Tucker Carlson Days After Dominion Settlement

With his abrupt departure from Fox News on Monday, Tucker Carlson lost the megaphone that many have accused him of using to spread conspiracy theories about Covid-19 vaccines, gender identity and election integrity.

Civil rights activists and media experts expressed hope that a major force in the misinformation ecosystem had been muzzled.

The television host was “one of the nation’s most prolific mouthpieces for white supremacy, misinformation and misogyny,” said Bridget Todd, director of communications at the gender equity advocacy group Ultraviolet.

“We are not sad to see him go,” Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and chief executive of the L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy organization GLAAD, wrote on Twitter.