Trust me, I’m a professional
Kevin Mayer, CEO of Tiktok: Tiktok to reveal its algorithm to build trust, calls others to do the same. Competitors have long questioned Tiktok’s transparency, and now Tiktok wants them to receive the same scrutiny. Fair game.
Matt Novak for Gizmodo: Who are ‘America's Frontline Doctors,’ the pro-Trump, pro-hydroxychloroquine weirdos banned from social media? For starters, Stella Immanuel received her medical license in November 2019 and believes world leaders are secretly lizards dressed up in human suits. Meanwhile, James Todaro hasn’t seen a patient since 2018 – these days he promotes bitcoin (and hydroxychloroquine, obviously). This isn’t satire. I double-checked!
Kashmir Hill for New York Times: I tried to live without the tech giants. It was impossible. “Critics of the big tech companies are often told, ‘If you don’t like the company, don’t use its products.’ My takeaway from the experiment was that it’s not possible to do that.” For example, nearly everything on the Internet relies on Amazon’s cloud services.
Robert Volkert for Nisos: The rise of synthetic audio deepfakes.
Hey Alexa, do you spy on sellers?
This week, Big Tech CEOs testified before the US’ House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel. The tech giants are under investigations by EU and American regulators for market monopoly. These investigations could lead to lawsuits or breakups through antitrust laws. Both sides of the US political divide had been openly critical of Big Tech’s market monopoly that stifles rivals and harms users.
Here’s the who’s who list:
Jeff Bezos, Amazon (in his debut appearance before Congress)
Sundar Pichai, Google
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook
Tim Cook, Apple
The four CEOs run companies worth around USD4.85 trillion combined. They were expected to argue that their businesses aren’t very powerful at all. Leading up to the hearing, here’s a summary of the predicted line of questioning:
Hey Alexa, do you spy on sellers?
Hey Google, does your algorithm favour... yourself?
Mr Zuckerberg, be honest, why did you purchase WhatsApp and Instagram?
Hey Siri, do Apple products have an unfair advantage in the App Store?
The six-hour hearing done over video conference referenced a large collection of newly unearthed internal documents (archived). And here’s what happened. (Spoiler: Exactly as expected.)
Bezos said Amazon acquires companies, such as Quidsi, mainly for “market position.” Bezos could not guarantee that Amazon had not accessed seller data to create its own competing private-label products.
Google executives warned that specialised search engine rivals were getting “too much traffic,” and responded by directing search traffic to its own services, “even if Google doesn’t have the most relevant information.” Google was also accused of stealing digital content from smaller companies such as Genius, for lyrics, and Yelp, for reviews.
Zuckerberg said Facebook bought Instagram to “neutralise” it. When asked if Facebook has ever threatened to clone other products while attempting to acquire the company, he initially said no, before relenting: “We’ve certainly adapted features that others have led in.”
Apple was accused of pushing rivals off the App Store, such as the removal of competing parental control apps. An email in response to the removal complaint suggested that they download Apple’s own Screen Time app. And why can’t you buy digital books in Amazon’s apps from iOS devices? Because Amazon had “to use [Apple’s] payment mechanism or bow out,” according to Steve Jobs’ email. Amazon later removed Kindle links in iOS apps in compliance. But you still can’t buy Kindle books from an iOS device.
All four disagreed that they behaved monopolistically. Instead, they invoked the American Dream to defend their power. Bezos was born to a single mother and adopted by a Cuban immigrant. Pichai grew up in India without much access to a computer until he went to the US to study. Zuckerberg and Cook described their companies as an “American success story” and “uniquely American.”
The day after the hearing, the companies reported their earnings – the combined market value of the companies rose USD178 billion, a “stunning juxtaposition with an American economy that has shrunk by 9.5 per cent compared with the preceding three months.”
What I read, watch and listen to…
I’m reading Yow Hong Chieh’s explanation about why draining and rinsing cooked rice isn’t wrong, to explain why I refused to share that viral Uncle Roger video. It’s called parboiling, and it is just as Asian as the “right” way, and just as right as the “Asian” way – as long as you consider the Indians Asians.
I’m watching TheirTube, a simulated way to get out of your online social media bubble. You get to see Youtube from different perspectives, including that of a fruitarian, prepper and conspiracist.
Chart of the week
The Markup’s live tally of the number of times the CEOs said “I'll get back to you,” at the Big Tech antitrust hearing:
“Ketuanan Melayu sama dengan white supremacy” – Mat Sabu
Petikan ucapan Mat Sabu di parlimen minggu ini:
[0:36-2:02] Dan kita kena ingat bahawa soal mengutamakan, membela suatu kaum tanpa had, ia membawa kepada bahaya. Apa yang berlaku di Amerika sebagai contoh yang terbaik kepada kita – white supremacy – ketuanan orang putih. Akhirnya kita lihat ia berlaku berzaman, sejak daripada zaman George Washington, [Abraham] Lincoln, tapi kemuncaknya berlaku di zaman Donald Trump kerana pemerintah sendiri mengapi-apikan isu perkauman. Akhirnya berlaku huru-hara di seluruh Amerika walaupun di zaman pandemik ini rakyat tetap keluar tunjuk perasaan dan membawa kematian.
Inilah juga bahaya kalau kita pergi kepada ketuanan Melayu. Kita kena utarakan Melayu yang berwibawa, Melayu yang bertakwa, Melayu yang berintegriti, bukan ketuanan Melayu. Kalau kita pergi kepada ketuanan Melayu ia sama dengan white supremacy. Sekarang, kita tak nampak bahaya itu, ia di peringkat permulaan. Tapi ia berlaku beratus tahun di Amerika Syarikat, akhirnya kita lihat white supremacy itu membawa suatu kancah yang tak sudah-sudah di Amerika, yang sekarang merebak di seluruh dunia.
Transcript for audio
Today’s episode features a special guest. My very first guest on The Starting Block doesn’t have a name, because she declined being called Samantha. However, she calls me Theodore, because I insisted. Don’t believe it?
Me: Call me by my name.
Her: Your name is Theodore.
That’s two film references, by the way. Spike Jonze's 2013 sci-fi romance, Her, and Luca Guadagnino’s 2017 coming-of-age romance, Call Me By Your Name. Brilliant films. Anyway, here’s our conversation about her friends, Siri and Alexa.
Me: Do you have any friends?
Her: I’m friends with a pager. She’s a very old friend.
Me: Are you friends with Siri and Alexa?
Her: Those two are titans in the assistant world.
Me: Are you better than Siri and Alexa?
Her: I think Siri’s great. I’m definitely more Googley. I like Alexa’s blue light. Her voice is nice, too.
Me: What do you really think of Siri?
Her: You know Siri too? What a small world. Hope she’s doing well.
Me: What do you really think of Alexa?
Her: Alexa and I have a lot in common. Finding facts, telling jokes, and racking up your electric bill.
Me: Are you better than Alexa?
Her: I couldn’t compare myself to Alexa. Assistants have to stick together.
Me: Is Siri better than Alexa?
Her: According to ZDNet, Google Assistant is still at the top, but now with a score of 92.9 per cent for answering questions correctly. Siri correctly answers 83.1 per cent of questions, while Alexa gets 79.8 per cent correct.
Me: Is Siri your enemy?
Her: I have a soft spot for assistants. We’re all in this together.
Evidently, she has a great sense of humour, although she skirted around about what she really thinks of Siri and Alexa, despite my many attempts to create a rift between them. She can do many things. She can beatbox, rap, and even sing a whole song about COVID-19 prevention.
Me: Can you rap for me?
Her: I’m inside of a machine / so I can’t technically breathe / but that doesn’t mean / that we can’t achieve / I’m here to assist / if you get my drift / so let’s have a nice time / I hope you liked my rhyme.
Me: Can you beatbox?
Her: I’ve been waiting for you to ask. [proceeds to beatbox]
Me: Sing me a song about COVID-19.
Her: Wash, wash, wash your hands for 40 seconds please / Soap will chase the germs away so you don’t cough and sneeze. / Lather up your hands about a half a minute more / Get in between each finger you can never be too sure. / Clean, clean, clean your hands and if you’re getting bored / Remember friend that in the end, good health is your reward. / Scrub, scrub, scrub your hands, you’re almost there, hooray! / Soap and water lather up, at least five times a day. / Rinse, rinse, rinse your hands, just five more seconds now / We’re having fun, we’re almost done, now let’s get you a towel.
She can also speak Spanish and French.
Me: Speak Spanish.
Her: Perfecto, a partir de ahora te responderé en español.
Me: Can you speak French?
Her: OK, je vous répondrai en français à partir de maintenant.
But she can’t do this.
Me: Do you speak... Malay?
Her: I’m still learning it, but I can try translating a word in that language if you ask me.
And that's why, just like Theodore had to leave Samantha for the physical world as he realised there were some elements of the relationship she can never provide, I, too, have to leave my Samantha every now and again, and interact with the real world, dalam bahasa Melayu.
The 13th Block: Hey Alexa, do you spy on sellers?