DigiTrade Digest #124

GLOBAL

UN: Governing AI For Humanity - AI Advisory Body

The multi-stakeholder High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, initially proposed in 2020 as part of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation (A/74/821), was formed in October 2023 to undertake analysis and advance recommendations for the international governance of artificial intelligence. The Body recently released its report reaffirming the findings of the Advisory Body’s interim report on opportunities and enablers, risks and challenges of the AI ecosystem; it also reprises the need for global governance of AI and outlines seven recommendations.

The report also makes recommendations on common benefits, intended to ensure that the benefits of AI are equitably shared, which can depend on access to models or capabilities such as talent, computational power (or “compute”) and data. These include a network for capacity development, a global fund for AI and a global AI data framework.

Foreign Affairs: Big Tech’s Coup: How Companies Seized Power from States and How States Can Claw it Back - Marietje Schaake

If democracy is to survive, leaders must fight this coup head on. They need to shrink their overdependence on powerful tech companies. They must empower public interest technology as a counterweight. They need to rebuild their own tech expertise. Most of all, they must build effective and innovative regulatory regimes that can meaningfully hold tech companies (and governments using tech) to account. Doing so is needed to sustain open, free, and vibrant digital societies based on the rule of law.

BotPopuli: Algorithmic Shackles: Eroding Worker Autonomy in the Majority World - Adio-Adet Dinika

In the rapidly evolving landscape of the global economy, digital platforms have emerged as powerful arbiters of labor, reshaping traditional employment paradigms and blurring the lines between workers and entrepreneurs. At the heart of this transformation lies the intersection of algorithmic management and worker autonomy, a juncture that demands urgent and critical examination. The proliferation of AI-driven platforms is fundamentally altering the nature of work, promising unprecedented flexibility and opportunity while simultaneously introducing new forms of control and precarity.

…the rapid digitalization of labor markets is not occurring in a vacuum but instead intersects with deeply rooted socio-economic structures, historical legacies of exploitation, and ongoing struggles for economic sovereignty. The promise of empowerment through technology, so glibly offered by Silicon Valley, often masks a troubling new form of digital colonialism.

This digital colonialism operates more subtly than its historical predecessor but is no less pernicious in its effects. It extracts value from African labor markets while offering little in return by way of sustainable economic development.

ICCR: Dehumanization, Discrimination and Deskilling: The Impact of Digital Tech on Low-Wage Workers. The Case for Shareholder Engagement

This report focuses on the increasingly pervasive role that digital technologies play in the workplace and how those technologies may harm workers, especially low-wage workers. It builds on the current work of the Advancing Worker Justice program at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, which seeks to bring shareholder advocates and allied worker-led and focused organizations together to advance dignity and justice for all working people.

GNI: GNI Calls on Member States Not to Support the UN Cybercrime Convention

The Global Network Initiative (GNI) is deeply concerned that the UN Convention Against Cybercrime (the UN Convention) creates a permission structure for the extraterritorial surveillance and prosecution of human rights defenders, the harassment of tech company employees, and the compelled compromise of systems that protect the privacy and security of users around the world. As detailed further below, the UN Convention creates broad powers not previously enshrined in any other international instruments, applies to an extremely wide range of crimes “committed through the use of information and technology systems,” and – despite laudable efforts to introduce human rights and effective gender mainstreaming language into the text – it fails to create meaningful human rights safeguards that would guard against its misuse. 

The Record: UN cybercrime treaty lead negotiator: US will suffer if it doesn’t vote yes

There will be serious consequences if the United States does not vote in favor of a recently agreed upon and controversial United Nations cybercrime treaty, a key American diplomat said Friday.

The treaty — which would be the first cybersecurity legal framework accepted by consensus among all U.N. member states — is expected to sail through the General Assembly after it received unanimous approval by the body’s Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime in August. 

“It would be unheard of for us to pull out of consensus after we led the system and joined,” said Ambassador Deborah McCarthy, the lead U.S. treaty negotiator for the ad hoc committee, during a discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies. “There'd be huge disappointment if all of us in the U.S. were to say, ‘You know, we're not part of this.’ And I think that would drive a big wedge at the U.N.” 

UNDP: The Universal Digital Public Infrastructure Safeguards Framework: A guide to building safe and inclusive DPI for Societies

This guide explains how to apply the Universal Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Safeguards Framework, a set of actionable guidelines for DPI design and implementation that serve the public interest. It comprises principles, process and practice recommendations to be employed by various responsible authorities within the DPI ecosystem to mitigate risks to safety and inclusivity. Risks are specified in relation to each stage of the DPI life cycle and are also addressed by upholding foundational and operational principles for safe and inclusive DPI.

ASIA

BotPopuli: Developers vs. App Stores: A Case for Separation Remedies - Madhavi Singh

The relationship between developers and app stores has been marred by disagreement and dispute worldwide. Lawmakers and regulators frequently complain that Apple and Google’s app stores impose unfair and exploitative terms and conditions. Such disputes have arisen in several jurisdictions, including the EU, the US, South Korea, and Australia. In India, this conflict started with MobiKwik, an Indian digital payments app, which was removed by Google from its Play Store for allegedly violating their deceptive or disruptive ads policy.

By targeting some of India’s biggest developers and apps, the poster children of Digital India, Google has made formidable foes who not only have the incentive to take on Google but also have the resources and the political clout to influence legislation and regulation. In the face of this impetus, Indian developers and startups joined forces to challenge Google’s control over the app ecosystem. Associations of domestic developers were formed, petitions were sent to the government and relevant ministries, meetings of startups were organized, proposals for creating a domestic Indian app store were mooted, and strategies were devised for the impending battle between developers and app stores.

Al Jazeera: China wrestles with ‘quantity over quality’ in generative AI patents - Erin Hale

China has emerged as the world’s top producer of generative AI patents, but it is struggling to turn many of its ideas into action thanks to US export controls and longstanding struggles with its innovation culture at home.

In July, the UN’s intellectual property agency reported that China had filed more than 38,000 generative AI patents over the past decade, more than all other countries combined.

Despite this flurry of activity, however, China is still behind the US in terms of impact because the high number of patents only tells part of the story, according to Van Anh Le, an assistant professor in intellectual property law at Durham University in the United Kingdom.

Al Jazeera: Pakistan to launch home-grown messaging app amid internet disruptions - Abid Hussein

The Pakistani government is set to roll out “Beep Pakistan”, a communication application designed for federal officials and employees. Its one request? Please don’t compare it to popular messaging platform WhatsApp.

“We have developed an application focused on secure and unified communication among government officials. The purpose of Beep Pakistan is to protect our privacy and data,” she told Al Jazeera.

Semafor: Australia mulls fining social media companies over ‘misinformation’ - Marta Biino

Australia warned social media companies they could face fines of up to 5% of their global revenue if they enable the spread of misinformation online — the latest attempt by a government to rein in big tech.

The Australian government is increasingly cracking down on tech giants, and moved this week to remove children from social media platforms.

AFRICA

Review of African Political Economy: AI and the digital scramble for Africa - Scott Timcke

We are told that Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to be a powerful tool for advancing democratic concerns and human rights across Africa. Yet, there are also early indicators that AI could undermine democratic institutions and processes, especially if these technologies prioritise colonial-capitalist development trajectories.

Fortunately, there are institutions, universities and think tanks across the continent where people are thinking about Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the nexus of democracy, technology, and economic issues. This post briefly outlines some of the key challenges that are relatively under-discussed when covering efforts to preserve and extend democracy in Africa.

EUROPE

Politico: Europe’s privacy patrol is spoiling Big Tech’s AI party - Sam Clark and Pieter Haeck

More than six years after it took effect, Europe’s mighty data-protection rulebook is getting its second wind — by stymieing the artificial intelligence plans of Big Tech giants.

In just a few months, Google, Meta, X and LinkedIn have paused or delayed AI projects in the European Union, blaming an old yet familiar foe: Brussels red tape.

The regulatory flex is coming mainly from data protection authorities, which have the power to enforce the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) in particular has wielded its significant powers to block AI rollouts from the world’s biggest companies — a sharp turn after years of criticism that its regulator was too slow to slap fines on Big Tech for privacy violations. 

TechCrunch: Antitrust challenge to Facebook’s ‘superprofiling’ finally wraps in Germany — with Meta agreeing to data limits - Natasha Lomas

A multi-year competition challenge to Facebook (aka Meta), which saw Germany’s antitrust authority become a pioneering champion for privacy rights in 2019 after it sought to block the social media giant’s ‘superprofiling’ of users on the grounds that consentless cross-site tracking of users is an “exploitative abuse” of Facebook’s monopoly position, finally concluded Thursday with Germany’s federal competition regulator, Bundeskartellamt, announcing the procedure’s end.

Who won? Meta dropped its appeal against the regulator’s order — and with the withdrawal of its legal army, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has concluded its decision is final. So you have to say the FCO prevailed, even if the outcome still requires Facebook and Instagram users to step through various hoops to keep their information siloed from Meta’s ad-targeting systems.

EuroNews: Meta cannot use public data on sexual orientation for targeted ads, EU top court rules - Cyntheia Kroet

Meta is not allowed to use personal data on sexual orientation obtained from public sources outside its platform to personalise advertising aimed at its users, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled today (4 October) in a case brought against the tech giant by Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems. 

If someone openly discusses their sexuality in a public forum, that data must be processed by third parties in compliance with the provisions of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the ECJ said in its ruling today.

This means that the online platform is “not authorised to process other data related to that person’s sexual orientation obtained outside the platform, with a view to aggregating and analysing those data, in order to offer that person personalised advertising.”

EuroNews: Six EU countries call for tough DSA action against platforms like Shein, Temu - Cynthia Kroet

Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland have called for stronger enforcement against e-commerce platforms in a joint letter seen by Euronews, ahead of a competitiveness ministers meeting in Brussels today (26 September). 

The six countries urge the European Commission to take “all necessary measures within its competence” to enforce the Digital Services Act (DSA) against Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPS).  

Designating online marketplaces Temu and Shein as VLOPs “is a significant step” in the application of the rules, but “it remains crucial to rigorously enforce the DSA”, the letter says. 

Politico: California’s failed AI safety bill is a warning to Britain - Vincent Manancourt

California has a message for Britain: Good luck trying to regulate AI.

The Golden State’s governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday vetoed a bill which sought to impose safety vetting requirements on developers of powerful artificial intelligence models — siding with much of Silicon Valley and high profile politicians like Nancy Pelosi in the process.

The demise of the bill will come as a warning for Britain’s Labour government, which is drafting a proposal similarly aimed at placing restraints on the most powerful forms of the technology known as frontier AI.

NORTH AMERICA

The Guardian: Google faces US government attempt to break it up

The US government may ask a judge to force the breakup of Google’s business as it attempts to challenge the tech corporation’s monopoly over the internet search market.

The Department of Justice has filed court papers that say it is considering enforcing “structural remedies” that would prevent Google from using some of its products such as Chrome, Android and Play, which the DoJ argues give the company an advantage over rivals. Other actions being considered include blocking Google from paying to have its search engine pre-installed on smartphones and other devices.

Politico: Will the DOJ really dismantle Google? Here’s what happens next - Brendan Bordelon and Mohar Chatterjee

The Department of Justice’s landmark proposal to dismantle Google’s search monopoly offers the first clear window into how Washington’s accelerating antitrust effort could clip the wings of Big Tech giants — and also highlights political questions about how long the push will survive.

Unlike European regulators targeting the same firms, President Joe Biden’s enforcers are swinging for the fences, proposing a radical restructuring of how Google works rather than chipping away at the company with fines.

The DOJ’s proposal, filed late Tuesday night, comes after a judge found in August that the company illegally monopolized the online search and advertising markets. The potential remedies being proposed by the government are sweeping: From limits on new deals with phone or computer makers to restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence and even a full-scale restructuring, virtually everything is under consideration. A final proposal is due late next month.

Center for Digital Democracy: Streaming Television Industry Conducting Vast Surveillance of Viewers, Targeting Them with Manipulative AI-driven Ad Tactics, Says New Report

The Connected TV (CTV) video streaming industry in the U.S. operates a massive data-driven surveillance apparatus that has transformed the television set into a sophisticated monitoring, tracking and targeting device, according to a new report from the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD). How TV Watches Us: Commercial Surveillance in the Streaming Era documents how CTV captures and harvests information on individuals and families through a sophisticated and expansive commercial surveillance system, deliberately incorporating many of the data-gathering, monitoring, and targeting practices that have long undermined privacy and consumer protection online.

The report profiles major players in the connected TV industry, along with the wide range of technologies they use to monitor and target viewers.

The New Republic: Biden Fears Chinese Cars Are Spying. But Tesla and GM Are Too - Kate Aronoff

The administration has announced plans to ban vehicles with Chinese software or connectivity-related hardware. U.S.-made cars, though, have their own consumer protection issues.

Earlier this week, the Commerce Department proposed a wide-reaching rule to prohibit Chinese-developed software and connectivity-related hardware from cars in the United States, starting in a few years. And since these technologies are relatively ubiquitous in Chinese cars, the rule could amount to a de facto ban on them in the United States. The decision builds on the Biden administration’s recent moves to levy 100 percent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, and provisions within the Inflation Reduction Act that restrict incentives for electric vehicles that contain components or raw materials made in China.

The Biden administration seems to be doubling down on an economic agenda in which the lines between industrial and national security policy are becoming increasingly thin. Pitched on the fear that so-called “connected cars” pose a grave threat, the proposal to ban them also comes as automakers in the U.S. attempt to catch up to Chinese competitors—and as Democrats attempt to secure critical swing state votes in Michigan. As new cars in general become increasingly high-tech, though, there are few protections in place to safeguard consumers’ privacy, wherever their cars are made.

The Guardian: Google ordered to open Play store to rivals after antitrust loss to Epic Games - Reuters

A US judge on Monday ordered Alphabet’s Google to overhaul its mobile app business to give Android users more options to download apps and to pay for transactions within them, following a jury verdict last year for the Fortnite game maker Epic Games. The injunction by US district judge James Donato in San Francisco outlined the changes Google must undertake to open up its lucrative app store, Play, to greater competition, including making Android apps available from rival sources.

Donato’s order said that for three years Google cannot prohibit the use of in-app payment methods and must allow users to download competing third-party Android app platforms or stores.

LATIN AMERICA

ILO: Buffer or Bottleneck? Employment Exposure to Generative AI and the Digital Divide in Latin America - Pawel Gmyrek, Hernan Winkler and Santiago Garganta

In this new paper from the International Labour Organization and the World Bank Group, researchers found that Generative AI could have transformative effects on jobs and livelihoods in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nonetheless, gaps in digital infrastructure and other inequalities could hinder the potential impacts of Generative AI in the region.

The Guardian: Brazil lifts ban on X after Elon Musk complies with court demands - Tom Phillips

Brazilians are set to regain access to X after a supreme court judge lifted a ban introduced nearly six weeks ago as a result of Elon Musk’s failure to comply with the South American country’s laws.

X was blocked in Brazil, where it had more than 22 million users, at the end of August in what was the culmination of a months-long arm wrestle between the network’s billionaire owner and the Brazilian supreme court.

But in recent days Musk appears to have backed down, paying 28.6m reais (£3.9m) in fines and naming a Brazilian lawyer as X’s local representative, as required by the country’s laws.