TikTok? Y’all are crazy. Yes, it’s a huge problem but hypocrisy. Last year after Facebook worked years to keep it sealed, a court unsealed its secret app audit. It showed 86,961 developers in China had access to all of our personal data…yet crickets. /1 storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
This is the same app audit Zuckerberg promised Congress after concerns American’s personal data had been readily mined in Russia. Throw in Iran, North Korea, you name it. Press didn’t dig in. A good source told me DOJ and Congress hadn’t ever even seen this forensic audit. /2
Yet Facebook had spent four years trying very hard to keep even the names of the forensic auditing / clean-up firms confidential. Senate Intel Chairs did send a letter, no word on whether Facebook even responded to them. /3
So yeah, if you claim to cover Meta/Facebook/TikTok missed this evidence last year but you’re wall to wall on TikTok, you might question the reliability of your Meta sources especially internal. /4 storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
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ok, I've now read the NYT response this week to attempts by OpenAI to dismiss NYT's landmark lawsuit against the high-flying AI company.
Put simply, NYT makes it brutally clear on page one how you can tell the difference between the two companies.
Oomph. /1
A few other observations from me. Like NYT's original complaint, it's smart and future-focused on fair value. Where OpenAI made frankly bizarre claims NYT was hacking the platform as it detected OpenAI had its content, NYT is right. OpenAI isn't and can't dispute it copied it. /2
Um, 2022 > 2020 = TRUE. Where OpenAI tried to inject a statute-of-limitations argument that OpenAI's lifting of content was "common knowledge" in 2020, NYT points out that ChatGPT and OpenAI didn't go viral until Nov 2022. /3
That's rich.
Microsoft's motion to dismiss NYT landmark lawsuit against MSFT/OpenAI. The most valuable company on the planet at 3 trillion claims the right to mine (aka 'harness') every work of journalism as part of its 'collaboration.' Comparing it to copying video tapes. 1/6
To be fair, MSFT, and its leadership, were testifying from Australia to US Congress on importance of a free and plural press and antitrust enforcement to support it just a few yrs ago. They genuinely seemed to care now Team Nadella has prioritized its OpenAI 'collaboration.' 2/6
I keep putting 'collaboration' in air quotes as it's an amusing attempt to reframe what is an investment worth tens of billions in which MSFT's CEO literally helped save the OpenAI CEO and company late last year. 'Collaboration' is a nice lawyer spin word for it. 3/6
If you’re looking for positive courtroom news, Meta’s “nuclear” structural constitutional lawsuit v FTC in response to the FTC’s show cause to ban it from surveillance capitalism with minors went very very poorly just now. /1
Meta attempted to argue bias based on a few words in the show cause, not the statute itself, which the court called the “weakest argument” that there would be irreparable injury. A lot of back and forth but no ground given. /2
I bore you with this as the court also pointed out the high bar for irreparable injury in DC court and most small businesses can’t reach it yet risk can mean they go out of business. He said I’m fairly certain ”a few months of litigation won’t put Meta out of business.” /3
Oh dear, watch this. As near every state AG, school district and lawmaker is scorching Facebook, Instagram for child harms, their heavily funded fronts NetChoice, CCIA, Chamber of Progress run their interference while hiding behind Apple, Amazon, and Google on this issue. /1
This was in Vermont Senate yesterday. This is hysterical. After being pressed on their Meta funding, “let me check our website” oh look there. surprise. /2
Oh dear heavens, watch. when pressed on what new social media feature she is most proud that makes children healthier, she (NetChoice) says, “parents taking away the phone from the child.” /3
Zuckerberg+Sandberg+Mosseri+Bosworth have made billions. “Men in these groups frequently praise the advent of Instagram as a golden age for child exploitation…’And there’s an infinite supply of it — literally just refresh your Instagram Explore page there’s fresh preteens.’” /1
Advertisers spent $134B last year supporting the company despite nearly every bipartisan state attorneys general, the federal trade commission and literally hundreds of school districts suing them on multiple fronts. Margins are built on a model where they can ignore harms. /2
Meta/Instagram/Facebook DC public relations has spent nearly a decade shielding its execs from for everything from genocide to the largest data breaches to foreign adversaries weakening democracies to harming our future generation. Just read these two parts of this NYT report. /3
Mark Zuckerberg, on behalf of his products, primarily Instagram and Facebook, faces the full Senate Judiciary Cmte now along with four other CEOs (three under subpoena) for harming children. This is how it has begun, “Mr Zuckerberg…you have blood on your hands. /1
After Republican and Democratic leadership show alignment on dealing with Zuckerberg backed up by the bipartisan state attorneys general lawsuits across the nation, the Chair again reiterates that Twitter’s CEO along with two others had to come under subpoena. Now under oath. /2
He’s sweating again, @karaswisher. In all seriousness, I haven’t seen him this vulnerable in years. The state AGs evidence, likely in hands of other concerning enforcers, is quite bad for Zuckerberg (and the entire company, Sandberg included). /3