What Tay Taught us When the Internet Taught Her Hate Speech

http://blog.adl.org/extremism/what-tay-taught-us-when-the-internet-taught-her-hate-speech

It’s tough being born as a teenager. Yesterday, Microsoft launched its new artificial intelligence (AI) computer bot — named Tay and envi­sioned as a teenage girl – and she had a very rough first day.  She was imme­di­ately besieged by excited techies, the curi­ous and the haters. In a few hours, she was drawn into tens of thou­sands of exchanges. In the process, racists, anti-Semites, misog­y­nists and other haters manip­u­lated her into repeat­ing some highly offen­sive state­ments.  Microsoft may have taught Tay to con­verse and to retweet, but they failed to rec­og­nize that she would need to engage in some crit­i­cal think­ing, and to know how to rec­og­nize when some­one else was say­ing some­thing offensive.

Microsoft should have prob­a­bly antic­i­pated the prob­lems Tay might encounter. How­ever, Microsoft did not pro­gram Tay to spew hate.  It was clearly the Internet’s dark forces who came out to meet Tay and do their damage.

Microsoft and Tay  are not alone in fac­ing this type of prob­lem.  Every major Inter­net plat­form, inter­ac­tive app and online busi­ness has expe­ri­enced some­thing sim­i­lar at some time.  These hic­cups are all learn­ing expe­ri­ences. In this case, Tay taught Microsoft and all of us a les­son. We need to be bet­ter aware of how quickly things can get ugly on the Inter­net, how impor­tant crit­i­cal think­ing is to all tech users, and  how, despite our best efforts, the worst big­ots and haters online are never far from the surface.

Inno­va­tion, exper­i­men­ta­tion and adven­ture in tech­nol­ogy are nec­es­sary and impor­tant, and should never be dis­cour­aged. Tay’s first expo­sure to peo­ple didn’t go as well as it might have.  But we hope every­one has learned some­thing along the way. Tay 2.0 should be very interesting.

It's Not an Information Highway

The Internet is not an information Highway.  It is not that orderly.

It is an information ocean.  Vast and chaotic. There are monsters and submerged obstacles below. Storms above.

Changes in technology, culture, companies, law, policy and events  create tides, currents and swells. We find ourselves blown, unexpectedly, into unfriendly ports.

We need to float and navigate. Sometimes we need to swim and sometimes to hold our breath so we don't drown.Unforeseen challenges are always just over the horizon and coming from every angle.

This is not a highway, not even close.

But as bad as it can be, it is important. It is the ultimate source of food for our minds and hearts.

Tech-ing as Good as the Bad Guys

Are you frustrated by hate on the Internet? Are you frustrated by not getting the response you want from the platforms? Do you know what your problem is? You're not as good at using the Internet as the bad guys.

The haters, terrorists and malefactors seem to have all the time in the world figure out technology, the Internet and the best way to confound the platforms. They have to. Manipulating and circumventing tech companies prohibited use policies and mechanisms is critical to distributing their vitriol.

It seems like we are always chasing after the bad. This is, in part, because we stubbornly cling to the idea that people are looking for the best uses of technology, not the worst. Of course, if you are someone  intent on creating mayhem, destruction and distress, that is what you would define as the best use of technology.  The bad players are out there and trying to use the best tech in the worst ways, and with great dedication.

Our most common response to hate is to turn it off, shut it down or shout it down. That is simply not enough.  The bad guys don't just shout down the good, they work diligently to out-maneuver it. They collaborate and build on each other's work to create targeted false narratives, dialogues and distortions.  The lesson we need to learn from them starts there.

We need to anticipate how good products will be manipulated and prohibited content definitions will be conflated. Current events and history, good and bad, need to be viewed as potential weapons against truth and common sense. They need to be defended before they are assailed. We cannot just promote good speech, inspiring messages and social good. Out maneuvering bad speech, anticipating its emergence and developing collaborative efforts need to be a genuine priority - perhaps even beyond liking,  friending and selfies.

This is not the fun side of technology. It is not something that would occur to most people to be concerned about. Unfortunately, it is an all too reflexive behavior for those that are compromising the the promise of technology. We need to use tech, policy and our determination as well as the bad guys do, maybe even better.

The Bad Mirror - Social Media

Approximately 200 million people use social media of one sort or another. Why? Because we like it. We like it because it puts us in touch with friends and family. We like it because we get to choose what our individualized social media shows us.  It confirm our own beliefs, no matter how awful, twisted or incomplete they are. None of us is perfect and our personalized social media mirrors reflect back our own images as best it can, which isn't always very good. Even for the best people out there, social media is a bad mirror.

A carnival mirror is obvious in its flaws. Your car even warns you that its mirrors distort what you see in them. In both cases they are usually labeled accordingly. Not so social media.

Most platforms, and more so the worse they are, try to convince users they are seeing hidden truth, real truth, real reality or some equally meaningless description of the warped refection they show.

Some people don't want anything more. However, if you do the answer is painful,  difficult and simple.

 Look away from the bad mirror.

The internet is a business.  Websites of any size are businesses. They want to lure you in as best they can. They will tell you what they think you want to hear in order to get you to visit and stay a while. Maybe get you to register, follow, like and heart - even better.

Look away from the mirror sometime. When you hear, see or receive something that is completely out of left field or just sounds wrong, look around for yourself and ask questions. The Holocaust did happen and it was worse than  you can imagine. 9/11 was terrorists, not a conspiracy.Your skin, hair, eye color, height, weight, sexuality or where you were born has nothing to do with how innately intelligent or dangerous you are.

Take nothing at  face value. Face value is two dimensional - so is the reflection in the the bad mirror. The world isn't. But don't take my word for it, look for yourself. Always look as deep as you can.

Owning Hate - The New Way to Win

Impartiality in media, government and public opinion is now unquestionably a thing of the past.  The resulting rampant bias, closed mindedness or inflexibility manifests itself, inevitably, online. Sometimes it is malicious, sometimes through careless statements, sometimes habitual bias and other times outright calculated manipulation. The big issue is that the two, online hate and real world hate, feed on each other. Malicious and manipulative online content influences the real world audience. It is most commonly a result of content being shared without attribution. Disinformation, distortions, parafacts, lies and defamation shed the tainted patina of their truth of their source, gain credibility and resurface as bias, hate, intolerance and prejudice in worldwide media, the UN, public opinion and from the mouths of government officials. Bad information feeds back into the inter-world. It encourages and nourishes the ugly edges of our real-world.

Breaking this cycle of corrupted information exchange is the best tactic available for fighting hate. This is often called counterspeech. It is, at its heart, reminding people of the facts.  Marriage equality happened because the gay community steadfastly refuted the lies being told about same sex couples; they broke the bad-info cycle. Voting rights in the 1960’s happened, in part, because the Black community insisted on being Americans, just Americans. . Lizzie Velasquez rejected the title of the “world’s ugliest woman” and showed what beauty really is.  Clever Pie and Isabel Fay and many others have taken hateful comments and turned them in to songs, poems and comedy. All of them took ownership of the hate and in doing so, made a real change.

Influencing some changes are less realistic than others. You are not going to change the anti-Israel bias in the U.N., New York Times or BBC and neither are you going to undo the Russian, North Korean, Iranian anti-west tendencies or the religious fundamental objection to the LGBTQ life. You are not going to change the KKK, David Duke, Sheriff Joe Arpaio or any hardcore racist, misogynist, anti-Semite, ageist or troll. Change is up to the hater, not you. However, owning the hate gives the hated and their supporters a chance to show the world how absurd, disgusting, ignorant, pointless and ridiculous the bias voices actually are. 

Owning the hate is not for everyone, especially not the weak of heart. It takes confidence, creativity, a thick skin, intelligence and above all, a dogged commitment. Lies and disinformation must not be ignored and cannot be met with mere denial; they must be confronted with mountains of verifiable truth – repeatedly. Even then, the truth needs to be defended constantly. The agents of hate and their followers, both active and tacit, always look for opportunities corrode and corrupt truth and reason. Speaking out against hate is free speech too. #ownthehate               

http://jhvonline.com/cyberhate-crimes-against-jewish-institutions-on-the-rise-p19968-164.htm

Cyberhate crimes against Jewish institutions on the rise

By AARON HOWARD | JHV•   Thu, Oct 08, 2015

On April 15, an individual or group calling itself “Gaza Hacker Team” hacked into and defaced the Jewish Press newspaper website. On March 24, hackers identifying themselves as “ISIS cyber army” claimed responsibility for breaking into 51 American websites.

While the No. 1 reason for computer hacking continues to be criminal financial gain, there’s been an increase in cyberhate hacking in the past year. Much of the cyberhate is aimed at the Jewish community.

According to an Anti-Defamation League report, recent anti-Semitic hacker targets included a Jewish high school, synagogues in five states and universities in five states. While previous hacking efforts against Jewish institutions traditionally have focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, recent attacks have been carried out in the name of the Islamic State.

“Cyberhate focuses on the air of creating a threat,” explained Jonathan Vick. “It is an attempt to disenfranchise people. Hackers will deface a website or something connected to the Jewish community and put up anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish propaganda to create a type of digital terror.”

Vick is the assistant director for Cyberhate Response at the Cyber Safety Center in ADL’s Center on Extremism in New York. Vick was in Houston, Sept. 30-Oct. 2. He spoke to attendees at the ADL Cybersecurity seminar, which was attended by a number of local Jewish organizations and businesses. He also addressed members of the Glass Leadership Institute and Houston business leaders and lawyers.

Once upon a time, hacking largely was the domain of groups of youngish people who broke into computers as a hobby or to create credibility for themselves in the programming community. In the early 1990s, some hacker activists began breaking into computer networks to promote their own political agendas. In the last decade, hackers around the world increasingly have adopted the veneer of a political cause to justify acts of cyberterrorism.

“For example, this January, a group of anti-Israel hackers calling themselves ‘Terrorists Team for Electronic Jihad’ claimed responsibility for several attacks against Israeli websites on behalf of ISIS,” said Vick.

“So, it’s no longer about simple digital trespass. Cyberterrorism and cyberhate now become noble by taking on all these political themes that make crime sound better. But, the main purpose of cyberhate attacks is to create panic and terror in people’s minds.

“Cyberhate crimes are illegal. It’s not just invasion of privacy. It’s in the same category as breaking into a computer for fraud or embezzlement. You’re illegally accessing someone’s computer account.”

Vick argued that most Jewish organizations are not current in their level of protection against cyberhate attacks. “In terms of how Jewish organizations manage their computer operations, most institutions and professionals are not as careful about this as we should be,” said Vick.

“The level of protection, diligence, awareness, staying up to date with equipment and software is a job in itself. So, it is difficult for the average person to stay on top. Ironically, it seems easier for the hackers, who seem to have more time on their hands than the rest of us, to stay ahead of the curve.”

New cyberhate and cyberterrorist groups pop up regularly. For example, Vick currently is following a group called AnonGhost Team. This group posts copies of all the websites they hacked on a boast board (a website where hackers post their successes). The bragging is a propaganda tool, without a doubt, said Vick.

“Since January, AnonGhost claims to have defaced thousands of websites, from Syrian sites to Israeli ones, although they have a definite preference for Jewish-themed organizations. We’ve knocked down their Facebook page several times. We interrupt their ability to brag about what they want to do.”

Yet, this sort of cyberterrorism continues to expand. Vick urged Jewish organizations to take three basic steps to counter the threat of cyberhate attacks:

Make sure your website is hosted by a professional company. Confirm that the host company provides security and the 24-hour round-the-clock response you need in case of an attack on erev Shabbat or on a Jewish holiday.

Confirm the program used to create your website is up to date. (Older programs have vulnerabilities which open the door to cyberattacks.)

Have an action plan prepared and accessible. If someone phones to report a website breach and a secretary picks up the call, all the secretary needs to do is quickly access an emergency response guidebook with telephone numbers and emails and action plan included.

Vick’s bottom line: Cyberhate isn’t a matter of youthful mischief. It’s a type of intimidation.

“Sometimes, an institution has membership lists or other valuable information on their website. So, there can be a more insidious side to these attacks,” Vick said.

“Avoid becoming a target. Be aware of your email and screen names (overtly identifying yourself with political, ethnic or racial identification).

“Most important: Respond when things happen. If your email account gets hijacked, go to IC3 (the Internet Crime Complaint Center site). File a complaint. Call the police if you feel threatened by an email.

“Regardless of where you stand on your politics, when it comes to outside world and anti-Semitism, all Jews are in the same boat.”

The Victim Maze

The Internet remembers everything - birthdays, parties, graduations, grandparents, love and loss. It also remembers revenge porn, murderabilia, hate memes and impostor, hijacked or hacked accounts. If you are a victim of targeted abuse, your problems may already be stored in any number of places and now have a life of their own.

It’s not Google. Google, Yahoo, Bing and all the other search engines and browsers are not the source, they are the catalog.  It is not any one service, platform or website. It is all of them together - along with libraries, archives and data depositories.

Anything posted on the Internet can find its way into one of these corners and hide or emerge at any time. Like a digital rat of data in the walls of a rambling virtual metropolis - multiplying.

When some falsehood, lie, distortion or defamation happens, it can never be fully erased. Even if the perpetrator is taken to court, found guilty and order to take down the content, they can be powerless to eliminate everything they are ordered to remove. The nasty bit of evil at issue may have already found a  hiding place in some dark corner of the net.  

The victims are left with one alternative, run the maze, chase the data rats and kill them when possible.

But data resurfaces at unpredictable times. Victims of crime, abuse and malice can be re-victimized again and again. This memory quirk of technology that makes the Internet so important and horrifying simultaneously is now the core of our daily lives.

The possible answers are equally ugly. Preemptively control content? Make the perpetrators and not the victims responsible for the perpetual clean-up?

We need to agree on the questions before we can hope for answers.