Welcome back to Tech Chronicle. If you find yourself in the desert of the real, this fine newsletter might just be the delicious drink of truth you need.
Fake it until you make it
Twitter has labeled a misleadingly edited video of Joe Biden, promoted by President Trump’s re-election campaign, as manipulated. It’s a laudable effort by the company to fight deceptive electioneering online with deepfakes or dumbfakes. (The pro-Trump video, hardly a sophisticated clip job, probably falls in the latter category). But I worry that it’s running against a huge cultural tide.
TikTok, whose U.S. operations are up for sale in a politically charged process, is desensitizing an entire generation to viewing videos as “real.” With easy editing tools to mash up smash cuts, TikTok has become an engaging distraction during quarantine, both in the making and consuming. But it takes us further and further away from the idea of video as a durable record of true events.
This change has been long in the making. We might trace it back to “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow,” the film that revolutionized Hollywood with its “digital backlot” — all blue screens and computerized editing. Apple’s iPhone, more powerful than the computers filmmaker Kerry Conran used, and TikTok’s software have put those tools in the hands of teens everywhere. No wonder it’s become such a global hot potato.
Instagram, once famous for its #nofilter photos, which eschewed the photo app’s built-in lenses, has mimicked TikTok with its new Reels feature, putting manipulated video in the hands of far more users. TikTok fans say Instagram’s editing tools aren’t as good, but that doesn’t matter: It’s the idea that any record of our everyday experiences could be a bit more fun if given some adjustments.
Other algorithmic editing tools are popping up: If you want to insert your face over Gwyneth Paltrow’s to play intrepid reporter Polly Perkins in “Sky Captain,” that can be done.
It’s one thing to remix fantasy dance clips and fictional movie scenes. It’s another to tinker with facts. But as we grow inured to the question of whether anything we see on our phones is really real, how will we know the difference?
A bill that couldn’t go to market
AB3262, the product-liability bill I wrote about last week, died on Friday. Assemblymember Mark Stone, D-Santa Cruz, said the bill “will not advance in its present form” by the Monday deadline for passage out of both houses. Amazon.com had gotten behind the bill after revisions to make a wider set of electronic marketplaces liable for product defects; Etsy and other firms opposed it, pointing to vague language placing liability on businesses that “facilitated the placement in the stream of commerce,” which could have swept in everyone from website hosts to payment providers.
I think it’s just as well that the bill in its present form didn’t progress further. A sharper and more reasonable definition of when an online business is functioning as a retailer is in order. There should also be some recourse for consumers who purchase items that prove defective or dangerous, especially when the manufacturer is overseas and difficult to pursue through the American legal system. Taking more time to think through how we want e-commerce to work, for tech companies, independent sellers and online shoppers, can only be a good thing.
Remove this
There’s an odd epilogue to the saga of Go X, the e-scooter company that at first claimed to be operating legally, then defied San Francisco’s orders to shut down after its vehicles were parked without permits along Fisherman’s Wharf sidewalks. Even more bizarrely, the company created fake operating permits.
I took a photo of one of these scooters, which ran in a story about the company’s legal misadventures. That’s where things got weird. A representative of Go X filed a request to remove the story from Google’s search results, falsely claiming copyright over the photo I took. Hearst, the publisher of The Chronicle, challenged the takedown notice and Google agreed it was improper, restoring the story to its search index.
I’m not sure what to make of this, other than to sigh in disappointment. And point out that all Go X has accomplished here is to bring renewed attention to its misdeeds.
— Owen Thomas, othomas@sfchronicle.com
Quote of the week
“The general pattern is a clear trend towards Google and Facebook taking all the advertising revenue.” — European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, to Sky News on the tech giants’ growing duopoly in online advertising
Coming up
SaaStr, which postponed its annual conference about subscription business software and turned the event, originally planned to be held in San Jose, all-virtual as the pandemic loomed, is holding the event Wednesday and Thursday. With digital subscription services like Zoom taking off as people work and learn from home, it should be one to watch.
What I’m reading
Donie O’Sullivan on how an FBI tip led to Facebook’s latest move against Russian internet trolls. (CNN Business)
Carolyn Said on a bill that adds exemptions to California’s AB5 — though not for ride-hail drivers. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Nathaniel Popper on the other teenage mastermind behind the big Twitter hack. (New York Times)
Tech Chronicle is a weekly newsletter from Owen Thomas, The Chronicle’s business editor, and the rest of the tech team. Follow along on Twitter: @techchronicle and Instagram: @techchronicle
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September 02, 2020 at 06:00PM
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TikTok, Instagram are making manipulated videos easier to accept - San Francisco Chronicle
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