Human rights in the metaverse

Presented by the Coalition for App Fairness: How the next wave of technology is upending the global economy and its power structures

Jun 07, 2022 View in browser   By Derek Robertson Presented by With help from Sam Sutton A pedestrian walks by the company logo at Meta headquarters. | Just Sullivan/Getty Images Meta has had its fair share of human rights issues in the company's history, from the Rohingya massacre to Cambridge Analytica. So it's only natural that the human rights community would be skeptical of its promise to revolutionize the way we use the internet itself, via the 3D overlay on the world the metaverse promises. Whether or not they can prove those skeptics wrong might come down to what tradeoffs the company and its fellow virtual worldbuilders are willing to make. For now, they're somewhat predictably keeping their cards close to their chest. Yesterday evening Meta's director of human rights Miranda Sissons shed some light on the subject during a panel discussion disquietingly titled "Human rights and the metaverse: are we already behind the curve?" Sissons first touted the potential for AR/VR technology to improve quality of life in the real world, through its uses in fields like automotive safety or medical diagnostics. But that's not the "metaverse." And when it comes to the rules for the new virtual spaces Meta is building, well… they're contingent. "Many of the salient risks are related to our behaviors as humans," Sissons said. "And many of those behaviors can be mitigated or prevented through guardrails, standards and design principles, as well as design priorities." But what are those principles, exactly? The human rights community provides a slew of formal tools through which to evaluate the impact of any given technology and prevent harms like those in the Rohingya and Cambridge Analytica cases, and Sissons argued that companies should follow the frameworks for human rights compliance put forth by groups like the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Katitza Rodriguez , who has called for companies to place strict regulations around the kind of data their devices might collect and store, including potential "emotion detection," attended yesterday's session virtually as well. She said Sissons' vision might require Meta to make some uncomfortable trade-offs. "You have to educate and train engineers, marketing teams, etc., on the importance on human rights and the consequence of their product to society," Rodriguez said. "It's hard, but it's important… How to mitigate human rights risks? Avoid including face recognition in the product. These are difficult choices to make." And there's no shortage of examples of what happens when these choices don't get made early on in a tech's lifespan. "What we've learned from other immersive worlds like video gaming is that the norms that are set early on really define the culture of the space," Chloe Poynton, the panel moderator and an advisor at the consulting firm Article One, told me afterward. Daniel Leufer, a senior policy analyst for Access Now, argued passionately on the panel against the frequent refrain that it's not possible for regulators to keep pace with the development of new technologies, saying "often very basic things like data protection, transparency, access to information, do so much work." Brussels, where Leufer is based, has clearly caught onto this notion with its slew of regulations around data privacy and AI in recent years. As hazy as Meta's promises might be at the moment, however, there are in fact signs that regulators stateside might be catching up — this week's surprise bipartisan draft bill on privacy is beginning to provide clarity around who has the power to set and enforce privacy laws.   A message from the Coalition for App Fairness: For too long, Apple & Google have abused their monopoly power to eliminate competition on mobile devices. For consumers, that has meant fewer choices, reduced innovation and higher costs. In fact, 8 in 10 developers say it's time to open up mobile app stores to competition. It's time to make app stores freer, fairer, and more competitive. The Open App Markets Act will create a level playing field for developers and give consumers choice and freedom.   ai arms race This photo taken Tuesday, May 7, 2019, shows a security camera in the Financial District of San Francisco. | Eric Risberg/AP Photo Today the National Endowment for Democracy released a report on the "Global Struggle Over AI Surveillance," that addresses "both the democracy implications of new technologies and vectors for civil society involvement in their design, deployment, and operation." The authors emphasize the threat posed by AI-powered surveillance to civil liberties and privacy, homing in on the global threat it poses in potentially giving autocratic regimes a leg up on their ability to repress various societal groups — as well as freedom of expression itself. The report offers a slew of potential remedies as such, including establishing more concrete rules and regulations around AI development and use (like Europe is doing) and creating a body of global oversight. The report pays special attention to China, whose fearsome high-tech surveillance state is already a model for oppressive regimes across the globe. "Beijing is moving rapidly to write rules for AI systems," the authors note. "These efforts will give Beijing substantial sway when it comes to shaping global rules around AI surveillance technology, which could in turn diminish the role of human rights norms in these frameworks" — all the more reason, they argue, to move more quickly in the free(-r) world. bitcoin court battles First in Digital Future Daily: The attorney who defended Obamacare in front of the U.S. Supreme Court is getting into bitcoin. Grayscale Investments has tapped former Solicitor General Don Verrilli to assist in a looming legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission over plans to convert its $20 billion Bitcoin trust into an investment fund whose shares would trade on the NYSE. The SEC rejected similar bids for a Bitcoin-based exchange traded fund, including a high-profile effort led by former Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci, on the grounds that they're too risky for retail investors. Grayscale is hoping to tip the scales with its fund by bringing in Verrilli, who was the Obama administration's top litigator on landmark health care and same-sex marriage cases, to hone their pitch to the markets regulator and provide back-up if they take their argument to court. The firm's been laying groundwork for a legal challenge for months, arguing that a rejection of their bid would be unfair given the SEC's approval of ETFs tied to bitcoin futures contracts — a more indirect financial instrument that's regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. They've also sought to build a grassroots movement around their efforts through an aggressive public relations and advocacy campaign that blanketed Washington's Union Station with ads and inundated the SEC with support letters. "Hopefully, we won't need to be going to court because we're doing everything we can to convince the commission that approval is the right answer here," Verrilli, a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson, said in an interview. He added that the SEC is going to have "a great deal of difficulty distinguishing the futures ETF from the spot [market] ETF." — Sam Sutton   A message from the Coalition for App Fairness:   The Future In 5 Links Sens. Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand are introducing their legislation to provide some regulatory clarity for crypto. Is it even possible to scale up the kind of battery production that would fuel an electric-powered future? Big data is extending its tendrils through the highest levels of the legal system. Meta is powering up its AI research as part of its metaverse push. Sotheby's first-ever NFT-only evening sale ended with some major drama. Stay in touch with the whole team: Ben Schreckinger (bschreckinger@politico.com); Derek Robertson (drobertson@politico.com); Konstantin Kakaes (kkakaes@politico.com);  and Heidi Vogt (hvogt@politico.com). If you've had this newsletter forwarded to you, you can sign up here. And read our mission statement here.   A message from the Coalition for App Fairness: The Open App Markets Act is a commonsense, bipartisan solution that would bring an end to the anti-competitive practices of mobile gatekeepers. It would open up app stores, giving consumers the freedom to choose where to get apps and how to make purchases inside apps. It would allow developers to communicate directly with their customers, without a middleman. And it would ban app store owners from giving their apps an advantage over others. The bill has widespread support from developers and consumers alike, along with security experts who say greater competition on mobile devices will increase security and accountability. It's time for Congress to bring an end to the anticompetitive practices of Apple and Google and pass the Open App Markets Act.     Follow us on Twitter Ben Schreckinger @SchreckReports Derek Robertson @afternoondelete Konstantin Kakaes @kkakaes Heidi Vogt @HeidiVogt   Follow us

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