Governments must urgently tackle online disinformation says AI pioneer Stuart Russell
Thursday, 26 October, 2023
'AI and Society' takes place in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, Wednesday, November 8th, 10.30am – 2pm. Opening address by Ireland’s AI Ambassador, Patricia Scanlon, keynote by Stuart Russell, professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and panel discussion with Niamh Hodnett, Online Safety Commissioner of Ireland, Prof Barry O’Sullivan, director of the SFI Insight Centre for Data Analytics and Debbie Ging, professor of Digital Media at Dublin City University. This event is a partnership between Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, UCD Discovery and UCD Digital Policy Centre.
As Ireland sets up its new commission for regulating broadcast and online media, Coimisiún na Meán, one of the world’s most respected voices in AI says governments must urgently tackle polarising online disinformation.
“Social media companies should not be doing their own content moderation. I think you need third party organisations for that,” advises Stuart Russell, author of Human Compatible – AI and the Problem of Control. “Stock markets have auditors to make sure that companies are telling the truth about their profits. The property sector has notaries and title registries and all sorts of extra apparatus to make sure that there's enough truth in the system to ensure people can trust it.”
He says social media platforms like Meta and X/Twitter, both of which have their European headquarters in Dublin, should be compelled to share how their recommender systems work. These are the algorithms that decide what content users see.
“It is absolutely essential that we have access to this information to measure what's going on. We need to ensure the regulator has access to measure what type of content people are consuming and to measure changes in public opinion as reflected in the content they are consuming. I think those kinds of things are an absolute minimum. How do you design algorithms so they are actually helpful rather than harmful? If we had access I think we could do that.”
"Social media companies should not be their own moderators. I think we need third party organisations for that."
At the moment, he says, there is “fairly clear evidence that those algorithms have learned to promote false information and clickbait style content”, leading to “polarisation, isolation and depression” among users.
Our youngest citizens are most at risk with unregulated AI.
“I think there needs to be a lot more to protect children. That seems to be a place where governments are able to muster some courage because there's obviously a great deal of public concern about what's happening to children.”
The Irish Data Protection Commission has already imposed a €405 million fine on Facebook owner Meta for violating children’s privacy on its Instagram service, and a €345 million fine on video-sharing service TikTok, also for children’s data breaches. Both companies are appealing these decisions.
Meanwhile last month TikTok disclosed that the company dismantled a ‘covert influence operation’ network dedicated to targeting users in Ireland with ‘divisive’ content to ‘intensify social conflict’. The influence network was made up of 72 accounts with a combined following of almost 95,000 users and was shut down earlier this year.
“So they dismantled one network out of a thousand networks so they made almost no real dent,” says Russell. “And it's not reasonable that companies can keep this secret. If a nation is under attack, it needs to know about and be able to do something about it.”
“I think there needs to be a lot more to protect children. That seems to be a place where governments are able to muster some courage because there's obviously a great deal of public concern about what's happening to children.”
Niamh Hodnett, Online Safety Commissioner at Ireland’s new media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, says they intend to hold online platforms to account for the steps they take to prevent their users from being harmed by disinformation.
“It is important to say here that it is not our role to decide what information is true or false, our role is to ensure that platforms recognise the risks of disinformation and act accordingly to prevent people from being harmed,” she clarifies.
“Regulators like Coimisiún na Meán will be monitoring platforms’ approaches to content moderation and complaint handling. It will need to be sufficient to keep users safe and we may intervene where appropriate.”
An Coimisiún wants platforms to create a safe online environment for children.
“This includes taking steps to ensure that children do not access inappropriate content, such as pornography or acts of violence as well as harmful content online including cyberbullying, content which promotes self harm or suicide or eating or feeding disorders and illegal content which includes child sex abuse material and non consensual intimate image sharing,” says Hodnett. “Children need to be protected from contact with strangers which can facilitate grooming. Effective and accessible parent control measures need to be in place. Children will also have access to tools to report unsafe content or interactions with other users.”
Hodnett agrees that how algorithmic systems shape the visibility and promotion of content, and its societal and ethical impact, is an area of growing concern.
“There is a strong push globally for greater transparency of how online platforms operate. An important part of our work will be to build an in-depth understanding of how social media services work under the bonnet. Coimisiún na Meán will be a Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) under the Digital Services Act (DSA), working closely with the other DSCs and the European Commission. Measures adopted under the DSA call for algorithmic accountability and transparency audits,” she adds. “As part of our duties under the DSA, we will also be certifying vetted researchers to get access to data. Social media companies will also have to explain to users how and why recommender systems select content to show to users in ways that these users, including children, can easily understand.”
If you would like to attend AI and Society, contact discovery@ucd.ie