Facebook Builds a Censorship Tool | Crunch Report

TL;DR

Facebook develops a censorship tool to enter the Chinese market, Twitter accidentally suspends its CEO's account, researchers discover a way to turn headphones into a microphone, scientists work on artificial muscles like those in "Westworld," and Ditto is now available in Pokémon Go.

Transcript

Facebook built a censorship tool to get into China Twitter suspends and CEOs Twitter account did L is now in Pokemon go and more it's Wednesday November 23rd and this is crunch report tomorrow's Thanksgiving and I'm ready for it must stuff my face all that turkey mashed potatoes stuffing cranberry sauce hello Lala I love it all so ready here's the ... Read More

Key Insights

• 🤨 Facebook's censorship tool for China presents both an opportunity for revenue growth but also raises concerns about enabling human rights abuses.
• ✋ Twitter's temporary suspension of its CEO's account highlights the risk of internal mistakes and their impact on high-profile users.
• 👂 The headphone-turned-microphone exploit discovered by Israeli researchers adds to the list of potential privacy and security vulnerabilities.
• 💪 Development of nylon-based artificial muscles at MIT could have far-reaching consequences for robotics and human-machine interactions.

Questions & Answers

Q: How does Facebook plan to re-enter the Chinese market?

Facebook has developed a censorship tool that could hide posts about prohibited topics from users in China. Instead of directly censoring content, Facebook may provide this tool to a third-party local partner company to enforce government rules.

Q: Why was Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account suspended?

Twitter temporarily suspended Jack Dorsey's account for a couple of hours due to an internal mistake. It was not related to the recent suspension of certain far-right figures on the platform.

Q: What security concern do researchers from Israel raise with headphones?

Israeli researchers have found a way to repurpose audio codec chips in headphones, allowing them to function as a microphone. This raises concerns about privacy and security as hackers could potentially exploit this vulnerability.

Q: How might artificial muscles like those in "Westworld" change robotics?

Researchers at MIT are developing a nylon-based artificial muscle filament that could give robots a wider range of fluid movements. This technology could revolutionize robotics and lead to more human-like machines.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Facebook has created a censorship tool to comply with Chinese regulations and potentially gain access to the large user base and ad revenue in the country.

• Twitter accidentally suspends its CEO's account for a few hours due to an internal mistake, causing some concern among users.

• Researchers in Israel have found a way to repurpose audio codec chips to use headphones as a microphone, raising privacy and security concerns.

• Scientists at MIT are developing a nylon-based artificial muscle filament that could lead to more fluid movements in robots, similar to those in the TV show "Westworld."

• Pokémon Go players can now catch Ditto, which disguises itself as other common Pokémon on the map.