⚖️ Scamazon Prime?

The FTC says Amazon tricked people into joining Prime and made it difficult to unsubscribe

June 22, 2023

IN THIS ISSUE 🛍️ The FTC is suing Amazon for tricking people into joining Prime 🐦 Australia threatens to fine Twitter $475K per day over hate speech 🎾 Wimbledon will feature AI-generated commentary this year

UP FIRST Bombshell lawsuit alleges that Amazon tricked people into joining Prime It also says account cancellation was made purposefully complex The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Amazon, accusing it of enrolling customers in its Prime program without their consent and making it hard to cancel subscriptions.   The FTC's complaint alleges that the online shopping giant has "knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime," accusing it of using "manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs known as 'dark patterns' to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions."   The FTC is also accusing Amazon of making it difficult for subscribers to leave Prime by creating a "labyrinthine" cancellation process, though following FTC pressure it recently simplified the steps.   Amazon described the FTC's claims as "false on the facts and the law," adding: "We make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up for or cancel their Prime membership. As with all our products and services, we continually listen to customer feedback and look for ways to improve the customer experience, and we look forward to the facts becoming clear as this case plays out."   Axios notes that the lawsuit represents a significant move against Amazon by FTC Chair Lina Khan as she sets about targeting tech firms for perceived unfair competition strategies and violations of consumer protection laws. Read more

SOCIAL MEDIA Australia is threatening to fine Twitter $475K per day over hate speech Officials claim Twitter has 'dropped the ball on tackling hate' Twitter is in the crosshairs of Australia's cyber watchdog, with the social media company asked to explain what it's doing to prevent online hate.   The eSafety commissioner revealed on Thursday that it's received more complaints about online hate on Twitter in the past 12 months than any other platform, and has received an increasing number of reports of serious online abuse since Elon Musk's acquisition of the company in October.   Twitter has been told to respond to the watchdog within 28 days or face a penalty of about $475,000 per day.   eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Twitter's policies prohibit hateful conduct on the platform, but the increase in complaints suggests Twitter is failing to enforce its own rules.   The Australian agency noted that the complaints have come in the wake of Musk's decision last November to reinstate tens of thousands of previously banned or suspended accounts, including 75 with more than 1 million followers.   "Twitter appears to have dropped the ball on tackling hate," the commissioner said. "A third of all complaints about online hate reported to us are now happening on Twitter." Read more

ON THE HORIZON IBM's Watson AI will deliver commentary for next month's Wimbledon Tennis Championship Human sports commentators will be quaking in their boots Sports commentators who thought they were safe from the ever-expanding tentacles of generative AI should think again.   In a first for professional tennis, and possibly the entire sports world, this year's Wimbledon Tennis Championships will deploy an AI-powered commentator for all of its video highlights.   The new feature is powered by IBM's WatsonX AI platform and will provide audio commentary of key moments in all of the matches, including those on the outside courts. Human commentators will continue to provide live coverage from the show courts.   "The tool has been designed to give fans a more insightful experience when catching up on key moments from matches with highlights videos on the Wimbledon app and wimbledon.com," IBM said.   To build the new feature, experts from IBM worked with Wimbledon's All England Club to train the AI in the "unique language of tennis." The computer giant said the resulting commentary will offer "varied sentence structure and vocabulary to make the clips informative and engaging."   The idea of AI-generated commentary sounds intriguing. The fact that it's being used for recorded highlights may reassure most professional commentators, but perhaps it won't be too long before a more advanced version has the power to observe, analyze, and commentate in real time. Read more

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