FTI Consulting News Bytes – 26th August 2022

This week’s news

Twitter whistleblower makes negligence allegations

An ex-Twitter security chief has accused the company of negligence in relation to its cyber security and information privacy practices. Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, in a disclosure sent to Congress, argued that Twitter’s alleged negligence poses a threat to stakeholders, shareholders and national security. CNN was provided access to the disclosure, and reported that it ‘paints a picture of a chaotic and reckless environment at a mismanaged company that allows too many of its staff access to the platform’s central controls and most sensitive information without adequate oversight.’ Zatko argues that Twitter’s alleged lack of control over its platform opens it up to manipulation, spying, and disinformation campaigns, also adds that he thinks Twitter does not have a good grasp on the number of bots on its site – information that could be relevant in the ongoing Elon Musk lawsuit. Zatko was fired from Twitter in January for ‘poor performance’ and is being represented by John Tye, founder of Whistleblower Aid.

PlayStation sued for up to £5bn in class-action lawsuit

The Competition Appeal Tribunal is attempting to sue Sony’s PlayStation on behalf of 8.9 million gamers, who, it argues, have fallen victim to PlayStation’s alleged monopoly on digital sales, the Financial Times reports. Consumer rights expert Alex Neill has lodged the lawsuit, which represents the latest collective action to be filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal. It comes amidst a recent wave of US-style class actions against large companies such as BT, Apple and Qualcomm. These kinds of filings have proliferated since a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2020, which allowed a £10bn lawsuit brought by former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks on behalf of 46.2mn people against Mastercard to proceed. If found guilty, PlayStation could be liable to refund up to £5bn to its customers, whom the CAT argue were overcharged each time they made a digital transaction for a video game or an in-game purchase.

The rise of “accent translation”

AI has been thrown back in the hot seat this week as a startup has been found harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to make call centre workers sound more “white and American.” ‘Accent Translation’ is emerging in the technological space as a way to alter the accents of call centre workers to “improve understanding” between callers and customers, VICE reports. However, with call centre labour often being outsourced to countries such as India and the Philippines, experts fear that the accent translation trend could perpetuate pre-existing accent biases that trigger racism and ethnocentric biases. According to Screenshot, several call centre employees in Asian countries have already adopted American names and are being pressured to develop accents that will sound more ‘neutral’ to Americans. Is this technology a useful way to improve understanding and communication? Or a plaster-solution deployed to address, and potentially profit from, racist and unconscious biases?

UK launches “Scale-up” visa to attract tech talent post-Brexit

As the UK seeks to plug the digital skills gap, a new business visa program will sponsor high-skilled tech workers for a two-year stay, UKTN reports. Certain businesses will be able to apply to sponsor workers coming into software development, engineering, science and R&D roles. British tech companies have struggled to bring in overseas talent since Brexit. Data published by Tech Nation shows that tech job vacancies are at a 10-year high as companies look for talent with the right skillsets. The government hopes the new scheme will help alleviate the issue. The initiative was launched by Kevin Foster MP, the Minister for Safe and Legal Migration, who hopes it will enable businesses to “focus on their growth and innovation by giving them more freedom to bring in the diverse skills and experience they need, making them more attractive on an international stage.”

Gen Z swipes left on Tinder

As long-time rival Bumble and newcomer Thursday take up market share, Tinder appears to be struggling to to retain its userbase, the Financial Times reports. Downloads of Tinder, the app where users choose whether to ‘match’ with potential partners by swiping left or right on their photo, dropped 5 per cent in 2021 to 70.7mn. In contrast, Thursday, a new start-up which focuses more on face-to-face interaction and hosts singles nights, has seen consistent growth. In response, Tinder has restructured its leadership and placed its faith in the Metaverse, where it hopes the future of online dating lies. Tinder’s reputation as a ‘hookup’ app is deterring Gen Z, and Tinder say their userbase is aging. Tinder accounts for over half the revenue of its parent company Match, whose heritage platforms such as Match.com are steadily declining in popularity.

Top Tweets of the Week

• NASA tweets: “Giant news from a giant planet! @NASAWebb captured a new view of Jupiter in infrared light, uncovering clues to the planet’s inner life. Two moons, rings, and distant galaxies are visible.”
• Meghan Bobrowsky, Wall Street Journal reporter, tweets: “Scoop: Snap is scrapping development on its Pixy flying selfie camera project less than 4 months after launching it. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel shared the news in a regular companywide Q&A known as “Ask Evan” and said it’s part of broader reprioritization.”
• KSL tweets: “Google and a team of university researchers have hit on what they say could be an effective way to make people more impervious to the harmful impact of online misinformation.”

Number of the Week

$465m – The amount of money Amazon has spent on its new Lord of the Rings series, set to hit screens next Friday— almost enough to make Top Gun: Maverick three times over.

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