10 Mar The RADAR: Why Google, Microsoft, and Facebook had the biggest score declines in 2020

Original art by Paweł Kuczyński, used with permission.

This is the RADAR, Ranking Digital Rights’ newsletter. This special edition was sent on March 3, 2021. Subscribe here to get The RADAR by email.

Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Yahoo’s parent company (now Verizon Media) have dominated our rankings of digital platforms since 2015. But in 2020, things changed. 

For the first time, Twitter rose to the top. Google fell to fourth place, declining by more than 13 percentage points, and Facebook fell to fifth place, declining by more than 11 points. Google also earned the dubious distinction of showing the greatest score decline of all the companies we rank, with Microsoft and Facebook next in line.

Difference in total scores between 2019 and 2020 RDR Indexes. Learn more.

What caused their scores to drop so dramatically? The short answer is that these companies—and almost all the others we rank—showed no signs of maintaining adequate oversight or due diligence when it comes to their targeted ads and algorithms.

Although our research has always taken algorithms into account, we introduced new standards in 2020 that measure companies’ transparency and commitments to respecting human rights when building and deploying algorithmic systems. On average, these new indicators caused a five-point drop in companies’ scores.

Among all the companies we ranked in 2020, only Spain’s Telefónica and the U.K.-based Vodafone made commitments to uphold human rights in these processes. At the other end of the spectrum, we found companies like Google and Facebook, whose business models depend heavily on targeted advertising and algorithmic amplification of content—major drivers of disinformation and extremist content. These companies disclosed little to the public about how these systems work or how they assess their impact on human rights. They also offered users little to no control over how their data is collected and used to fuel these processes.

Spotlight on algorithms: Moving fast and breaking us all

In one of three featured essays that accompany the 2020 RDR Index, RDR Editorial Director Ellery Roberts Biddle and Research Analyst Jie Zhang offer a short tour of RDR’s findings in this new area, along with examples of the more apparent harms that algorithms can trigger.

“….[Our research suggests that] many of the world’s most powerful algorithms are accountable to no one—not even the companies that build and deploy them.

Some have made vague pledges to “be ethical,” and for all we know, there may be strong policies or rules that the companies follow behind closed doors. But the overall lack of public explanation of how these systems are built and run indicates that companies do not have oversight over how their own systems work. In light of the enormous effects that they have on human rights, public health, public safety, democracy, and our understanding of reality, this is nothing short of reckless.

For the 2020 RDR Index, we looked for companies’ answers to some fundamental questions about algorithms: How do you build and train them? What do they do? What standards guide these processes?

We combed the public-facing documentation and, to no surprise, found very, very little. Yet companies are harvesting user data by the minute, to fuel algorithmic optimization, engagement, and personalization—all things that translate to enormous profits.”

Read their essay →

Where to find us

Yale Law School and Wikimedia Initiative | Alternative Regulatory Responses to Misinformation
March 12 at 12:00 PM EST | Register here
RDR Company Engagement Lead Jan Rydzak and Senior Policy Consultant Elizabeth M. Renieris will discuss their new paper, Better Processes Lead to Better Outcomes, at the Yale Law School and Wikimedia Initiative on Intermediaries and Information, a co-hosted series on regulatory responses to misinformation.

MozFest | Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence & Freedom of Expression: Shaping Online Content with the OSCE and Access Now
March 16 at 1:00 PM EST | Register here
RDR Research Director Amy Brouillette will join a workshop led by the OSCE, Access Now, and Vote Rookie to discuss what should be done to better protect free speech online.

CIPE Philippines | Putting Digital Rights on the Corporate Governance Agenda
March 23 at 9:00 PM EST | Register here
RDR Founding Director Rebecca MacKinnon will join the Center for International Private Enterprise, a core institute of the National Endowment for Democracy, to discuss technology’s role in democratic society in Southeast Asia.

The Policy Circle | Big Tech Tightrope: Balancing Free Speech, Privacy & Innovation
March 24 at 1:00 PM EST | Register here
Rebecca MacKinnon will join Steve DelBianco, president of NetChoice, and Jillian York, director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, to discuss the fundamentals of free speech on social media and public policy reforms for big tech companies.

Subscribe here to get The RADAR by email.

03 Mar The RADAR: When a crisis unfolds, how should companies respond?

Demonstrators protest a network shutdown in Myanmar. Photo by Nyinyi Lwin, used with permission.

This is the RADAR, Ranking Digital Rights’ newsletter. This special edition was sent on March 3, 2021. Subscribe here to get The RADAR by email.

As we put the finishing touches on the 2020 RDR Index during the month of February, we kept an eye on the rapidly escalating tensions in Myanmar.

In the wake of the military coup d’etat, pro-democracy protests in Yangon have been met with military violence and a series of network shutdowns blocking journalists from reporting critical news, activists from organizing, and everyday people from communicating with family and friends when they need to most.

We also watched with intrigue as Facebook announced a decision to ban Myanmar’s military from maintaining official accounts on the platform. Was this move consistent with Facebook’s policies? More important, was this the “right” response from a human rights standpoint?

While we may not have all the answers, our indicators provide a valuable road map for companies seeking to build and maintain human rights-protective practices that are especially vital when crisis strikes.

Spotlight: How can companies protect human rights in a state of emergency?

In one of three featured essays that accompany the 2020 RDR Index, Company Engagement Lead Jan Rydzak and Senior Policy Consultant Elizabeth M. Renieris look at how companies respond—or fail to respond—when crisis strikes. Whether facing a global pandemic or a politically-driven state of emergency, many of the companies we rank have been caught flat-footed time and again. Too often, their responses result in significant consequences for the public.

In the introduction, they write:

While the digital platforms we rank were all prepared to seize the moment and profit from the circumstances created by the pandemic, all the companies were caught off guard by the impact of COVID-19 on their own users. Yet they have all weathered crises before. Telcos have raced to repair infrastructure in the wake of natural disasters. Platforms have grappled with government censorship orders in the face of political upheaval.

The way a company responds to a crisis does not just affect its bottom line. It can have profound implications for the fundamental rights of millions, if not billions, of people, whether or not they are “users” of a product or service that the company provides.

The year 2020 could not have given us a better set of case studies in just how dangerous it is for these companies to be so unprepared for the human impact of crisis.

Read their essay →

ICYMI: The 2020 RDR Index is live!

We were proud to launch our latest findings last week with a virtual event featuring leading voices in the broader movement to hold tech and telecom companies accountable to the public. Watch the replay here.

RDR Director Jessica Dheere was joined by Consumer Reports CEO Marta Tellado, The Markup President Nabiha Syed, and Marina Madale, general manager for sustainability and shared value at MTN. The group discussed our new findings, with a special focus on companies’ lack of transparency around their use of algorithms, and the question of how companies build trust among the public. Transparency, of course, was front and center.

As The Markup’s Syed put it:

“The public deserves to know exactly how technology governs their lives, and what they can do about it. You have to look at the system that perpetuates harm, not just the symptoms of it.”

We were especially grateful to have Marina Madale join us for the launch. Madale represents MTN, the South Africa-based telco that earned the coveted spot of most improved company in the 2020 RDR Index (see our MTN company report card.)

Madale told the audience:

“Engaging with the [RDR] team fundamentally helped us to understand where we’re at, what’s required….it was one of the things that led to us developing our first transparency report.”

Clockwise from top left: Jessica Dheere, Nabiha Syed, Marina Madale, Marta Tellado.

WATCH: Video from our launch event

Sounding the alarm on Amazon’s failures

Since our launch, there has been a lot of talk about Amazon’s poor showing (see our Amazon company report card) in the RDR Index. While all companies technically failed—Twitter earned the highest score, with just 53 out of 100 possible points—Amazon’s failure was colossal, with the company scoring only 20 out of 100 points.

As if to support our findings, Politico.eu ran a bombshell story the next day built on interviews with former employees who say the company’s security practices are bound for disaster. Among other allegations, the employees charged that Amazon fails to properly control employee access to its systems, leaving millions of customers’ data vulnerable to misuse. Our research confirms that the company publishes no information about internal security oversight—it was the only digital platform in the RDR Index that disclosed nothing in this arena.

2020 RDR Index media hits

Fast Company: In a feature on our latest findings, Rob Pegoraro put it well: “A new report on the human-rights policies of 26 tech and telecom firms around the world delivers a harsh verdict: From Alibaba to Vodafone, they all get an F.” Read more via Fast Company

Consumer Reports: CR’s Kaveh Waddell cited our research and spoke with us for an in-depth story on the secretive nature of tech companies’ development and use of algorithms. RDR Research Director Amy Brouillette explained the kinds of questions we pose in our methodology: “What are the ingredients that go into [algorithms]? How much control do users have over them?” Read more via Consumer Reports

The Wire: Our 2020 RDR Index findings on Bharti Airtel were covered in The Wire, an India-based digital news outlet. The article notes that Bharti Airtel remains among the least transparent of global telecommunications companies we rank, especially when it comes to network shutdowns. According to the New Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Centre, the government of India ordered 83 prolonged network shutdowns in 2020, more than any other country in the world. Read more via The Wire

South China Morning Post (SCMP): Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent are at the bottom of the 2020 RDR Index ranking, similar to previous years. Citing RDR Founding Director Rebecca MacKinnnon’s essay on the topic, SCMP noted that a big reason Chinese companies score poorly in the RDR Index is that they are primarily beholden to the laws and pressures of the state. Read more via South China Morning Post

Where to find us this week

MozFest: Explore RDR findings on targeted ads and algorithmic systems
March 9 at 3:15 PM EST | Register here
Join our session on what companies disclose about their targeted advertising and algorithmic systems. RDR Research Manager Veszna Wessenauer and Senior Program Manager Lisa Gutermuth will present and lead a discussion on our latest findings, and how advocates can use them to hold companies accountable for their human rights commitments.

Yale Law School and Wikimedia Initiative: Alternative Regulatory Responses to Misinformation
March 12 at 12:00 PM EST | Register here
Jan Rydzak and Elizabeth M. Renieris will discuss their new paper, Better Processes Lead to Better Outcomes, at the Yale Law School and Wikimedia Initiative on Intermediaries and Information, a co-hosted series on regulatory responses to misinformation.

Support Ranking Digital Rights!

If you’re reading this, you probably know all too well how tech companies wield unprecedented power in the digital age. RDR helps hold them accountable for their obligations to protect and respect their users’ rights.

As a nonprofit initiative that receives no corporate funding, we need your support. Help us guarantee future editions of the RDR Index—and The RADAR—by making a donation. Do your part to help keep tech power in check!

Donate

Subscribe here to get The RADAR by email.