Media Mentions

Cybernews ponders, if community notes on Meta are a game-changer for free speech, or just a hot mess in the making? Irina Raicu, director of the Ethics Center's Internet Ethics program weighs in.

“Less moderation may seem more authentic, but social media platforms amplify outrage and trolling, not healthy debate.”

Irina Raicu, director, internet ethics, quoted by Cybernews.

Irina Raicu, director for Internet ethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, noted that there was plenty of disinformation showing up on Facebook under the existing fact-checking regime.

“Part of the problem was the automation of content moderation,” she told TechNewsWorld. “The algorithmic tools were pretty blunt and missed the nuances of both language and images. And the problem was even more widespread in posts in languages other than English.”

Irina Raicu, director, Internet ethics, quoted by TechNewsWorld.

business.com explains that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the effort a business makes to take responsibility for its actions. Companies that practice CSR reflect a company’s values and relationship to society.

“[CSR] can encompass activities that are strictly voluntary, such as volunteering and philanthropic efforts, and also areas that are now being lightly regulated, such as those known as ESG, strategies companies deploy to address environmental, social and governance concerns,” Skeet explained. “Small businesses should approach corporate social responsibility holistically by engaging in activities that align with their mission and core values and reinforce ethical business practices.” 

Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, quoted by business.com.

Ultimately, building trustworthy AI begins with a conscious commitment from its creators. 

“Leadership has to fundamentally make a choice,” Brian Green, director of technology ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, previously told Built In. “They have to say we want to be making technology that benefits the world, that’s not making the world a worse place, because we all have to live here together.”

Brian Green, director, technology ethics, quoted by Built In.

Director, Government Ethics, John Pelissero, told The Press Democrat the situation represented an ethical issue for Tina Rivera, even if her daughter’s work for DEMA was short-lived.

“That just looks like a clear conflict of interest; it could look like this is some sort of a favor being done for the agency head by the contractor.”

John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by The Press Democrat.

InformationWeek reports that artificial intelligence is transforming virtually all aspects of social and business life, including political campaigns and elections.

At a time when trust in the election process is rapidly diminishing, tools that blur the lines between reality and misinformation run the risk of eroding voter confidence even more, Skeet warns. "Voters need to bring an extra level of vigilance to their media and advertising consumption during this election cycle and build basic information literacy skills that will help them identify where political information is coming from, how it's vetted, edited and distributed, who's paying for it, and what tools are being used to create it." 

Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, quoted by Information Week.

Elon Musk is influencing politics one tweet at a time.

Musk's tweets brought a sudden halt to a bipartisan budget proposal by threatening Republicans with primary challenges if they voted to pass the budget.

"In this social media saturated world that we live in, influencers have a lot of power.... Musk has more than 200M followers on X and many of them really believe in him and will follow what he tells them to do."

Irina Raicu, director, internet ethics, quoted by NBC Bay Area.

San José Spotlight examined the most recent Form 990 public tax filings for the region’s biggest direct service nonprofits.

Ann Skeet, senior director of leadership ethics said the range between Silicon Valley’s top 15 nonprofit executives outlined by the Spotlight's analysis is typical for larger nonprofits.

“You want to make sure that you’re paying people fairly and in a way that allows them a decent wage … but you don’t want to overdo it, because you have donors and the public who are saying and have certain expectations around where resources are being directed,” Skeet told San José Spotlight.

Skeet said an organization’s size and complexity factors into deciding compensation.

Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, quoted by San Jose Spotlight.