How to protect yourself online from misinformation right now

Why we can't count on carbon-sucking farms to slow climate change  

Sponsored by MIT Sloan The Download Your daily dose of what’s up in emerging technology 06.03.20 Good morning! Today: how to keep yourself safe from misinformation online, and why carbon-sucking farms won't solve climate change. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. How to protect yourself online from misinformation right now   No blackout: There wasn’t a communications blackout in Washington, DC, on Sunday, but #dcblackout trended on Twitter anyway, thanks to tweets claiming no messages were getting out from the nation’s capital. Posts about the “blackout” got thousands of shares. How to combat it: The logical response to seeing potentially harmful misinformation spread across the internet is to debunk, and to inform others on how they can avoid falling for it themselves. But it’s difficult to evaluate a river of information when you’re going through something traumatic—like protests and a pandemic. So what do we do? Give yourself some credit. Just because you’re not an influencer does not mean your online presence is inconsequential. You can cause more harm than you might think. Hit pause, especially if the post makes you feel distressed or emotional. Misinformation relies on instant reactions. Think laterally. Look for evidence to back up what you’ve seen. Consider logging off or stepping away. Understand that misinformation can be empirically untrue yet still speak to something real.” Read the full story.  —Abby Ohlheiser Why we can’t count on carbon-sucking farms to slow climate change  On trend: Corporations, politicians, and environmentalists have all embraced carbon farming as the feel-good climate solution of the moment. The idea is to alter farming practices to suck up more carbon dioxide. What even is carbon farming?: The basic idea behind carbon farming, or regenerative agriculture, is that photosynthesis acts as a greenhouse gas pump, pulling CO2 from the air and converting it into sugars stored in leaves, stalks, and roots or excreted into soil. The hope is that farmers can increase the amount of carbon that is left behind in the fields, through practices like planting cover crops between harvests. But there’s a big problem: There is little evidence that carbon farming works as well as promised. The world’s farmlands do have the capacity to store billions of tons of carbon dioxide in the soil annually. But there is still uncertainty concerning which farming techniques work, and to what degree. Read the full story.  —James Temple The US’s draft law on contact tracing apps is a step behind Apple and Google A proposal: American legislators have outlined a plan to regulate digital contact tracing apps to protect people’s privacy. Among other things, it would require anyone who operates an exposure notification service to “collaborate” with public health authorities; make usage of the app voluntary; and block the commercial use of any data it might collect. One snag: The bill, unveiled on June 1 with bipartisan support, largely recommends measures already built into a technology provided by Silicon Valley giants Apple and Google. Their rules mean that many of the legislative suggestions in the Senate bill are, in fact, already de facto standards. Apple and Google have already been effectively setting national policy through their decisions. Read the full story. Read next: A flood of coronavirus apps are tracking us. Now it's time to start tracking them.  —Bobbie Johnson   Listen to the latest episode of our podcast Deep Tech. It’s all about how a small town on the Oregon coast ended up being so well-prepared for the pandemic, mostly thanks to the fact they live with the constant threat of natural disasters like tsunamis. Check it out. We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Fancy spicing up a Zoom call? Invite a goat.   + A free documentary about a teen and her quest to buy a wild pony.   + A dancing otter (sort of.) Sponsor Message MIT Sloan CIO Digital Learning Series Beginning June 10th, the new MIT Sloan CIO Digital Learning Series will provide monthly webinars through October that are targeted at CIOs as well as all people interested in digital technology and its impact on business and society. Like the Symposium, the Digital Learning Series will focus on leadership of the digital enterprise, but in addition will explore a wider range of topics and issues that inform the evolution and use of digital technologies in business and society. Register here today! The top ten must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 How the Pentagon’s hand-me-downs helped militarize the police Over $7 billion of equipment have gone to more than 8,000 enforcement agencies. (Wired $)   + Can’t look away from videos of police violence? That’s the point. (NYT $)   + Why are police departments ignoring the evidence on de-escalation? (FiveThirtyEight) 2 What we’ve learned about coronavirus so far  Much remains unknown, but it’s sensible to wear a mask and keep your distance. (NYT $)   + Reddit’s r/LastImages is a shrine to those lost to the virus. (Wired UK)   + Some people lost their sense of smell—and it hasn’t come back. (WSJ $)   + Officials fear a second wave, assisted by the protests. (The Root)   + China delayed releasing crucial coronavirus info. (AP) 3 A white nationalist group posed as antifa on Twitter They used the account to push violent rhetoric about the protests. (NBC) 4 The case for banning Trump from social networks  When it comes to glorifying violence, he has an awful lot of form. (The Verge)   + The clearing of Lafayette Square will go down in history as a defining moment. (NYT $)   + His presidency is unraveling. (The Atlantic) 5 Instagram’s blackout means well—but doing these 4 things is more useful Put your money where your mouth is. (TR)   + Why it annoyed some Black Lives Matter activists. (WP $) 6 A version of ibuprofen is being tested as a coronavirus treatment The hope is that it could help ease patients’ breathing difficulties. (BBC) 7 Millions of US voters’ data is being traded on the dark web 🗳 This, um, does not bode well. (New Scientist $) 8 Teen activism is flourishing on TikTok 🤳 The format is perfect for rapid, punchy storytelling. (Reuters) 9 Google is being sued for tracking people using “incognito” mode The plaintiffs are seeking at least $5 billion in damages. (Vice)   + Google has pulled “Remove China Apps” from the Play Store. (TechCrunch) 10 These are the companies cashing in on the facial recognition gold rush  And they’re doing so largely without oversight. (OneZero) Last chance to register and join us online at EmTech Next In an ever-changing environment of innovation and disruption, MIT Technology Review, in partnership with Harvard Business Review, is proud to offer you a thought-provoking and networking-rich forum to analyze the technologies impacting your market, your strategy, your clients, and your workforce. Register today. Quote of the day “I think he just very much lacks the ability to understand it.” —Color of Change President Rashad Robinson delivers his verdict on Mark Zuckerberg’s grasp of race issues after a phone call he held with civil rights leaders, Bloomberg reports. Top image credit: JOSHUA HOEHNE | UNSPLASH Please send dancing otters to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up for free Get unlimited access to online stories. Subscribe to MIT Technology Review today. *View this in a browser You received this newsletter because you Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog  subscribed with your email address  Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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