Source: reddit.com
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022) dir. Charlie Mackesy, Peter Baynton
KOKOBOT - The Airbnb-Owned Tech Startup - Data Mining Tumblr Users' Mental Health Crises for "Content"
I got this message from a bot, and honestly? If I was a bit younger and not such a jaded bitch with a career in tech, I might have given it an honest try. I spent plenty of time in a tough situation without access to any mental health resources as a teen, and would have been sucked right in.
Chatting right from your phone, and being connected with people who can help you? Sounds nice. Especially if you believe the testimonials they spam you with (tw suicide / self harm mention in below images)
But I was getting a weird feeling, so I went to read the legalese.
I couldn't even get through the fine-print it asked me to read and agree to, without it spamming the hell out of me. Almost like they expect people to just hit Yes? But I'm glad I stopped to read, because:
- What you say on there won't be confidential. (And for context, I tried it out and the things people were looking for help with? I didn't even feel comfortable sharing here as examples, it was all so deeply personal and painful)
- Also, what you say on there? Is now...
- Koko's intellectual property - giving them the right to use it in any way they see fit, including
- Publicly performing or displaying your "content" (also known as your mental health crisis) in any media format and in any media channel without limitation
- Do this indefinitely after you end your account with them
- Sell / share this "content" with other businesses
- Any harm you come to using Koko? That's on you.
- And Koko won't take responsibility for anything someone says to you on there (which is bleak when people are using it to spread Christianity to people in crisis)
I was curious about their business model. They're a venture-capitol based tech startup, owned by Airbnb, the famous mental health professionals with a focus on ethical business practices./s They're also begging for donations despite having already been given 2.5 million dollars in research funding. (If you want a deep dive on why people throw crazy money at tech startups, see my other post here)
They also use the data they gather from users to conduct research and publish papers. I didn't find them too interesting - other than as a good case study of "People tend to find what they are financially incentivized to find". Predictably, Koko found that Kokobot was beneficial to its users.
So yeah, being a dumbass with too much curiosity, I decided to use the Airbnb-owned Data-Mining Mental Health Chatline anyway. And if you thought it was dangerous sounding from the disclaimers? Somehow it got worse.
(trigger warning / discussions of child abuse / sexual abuse / suicide / violence below the cut - please don't read if you're not in a good place to hear about negligence around pretty horrific topics.)
captain-price-officially
environmental storytelling
the cumbrian cunt council will decide your fate
call me a first level warlock the way i can do one thing before i need to lie down for eight hours
We are still monkeys that live in trees. We just cut down those trees and reshape them into boxes.
So then they’re not fucking trees then are they
I had a dream that Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were solving a murder mystery in a giant mansion. Legolas kept eating popcorn.
Part II
Please spread Leona's story, and her evidence, as much as you can. She has a mountain of evidence proving Bethesda/Zenimax a hostile work environment for trans women, and she deserves to be heard and to receive justice for being forced out of her job.
Wow that was FAST. Check out this YouTube ad I just got trying to hire scabs immediately.
The fact that they're advertising it as hourly pay is so telling that they're hoping to just hire random people off the street. They're trying to prey on desperate actors who don't know that $180/hr for a fucking GODZILLA movie is the hugest rip off anyone could possibly pull. No rights, royalties or residuals but hey at least you'll get paid fucking nothing!
Godzilla vs king Kong 2 is a Toho co and Warner Bros production btw. Just so you know what corporations are sanctioning this pathetic shit
sag-aftra press conference.
In case you missed it, SAG-AFTRA just finished up a press conference where they talked to union members and the press about what's up.
Here are the big things (that I remember):
- The deadline extension from June 30 to July 12 was made in good faith on SAG-AFTRA's part. They thought the AMPTP would utilize the extra time to come to the table with a fair deal. They did not. It is suspected that they wanted the extension to have more time to promote their summer blockbusters.
- The studios wanted to be able to have AI scans of background actors. These actors would be paid once, and then the studios would be able to keep the actors' likeness, use the data for eternity without the actors' consent, and never pay them again. Keep in mind that only two percent of SAG-AFTRA members are big names. This proposal would've affected the other ninety-eight percent of members, many of whom are living paycheck to paycheck at the moment.
- The AMPTP tried to turn union membership against Fran Drescher (current union president) by circulating a picture of her "living it up" in Italy with Kim Kardashian. This was a work obligation on Drescher's part. She's a brand ambassador for a fashion line, and whenever she wasn't on set, she was working with the negotiation committee via Zoom and text.
- The video that was sent out to union members on June 28, in which they were told that the negotiations were going well, was filmed before the negotiations got to the core issues – AI, residuals, etc.
- The AMPTP's deal was "disrespectful and egregious."
- The other labor unions in the industry stand in solidarity with each other.
- Fran Drescher called the AMPTP's plan to wait out the WGA until they were homeless "unnecessary evil."
- While SAG-AFTRA is open to returning to the negotiating table at any time, leadership was signaled that the AMPTP was not interested; they believe the strike could last for a while.
It’s already happening. Like guys I cannot emphasize this enough the studios are going to make content creators the deal of a lifetime because they have a void to fill and those content creators will then be on the do not work list for the rest of their professional lives.
If you want to know what the SAG-AFTRA strike is about, watch this video.
(I'm a SAG-AFTRA member as well, having played me on television from time to time. So I'm doubly on strike.)
Fran Drescher:
"It’s really important that this negotiation be covered because the eyes of the world and particularly the eyes of labor are upon us. What happens here is important. Because what’s happening to us is happening across all fields of labor, by means of when employers make Wall Street and greed their priority and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run. We have a problem. And we are experiencing that right at this moment. This is a very seminal hour for us."
jesus fucking christ
"i wish i could do something 😔 / i wish the wga had a kickstarter or a gofundme, i would throw money at it" good news! it's amazing how you can literally go onto the wga strike website or the wgawest linktree from their twitter and find links to support writers and other workers affected by the strike
Source: deadline.com