Trust in Tech, Episode 13: Transparency Reports, Theatre and Power with Nima Mozhgani

Welcome to the Trust in Tech podcast, a project by the Integrity Institute — a community driven think tank which advances the theory and practice of protecting the social internet, powered by our community of integrity professionals.

Transparency is at the forefront of the discourse today with Tik Tok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifying in front of congress and GPT4 releasing a system card. Nima Mozhgani, an expert in transparency reports and  Talha Baig, a former Content Moderation Engineer, discuss one of the mechanisms of transparency – transparency reports: what they are, and how they can hold the powerful accountable.

Tik Tok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified in front of Congress yesterday (March 23, 2023). However, it seemed both Tik Tok and Congress were running theatre for their own self-interests. 

Nima Mozhgani works at Snap on the policy team running our transparency reporting function. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Political Science from Columbia University with specialization in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies. He also serves as the Vice-Chair of the Transparency & Accountability Working Group of the Tech Coalition - an alliance of global tech companies who are working together to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse online.

Nima and Talha Baig, a former content moderation engineer, discuss transparency. They talk about the importance of transparency, and the different forms that transparency comes in including the traditional transparency reports, Tik Tok’s transparency center and GPT-4’s system card.

They also discuss algorithmic transparency, transparency in a global setting and why advertisers love transparency reports.

Links:

TRUST framework from the Tech Coalition

Credits:

Produced by Talha Baig

Music by Zhao Shen

Special Thanks to Rachel, Sean, Cass and Sahar for their continued support

Disclaimer: The views in this episode only represent the views of the people involved in the recording of the episode. They do not represent Snap or any other entity’s views.

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Trust in Tech, Episode 14: Addressing Systemic Bias in Tech w/ Meredith Broussard

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Trust in Tech, Episode 12: Deepfakes, Biases and AI Hegemony with Claire Boine