Exclusive: Amazon removes more content that violates cloud service rules, sources say

September 2 (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) plans to take a more proactive approach to determining what types of content violate its cloud service policies, such as anti-violence policies, and comply with its elimination, according to two sources, a measure that may renew the debate on how much energy technology companies should have to restrict freedom of expression.

Over the next few months, Amazon will hire a small group of people in its Amazon Web Services (AWS) division to develop experience and work with outside researchers to monitor future threats, said one of the sources familiar with the matter.

According to experts, Amazon could become the leading provider of cloud services worldwide with a market share of 40% according to research firm Gartner.

Amazon made headlines in the Washington Post last week for shutting down a website hosted on AWS that contained Islamic State propaganda celebrating the suicide bombing that killed 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. soldiers in Kabul on Thursday. They did so after the news organization contacted Amazon, according to the Post.

The proactive approach to content comes after Amazon kicked off the social media app Talking about the cloud service shortly after the January 6 Capitol riot to allow content to promote violence. Read more

“AWS Trust & Safety works to protect AWS customers, partners and Internet users from malicious actors attempting to use our services for illegal or abusive purposes,” an AWS spokesman said in a statement. “When AWS Trust & Safety becomes aware or behaves illegally, they act quickly to investigate and interact with customers to take appropriate action. As AWS continues to expand, this team (like most AWS teams) it will continue to grow ”.

Human rights activists and advocacy groups are increasingly calling for accountability not only for harmful content websites and applications, but also for the underlying technology infrastructure that allows these sites to function, while political conservatives denounce the reduction of freedom of expression.

AWS already prohibits the use of its services in various ways, such as illegal or fraudulent activities, to incite or threaten violence or promote the exploitation and sexual abuse of children, in accordance with its usage policy. acceptable.

Amazon first asks customers to remove content that violates its policies or has a system to moderate the content. If Amazon is unable to reach an acceptable agreement with the customer, it may withdraw the website.

Amazon intends to develop a focus on the content issues it and other cloud providers face most often, such as determining when misinformation on a company’s website reaches a scale that requires AWS action, the company said. font.

The new AWS team does not plan to examine the large amount of content that companies host in the cloud, but will aim to anticipate future threats, such as emerging extremist groups, whose content could reach the cloud. AWS, the source added.

Amazon currently hires a global policy chief from the AWS security and trust team, which is responsible for “protecting AWS from a wide variety of abuses,” according to a message posted on its website.

AWS’s offerings include cloud storage and virtual servers and features major companies such as Netflix (NFLX.O), Coca-Cola (KO.N) and Capital One (COF.N), according to its website.

PROACTIVE MOVEMENTS

Better readiness against certain types of content could help Amazon avoid legal and public relations risks.

“If (Amazon) can proactively pull some of these things out before it is discovered and becomes great news, it’s worth avoiding this reputational damage,” said Melissa Ryan, founder of CARD Strategies, a consulting firm that helps organizations understand extremism and online toxicity threats.

Cloud services like AWS and other entities such as domain registrars are considered the “backbone of the Internet,” but have traditionally been politically neutral services, according to a 2019 report by Joan Donovan, a Harvard researcher studying extremism and online misinformation.

But cloud service providers have already removed the content, such as after the 2017 high-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, helping to curb the organizational capacity of high-right groups, Donovan wrote.

“It’s understandable that most of these companies don’t want to get into content and don’t want to be the arbiter of thought,” Ryan said. “But when you talk about hate and extremism, you have to take a stand.”

Sheila Dang’s report in Dallas; Edited by Kenneth Li and Lisa Shumaker

Our standards: the principles of trust of Thomson Reuters.