Lawmakers Demand Amazon Censors Alexa After WaPo Complains Its Responses Referenced Rumble, Substack

If you’re tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Lawmakers are demanding that Amazon take “proactive measures” to ensure that its voice assistant, Alexa, doesn’t provide “false claims about the outcome of the 2020 elections” after a Washington Post article complained that Alexa was citing responses from Rumble and Substack. The Washington Post’s original October 7 article took issue with Amazon using what it deemed to be “unvetted sources” and the potential for voice assistants to spread “misinformation.” It included examples of Alexa responses that alleged election fraud and referenced Rumble and Substack. Amazon had already implemented censorship measures in response to the original article and said that it “continually” audits and improves its systems for “detecting and blocking inaccurate content.” But Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-NY) are still concerned that Alexa may cite information that doesn’t come from “verified news sources” in some of its responses, and have sent a letter to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The letter cites the Washington Post’s October 7 article, demands that Amazon take “proactive measures” to censor Alexa responses, and calls for Amazon to provide information on how it plans to further censor Alexa responses. Specifically, the letter demands that Amazon provide information on: Its existing policy to “address the spread and amplification of election misinformation and disinformation by Alexa” The steps that have been taken to “improve the accuracy of information repeated by Alexa” How it’s “vetting responses from contributors, particularly…Lawmakers Demand Amazon Censors Alexa After WaPo Complains Its Responses Referenced Rumble, Substack