What the “grief tech” industry says about how we navigate loss

Late last month, the CEO of the encrypted messaging app Telegram was arrested in France. Authorities there have charged Pavel Durov with being complicit in illegal activities conducted on the platform due to a lack of content moderation. A recent report from the research group Cybersecurity for Democracy shows some of that activity is finding its way onto other platforms. Senior Fellow Yaël Eisenstat looked at advertisements on Meta platforms that linked back to Telegram, and found that a majority were promoting channels with potentially illegal activities.

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for our weekly review of some of the big stories making headlines in tech. First: No, you’re not having déjà vu all over again. Google really is back in court this week for its second antitrust trial of the year. Plus, a startup in Silicon Valley wants to make AI data centers more sustainable by putting them underwater in the San Francisco Bay, but regulators have questions. And Taylor Swift announced she is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in this year’s presidential election. She took to Instagram on Tuesday night to publish her stance, citing artificial intelligence-enabled misinformation as a driving force. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired, for his take on this week’s tech news.

The cryptocurrency industry has been fairly quiet recently, with the scandals around the bankruptcy of crypto exchange FTX and its former chief executive, Sam Bankman-Fried, fading from the headlines. But behind the scenes, the industry has become a bit of a power player in the 2024 elections — funding political ads, endorsing House and Senate candidates and raising millions of dollars, according to a recent report from the nonprofit group Public Citizen. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke to Axios reporter Brady Dale, author of the Axios Crypto newsletter, to learn more.

Over the last couple of years, the tech industry has slashed hundreds of thousands of jobs, many of them in recruiting and other departments working to improve diversity. Companies like Meta and Google, which earlier set ambitious hiring and investment goals, have pulled resources from those efforts. As a result, many nonprofit groups set up to train and recruit underrepresented workers are struggling to stay afloat. One prominent person in the field is Lisa Mae Brunson, founder of the nonprofit Wonder Women Tech. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino asked her how things have changed.

Among the trends of mis- and disinformation spreading ahead of the 2024 election is the narrative that large groups of noncitizens are illegally voting. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams recently spoke with Danielle Lee Tomson, a research manager with the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, about how this narrative is affecting the November election.

This conversation is part of “Marketplace Tech’s” limited series “Decoding Democracy.” Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel.

On Friday, a Boeing Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station to return to Earth without its crew. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore stayed behind due to uncertainty about the safety of the Boeing craft. The duo will instead hitch a ride back on a SpaceX mission set to arrive at the ISS in February. It’s another win for the Elon Musk-owned company, which has come to dominate rocket launches in the U.S. But NASA’s reliance on SpaceX now is a bit of a reversal, according to Steven Feldstein, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment’s Democracy, Conflict and Governance program.

If you’re an Apple fan, you probably didn’t miss the speculation surrounding the upcoming iPhone 16 launch event next week. Many expect the tech giant to reveal more about how its artificial intelligence will be integrated into its new hardware. We’ll be digging into that on this week’s Tech Bytes: Week in Review. Plus, airlines are upgrading their Wi-Fi, so you might be able to take a Zoom meeting on your six-hour flight. But first, Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider has agreed to block Elon Musk’s social media platform in Brazil. X has been banned in the country since last weekend, and now Starlink has agreed to enforce that ban for its roughly quarter-million internet subscribers in the country. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Wall Street Journal senior personal technology columnist Joanna Stern or her take on this week’s tech news.

Warning: This episode mentions suicide. If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

There seems to be growing momentum for efforts to protect kids from online harm. In June, the Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for a warning label on social media for children, and more recently the Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act with bipartisan support. On the show we’ve heard from lobbyists and advocates on different sides of the issue. Today we speak with Kristin Bride, for whom the debate is personal. In 2020, Bride’s 16-year-old son, Carson, died by suicide after being cyberbullied on the social media platform Snapchat. Since then, Bride has become a vocal advocate for social media reform because, she says, even the most vigilant parents can’t always protect their kids.

Depending on whom you ask, a bill passed by California lawmakers last week could either save us from imminent AI doom or strangle innovation in Silicon Valley. The bill, SB 1047, is one of the first significant attempts to regulate artificial intelligence in the U.S. It’s supported by some high-profile voices in tech like Elon Musk. But critics say the regulation could stifle growth in Silicon Valley. On the show today, Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino is taking a closer look at the arguments for and against SB 1047 with Chase DiFeliciantonio, a reporter at The San Francisco Chronicle, who has been following the bill’s journey through the Legislature.

Dark patterns are everywhere on the web. These are design tricks that manipulate users in some way and prompt them to give up information, money or just more of their time. A recent study from the Federal Trade Commission found three-quarters of all subscription apps and websites use at least one dark pattern, and a majority use multiple such tricks. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Yanely Espinal, who covered the topic in this week’s episode of “Financially Inclined.” She said some common dark patterns include advertising that doesn’t look like advertising, online forms that come with check boxes pre-selected and something called confirm shaming.

Experian Identity Report with Rod Griffin, Behind the Scenes How Your Identity is Protected. Rod leads the National Consumer Education Programs for Experian. He works with consumer advocates and financial educators to help consumers increase their ability to understand and manage their personal finances to protect themselves from fraud and identity theft, interviewed by David Cogan, host of the Heroes Show and founder of Eliances entrepreneur community. www.experian.com.

This week, as the country was feeling good about its record medal haul in the Rio Olympics, suddenly consumer confidence appeared to be looking healthy too.

But behind the rose-tinted sunglasses, a bubble of household debt was competing in a new kind of race with rival, the house price bubble, to see which will burst first.

It’s neck and neck.

Household debt is at terrifying levels. If consumer spending is on the rise, it’s likely that credit cards are a driving force.

More than one in 10 households (1.6m) are in extreme debt, where 25% of monthly spending is servicing cards, loans and other debts - not including mortgages.

Wages are stagnant yet house prices appear to keep on rising. That cannot last.

We’re here to help. But the conclusion from This is Money’s consumer affairs gurus Rachel Rickard Straus and Lee Boyce is there’s not a lot individuals can do.

Best thing, at the very least, is to try to avoid the increasingly clever scams and rip-offs. There’s some horrific tricks and it's almost impossible to tell a deal from a con. We offer some tips on what to look out for.

Also, further proof emerges that George Osborne’s legacy as Chancellor is peppered with the wacky and unworkable, as his help-to-buy Isas are shown to be largely useless.

Mobile phone companies, energy companies and travel companies are as sneaky as ever.

First Utility charges one of its customers to STAY with First Utility.

Strange times.

Experian Identity Report with Rod Griffin, Behind the Scenes How Your Identity is Protected. Rod leads the National Consumer Education Programs for Experian. He works with consumer advocates and financial educators to help consumers increase their ability to understand and manage their personal finances to protect themselves from fraud and identity theft, interviewed by David Cogan, host of the Heroes Show and founder of Eliances entrepreneur community. www.experian.com.

Martin joins the 5live Teen 23 Summit to give financial advice to teenagers and students, with a guide to savings, inflation, credit cards and money that apply to everyone.

00:00 Introduction 05:58 Maintenance loans and top uni tips 22:34 Tell Us 27:05 Questions from teens 34:17 Podcast-only tips, National Trust and more 36:54 More teen questions 43:19 More Tell Us 45:23 Mastermind

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