Virgílio A. F. Almeida

A quantitative analysis of the user behavior of a large e-broker

The Internet and the World Wide Web provide a global virtual marketplace. However, there is little information about the behavior of e-commerce users worldwide. The goal of the paper is twofold. First, we give an overview of the architecture and implementation of the Miner family of Web agents for e-commerce. Then, we present a quantitative study of the user behavior of a large e-broker (i.e., the BookMiner). Considering that the e-broker is used by a large number of users that only speak Portuguese and live in Brazil, we discuss the influence of regional and cultural issues on the e-commerce activities. Although the Web opens a company to a global market, our findings clearly indicate that e-commerce is strongly tied to regional issues, such as language, national customs and regulations, currency conversion and logistics. Also, the Internet infrastructure, mainly the intercontinental links, affects the user behavior.

Cyberwarfare and Digital Governance

Dyn suffered multiple complex DDoS attacks in October 2016, constituting one of the largest cyberattacks of this nature ever documented. With this and other recent events in mind, the authors discuss conceptual and practical challenges around cyberwarfare and its impact on cyberspace governance.

A Layered Model for AI Governance

AI-based systems are “black boxes,” resulting in massive information asymmetries between the developers of such systems and consumers and policymakers. In order to bridge this information gap, this article proposes a conceptual framework for thinking about governance for AI.

Fake News as We Feel It: Perception and Conceptualization of the Term “Fake News” in the Media

In this article, we quantitatively analyze how the term “fake news” is being shaped in news media in recent years. We study the perception and the conceptualization of this term in the traditional media using eight years of data collected from news outlets based in 20 countries. Our results not only corroborate previous indications of a high increase in the usage of the expression “fake news”, but also show contextual changes around this expression after the United States presidential election of 2016. Among other results, we found changes in the related vocabulary, in the mentioned entities, in the surrounding topics and in the contextual polarity around the term “fake news”, suggesting that this expression underwent a change in perception and conceptualization after 2016. These outcomes expand the understandings on the usage of the term “fake news”, helping to comprehend and more accurately characterize this relevant social phenomenon linked to misinformation and manipulation.

Characterizing Videos, Audience and Advertising in Youtube Channels for Kids

Online video services, messaging systems, games and social media services are tremendously popular among young people and children in many countries. Most of the digital services offered on the internet are advertising funded, which makes advertising ubiquitous in childrens everyday life. To understand the impact of advertising-based digital services on children, we study the collective behavior of users of YouTube for kids channels and present the demographics of a large number of users. We collected data from 12,848 videos from 17 channels in US and UK and 24 channels in Brazil. The channels in English have been viewed more than 37 billion times. We also collected more than 14 million comments made by users. Based on a combination of text-analysis and face recognition tools, we show the presence of racial and gender biases in our large sample of users. We also identify children actively using YouTube, although the minimum age for using the service is 13 years in most countries. We provide comparisons of user behavior among the three countries, which represent large user populations in the global North and the global South.

A Principles-Based Approach to Govern the IoT Ecosystem

The difference between a good and bad Internet of Things depends on societys ability to construct effective IoT governance models. This article proposes the formulation of principles as a means to unify the multiple bodies and organizations involved in the IoT governance ecosystem.

What Is Algorithm Governance

With algorithms increased use to fulfill complex tasks comes the risk of algorithms use for manipulation, biases, censorship, social discrimination, violations of privacy and property rights, and more. To address such risks, the process of algorithm governance should be considered.

How Do App Stores Challenge the Global Internet Governance Ecosystem

App stores challenge the culture of openness and resistance to central authorities cultivated by the pioneers of the Internet. Could multistakeholder governance bodies bring more inclusivity into the global cyberspace governance ecosystem?