We sum up the key announcement at Microsoft Ignite, YouTube moderator sues YouTube for mental health damages, and Toronto’s virtual classes started in chaos.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Wednesday, September 23, and I’m your host Baneet Braich.
Another virtual conference kicked off this week. Microsoft’s annual Ignite conference is going virtual this year, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took to the virtual stage – his living room, to be exact – to talk about “tech intensity,” and share stories about business resilience during the pandemic, and more. The three-day event features more than 800 online sessions and 48 hours of programming. There’s already a bunch of news coming out of the conference, including the official launch of Azure Availability Zones in Canada for all your data sovereignty and low latency needs, plus, a number of important updates for Microsoft Teams. Those updates include a new Together mode to help participants feel a little closer to each other with new backgrounds and environments – like a coffee shop, for example – plus new breakout rooms! Finally! The show continues this week, so stay tuned to ITWorldCanada.com for the latest from Ignite. [Twitter thread]
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Ex-content moderator sues YouTube, claims job led to PTSD symptoms and depression The worker watched videos that included beheadings, shootings and child abuse, according to the lawsuit. from technology
A former YouTube moderator in California is suing the company for failing to safeguard her mental health. According to the lawsuit, the moderator developed depression, as well as a fear of being around children, crowded places, and panic attacks from watching disturbing videos for four hours a day. During their working hours, the workers are required to review between 100 to 300 pieces of content per day. They also need to maintain a two to five per cent error rate, which compounds the stress. This isn’t the first time YouTube’s human content filter has damaged mental health. In January, the Verge found that YouTube content moderators at Accenture were being forced to sign documents acknowledging that the job could cause PTSD.
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Virtual school started in Toronto on Tuesday and…it’s been a mess. While schools have reopened, 72,000 students have opted to tune in remotely. Despite educators’ best efforts, the start of the remote school day on Tuesday was still chaotic. “I don’t know what grade I’m teaching,” said one teacher. Parents are feeling similarly overwhelmed. One parent told the Toronto Star that they couldn’t even access their account until an admin reset the account password with less than 24 hours to go. Some classes still have no instructors. The TDSB admitted that high demand and understaffing will cause a delay to online students by as much as a week. To ameliorate the situation, the board has hired 300 new teachers to fill the online teaching positions. [Twitter thread]
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Baneet Braich, thanks for listening.
