Technological resistance against the invasion of advertising ultracosts

These days of end-of-year evaluations, the media echo how teachers go to great lengths to find out if those passing the tests are students, robots, or "earpiece" prompters, the College of Journalists of Catalonia announces a short course on AI and on top of that it turns out that the Pope, who is daily news for his coming, dedicates his first encyclical to ethically reflect on the subject, which will clearly go much further. There is a generally reactionary conspiracy of opportunists against that have been in the world, as an Augustinian friar like the Pope, Fray Luis de León, who was imprisoned by the Inquisition, wrote.Newspapers are starting to have problems with AI embezzlement and we are established in the field of the invasion of advertising ultracores in digital publishing, of which we are not, however, actors but only containers. Jordi Urpí points out this criticism to us: "It is quite unpleasant, to say the least, to have to see in the middle of all the reports, ultra-Spanishist-smelling advertisements with the Spanish flag included and, obviously, in Spanish... Do you have any way to avoid it/us?... I will be very grateful if you manage it". Subscriber Amparo Asensi writes to me about an ad for “easy local girls” that appeared while she was reading an article: “I am writing to you because the other day, while browsing your pages, an ad appeared that I don't think is in line with your editorial policy or the readers' interests. Especially with all the cases of sexual abuse that you have uncovered and helped report. I don't know what control you have over the advertising shown on the newspaper's pages, but if you can do something about it, we will be doing our bit to achieve a just world for everyone.” The same vein is the comment that reader Glòria Casals shares with me: “Good evening, any plausible explanation as to why when I'm reading an article about the fight between Merz and Trump I find a photo of a Korean lady who seems to be offering her services?” Finally, Xavi Campreciós comments: “I don't know if you are aware of the ads that appear within the articles because perhaps different ones appear for each person. The fact is that the ones that appear to me seem inappropriate in the context of the ARA newspaper. Lately, they advertise dates with Asian girls. In a single article, they can appear up to five times throughout the reading, and the truth is that it is disturbing and unpleasant. I attach a screenshot of one of them.”I have requested the newspaper's version, which the general director, Pablo Casals, transmits to me:“In the specific case of the dating ad, it took us a little while to locate it because we didn't have enough references and, at first, we didn't see how it could have bypassed the filters. We've finally identified it: indeed, it had managed to evade both Google's filters and ours, and it has already been blocked. As we've explained on other occasions, this is programmatic advertising. When we don't sell all our advertising inventory directly, some spaces go into Google's auction, always subject to controls and exclusions according to our ethical and editorial criteria. Among other categories, we block dating ads, pornography, gambling, and content that doesn't fit the newspaper's line.Even so –concludes Casals–, it is true that this type of service constantly tries to find ways to enter advertising circuits, and that is why we continuously review and update the filters. In any case, we greatly appreciate readers sending us screenshots or specific references, as they help us locate and block these cases more quickly. Furthermore, programmatic ads from Google incorporate a small icon in one of the upper corners that allows you to stop seeing them and indicate the reason, which also helps to improve filtering”.I have requested an authorized opinion from the lawyer Andreu Van den Eynde, whose firm specializes in cybercrime and information technologies, although he is better known for his excellence in criminal law, especially from his defense of Oriol Junqueras and Raül Romeva in the Procés trial.“The issue is complex because it affects advertisements that, without necessarily being illegal in themselves, can be inappropriate or annoying for some users. This problem – explains Van den Eynde – is particularly intense in the digital environment, where advertising insertion often works through automated systems or is managed by third parties, which makes exhaustive prior control by the media difficult.From a legal point of view, the medium's responsibility essentially depends on the type of content disseminated, the degree of intervention in the selection or promotion of advertising, and the effective knowledge it has of its potential unlawfulness or harmful nature.The main limits are determined by the protection of prevailing rights and interests, such as the protection of children and adolescents, the prohibition of misleading advertising, the protection of human dignity, the prevention of hate speech, or the protection of intellectual property.However, current technological reality means that even on relevant social networks, inappropriate or fraudulent advertisements can be disseminated.Media outlets must have reasonable mechanisms for supervision, filtering, and response to incidents reported by users, as failure to do so can lead to legal liabilities. Effective knowledge of an irregularity can place the person responsible for the publication in a position of guarantee, especially if inaction contributes to the production or maintenance of a certain harm.In any case –concludes the lawyer–, it cannot be forgotten that a medium's advertising policy is also part of its corporate identity: the content it decides to host, promote or tolerate directly contributes to defining its reputation, public credibility, and the ethical standards with which it wishes to be perceived by its readers and by society”.I have tried to address this topic in the broadest possible way, but I am aware that this scope is so immense that we will always risk falling short, and that the media industry, journalists and advertisers, and readers!, will have to learn to live with a technological hegemony that often overwhelms us; if anything, like when we fought against the dictatorship, looking for zones of freedom that allow us to bypass the system. If Martin Baron, eight years director of the Washington Post to the system. If Martin Baron, eight years director of the The Reader's Ombudsman takes note of doubts, suggestions, criticisms, and complaints about the newspaper's content in its digital and print editions, and ensures that the treatment of information is in accordance with deontological codes.To contact the Reader's Ombudsman you can send an email to eldefensor@ara.cat or record a message of no more than one minute to the WhatsApp number 653784787. In all cases, identification with name, surnames and ID number is required.