Advocacy Groups Demand Amazon, MGM Cancel Creepy ‘Ring Nation’ Surveillance Reality Show

40 privateness and racial justice teams signed an open letter demanding MGM Studios cancel Ring Nation, a dystopian actuality tv present based mostly on safety footage captured from Ring dwelling cameras. The teams warned airing the present dangers “normalizing and promoting Amazon Ring’s dangerous network of surveillance cameras,” and will put weak communities at heightened privateness dangers.

For those that missed it, Amazon announced the present earlier this 12 months, which reportedly revolves round comic Wanda Sykes commenting on viral video clips shared from consumer’s Ring dwelling safety cameras. Ring Nation, set to premiere on September 26, will reportedly characteristic a “mix of eye-catching videos from the smart devices around our homes,” according to a press launch. The half-hour present is being developed by MGM Television, which now belongs to Amazon due to the corporate’s 2021 acquisition of MGM correct, and Big Fish Entertainment.

Though the present’s creators say they need to deal with “heartwarming and hilarious” video clips, Fight for the Future, Main Street Alliance, Athena, and dozens of different teams included within the open letter describe Ring Nation as extra akin to a horror present.

“MGM and others affiliated with the show are hiding behind the concept of consent in order to rationalize airing Ring Nation,” the teams wrote. “The individuals appearing on the show consenting to video surveillance in no way protects against the harms stemming from Ring’s surveilling communities at large, especially marginalized communities targeted by police.”

The letter cites examples the place Ring’s surveillance footage was used to surveil activists protesting George Floyd’s homicide as examples illustrating the product’s probably dangerous affect on communities of shade. In common, Ring maintains partnerships with greater than 2,000 police departments throughout the nation and has reportedly supplied legislation enforcement with customers’ doorbell footage with out their permission on not less than 11 events this 12 months.

Historically, Ring and user consent mix worse than oil and water.

“Racial profiling and racist policing are core components of Ring’s business model, which profits off fear,” the groups wrote. “If aired, this show jeopardizes the rights and lives of viewers and their families.”

Amazon and Ring did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.

In addition to fears of explicit surveillance, Ring critics like the Electronic Frontier Foundation argue the company’s cameras, and its associated Neighbors community watch app, perpetuate police harassment and racial stereotypes and inflame residents’ worst instincts about their fellow neighbors. If you live in densely populated areas with Ring cameras you probably already understand this experience all too well.

“Ring Nation attempts to put a happy face on a dangerous product,” the letter continues. “Not only will MGM’s Ring Nation further normalize harmful neighborhood surveillance, it will deepen the pockets of a corporation that profits from the criminalization of communities of color and surveilling the whereabouts and actions of millions.”

MGM announced its tone-deaf, home surveillance version of America’s Funniest Home Videos around a year after Ring owner Amazon announced its intention to acquire the studio for $8.45 billion. The deal brings coveted film franchises like James Bond, The Addams Family, and The Pink Panther, under Amazon’s corporate wing. It also laid the groundwork for the remarkably on-the-nose example of corporate synergy that is an Amazon Ring-based television show. The deal’s already managed to draw the attention of Federal Trade Commission regulators. Months after Amazon announced its acquisition the agency reportedly launched an investigation focused on, “the larger implications of the deal for Amazon’s market power.”

Activist groups, including several who signed the Tuesday letter calling for Ring Nation’s cancellation, want to see the FTC launch similar probes into Amazon’s other pending acquisitions. More than two dozen groups signed a letter earlier this month calling on the agency to block Amazon’s more recent $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot. They warned that the deal would “endanger fair competition,” and jeopardize consumer privacy. New reports this week based on iRobot securities filings suggest the agency’s moving closer toward a formal investigation.

An FTC intervention into the iRobot deal would additionally presumably forestall Amazon from launching a Ring Nation spinoff sequence utilizing captured information from roaming Roomba bots. To be clear, Amazon completely hasn’t urged that’s a chance, possible as a result of it’s each creepy and extremely silly, however then once more so is Ring Nation, so who is aware of?