admin29

  1. Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet (Freedom House) At home and on the international stage, authoritarians are on a campaign to divide the open internet into a patchwork of repressive enclaves. More governments than ever are exerting control over what people can access and share online by blocking foreign websites, hoarding personal data, and centralizing their countries’ technical infrastructure. As a result of these trends, global internet freedom has declined for a 12th consecutive year. 2. How Elon Musk is changing Twitter (Vox) Elon Musk has only been in charge of Twitter since late October. But already, he’s [...]

  1. Big Tech Goes to War (Foreign Affairs) To Help Ukraine, Washington and Silicon Valley Must Work Together. 2. Pro-Kremlin influencers reignite Zelenskyy “green screen” theory (DFRlab) The narrative recycles old footage of the Ukrainian president recording a hologram to allege he fled the country. 3. How Quantum Theories Took Over TikTok (Slate) At first glance, the video seems like an ordinary news recap. “So today the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to scientists,” says TikTok creator Sami Moog. Then things get really trippy. “Your imagination literally makes up your own personal quantum field and it constructs every single [...]

  1. How Ukraine is winning the social media war (BBC News) After almost eight months, the war in Ukraine hangs in the balance. Ukrainian counter-offensives continue to make progress, while Russian forces are still pressing elsewhere. But on the internet, it's a very one-sided affair. 2. 'It's Time To Ignore' The Traps: Disinformation Expert Says Kremlin's 'Empty Threats' Have Paralyzed West (RFE/RL) Jakub Kalensky of the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE), a Helsinki think tank established by the European Union and NATO, says allowing worst-case fears of Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions to steer responses [...]

  1. New Working Paper: Analyzing Russia’s Selfie Diplomacy (Blog by Ilan Manor) The Working paper begins by discussing why nostalgia is such a common sentiment in todays’ world, arguing that nostalgia is an attempt to force logic onto an incoherent world. Next, the working paper examines the Selfie and asserts that the Selfie is the most nostalgic form of photograph. The working paper then defines and examines ‘Selfie Diplomacy’, or diplomats’ use of social media to create a national self-portrait. Finally, the working paper offers analysis of Russia’s Selfie diplomacy during 2020 while arguing that this Selfie was steeped in [...]

  1. A Normative Framework for Sharing Information Online (Article by Emily Sullivan and Mark Alfano) This chapter develops a normative epistemic framework for sharing information online. This framework takes into account both ethical and epistemic considerations that are intertwined in typical cases of online testimony. The authors argue that, while the current state of affairs is not entirely novel, recent technological developments call for a rethinking of the norms of testimony, as well as the articulation of a set of virtuous dispositions that people would do well to cultivate in their capacity as conduits (not just sources or receivers) of [...]

  1. WhatsApp with Diplomatic Practices in Geneva? Diplomats, Digital Technologies, and Adaptation in Practice (Article by Jeremie Cornut, Ilan Manor and Corinne Blumenthal) Instead of separating digital practices from offline/traditional ways of doing things, we build on the practice turn in International Relations and develop a nuanced framework in which improvising agents in a transformed context adapt to new realities while continuously being influenced by past ways of doing things—a phenomenon called “hysteresis” by practice turners. 2. The Future of Digital Cooperation: Building resilience through safe, trusted, and inclusive digital public infrastructure (United Nations) Building on the 77th UNGA theme [...]

  1. List of the leading International Organisations on Twitter (By Digitips) 2. Russian hybrid war report (Content series by Atlantic Council) As Russia’s aggression in Europe heats up, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) is keeping a close eye on Moscow’s movements across the military, cyber, and information domains. 3. Without You (EUvsDisinfo) The successful Ukrainian counteroffensive exposes cracks in the Russian infosphere, but colonial attitudes and toxic hate speech still prevail inspiring more atrocities. 4. Facebook and Messenger take a hint from Discord for new Community Chats (The Verge) Facebook is expanding access to a feature that [...]