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SubscriptionsCategory: Tech, Data and Algorithms
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Did We Learn Nothing from the Last NHS Health Data Grab?
Robin Burgess, who witnessed the chaos of the ‘care.data’ scheme eight years ago, sees the same lack of consent, trust and engagement in its most recent incarnation
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Data and Deception: The Government’s Grab of GP Records Violates Our Trust
Phil Booth explains why we should be worried about the Government’s attempt to quietly share our GP data
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‘Wolf Warrior’ Diplomacy has Made China the World’s Most Threatening Online Troll
China’s attacks on its critics are the actions of a superpower gone rogue, says CJ Werleman
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The Government Wants to Sell Your GP Medical Records – Here’s How to Opt-Out
Phil Booth sets out how people can protect their privacy following NHS Digital’s announcement that patients’ GP data will be shared
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The Facebook Oversight Board is itself an Information Operation
Caroline Orr shows how the political havoc caused by Mark Zuckerberg – the most powerful non-state actor in the world – is baked into his business model
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Voter Fraud is a Fallacy: These Are the Real Dangers to British Democracy
Sam Bright explains that there are more investigations into the Prime Minister’s conduct than annual voter fraud convictions, and lists the genuine threats to democracy in the UK
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The Party Chasing Labour in the North of England
Sam Bright speaks to the founder of the Northern Independence Party about Hartlepool, Keir Starmer, and social media campaigning
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‘Strictly Impartial’ Politics For All Platform Run by Conservative, Brexit Supporter
Meet the person behind one of UK Twitter’s fastest-growing current affairs accounts
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Britain’s Political Media Corruption: A Coalition of the Guilty
From Leveson to Brexit, phone-hacking to Cambridge Analytica, Peter Jukes sees a consistent theme – parties on the run from the rule of law. And how Dominic Cummings could end the cycle of corruption
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Muslim Advocacy Groups Take the Fight to Facebook Over Anti-Muslim Hate
CJ Werleman reports on legal complaints and lawsuits which have been lodged against the social media giant for its failure to moderate hate speech and dehumanising messages against Muslims on the platform
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Did Cambridge Analytica Collude with Russia’s Intelligence Services to Interfere in US Elections?
Wendy Siegelman looks at new evidence about the US polling data handed to Russian agent Konstantin Kilimnik, and the role of the now-defunct election campaign company co-founded by Steve Bannon
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Why Does the Home Office Respond Faster to Immigration Cases that Attract Media Attention?
When prominent campaigner Dahaba Ali tweeted that she had been refused settled status, the department responded quickly on social media – is this part of a pattern? asks Sian Norris
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An Online Harm in Plain Sight: Social Media and Child Sexual Exploitation
With attempts to access child sexual exploitation material exploding during Coronavirus lockdowns, Katherine Denkinson reports on how big tech companies are not doing enough to protect children
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Beware Scientifically Suspect COVID Grief Grifting
David Oliver scrutinises a new campaign that ostensibly seeks to investigate whether COVID-19 deaths have been misattributed
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Government Admits Defeat Over £23 Million NHS Data Contract for Controversial Firm Palantir
Lawyers acting for the NHS have conceded it cannot offer companies such as Palantir a long-term NHS role without consulting the public
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COVID-19 Healthcare Agency: the Mother of all Health Databases
David Hencke reports on the new biosecurity agency tasked to build the largest diagnostic network in British history
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Meet the Campaigner Taking on the World’s Biggest Porn Platform
Laila Mickelwait says that the company allowed content featuring child sexual abuse and trafficking – and wants executives to be held to account
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Cashing Out: New Currency Kings Emerge in the COVID World
Martin Baker explores how the Coronavirus pandemic has hastened the rise and demise of digital and physical currencies
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IWD 2021: Internet Now ‘Most Dangerous Place’ to be a Woman Journalist
A new study by Reporters Without Borders exposes the dangers faced by women journalists online and off
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Who is Free Speech For? Network of Alt-Right Activists Target Anti-Racist Campaigner Over Tweet
As a new free speech digital platform launches today, Sian Norris and Nafeez Ahmed investigate how its editor is part of a network attacking anti-racist activists
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Government’s Online Harms Legislation Will Once Again Protect Its Friends in the Corporate Press
Brian Cathcart explains how concerns about internet hate speech will do nothing to tackle the appalling abuse found in online tabloid comment streams
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Alt-Right Ecosystem: Steve Bannon Tried to Buy Guido Fawkes
Sam Bright reports on how the former Trump campaign chief made a bid for the controversial pro-Brexit blog
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‘Benefiting NHS Patients or Big Tech?’: Matt Hancock Faces New Legal Challenge Over NHS Palantir Contract
David Hencke reports on a judicial review of the US tech giant’s controversial deal involving personal medical data
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Australia Needs Allies in the War Against Online Totalitarianism
CJ Werleman reports on developments around Facebook’s decision to ban Australian news content from the social media platform
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Lust: Can We Afford to Keep On Rewarding Excess?
Matthew Gwyther looks at the craving for power, money, sex, success, legitimacy and legacy – and wonders whether the world is big enough for any one person’s greed So, bye bye, then Jeff Bezos. The CEO of Amazon – who with a worth of $188 billion was for a while the richest man in the…
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The Bitcoin Boom Threatening the Financial Mainstream
Martin Baker sets the scene of a cryptocurrency revolution led by the surge in the price of Bitcoin
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Australia’s War on Big Tech is a Fight for Good Journalism
CJ Werleman dissects Facebook’s ban on Australian news content and its implications for democracy
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Vote Leave Data Firm Scores £2.4 Million Government Contract to Research ‘Online Harms’
Formerly known as ASI Data Science, the company once responsible for spreading Vote Leave’s propaganda is now being paid for research into harmful digital content reports Sam Bright A controversial data firm that worked on the Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 EU Referendum has won a £2.4 million Government contract to research “online harms”.…
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‘Facebook Nation’ May Be Closer Than We Think
Kyle Taylor reports on dystopian new plans to give Facebook an official stake in democracy
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An Important Victory in the Campaign Against Home Office’s Hostile Environment Secrecy
Shahed Ezaydi reports on a legal ruling that has exposed the department’s attempts to shield information from journalists and campaigners
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Another Suppressed Report: Facebook and the Brexit Data Breach
Former Labour MP and Digital Culture, Media and Sport Committee member Ian Lucas looks at diluted parliamentary oversight after two landmark reports on dirty data and dark money
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One in Five Believe there is a Government Conspiracy to Present COVID as ‘Much More Dangerous than It Really Is’
A new study provides evidence of the dangerous toll disinformation circulating on social media platforms can take on those suspicious of the Coronavirus crisis
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‘Marcus Rashford Can Get a Meeting with the Government About My Lunch and I Can’t. That’s Ridiculous’
Following her successful social media campaign which led to a private company U-turning on providing meagre free school meals for children and the issue debated in Parliament, Hardeep Matharu speaks to Roadside Mum about poverty, stigmatisation and the shutting down of the voices which matter
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The Great Distortion: How Clickbait Culture Warps Reality
Maheen Behrana explores how a broken business model incentivises news outlets to distort facts
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Biden Must Wage a Civil War Against Social Media Companies, On Behalf of American Democracy
To achieve the unity he promises, the new President must take on the online platforms that are radicalising the US, argues Sam Bright
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From Wellness to Alt-Right Conspiracy Theory: The Strange Marriage of New Age and Far-Right
Sian Norris investigates the sickness at the heart of a wellness community captured by far-right conspiracy and pro-Trump support
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Sting in the Tail: Assange, Extradition and the Protection of Press Freedom
Long-time campaigner for whistleblowers and hacktivists, Naomi Colvin, argues that the case of Julian Assange reveals the outdated and illiberal mess of British secrecy laws
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Anarchy, Algorithms, Decentralisation: Wikipedia at 20 – An Interview with Jimmy Wales
John Lubbock speaks to the tech entrepreneur about the ethos of the world-famous platform he founded, the rise of Big Tech and how social media could be fixed
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New £2 Million School Laptop Deal Awarded to Firm That Gave £105,000 to Tory Party
Sam Bright reports on the latest Government contract awarded to a firm that has funded the Conservative Party
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Government Advisor Told Followers to ‘Buy Shares’ in Parler – Three Days Before Platform Dropped Offline
A former Conservative and Brexit Party MEP, now giving business advice to the Government, told his followers to invest in a now-inaccessible social media platform accused of harbouring the alt-right
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‘We’re Being Collectively Gaslighted’ NHS Staff React to Lockdown Sceptics
As the weekly “Clap For Carers” returns, Adrian Goldberg hears why a frontline hospital consultant is so angry at those who downplay the Coronavirus
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Peter Thiel’s Tech Giant Palantir Extends its Reach into Local and National Government
David Hencke with more detail on the Government contract with Palantir and the involvement of the data science team behind the Vote Leave campaign
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The Digital Divide: With Schools Suddenly Back in Lockdown, How Many Disadvantaged Students Actually have the Kit they Need?
A lack of online access exacerbates an existing equality gap between children in disadvantaged communities and their wealthier counterparts, reports Sian Norris
