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SubscriptionsCategory: Tech, Data and Algorithms
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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campaigner for whistleblowers and hacktivists, Naomi Colvin, argues that the case of Julian Assange reveals the outdated and illiberal mess of British secrecy laws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
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The Rise and Rise of the Big Tech Empire
Matthew Gwyther reports on the continued march of the unaccountable digital monopolies and their ambition to reengineer everything – including us
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Are Immunity Passports An Inevitable Solution to Continuous Coronavirus Waves?
Digital passes that confirm people are Coronavirus-free could be adopted as a tool to get societies back to normal – by governments and beyond, says Steve Shaw
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How Facebook is Aiding Authoritarian Regimes
The biggest danger of the social media giant’s stranglehold on social media is not to its competitors but to those living under authoritarian leaders, reports Steve Shaw
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A Top Priority for Joe Biden: Stop Information Warfare
Zarina Zabrisky urges the President-elect and his team to counter one of the gravest threats to modern democracy
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‘Unproven, Expensive’ NHS Digital Plans Criticised by MPs
MPs warn that billions of pounds could be wasted by the opaque tech-focused arm of NHS, reports David Hencke
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Farage Gambles with Social Media Rules
Nigel Farage has been promoting his £10,000 bet on the US Presidential Election, but are his posts within the rules?
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Controversial Trump-Linked Data Firm Given £20 Million Government Contract to Monitor UK’s Borders
Palantir, a tech giant that holds US Government contracts worth more than $1.5 billion, is extending its tentacles across the Atlantic, reports Stephen Delahunty
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Flattening the Curve of COVID Conviction
Byline Times’ Secret Scientist finds that science is being abused as much in the second wave of COVID-19 as it was in the first
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Dark Ironies: The Financial Times and Cambridge Analytica
Dr Emma Briant reports on the contract between the famous media company and the now-defunct data operation set up by Steve Bannon and Robert Mercer
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New Evidence Connects Johnson, Gove and Cummings to Cambridge Analytica
Former MP and member of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee Ian Lucas explains fresh revelations about the now defunct data firm’s links to AIQ – which was paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to deploy Facebook adverts for the Vote Leave group during the 2016 Referendum
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Brexit Spin Masters Jump on Unconvincing Cambridge Analytica Conclusions
Former MP Ian Lucas scrutinises a recent letter from the Information Commissioner addressing the links between Cambridge Analytica and the pro-Brexit campaigns
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‘A Single Source of Truth’: More Government Outsourcing Projects to Controversial Tech Firms Revealed
A new report lays bare details of the Government’s Coronavirus work conducted by Dominic Cummings’ favourite tech companies
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Genocide Denialism Flourishes in the Social Media Age
CJ Werleman looks at the proliferation of genocide denial, from the Shoah to Bosnia, and how this enables continued killing and repression in Syria and China
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Amazon Web Services Wins COVID-19 Contact Tracing Deal Despite Data Sharing Concerns
Questions have been raised about whether Amazon could be required to share UK contact trace data with the US Government, reports Stephen Komarnyckyj
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‘Digital prison’: Why It’s Unsafe for Western Companies to do Business with Russia
Kseniya Kirillova speaks to a cybersecurity specialist about how Russia obtains sensitive information from Western companies
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Russian State-linked Figures Promoted Portland ‘Cruise Rally’ and Fake News Site Inciting New American Civil War
Iggy Ostantin reveals Putin’s interference in US politics appears to be even deeper and darker in 2020
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‘They Are Naïve to Potential Abuse’: Centralisation Under Cummings
Insiders reveal a clash between Civil Service impartiality and Cabinet Office concentration of power, reports Sam Bright
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Defunding the BBC Will Lead to a Zombie Democracy
An emaciated BBC would spur partisan ‘news’ riddled with conspiracy theories, argues Sam Bright
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Gove in New Cabinet Office Trade Data Grab
David Hencke reports on how the Cabinet Office Minister is continuing with plans for the centralisation of data within his department
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The Matrix of Violence: Automated Racism in Police Surveillance
After the ‘A’ Level exams fiasco, Zeeshan Ali reveals how a reliance on technology and AI is reinforcing prejudice on the streets Recent weeks have witnessed a growing outcry against the state’s use of algorithms to predict the exam results of students across the country at the detriment of those predominantly from disadvantaged backgrounds. Teenagers…
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The Conservative-Crosby Insider Running Coronavirus Meme Firm Topham Guerin
The digital start-up given £3 million to help run Coronavirus communications has hired a member of Tory party royalty as its managing director, Sam Bright reveals
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IN GOD WE TRUST. ALL OTHERS WE MONITOR: The Mystery of Dominic Cummings’ Lanyard
Sam Bright and Greg Miskiw dig into dystopian lanyard flaunted by Boris Johnson’s chief advisor
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COVID-19 Robo-Government: What Happened When I Was Pursued by the Self-Isolation Police
Stalked by a shadowy, faceless entity, David Clark thought the Government’s attempts to contact him were a hoax
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A New Digital ‘Hostile Environment’ – And Cummings’ 10-Year Plan for Another Referendum
David Hencke reports on the Home Office’s plans to change its immigration status system and fresh insights about the ‘Whitehall Revolution’ being masterminded by the Prime Minister’s chief advisor
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Facebook Withholding Evidence of Myanmar’s Rohingya Genocide
Steve Shaw reports on how the social media platform was used to fuel violence against the country’s Muslim minority in 2017
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Exams Watchdog Boss Flouted Concerns on Algorithm Bias Raised in his Own Report
The chair of Ofqual didn’t follow his own advice on how algorithms can reinforce discrimination because of “biases in underlying datasets”
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Infamous: A Bonnie and Clyde Tale in the Instagram Era
Chris Sullivan reviews Infamous, a new dramatisation of the insatiable lust for fame
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Data Danger: Cabinet Office Admits Holes in its Cyber Security
Amid its attempts to centralise Government data, Michael Gove’s department is exposed to cyber security incidents, Sam Bright reports
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Hacked Encrypted Private Messaging Leads to Biggest Organised Crime Bust in Years
Duncan Campbell reports on the haul of guns, drugs, and money by Operation Venetic, but also potential legal problems over the hacked data
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Cabinet Office Launches New Contract System for ‘AI’ Procurement – Reducing Public Transparency
David Hencke reports on the extension of a new contract system by Michael Gove’s office which avoids publication of early bids from tech companies
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Poachers to Gamekeepers? Vote Leave Data Firm Now Promoted by Government as Anti-Disinformation Expert
Faculty AI, an artificial intelligence company employed by Dominic Cummings during the Brexit campaign, is being marketed to foreign countries as an antidote to fake news
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Babylon Health and the Health Data Goldrush
John Lubbock looks beyond the hype at Dominic Cummings and Matt Hancock’s enthusiasm for health services based on artificial intelligence
