"Asociada en sus comienzos a un movimiento libertario horizontal y cooperativo, la Red de redes está siendo cooptada por las grandes corporaciones del capitalismo global y convirtiéndose en un peligroso dispositivo de vigilancia ciudadana. Un proceso que la disrupción provocada por la pandemia de
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l coronavirus ha acelerado bruscamente. A través del análisis de destacados intelectuales, apoyado en un amplio despliegue de mapas, gráficos, infografías y cronologías, 'El Atlas de la revolución digital' constituye un aporte a la comprensión de las vertiginosas mutaciones que están cambiando el mundo tal como lo conocíamos. Una herramienta para reflexionar sobre los alcances de la revolución digital y recuperar el control sobre las tecnologías que se están apoderando de nuestras vidas." (Cubierta del libro)
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"The Chinese state has demonstrated a propensity for controlling and shaping the information environment of the Chinese diaspora—including via WeChat. The meteoric growth of TikTok has now put the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a position from which it can shape the information environment on a
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largely non-Chinese-speaking platform—with the help of the highest valued start-up in the world and its opaque advanced AI-powered algorithm. Chinese party-state leverage over these companies is considerable, is exercised internally via CCP committees and is enforced by a suite of cybersecurity and intelligence laws. As Chinese companies, Tencent and ByteDance are not only required to participate in intelligence work, but they’re also legally mandated to promote CCP propaganda. China’s censorship and propaganda apparatus is a responsibility that’s pushed down to media and technology companies such as Tencent and ByteDance. As Chinese companies, they’re obligated to comply with strict government regulations on what content is allowed to be published on their platforms, and they both invest heavily in automated systems for content filtering and human curation. The demands of the PRC’s surveillance and propaganda apparatus on these technology companies are such that, at least in the case of WeChat, they’re even prepared to surveil the foreign users of their apps in order to better train the censorship algorithms used on Chinese citizens within the PRC." (Conclusion, page 47)
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"Drawing from often overlooked sources of evidence, this report shows that China’s homegrown social media platforms have responded to market incentives by subtly shielding users from certain forms of online censorship and repression. Meanwhile, the party confronts rising costs—both economicall
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y and politically—for stamping out the diffuse forms of dissent that spread across these networks. Has the debate over the role of new communications technology in China’s political system really been decided? China’s $56 billion internet advertising market now dwarfs advertising in print, radio, and broadcast—and investments have frequently followed audiences to platforms where they feel free to express themselves. Chinese state officials are frequently raising concerns about the growing threat to the party’s control posed by social media, including the dangers of “out of control” algorithms. Hiding key indicators from the censors, reviving banned accounts, and creating opportunities for collective action: social media platforms are quietly and subtly testing the political boundaries in response to their audience’s preferences." (Key findings)
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"Privacy scholarship has shown how norms of appropriate information flow and information regulatory processes vary according to environment, which change as the environment changes, including through the introduction of new technologies. This paper describes findings from a qualitative research stud
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y that examines practices and perceptions of privacy in Cambodia as the population rapidly moves into an online environment (specifically Facebook, the most popular Internet tool in Cambodia today). We empirically demonstrate how the concept of privacy differs across cultures and show how the Facebook platform, as it becomes popular worldwide, catalyzes change in norms of information regulation. We discuss how the localization of transnational technology platforms provides a key site in which to investigate changing cultural ideas about privacy, and to discover misalignments between different expectations for information flow. Finally, we explore ways that insufficient localization effort by transnational technology companies puts some of the most marginalized users at disproportionate information disclosure risk when using new Internet tools, and offer some pragmatic suggestions for how such companies could improve privacy tools for users who are far -geographically or culturally - from where the tools are designed." (Abstract)
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This is the second of two policy briefs on polarisation. The first policy brief, “Polarisation and Peacebuilding Strategy on Digital Media Platforms: The Current Research,” reviewed the research, and concluded by recommending directions for future research. This brief describes interventions: (a
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) interventions currently being attempted by NGOs and other peacebuilders using digital platforms as their medium, and (b) interventions that the platforms themselves have tested and/or put into action. The conclusion of this brief sorts interventions into categories, and provides recommendations for digital media platforms.
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"Over the past few years, internet access and adoption in India has grown tremendously, giving Indians more access to the online information ecosystem than ever before. Today, India is one of the largest markets for technology platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook. However, the adoption of these t
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echnology platforms has also enabled misinformation and disinformation to spread at scale in the country. This has resulted in the eruption of violence and even the deaths of dozens of people. This policy brief explores the false information ecosystem in India, highlighting the key players and approaches they have implemented to curb the spread of misinformation and disinformation. It also offers a set of recommendations for how these efforts can be improved going forward." (Abstract)
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"Social media platforms have become themain channel for people to communicate, access information and share content. A handful of giant platforms dominate the markets and, through a complex typology of conducts, are able to strongly affect users’ exposure to content, violating their privacy, as we
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ll as their freedom of expression and information. Regulators have at disposal a toolbox to fix the problem. This article analyses possible instruments and makes suggestions to contribute to the debate." (Abstract)
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"This guideline has been developed by the authors in a collaborative manner over the period May 2018-May 2019 in consultation with the Knowledge Management for Development (KM4Dev) community. It is designed to provide guidance for development organizations who are setting up portals –also known as
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knowledge portals, hubs and websites– as a way of counteracting what is known as portal proliferation syndrome. The guideline provides a checklist of issues which are important in the development of portals, covering what to take into account before starting, during the design phase and implementation, and technical standards and specifications. The checklist will be further developed to identify the most important issues." (Page 83)
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"Führende Tech-Konzerne, allen voran die aus dem Silicon Valley, instrumentalisieren zunehmend das Handelsrecht für ihre Interessen, wie die von der US-Regierung im Jahre 2000 verabschiedete Digitale Agenda zeigt. Dabei geht es längst nicht mehr nur um die Reduzierung von Zöllen auf digitale Pro
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dukte wie Software oder einheitliche Standards für Telekommunikationsdienste. Patente auf Künstliche Intelligenz sowie die (Nicht)Regulierung von Datenflüssen sind inzwischen auch Bestandteil handelsrechtlicher Regelungen und Gegenstand kontroverser Debatten in der Welthandelsorganisation WTO. Für die Länder des Globalen Südens - aber nicht nur für sie - steht dabei viel auf dem Spiel, einschließlich der Gefahr eines neuen, digitalen Kolonialismus. Die Publikation untersucht, wo die Potenziale und Grenzen digitaler Lösungsansätze liegen. Sie analysiert, was sich aus vermeintlichen Vorzeigeprojekten wie dem mobilen Bezahlsystem M-Pesa oder der Verbreitung des bargeldlosen Bezahlens in Indien lernen lässt. Die Autoren untersuchen auch, ob die Digitalisierung transnationaler Lieferketten nicht nur die Transparenz erhöht, sondern auch die Wertschöpfung bei den Arbeiterinnen und Arbeitern auf den Kaffee- und Sojaplantagen oder in Fabriken. Für eine faire Gestaltung der Digitalisierung müssen vor allem folgende Fragen beachtet werden: Wie können benachteilige Bevölkerungsgruppen in den ländlichen Regionen Afrikas oder Bewohnerinnen und Bewohner von Armenvierteln in den Megacities einen besseren Zugang zu Arbeit und Grunddienstleistungen erhalten? Welcher Maßnahmen bedarf es, um für Menschen in Asien und Lateinamerika die Risiken des digitalen Wandels zu minimieren und dessen Potenziale zu erweitern? Die Studie schließt deswegen mit neun Bausteinen zum Aufbau einer fairen Digitalisierung." (Vorwort)
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"Facebook is the Internet in Myanmar, and it presents both opportunities for and challenges to the government, the opposition, and the people in a country that is in transition. Facebook has gained notoriety as a platform for hate speech and fake news in Myanmar over the past seven years. Facebook h
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as removed hundreds of accounts and pages allied with or supportive of the Myanmar military, or engaged in coordinated deceptive behaviour. The National League for Democracy government has sought to control and regulate social media by establishing a social media monitoring body and preparing a cyber law, but without much impact to date. Both Facebook’s close monitoring of accounts and defamation suits have made Facebook users in Myanmar more cautious, but supporters of the National League for Democracy, the military and opposition parties still rely heavily on Facebook for partisan political communication." (Executive summary)
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"Following multiple controversies in the past two years, Facebook is seeking to implement much needed processes for self-regulation and governance to help regain the trust of the public, politicians, and regulatory authorities. Facebook has thus entered a new era of cautious glasnost, inviting resea
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rchers to look 'under the hood' of various aspects of its operations, and understand how it formulates and implements its policies. This short report aims to build on these developments by identifying some specific issues concerning political information and speech on Facebook, providing an overview of the major changes that Facebook has made in recent years in response to public criticism, and critically assessing these changes, offering suggestions as to what more the company should do." (Publisher description)
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"L’étude suggère que les médias sociaux ne sont pas toujours la panacée pour l’engagement citoyen des jeunes. Internet n’est pas un monde isolé en soi dans le sens où il ne fait que prolonger les usages éprouvés dans la vie citoyenne. Son rôle dans l’essor des Révolutions arabes a
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quelques fois été surestimé. Sans aucun doute, les médias sociaux permettent aux jeunes hommes et femmes, déjà engagés dans les champs civils et politiques, de se structurer davantage, mais ils peuvent difficilement faire germer des vocations nouvelles envers la chose publique, notamment auprès de groupes auto-exclus de la sphère citoyenne comme les jeunes vulnérables, les jeunes femmes ou encore les populations rurales. L’originalité de l’étude tient en premier lieu à l’examen des « contenus participatifs », c’est-à-dire les divers types de contenus et de messages publiés par les usagers des plateformes jugées populaires auprès des jeunes. Ainsi, l’étude analyse savamment les dispositifs techniques ou technologiques, susceptibles d’accroître le succès et l’interactivité des plateformes web dirigées par et pour les jeunes, ainsi que les contenus qui y sont produits et relayés. Elle apporte des enseignements précieux dont la nécessaire agrégation de contenus et de ressources ciblant simultanément différentes tranches d’âges et d’usage, la nécessité de favoriser des sujets relatifs à la situation concrète des jeunes, et l’impératif d’alterner intelligemment des activités en ligne et des actions en présentiel (face-to-face). D’autres facteurs semblent susceptibles de rehausser l’attractivité et le dynamisme des plateformes, comme par exemple, la mise en avant de personnalités influentes et identifiables, la garantie de l’anonymat et de la sécurité des usagers ainsi que la lutte contre la censure, notamment dans les contextes de crise marqués par une réduction des libertés. Fait inattendu, l’étude relativise l’importance, sinon l’attrait, des dimensions graphiques et purement visuelles pour le succès et la pérennité des plateformes." (Préface, page 7)
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"The Big Nine who will determine the future of artifical intelligence (AI) - Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, and Facebook in America; and Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent in China - serve masters with conflicting interests. Wall Street wants profit now without regard to consequences. The Chinese g
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overnment wants citizens cowed by social controls. These companies are likely to deliver what their respective masters want - decisions that are increasingly out of whack with humanity's best interests. Yet there is still time to choose the right path. In three eye-opening scenarios - optimistic, pragmatic, catastrophic - Webb forecasts the potential directions AI could take. If the Big Nine change course from a path now leading to disaster, AI could indeed be a boon for humanity. If not, our democratic ideals could implode." (Back cover)
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"We are at a constitutional moment for the future of the internet. Nation states around the world are launching major new initiatives to regulate the internet, both directly against users and by regulating the companies that provide access to telecommunications infras- tructure and content services.
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The giant technology companies that control the bulk of the commercial internet are themselves under unprecedented scrutiny for the policies they set, the decisions they make, and the choices that go into designing their architecture. In my new book, Lawless, I argue that in this moment of change there is a major opportunity for us all to rethink how the internet should be governed, how power is held to account, and whose values prevail." (Abstract)
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"The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control us. The heady optimism of the Internet's early days is gone. Technologies that we
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re meant to liberate us have deepened inequality and stoked divisions. Tech companies gather our information online and sell it to the highest bidder, whether government or retailer. Profits now depend not only on predicting our behaviour but modifying it too. How will this fusion of capitalism and the digital shape our values and define our future? Shoshana Zuboff shows that we are at a crossroads. We still have the power to decide what kind of world we want to live in, and what we decide now will shape the rest of the century. Our choices: allow technology to enrich the few and impoverish the many, or harness it and distribute its benefits. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a deeply-reasoned examination of the threat of unprecedented power free from democratic oversight. As it explores this new capitalism's impact on society, politics, business, and technology, it exposes the struggles that will decide both the next chapter of capitalism and the meaning of information civilization. Most critically, it shows how we can protect ourselves and our communities and ensure we are the masters of the digital rather than its slaves." (Publisher description)
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"As the ‘big three’ social media platforms Facebook, YouTube and Twitter increasingly lose their relevance for young users, other social media, especially Instagram, step up to fill this space. Our research showed that hate groups and extremists wishing to influence minors or young adults with t
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heir ideologies follow their target group to those platforms. It is a welcome step that Instagram joined the Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online in 2018. Due to the increasing significance of this network and its relevance for children, future research on hate speech online should consider Instagram on a par with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. As the social media with the broadest audience strengthen their moderation and removal policies to tackle hate speech, extremists and hate groups are looking for alternative solutions. They find these in networks which do not enforce their community guidelines as strictly or advocate a far-reaching free speech approach specifically allowing hate speech on their platforms. Those platforms are very diverse and appeal to different audiences in different countries. In some countries, dedicated websites are set up in order to facilitate the use of networks operated abroad and to mediate possible language barriers." (Conclusion, page 11)
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"This publication discusses the extent to which digital technology can help tackle poverty and social inequality. Does it increase or restrict the opportunities for social and economic participation open to disadvantaged people? We analyse the history of e-commerce in the light of this question. We
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consider current developments in the world trade regime, because a new dynamic has developed in trade policy almost unnoticed. As the Digital Agenda adopted by the US government in 2000 shows, leading tech companies - principally those from Silicon Valley - are increasingly using commercial law to promote their own interests. This is no longer just about reducing tariffs on digital products such as software, or about uniform standards for telecommunications services. Patents on artificial intelligence and the (non-)regulation of data flows are now elements of commercial regulations and the subject of controversy in the World Trade Organization (WTO). For the countries of the Global South - but not only for them - there is a lot at stake, including the risk of a new, digital colonialism. This publication explores the potentials and limits of digital solutions. It analyses the lessons to be learned from supposedly model projects such as the mobile payment system M-Pesa and the spread of cashless payment in India. We also examine whether the digitalisation of transnational supply chains not only boosts transparency but also increases value creation for workers on the coffee and soya plantations or in factories. The question of how digitalisation can be organised so that it contributes to the welfare of everyone must focus on one issue in particular: how can disadvantaged population groups in the rural parts of Africa or the inhabitants of slums in the megacities obtain better access to work and basic services? What steps must be taken to minimise the risks of the digital transformation for people in Asia and Latin America and enhance its potential? The study therefore concludes with a list of nine ideas that would help make digitalisation fair. Consider them as an invitation to engage in discussion of globally just and humane digitalisation." (Preface)
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