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Daily Archives: November 5, 2019

Freedom on the Net 2019 The Crisis of Social Media

Freedom House – “Governments around the world are increasingly using social media to manipulate elections and monitor their citizens, tilting the technology toward digital authoritarianism. As a result of these trends, global internet freedom declined for the ninth consecutive year, according to Freedom on the Net 2019, the latest edition of the annual country-by-country assessment of internet freedom, released today by Freedom House. Adding to the problem of meddling by foreign regimes, a new menace to democracy has risen from within, as populist leaders and their armies of online supporters seek to distort politics at home. Domestic election interference marred the online landscape in 26 of the 30 countries studied that held national votes over the past year. Disinformation was the most commonly used tactic. Authorities in some countries blocked websites or cut off access to the internet in a desperate bid to cling to power.

“Many governments are finding that on social media, propaganda works better than censorship,” said Mike Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. “Authoritarians and populists around the globe are exploiting both human nature and computer algorithms to conquer the ballot box, running roughshod over rules designed to ensure free and fair elections.” Governments from across the democratic spectrum are indiscriminately monitoring citizens’ online behavior to identify perceived threats—and in some cases to silence opposition. Freedom House has found evidence of advanced social media surveillance programs in at least 40 of the 65 countries analyzed..”

Warehouses Are Tracking Workers’ Every Muscle Movement

Bloomberg – Walmart and other companies are testing a monitoring device for workplace safety made by a startup called StrongArm. “..StrongArm says it has about 30 clients, including Heineken NV and Toyota Motor Corp., and is also establishing relationships with insurance companies interested in ways to reduce workers compensation costs. Walmart says it’s testing StrongArm… Continue Reading

Helsinki has a library to learn about the world, the city, and each other

Kottke.org: “The Finns love libraries, and a new fabulous one opened last year in Helsinki. Tommi Laitio, Helsinki’s executive director for culture and leisure was at the CityLab DC conference recently and presented some of the thinking behind Finland’s investments in libraries and culture, and why they are so important to their country. “This progress… Continue Reading

World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency

BioScience: “Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to “tell it like it is.” On the basis of this obligation and the graphical indicators presented below, we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate… Continue Reading

What Would Happen If the Internet Went Down … Forever?

Popular Mechanics – “…So how long could society carry on without the internet? However implausible, it’s nonetheless a scenario that futurists, economists, and IT workers spend considerable time contemplating. “Eliminating all internet communications, even if only for a few days, would inflict huge economic costs,” says Thomas Hazlett, who served as chief economist of the… Continue Reading