Tag Archives: Censorship

Freedom of thought is being threatened by states, big tech and even ourselves. Here’s what we can do to protect it

Simon McCarthy-Jones, Trinity College Dublin

The idea of free speech sparked into life 2,500 years ago in Ancient Greece – in part because it served a politician’s interests. The ability to speak freely was seen as essential for the new Athenian democracy, which the politician Cleisthenes both introduced and benefited from.

Continue reading

18Sep/23

Prominent dark sides and hidden agendas of social media moderators

Mon, Sep 18 — It is important to note that not all social media moderators are motivated by these dark sides and hidden agendas. Many moderators are genuinely trying to create a safe and welcoming environment for users. However, the power that social media moderators wield means that it is important to be aware of the potential for abuse. Continue reading

19Apr/23

Fox News reached a last-minute settlement with Dominion Voting Systems

LONDON, April 19, 2023 /Business/ — Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million on April 18, 2023, just hours before opening statements were scheduled to begin in a defamation trial. The settlement was the largest ever in a defamation case involving a media company.

There are several possible reasons why Fox News agreed to settle. First, the network was facing a strong case. Dominion had already won several key rulings in the case, including one that found that Fox News had defamed the company. A jury was also likely to find in Dominion’s favor, and a large verdict could have been devastating for Fox News.
Continue reading

18Apr/23

The defamation lawsuit by Dominion against Fox and a timeline of key events leading up to the trial

April 18, 2023 /Business/ — Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox Corporation and its Fox News Channel on March 26, 2021, alleging that the network defamed the company by repeatedly making false and defamatory claims about its voting machines in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

The lawsuit alleged that Fox News hosts and guests, including former President Donald Trump, made false and defamatory claims about Dominion’s voting machines, including that they were “rigged” and “susceptible to hacking.” The lawsuit also alleged that Fox News’s coverage of Dominion’s voting machines was “reckless and false” and that it caused Dominion to suffer “severe and irreparable harm.”
Continue reading

13Jan/23

Reclaiming privacy

By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist

Last week, WhatsApp announced a new proxy support feature that will help people stay connected during internet disruptions. The app is often targeted by government censors because messages on the end-to-end encrypted service can’t be intercepted, enabling people to organise protests and share critical information in private.
Continue reading

20Jul/22

OPINION: Meta and hate speech in India

Deborah Brown and Jayshree Bajoria are senior researchers at Human Rights Watch

Last week, Meta, formerly Facebook, released its first human rights report, which included some snippets from the pending Human Rights Impact Assessment on India. But this was not a preview of the full assessment. Rather, Meta told Human Rights Watch that it does not “have plans to publish anything further on the India HRIA,” an abdication of its commitment to transparency and due diligence.
Continue reading