There’s a persistent myth that TikTok only feeds kids in China science and math videos, while the American version of the app is 'programmable fentanyl.' For The Atlantic, I wrote about why this idea isn't true and the worrying implications of believing it theatlantic.com/technology/arc…

It will never cease to amaze me that countries that had enough confidence in the public and in their institutions to face down Soviet propaganda during the Cold War appear to be so afraid of warmongering second-rate petrostate rump successor that they resort to restricting speech

On the multiple projects needed to create an equitable newsroom
'One thing we learned is multiple consistent actions over time. It's a long game. We're talking about changing hundreds of years of journalism practices,' said Carmen Parahi
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

During #ijf24 , Reuters Institute's nicnewman and Ellen Heinrichs from Bonn Institute addressed 7️⃣ emerging strategies to address news avoidance.

💡 One idea: prioritizing constructive, non-aggressive discussions of polarizing topics. buff.ly/4dgKjOT

We analysed what happens when you ask ChatGPT for the latest news from specific sites. The responses:
52% said 'I'm unable to'
10% top stories on the website
30% old/minor stories
3% from a different site
3% too vague

Full details reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/im-unable-how-…
Figures in chart

'The experts were clear on why the world is failing to tackle the climate crisis. A lack of political will was cited by almost three-quarters of the respondents, while 60% also blamed vested corporate interests, such as the fossil fuel industry.' theguardian.com/environment/ar…

Apropos of, oh, nothing, I’m remembering that time a London public affairs agency tried to recruit me into a full time paid role where I would be a professional victim of Big Tech, even though the things I was allegedly the victim of hadn’t happened. heatherburns.tech/2022/02/13/a-p…

Looks like TikTok is also using the U.S. government's own words against it, citing the amicus brief the government's filed in the Moody v Netchoice case currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

For context about the Netchoice cases, here's a story I wrote when…

To fend off political pressure, TikTok has downplayed its China connections. The app appointed non-Chinese executives and its current CEO is based in Singapore.

But @RestofWorld’s reporting found that Chinese executives are making key business decisions
restofworld.org/2024/tiktok-ch…

🌏Join us today for our Global Journalism Seminar with New Zealand journalist Carmen Parahi who will be discussing Indigenous approaches to make newsrooms more equitable.
🕐13:00 UK time
✍️It's not too late to sign up: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regist…

Good thing Oxford has a BA in computer science and philosophy 😊 'If you want to pursue a career in engineering, you should focus on learning #philosophy in addition to traditional engineering coursework. It will improve your code.'

#AIEthics

hbr.org/2024/04/why-en…

Autocracies are not 'winning the information war'. Democracies are over-reporting instances of authoritarian information meddling, most of which are not successful. Presence of information meddling ≠ success of information meddling. theatlantic.com/newsletters/ar…

#Israel ’s ban on Al Jazeera PR⁩ is unlawful, disproportionate, unjustified attack on #FreedomofExpression , & #MediaFreedom , despicable attempt to block news of #Gaza conflict, depriving Palestinians of their #Right2Info
aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/6/…

Why we need better, joined-up tech policy in the UK:

Two different headlines on the radio this morning: one calling for 'better age verification' for online safety; the other telling of an ePassport gates outage causing chaos.

It's basically the same technology.

It’s not often you see a regulator (Ofcom) gloating in print that their proposals will “have an impact on the experiences of children and adults and can impact their rights to freedom of expression and other fundamental rights”, but the UK is, of course, world-leading.

We are thrilled to welcome Felix M. Simon to Reuters Institute. As a Research Fellow, he'll be part of our research team led by Richard Fletcher and help shape our work on AI & the future of news

👨🏼‍💻 Felix's bio reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/people/felix-s…
ℹ️ More on our work on AI reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/ai-journalism-…

This interview with Reuters Institute just dropped. Happy to share the results of the work we have been doing for the last couple of years.

Thanks to Gretel Kahn and Eduardo Suárez for having me!

reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/ai-newsro…

At UNESCOGeneva to speak about Internews Earth Journalism Network, including how to defending climate journalists from attack and how to help them work amid a sea of disinformation. An important part of #WorldPressFreedomDay

So true! “Reporting on the campus encampments by large parts of the media fits a general pattern of protest coverage that focuses more on the drama of the disruption rather than the underlying reasons behind it.” niemanlab.org/2024/05/media-…

'We respect our students' and staff members' right to freedom of expression in the form of peaceful protests' University of Oxford spokesperson says
reuters.com/world/uk/with-…