Politics
Journalism and politics are inescapably inter-twined.
Andrew Sullivan on the danger of self-righteousness Paid Members Public
Andrew Sullivan on absolute fire [http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/11/the-danger-of-knowing-youre-on-the-right-side-of-history.html] in his weekly column for New York Magazine: > No party, no cause, no struggle, however worthy, is ever free from evil. No earthly cause is entirely good. And to believe with absolute certainty that you
Social platforms: perfect propaganda delivery tools Paid Members Public
This post by JP Rangaswami resonated with me, because it summed up one of the areas digital seems to have gone wrong [http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2017/10/30/on-platforms-and-sustainability/]: > So is that it? Back to seats and eyeballs, channelled not connected, “audiences” sucking up linear “content”? Back to a
Amber Rudd is unfit to regulate technology Paid Members Public
It’s not often I make a statement as bald as the one in the headline of this post, but this is appalling [https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/amber-is-alert]: > Asked by a party member whether members of her government actually understood how encryption worked and the difficulties in forcing
An early sign of Russia’s infowars Paid Members Public
I think we can safely file this 2016 New York Times piece [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/31/world/europe/russia-finland-nato-trolls.html] under the “we should have taken this more seriously” category: > But pro-Russian voices have become such a noisy and disruptive presence that both NATO and the
Facebook just doesn't care. And yet we've handed it the keys to our civilisation Paid Members Public
Nearly a month ago, The London Review of Books – of all places – published the most eviscerating attack on Facebook [https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n16/john-lanchester/you-are-the-product] I’ve yet seen. And the more you read, the more you find yourself nodding along in a mixture of agreement and
Underestimating the digital power of Russia's intelligence operations Paid Members Public
Buzzfeed [https://www.buzzfeed.com/jasonleopold/some-in-congress-dont-get-the-gravity-of-russian-election] : > In an internal memo to CIA employees last December, CIA Director John Brennan complained that some members of Congress he had briefed about the agency’s assessment that Russia interfered in the US presidential election did not “understand and appreciate the importance
When A Trump Troll Is Outed Paid Members Public
Talking of trolling, the New Yorker published an interesting piece by Adrian Chen, looking at what happened when a pro-Trump Reddit-dwelling troll was suddenly brought into the glare of publicity when his Gif went viral — and his true identity was established. [https://i1.wp.com/www.onemanandhisblog.com/content/images/
It's General Election Day 2017 - please vote Paid Members Public
Here’s a photo of me trying to do a serious electoral face, and ending up just looking worried [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158721411170456&set=a.57066280455.133832.699710455&type=3&theater] . But I do think this is a serious election. I’m not
