COMMENT BLOG

British Members of Parliament are agitating for tougher regulations to combat fake news. In a report released on 18 February 2019, the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee said Facebook had put democracy at risk by allowing voters to be targeted...

A friend forwarded a YouTube video reporting on an apparent practice in a Central Asian country of abducting women for marriage. My friend was understandably appalled at the violence and injustice, and was asking organizations and friends to highlight it. I didn’t. It...

Last year Australia passed a bill weakening security on the iPhones and software people rely on in today’s digital world. This sweeping law could force tech companies to access encrypted data. Australia is not alone in designing a national security strategy that...

How to prevent social networks from damaging the well-being of young people? Amid a plethora of writings on the impact of social media on young people, a vital issue has surfaced. In “The Guardian view on mental health online: protect the vulnerable” (28 January...

Masculine, feminine, or gender-neutral? For years, the English have avoided saying “he” or “she” by replacing it with “they”. Called the singular “they”, it occurs in sentences such as: “Somebody left their umbrella in the office. Would they please collect it?” “Who...

Data privacy, also called information privacy, is about what data in a computer system can be shared with third parties. Protection laws give individuals rights over their data, imposing rules on the way in which companies and governments use data, and establishing...

Genuine communication is all about creating relationships and building trust. When two or more people meet in person, a conversation or sharing of experiences leaves a mark that outlasts the ephemeral impact of digital communications. When members of a community...

Media wars can easily get personal. Today the name of the game is Showtime! Ratings trump sober facts and inconvenient truths. Fox News offers foxy entertainment; The New York Post offers sensationalism; the gutter press epitomised by the likes of the UK’s The Daily...

At the end of 2018, an astonishing statistic was published by CIVICUS Monitor, a research collaborative effort that rates and tracks respect for fundamental freedoms in 196 countries. CIVICUS is a global alliance made up of an influential network of civil society...

Freedom of information, including the right to access information held by public bodies, is crucial to democracy, good governance, and good citizenship. It is also a human right, protected under international law and, in many countries, under constitutional law....

Sobering words for those who still believe that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are the panacea for the world’s ills. In “Developing Countries Losing Out To Digital Giants” (IPS News, 17 October 2018), Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury write:...