News
Moderate Globally Impact Locally: The Countries Where Democracy Is Most Fragile Are Test Subjects for Platforms’ Content Moderation Policies
A bitterly contested election against a controversial and polarizing incumbent. Allegations of voter fraud, systemic disenfranchisement, and widespread concerns about the fairness of the process. And in the background, major social media platforms struggle to manage the public discourse, seeking to overcome a history of catastrophic failures. While this description may sound familiar to American audiences, it could just as easily refer to Myanmar’s recent election, which took place against a backdrop of online misinformation and hate. In both cases, it is too early to judge the success of the
Moderate globally, impact locally: A series on content moderation in the Global South
This entry is the first in our new series of articles on the global impacts of content moderation, which are being posted at a number of different sites online. This introductory post was originally posted on Global Voices here and on TechDirt here. Scroll to the bottom to find the rest of the entries in this series. Every minute, more than 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube, 350,000 tweets are sent, and 510,000 comments are posted on Facebook. Managing and curating this firehose of content is an enormous task, and one which grants the platforms enormous power over the contours of
Submission to the Institute of Federal Telecommunications’ Consultation on the Draft Guidelines on Traffic Management and Network Administration
This submission was prepared for the Federal Institute of Telecommunications of Mexico (the “Institute”) public consultation on the Draft Guidelines for Traffic Management and Network Administration for concessionaires and authorized Internet Service Providers (“Draft Guidelines”). [1] The Draft Guidelines were published in December of 2019, in accordance with article 145 of the Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law which establishes, alongside article 146, network neutrality requirements for Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”). We appreciate the opportunity to submit our comments
Newly Published Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules are a Disaster for Freedom of Expression in Pakistan
Pakistan’s newly published Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules, 2020 (the Rules) pose a serious danger for free speech in that country.
Serious Concerns Around Uganda’s National Biometric ID Program
The Wikimedia/Yale Law School Initiative on Intermediaries and Information has serious concerns over the implementation of Uganda’s National ID program.
Canada’s fake news laws face a Charter challenge. That’s a good thing
Recently, the Canadian Constitution Foundation announced that it was launching a Charter challenge against new rules which criminalize the distribution of “fake news” during an election campaign. While most Canadians would probably agree about the importance of promoting honesty and integrity in communications, the new law goes far beyond targeting organized disinformation campaigns. Rather, the criminal provisions apply to any communication made with an intent to impact an election, a standard that would include just about all political commentary, from a documentary series to a single tweet