Few social scientists have advanced studies at the intersection of information technology and security as much as Thomas Rid. His 2011 book, Cyber War Will Not Take Place, analyzed cyber conflict from a critical point of view, shattering the myth that actual wars would be fought and won through cyber...
A week and a half ago Facebook released its final charter for the Oversight Board it intends to create to tackle its content moderation problems. The charter spells out exactly how it would work, who would be on it and what its responsibilities are. CNET has a good basic description...
New fuel was added to the moral panic around social media last week when the New York Times published an article purporting to show that YouTube was responsible for a rightwing takeover of an entire country, Brazil. The new theme being pushed is that social media algorithms produce “online radicalization.”...
Content moderation online is a hot topic especially after the Christchurch Call, a New Zealand-France joint initiative to eradicate terrorist, violent extremist content online. At RightsCon this year, IGP is going to discuss the Christchurch Call and content moderation online during two sessions. Both sessions will be held on Wednesday...
For the past few days, we have been working with other civil society groups on the Christchurch Call process. The Christchurch Call involves a summit between the big social media platforms and a number of governments held in Paris May 15, as part of a reaction to the terrorist attack...
On 15 March 2019, an anti-Muslim terrorist attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 51 and injuring 49. Social media was immediately drawn into the incident as the gunman briefly broadcast the first attack via Facebook Live. Facebook, working with the New Zealand police, took down the footage and...
DPI system to filter traffic is uncovered At the end of 2018, Russian legislators introduced the bill that got the “sovereign RUnet” title because of its attempt to insulate the Russian segment of the Internet from external threats. Among other provisions, the bill requires all Russian network operators to install...
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s call for Internet regulation may be a turning point in Internet governance. In a blog post called “Four Ideas to Regulate the Internet,” the Facebook chief holds up a white flag of surrender regarding self-regulation of its own platform. It wants governments to come in to take over the...
At the International Studies Association convention in San Francisco, at an especially interesting panel on cybersecurity, we were privileged to hear excerpts from a forthcoming book by Michael Warner, Historian for the United States Cyber Command, and John Childress. Warner examined the last 20 years of U.S. Russia relationships in...
Should domain name registrars have the right to cancel a domain because they don’t like the content of the website it supports? How many registrars’ terms of service contracts give them this right and how many don’t? Should ICANN’s Registrar Accreditation Agreement ensure registrar neutrality, or is competition sufficient to...
“In characteristically rigorous fashion, Mueller’s outstanding book punctures the alarmist myth of Internet fragmentation and helps us to understand what is really at stake as nations and other groups vie for power over the Internet.”
