Whether it’s otters or guns, social media cannot exist without algorithms Susie Alegre If you follow me on Twitter, you may have come for the digital rights content and stayed for the otters. I joined Twitter reluctantly for professional reasons – to find out what is going on in the world, connect with people doing insightful work, and to share my own professional content. But the more time [...]
Online tech regulation needs to change business models, not censor content SUSIE ALEGRE Molly Russell’s tragic story highlights why regulation is needed. But the Online Safety Bill is not the answer.
Online safety laws are nonsensical as long as we water down human rights Susie Alegre In the context of a tumultuous political landscape, the Online Safety Bill, designed to regulate tech giants, fell off the agenda as a result of a “lack of Parliamentary time”. Under a Liz Truss premiership, it would be brought back. Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary has said it will make the UK “the safest place [...]
As the British Virgin Islands fights off corruption, the UK must learn our help can hurt May 5, 2022 Last week, the Premier of the British Virgin Islands was arrested in the US on drug smuggling charges; corruption and the ongoing power imbalance in the dying embers of the British empire has once more been thrust into the spotlight. This is a constitutional crisis. However, the proposed solution of direct rule from London reveals [...]
We have weakened the very systems of international law we need to restore peace in Ukraine March 9, 2022 In the global and regional corridors of power, Russia’s place – as the successor to the Soviet Union – has made international diplomacy appear impotent. There has been continued human rights abuses abroad and on its own soil, and under Vladimir Putin’s leadership, there has been an almost total disregard for national sovereignty over the [...]
Human rights are designed to be invisible but we must not take them for granted December 15, 2021 Human rights laws are a perennial bugbear of governments of all stripes for a reason – they limit what they can do in some areas and oblige them to act in others, regardless of party politics. But if you find yourself asking “What have human rights ever done for me?” it may be because human [...]
Naughty or nice: Big Tech is eyeing up our kids for their Christmas wishlist December 8, 2021 Christmas is coming and the Amazon parcels are gathering in drifts of tech gifts around Christmas trees all over the world. This year, again, Christmas wishes are being realised online as we wonder nervously whether we might be able to visit family for Christmas or if new travel restrictions may thwart Santa’s plans too. Like [...]
Small islands will be washed away unless they harness a greener off-shore finance October 29, 2021 Climate change is already being felt across the world with extreme weather events causing food insecurity, conflict and forced migration in places as diverse as the Middle East, Latin America and the Arctic. As world leaders gather in Glasgow for Cop26 next week, there are some for whom the outcome could literally be a question [...]
