What Could Make Tech Platforms Do the Right Thing? »

9 July 2020 | netopia

There have been many candidates including pressure from policy-makers and regulators, but thus far no end of congressional hearings or EU fines have done more than dent the stock price. Calls from org... »

Good Samaritan Paradox Paradox »

12 June 2020 | Per Strömbäck

The classic example of the good Samaritan-paradox is if you intervene at a traffic accident, by moving a victim away from traffic in order to avoid them being run-over by other cars, you should not be... »

What Is Section 230 and Why Did President Trump Attack It? »

5 June 2020 | netopia

As has been widely reported, last week Twitter marked two of President Trump’s tweets with a fact-checking label, effectively saying that the US President did not speak the truth. (Perhaps no news, “a... »

The Mother of all Oversight Boards »

19 May 2020 | netopia

Pressure on Facebook shows no sign of decrease. The first line of defense – “we’re just a tech company” – did not hold. The second line – “we will hire thousands of moderators” – also failed. The late... »

RIP Henrik Pontén »

18 May 2020 | netopia

He was known to the public as the lawyer who put The Pirate Bay-operators behind bars. Henrik Pontén was Sweden’s most famous anti-pirate and around those years the target of many pirate pranks. I kno... »

EDRi’s Paper and the Two Faces of the Internet Debate »

the many tech solutions to controlling the pandemic, and the privacy of the contact tracing apps

27 April 2020 | Per Strömbäck

The conversation about the internet has two completely different understandings of technology and society clashing. On the one hand is the now nostalgic idea that the internet is a de-centralised t... »

Flattening the Curve – Why Exponential Growth in AI May Be a Mirage »

7 April 2020 | netopia

Time spent in lockdown can be used to think about the big things in life. Like artificial intelligence. Netopia has a mini-theme on artificial intelligence, with Peter Warren’s story on insuring self-... »

Movie Pirates Sailing on the Corona Stream »

26 March 2020 | Per Strömbäck

The corona virus pandemic makes us rely more on digital communications to work from home, to make our everyday lives work in lockdown and to keep ourselves entertained. This puts a strain on internet ... »

Broken Incentives for Platforms Open for Weaponized Virus Disinformation »

20 March 2020 | Per Strömbäck

As we struggle to make something useful of our time spent in virus lockdown, the internet’s role in our lives becomes ever more apparent. We depend on it to work from home, at least if we’re in of... »

Virus Action Reveals Big Tech’s Double Standards »

12 March 2020 | netopia

Youtube CEO Susan Wojcicki published a statement yesterday on how the video platform responds to the corona virus outbreak. It is worth reading. Wojcicki says “It remains our top priority to provid... »