The triumph of Whatsapp and trouble for the whips
22
May
Groups of MPs are able to beat their jungle drums into a frenzy. And the powers-that-be have limited capacity to quieten them.
Category Archives: Social Media
Nat Wei: How the internet could have been used to protect lives and livelihoods during this crisis. And how we can do better.
20
May
More emphasis could have been put on local delivery of services, drugs, and even treatment using mobile medical equipment and remote consultation.
Bob Seely: What the Isle of Wight has learned from trialling the NHS’s Coronavirus App
20
May
Bob Seely is MP for the Isle of Wight. The NHS’s Covid-19 App will soon roll out across Britain…. Read more »
Coronavirus Media Coverage and Social Media
12
May
Media coverage/social media CJR: How Journalists Around the World are Covering the Coronavirus NY Times: The Coronavirus Outbreak Washington Post: CoronavirusCoverage home page includes a map, stories, data page and more. Washington Post: Why Outbreaks Like Coronavirus Spread Exponentially USA Today Coronavirus Guide LA Times Graphics: Tracking Coronavirus in California LA Times: Coronavirus PandemicFull coverage […]
Coronavirus Media Coverage and Social Media
12
May
Media coverage/social media CJR: How Journalists Around the World are Covering the Coronavirus NY Times: The Coronavirus Outbreak Washington Post: CoronavirusCoverage home page includes a map, stories, data page and more. Washington Post: Why Outbreaks Like Coronavirus Spread Exponentially USA Today Coronavirus Guide LA Times Graphics: Tracking Coronavirus in California LA Times: Coronavirus PandemicFull coverage […]
Everyone can play part to stop spread of coronavirus misinformation – Reuters head of UGC
12
May
Hazel Baker is head of user generated content newsgathering at Reuters. “We’re not just fighting an epidemic – we’re fighting an infodemic.” Those were the words of World Health Organisation director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who warned back in February that the excessive flow of information surrounding Covid-19 was allowing rumours and false claims to spread far and fast. Around the same time as Tedros gave … Continue reading “Everyone can play part to stop spread of coronavirus misinformation – Reuters head of UGC”
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“Journalists have always had to have integrity”
11
May
The media are at a crossroads, with fears over the future of some of Northern Ireland’s best known newspapers. Existing trends favouring social media over print newspapers have been accelerated by the Covid-19 crisis, with additional financial pressures from a collapse in advertising revenues. This is an appropriate moment to reflect on the future of the media and on ethical responsibilities on journalists working in a post-conflict society. The latest Forward Together podcast from the Holywell Trust features an interview …
Zoom takes away a piece of our souls
7
May
Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians are sometimes associated with the view that cameras can steal the soul. It is the sort of view that we in the supposedly more advanced and enlightened West scoff at, thinking it a primitive superstition. But it’s not. Cameras really can steal the soul. My evidence is anecdotal. But among […]
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ITN calls for ‘strong sanctions’ for tech giants who break fake news rules
4
May
ITV News, Channel 4 News and 5 News producer ITN wants the UK government to impose “strong sanctions” on social platforms that do not take stringent measures to remove fake news. In its submission to an inquiry on the future of journalism run by the House of Lords Committee on Communications and Digital, ITN also … Continue reading “ITN calls for ‘strong sanctions’ for tech giants who break fake news rules”
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Ministry of Defence gags staff on Trident and Scotland
3
May
The Ministry of Defence has banned its military and civilian staff from speaking publicly about Trident nuclear weapons in Scotland.
MPs slam tech giants for failing to ‘answer basic questions’ on disinformation
30
Apr
MPs have accused tech giants Facebook, Google and Twitter of being “unable to answer basic questions” about disinformation during appearances before a select committee today. Representatives of the firms appeared before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport sub-committee on online harms and disinformation, with particular focus on the spread of false narratives around the coronavirus … Continue reading “MPs slam tech giants for failing to ‘answer basic questions’ on disinformation”
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Pity the out-of-work influencers
29
Apr
Bearing a grudge against people who enjoy their jobs is a very British trait. Just look at the way we talk about professional footballers. They earn a great deal of money and so a degree of envy is understandable; yet considering the entertainment they provide, they seem to get it in the neck a good […]
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‘How to end lockdown’ is the only story in town
28
Apr
“Yikes,” I thought this morning. “My profession is trying to kill us.” The front pages — as they now had been for a few days — were full of the “dilemma” facing the Prime Minister: to ease or end lockdown or to keep it going. Explainers neatly carved the cabinet into “hawks” and “doves”. I know […]
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The sly sexism of the OK Karen meme
21
Apr
What is Karen? Karen is asking to see the manager. Karen is reporting people to the police for inadequate social distancing. Karen is not taking social distancing seriously enough. Karen is panic buying groceries. (It’s Karen’s fault you can’t get eggs.) Karen is white. Karen is middle-aged. Karen is suburban. Karen is straight. Karen has […]
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Robert Halfon: We will need a Remembrance Day to honour our Corona Heroes
8
Apr
Plus: And Coronavirus Social Justice Minister. Give thanks for Starmer. And: it’s time for a Virtual Parliament.
Action urged after ‘crackpot theories’ linking 5G and coronavirus grow
6
Apr
The Government has called for social media companies to do more to clamp down on “crackpot theories” that have seen 5G phone masts set alight and telecoms workers attacked over the past week. False claims have circulated online that 5G technology has helped transmit coronavirus (Covid-19), apparently resulting in attacks on at least 20 mobile … Continue reading “Action urged after ‘crackpot theories’ linking 5G and coronavirus grow”
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Reports Boris Johnson is on a ventilator are ‘Russian disinformation’
6
Apr
UK prime minister remains under observation at a London hospital but is ‘in good spirits,’ spokesman said.
British MPs hope coronavirus will accelerate digital democracy
2
Apr
Many MPs say current provisions for Westminster to continue working virtually don’t allow for enough scrutiny of the government.
Has Coronavirus helped us remember what the internet is really for?
28
Mar
Just over a week ago I was in my office at the BBC building at MediaCity in Salford. I was in the traditional end-of-project panic, trying to finish the series of radio documentaries I’ve been making for the BBC World Service. These programmes explore how digital technology and the online world has changed the ways the religious practice their faith – how mobile apps help the busy worship alone, and virtual reality church lets the remote or disabled worship with others. You can hear all four here. … Read more
Twitter to remove tweets sharing fake claims about coronavirus
19
Mar
Tweets which promote fake treatments for the coronavirus or deny expert guidance will be marked as harmful and removed, Twitter has said. The social network, which has millions of active users, said content that could place people at a higher risk of contracting Covid-19 would contravene its safety rules. This could include claims that specific … Continue reading “Twitter to remove tweets sharing fake claims about coronavirus”
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Garvan Walshe: Coronavirus shows the decline of Western democratic culture. Rebuilding it will take hard work.
12
Mar
Sensationalising data is all too common in politics. We have to end this trend if we want to keep people safe.
NHS enlists help of social media platforms to tackle coronavirus ‘fake news’
10
Mar
Twitter is suspending accounts sharing false coronavirus news at the behest of the NHS, which has put the onus on platforms to help direct the public to official updates first and foremost. The NHS has today outlined its battle plan against so-called “fake news” around the coronavirus outbreak, which has now killed six people in … Continue reading “NHS enlists help of social media platforms to tackle coronavirus ‘fake news'”
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Government creates team to tackle coronavirus ‘fake news’
9
Mar
The Government is taking coronavirus disinformation into its own hands with a new unit monitoring social media and responding to false claims relating to the outbreak. A new so-called “counter disinformation unit” will see Whitehall staff identify and respond where necessary to inaccurate or misleading stories and posts about coronavirus. The Department for Culture, Media … Continue reading “Government creates team to tackle coronavirus ‘fake news'”
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Damian Collins: Social media. We should act now to make the big tech companies more responsible.
9
Mar
A small community radio station with a few thousand listeners requires a license, but a social media channel with millions of individual subscribers does not.
Ofcom says it would not seek to ‘curtail’ news websites’ editorial freedom if made online regulator
27
Feb
Ofcom has said it would not seek to “curtail the editorial freedom of news sites” if it is given powers to regulate online content. Kevin Bakurst (pictured), Ofcom’s group content director, said that concerns the watchdog would “police” the internet by shutting down websites or censoring content were “unfounded”. The Government has said it is “minded” … Continue reading “Ofcom says it would not seek to ‘curtail’ news websites’ editorial freedom if made online regulator”
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Inside the dangerous world of the ‘true believers’
27
Feb
Tobias Rathjen, the 43-year-old German, who murdered nine people in the Frankfurt suburb of Hanau last week before killing his mother and himself, seems to have had a tenuous grip on reality: in a rambling text on his personal website, he said that his thoughts and actions were controlled by mind-readers working for an “intelligence […]
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Ex-Culture Committee chairman slams Facebook regulation proposals as ‘too little too late’
20
Feb
Former Culture Committee chairman Damian Collins MP has slammed Facebook’s proposals for online content regulation as “too little, too late”. The social network’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg suggested online platforms should be incentivised to be more responsible by placing more accountability on them to moderate content. Under Facebook’s plan, a model agreed by regulators around … Continue reading “Ex-Culture Committee chairman slams Facebook regulation proposals as ‘too little too late'”
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Mark Zuckerberg shows support for online regulation even if it hurts Facebook in near term
18
Feb
Facebook has said it wants to work with governments on “new rules for the internet” as the social network published a set of recommendations for online content regulation. The tech giant has been at the centre of a debate about how internet firms should be made more accountable for the content that appears on their … Continue reading “Mark Zuckerberg shows support for online regulation even if it hurts Facebook in near term”
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New guidance to protect journalists from online abuse calls for ‘culture of safety’ in newsroom
18
Feb
Journalists who are targeted by online harassment should be empowered to report and share abuse aimed at “silencing them and discrediting their work”, the International Press Institute has said. The IPI has launched a new four-step framework to encourage newsrooms to better protect their journalists when they face online harassment. It described such online abuse … Continue reading “New guidance to protect journalists from online abuse calls for ‘culture of safety’ in newsroom”
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Ofcom to regulate social media content as Government insists plan protects freedom of expression
12
Feb
The Government is set to give Ofcom the power to regulate social media content but has insisted its proposed new laws will contain safeguards for freedom of expression. The broadcast regulator, which today also appointed a new chief executive, will have its remit extended to ensure platforms protect users from harmful and illegal content, including … Continue reading “Ofcom to regulate social media content as Government insists plan protects freedom of expression”
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