Data controversies, James Stewart
@datacontroversies.bsky.social
Microblog supporting Internet and Society and Controversies in the Data Society courses, Science Technology and Innovation Studies, University of Edinburgh
BBC News - Tech firms will have 48 hours to remove abusive images under new law
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Tech firms will have 48 hours to remove abusive images under new law
The government is proposing that intimate image abuse should be treated more severely.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 19, 2026 at 2:07 AM
BBC News - Tech firms will have 48 hours to remove abusive images under new law
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Donald Trump’s AI push fuels revolt in Maga heartlands - www.ft.com/content/0c9e... via @financialtimes.com
Donald Trump’s AI push fuels revolt in Maga heartlands
Republicans fear backlash against White House agenda could undermine support in this year’s midterm elections
www.ft.com
February 18, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Donald Trump’s AI push fuels revolt in Maga heartlands - www.ft.com/content/0c9e... via @financialtimes.com
Reposted by Data controversies, James Stewart
NEW @citizenlab.ca report: Cellebrite Used on Kenyan Activist and Politician Boniface Mwangi
citizenlab.ca/research/cel...
citizenlab.ca/research/cel...
Not Safe for Politics: Cellebrite Used on Kenyan Activist and Politician Boniface Mwangi - The Citizen Lab
Following the widely-condemned arrest in July 2025 of prominent Kenyan opposition voice Boniface Mwangi, the Citizen Lab analyzed artefacts from devices seized during the arrest. We found that Cellebr...
citizenlab.ca
February 17, 2026 at 1:03 PM
NEW @citizenlab.ca report: Cellebrite Used on Kenyan Activist and Politician Boniface Mwangi
citizenlab.ca/research/cel...
citizenlab.ca/research/cel...
Reposted by Data controversies, James Stewart
New research!
Mette Bengtsson and I examine how European fact-checkers rhetorically defend partnerships with platform companies such as Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and ByteDance (TikTok).
Published version:
doi.org/10.1177/0267...
(Free) pre-print: www.johanfarkas.com/wp-content/u...
Mette Bengtsson and I examine how European fact-checkers rhetorically defend partnerships with platform companies such as Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and ByteDance (TikTok).
Published version:
doi.org/10.1177/0267...
(Free) pre-print: www.johanfarkas.com/wp-content/u...
Defending fact-checking partnerships with platform companies: ‘We can't fight alone against disinformation’ - Johan Farkas, Mette Bengtsson, 2026
This article investigates how professional fact-checkers defend collaborations with major platform companies such as Meta, Alphabet, and ByteDance. Drawing on 1...
doi.org
February 17, 2026 at 6:25 PM
New research!
Mette Bengtsson and I examine how European fact-checkers rhetorically defend partnerships with platform companies such as Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and ByteDance (TikTok).
Published version:
doi.org/10.1177/0267...
(Free) pre-print: www.johanfarkas.com/wp-content/u...
Mette Bengtsson and I examine how European fact-checkers rhetorically defend partnerships with platform companies such as Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and ByteDance (TikTok).
Published version:
doi.org/10.1177/0267...
(Free) pre-print: www.johanfarkas.com/wp-content/u...
Back to the days of making a cool open source project to get a job www.theguardian.com/technology/n...
12-hour days, no weekends: the anxiety driving AI’s brutal work culture is a warning for all of us
San Francisco’s AI startups are pushing workers to grind endlessly, hinting at pressures soon hitting other sectors
www.theguardian.com
February 17, 2026 at 6:38 PM
Back to the days of making a cool open source project to get a job www.theguardian.com/technology/n...
Reposted by Data controversies, James Stewart
🧵 Matryoshka, Russian-state aligned bot network has introduced a hashtag HollywoodAgainstZelensky on X/Twitter yesterday.
With deepfaked audio, multiple manipulated Cameo videos make celebrities to "demand" that European leaders force Zelensky to sign a peace treaty on Russia's terms.
With deepfaked audio, multiple manipulated Cameo videos make celebrities to "demand" that European leaders force Zelensky to sign a peace treaty on Russia's terms.
February 17, 2026 at 8:40 AM
🧵 Matryoshka, Russian-state aligned bot network has introduced a hashtag HollywoodAgainstZelensky on X/Twitter yesterday.
With deepfaked audio, multiple manipulated Cameo videos make celebrities to "demand" that European leaders force Zelensky to sign a peace treaty on Russia's terms.
With deepfaked audio, multiple manipulated Cameo videos make celebrities to "demand" that European leaders force Zelensky to sign a peace treaty on Russia's terms.
Reposted by Data controversies, James Stewart
Loosing patience with X 📉
New poll shows 70+% support for taking further actions against X and amongst those supporting action, many consider not only fines but also a ban.
The investigations by the @ec.europa.eu into X are backed and poll corroborates public support for platform regulation.
New poll shows 70+% support for taking further actions against X and amongst those supporting action, many consider not only fines but also a ban.
The investigations by the @ec.europa.eu into X are backed and poll corroborates public support for platform regulation.
February 17, 2026 at 6:17 AM
Loosing patience with X 📉
New poll shows 70+% support for taking further actions against X and amongst those supporting action, many consider not only fines but also a ban.
The investigations by the @ec.europa.eu into X are backed and poll corroborates public support for platform regulation.
New poll shows 70+% support for taking further actions against X and amongst those supporting action, many consider not only fines but also a ban.
The investigations by the @ec.europa.eu into X are backed and poll corroborates public support for platform regulation.
Wonders of egovernment: UK quietly shelves £110mn frictionless post-Brexit trade border project - www.ft.com/content/186f... via @FT
UK quietly shelves £110mn frictionless post-Brexit trade border project
Experts criticise halt to programme that had used Deloitte and IBM as contractors
www.ft.com
February 17, 2026 at 9:53 AM
Wonders of egovernment: UK quietly shelves £110mn frictionless post-Brexit trade border project - www.ft.com/content/186f... via @FT
Reposted by Data controversies, James Stewart
Grateful to have been selected as a member of the @adalovelaceinst.bsky.social Oversight Board. Ada plays a unique and critical role in the tech world, championing people-centered approaches to AI development.
Couldn't be more excited to support and contribute to their important work.
Couldn't be more excited to support and contribute to their important work.
The Ada Lovelace Institute is delighted to announce that it has appointed three new members to its Oversight Board:
- Ed Humpherson
- Margaret Mitchell
- Suresh Venkatasubramanian.
Find out more: www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/news/new-ove...
- Ed Humpherson
- Margaret Mitchell
- Suresh Venkatasubramanian.
Find out more: www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/news/new-ove...
New Oversight Board members appointed to the Ada Lovelace Institute
New Board members will work closely with Ada and the Nuffield Foundation to support the Institute’s strategic development and long-term sustainability
www.adalovelaceinstitute.org
February 16, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Grateful to have been selected as a member of the @adalovelaceinst.bsky.social Oversight Board. Ada plays a unique and critical role in the tech world, championing people-centered approaches to AI development.
Couldn't be more excited to support and contribute to their important work.
Couldn't be more excited to support and contribute to their important work.
Reposted by Data controversies, James Stewart
Fascinating paper. Even as LLMs get better and better at choosing what to do in different medical scenarios, when used by members of the public the performance is no better than in a control group. So either we need better humans, or we need to think about deployment!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reliability of LLMs as medical assistants for the general public: a randomized preregistered study - Nature Medicine
In a randomized controlled study involving 1,298 participants from a general sample, performance of humans when assisted by a large language model (LLM) was sensibly inferior to that of the LLM alone ...
www.nature.com
February 16, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Fascinating paper. Even as LLMs get better and better at choosing what to do in different medical scenarios, when used by members of the public the performance is no better than in a control group. So either we need better humans, or we need to think about deployment!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Data controversies, James Stewart
Seems like 2010 all over again
Oh, look, Gen Alpha and Beta have discovered old-fashioned narcissism. "Mog, maxxing and the other manosphere lingo that has taken over social media" www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...
Mog, maxxing and the other manosphere lingo that has taken over social media
Language accompanying clips of looks-focused livestreamers has suddenly entered the internet’s vernacular.
www.nbcnews.com
February 16, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Seems like 2010 all over again
BBC News - Bereaved mum in tears as children's social media data to be kept - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Bereaved mum in tears as children's social media data to be kept
The data of deceased children will now be preserved by social media companies within five days.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 16, 2026 at 7:46 PM
BBC News - Bereaved mum in tears as children's social media data to be kept - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK to tighten online safety laws to include AI chatbots - www.ft.com/content/1591... via @financialtimes.com
UK to tighten online safety laws to include AI chatbots
Keir Starmer to warn tech companies that ‘no platform gets a free pass’ after deepfake scandal involving Grok
www.ft.com
February 16, 2026 at 8:53 AM
UK to tighten online safety laws to include AI chatbots - www.ft.com/content/1591... via @financialtimes.com
A fallen Indian tech star and the hunt for its missing millions - www.ft.com/content/cd20... via @financialtimes.com
A fallen Indian tech star and the hunt for its missing millions
The collapse of education start-up Byju’s has resulted in US court sanctions and cast a shadow over the country’s tech sector
www.ft.com
February 16, 2026 at 5:53 AM
A fallen Indian tech star and the hunt for its missing millions - www.ft.com/content/cd20... via @financialtimes.com
Reposted by Data controversies, James Stewart
Reposted by Data controversies, James Stewart
We can say no to things.
“Companies operating food delivery robots will not be allowed to expand across parts of Wicker Park and Logan Square following overwhelmingly negative feedback from neighbors, the local alderman said Monday.”
Logan Square, Wicker Park Neighbors Say No To More Delivery Robots
Ald. Daniel La Spata said Coco and Serve Robotics won't expand service in the 1st ward after more than 80 percent of residents who responded to a survey said they didn't want them.
blockclubchicago.org
February 15, 2026 at 5:53 PM
We can say no to things.