On Thursday, October 30, TIMEP Advocacy Manager Douglas Christensen will come together with digital rights advocate @monashtaya.bsky.social to lead a practical workshop on how to inform and influence government policy and to create a space where participants can share advocacy best practices.

Join our panel on Wednesday, Oct 29, examining the fight over narrative in armed conflict. @monashtaya.bsky.social, @justinsalhani.bsky.social & @kassemmnejja.bsky.social, moderated by @michatobia.bsky.social, will delve into key trends from content moderation to disinformation & internet shutdowns.

It's extremely difficult 4 people to access life-saving updates on the ground, & hard for those outside the region to obtain reliable insights into what is happening. It also affects journalists & fact-checkers who are trying to cover the region during this complex time
www.wired.com/story/iran-i...

Meta frames regulation efforts as 'censorship' and claims to champion free expression, but in reality, this is a tactic to prioritize profits over safety.

The entire paid ads system on Meta's platforms is concerning, with numerous reports over the past few years highlighting its failures and its tendency to accept xenophobic, GBV-related, Islamophobic, and other harmful content.

Additionally, Meta’s push for “personalized” political content will trap users in the already existing echo chambers, limiting exposure to diverse viewpoints, which will lead to more extermisim on the longer term.

Working on the MENA region, these changes are terrifying and threaten to exacerbate the weaponization of disinformation by oppressive regimes, targeting political dissidents, journalists, and human rights defenders.

One crucial point to consider: by removing restrictions on content related to immigration, gender identity, and gender, Meta risks amplifying hate speech and incitement to violence, further endangering marginalized and vulnerable communities.

Meta’s shift to unvetted “community notes” (#Muskisim) and reduced content moderation confirm the civil society and human rights groups arguement that Big Tech are unable to regulate themselves and address tech harms cause by their platforms.

These actions must be viewed in context, especially following the other profit-driven measures (layoffs over the past few years), revealing a clear pattern of putting profit before safety.