Author archives

The Institute for Rebooting Social Media

“The Institute for Rebooting Social Media is a three-year, “pop-up” research initiative to accelerate progress towards addressing social media’s most urgent problems, including misinformation, privacy breaches, harassment, and content governance. By convening participants across industry, government, civil society, and academia in focused, timebound collaboration, the Institute will build a portfolio of research, projects, programming, and …

Subjects: Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Social Media

Maine Makes U.S. Recycling Actually Work Again

New York Magazine – Intelligencer: “Since China stopped importing waste products like plastic, textiles, and paper at the beginning of 2018, recycling in the United States has been, in many places, a feel-good exercise for consumers, rather than a functional process to reduce the absurd tonnage of recyclable waste going into landfills each year. But …

Subjects: Environmental Law, Government Documents

Then the Birds Began to Die

The Atlantic: “I carried on for more than a year of the coronavirus pandemic, but I didn’t see the next plague coming…. David Curson, the director of bird conservation for Audubon Mid-Atlantic, told me that the earliest reports of the mysterious deaths had reached local authorities in late April, sparking investigations across the region. Researchers …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

Facebook and YouTube spent a year fighting covid misinformation

Washington Post – “It’s still spreading. The social media giants have struggled to find and take down anti-vaccine propaganda. But medical misinformation has thrived on their platforms for years. On YouTube, the accounts of six out of 12 anti-vaccine activists identified by the Center for Countering Digital Hate as being responsible for creating more than …

Subjects: AI, Education, Health Care, Internet, Knowledge Management, Social Media

These wildfire tracker maps show smoke, hot spots, and air quality by zip code

Fast Company: “Now that midsummer is synonymous with out-of-control wildfires, researchers and government agencies are putting out impressive online mapping systems to help people understand their peril. As California, Oregon, Washington, and other states brace for another devastating wildfire season, fire mapping has improved substantially since last year. Here’s where to bookmark…”

Subjects: Climate Change, E-Government, Environmental Law, Internet

Here’s how to check your phone for Pegasus spyware using Amnesty’s tool

The Verge: “Amnesty International — part of the group that helped break the news of journalists and heads of state being targeted by NSO’s government-grade spyware, Pegasus — has released a tool to check if your phone has been affected. Alongside the tool is a great set of instructions, which should help you through the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

What Is Legal Innovation?

Sandberg, Haim, What Is Legal Innovation? (March 17, 2021). 2021 University of Illinois Law Review online 63, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3806704 “Technological progress, along with the economic success it brings innovators, has transformed technological innovation into an object of admiration. The law supports and regulates technological and creative innovation in other fields, but is law …

Subjects: Education, Internet, Knowledge Management

How TikTok’s Algorithm Figures You Out

The Wall Street Journal Inside TikTok’s Highly Secretive Algorithm: “The Wall Street Journal created dozens of automated accounts that watched hundreds of thousands of videos to reveal how the the TikTok algorithm knows you so well A Wall Street Journal investigation found that TikTok only needs one important piece of information to figure out what …

Subjects: AI, Knowledge Management, Privacy, Social Media