"Without Section 230, Wikipedia could not exist."
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Rebecca MacKinnon
@rmack
VP, Global Advocacy . Author, Consent of the Networked. Co-founder, . Founder, . My tweets represent myself only.
Rebecca MacKinnon’s Tweets
This is exciting. It seems like Netherlands consumer protection authorities have full-time psychologists on staff (thanks & ). Is anyone aware of any other agencies that do this?
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Is anyone aware of any consumer protection agency (here or abroad) with oversight over tech companies which has a full-time psychologist on staff -- not just part-time or as an external contractor?
I am not aware of any, but would love to know if I've missed something.
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This is a fantastic opportunity! Don’t be shy about applying if you are interested! 👇👇
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Looking for an opportunity to shape tech policy in Congress?
We are extending applications for our June 2023 Congressional Innovation Fellowship until THURSDAY 2/16 at 11:59pm ET
Apply here: techcongress.io/apply
We are extending applications for our June 2023 Congressional Innovation Fellowship until THURSDAY 2/16 at 11:59pm ET
Apply here: techcongress.io/apply3
Google has a worrying habit of algorithmically yanking incorrect information out of articles and displaying it as fact. Wikipedia has built-in human fact checking that Google does only very slowly (and chatGPT does not do at all.)
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Searching wikipedia is often faster and more accurate than searching google. I put the wikipedia app on the front page of my phone about six months ago and I use it many times per day.
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Discuss.
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We’ve written to @DCMS about the #OnlineSafetyBill
Remove needlessly expansive Government powers
Improve Parliament's oversight
Make platforms publish transparency risk assessments for adult users
Clarify child age verification requirements
committees.parliament.uk/publications/3
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Great job 👇👇
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Come work with us @article19org. We are recruiting Head of Asia-Pacific Program. Do you have the chops to work with a kick ass team to promote & protect freedom of expression across the region, or know someone who does? @IFEX @HuRiCareers @humanrightsnyu article.peoplehr.net/Pages/JobBoard
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"Understanding Political Polarisation using Language Models: A dataset and method" with a dataset extracted from that spans the past 120 years
(Gode et al, 2023)
arxiv.org/pdf/2301.00891
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My colleague Franziska Putz will be on a great panel in London next week! 👇👇👇👇
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Don't miss our #SOOCON23 panel with Franziska Putz from @Wikimedia - Power & diplomacy: When Open Data and RealPolitik Collide at 1pm on 7 Feb with @GavinFreeguard & @EmmaThwaites
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One of my favorite quotes is: "The truth is paywalled, but the lies are free." With ChatGPT and generative AI, the "lies" created distort the equation even more. Excellent interview about these risks with by
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There’s been a lot of hype about ChatGPT. @random_walker tells us what we need to be worried about – the automated creation of plausible lies -- in @JuliaAngwin, @themarkup’s latest newsletter.
themarkup.org/hello-world/20
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The few government mechanisms that exist to protect journalists are not living up to their promise. Failing to provide protection, credible investigations & justice charts a perilous path toward information black holes & public insecurity.
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If you’re not following and on The Continent’s mailing/WhatsApp list, fix that. One of the best Africa-focused publications you’ll find
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All Protocol Observed.
Welcome to Issue 113 of The Continent.
With friends like these… One of Russia's prize warships is headed south for joint naval exercises with China and South Africa. They’ll be ongoing come 24 February, a year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Chilean journalist Felipe Soto Cortés convicted of criminal defamation
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“Pompeo claims Khashoggi was not a “real” journalist but a partisan.”
CPJ's Director of Special Projects discusses why authoritarian governments love Pompeo's blurred distinction between journalism and activism:
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ICYMI: Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution popular.info/p/florida-teac via
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Come work with me in DC!! 👇👇👇👇
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Come work with us and educate lawmakers about Wikipedia's model as our Lead Public Policy Specialist for North America. boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jobs
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The Wikimedia Foundation’s ability to host hangs in the balance in a Supreme Court case against YouTube. Our friend-of-the-court brief explains how:
link.medium.com/fxqMbILvTwb
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FT's Alphaville, which is not exactly a one guy and a dog hobby project, gives up trying to run its own Mastodon server; citing, amongst many other things, the senior management liability provisions in the Online Safety Bill and also the Investigatory Powers Act for fun.
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This is great: "We tried to run a social media site and it was awful" ft.com/content/8d995a
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I am biased because this is largely the premise of my book BEYOND DATA but this report from on the importance of a #HumanRights framework for #AI governance is spot on.
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The “Big Fat Brussels Meeting” might sound like a movie title, but it is actually an intensive work session on advocacy around public policy in the European Union. Here are takeaways from the most recent gathering. ⬇️
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“Wikipedia grows every day thanks to the participation of volunteers from all over the world.”
celebrated 's 22nd birthday with a reminder of the power of collaboration to share free knowledge.
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Job alert! Important role at an org whose work is vital for so many journalists around the world!
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CPJ is hiring an Emergencies Administrator!
The role will ensure that the day-to-day operations, administration, and logistics of CPJ’s journalist assistance work runs in a smooth and streamlined fashion.
cpjorg.bamboohr.com/careers/46
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CPJ is hiring an Emergencies Administrator!
The role will ensure that the day-to-day operations, administration, and logistics of CPJ’s journalist assistance work runs in a smooth and streamlined fashion.
cpjorg.bamboohr.com/careers/46
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👀👀😍😍
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Coming in third place in our Public Domain Film Remix Contest is 'Seeing Cats' by Alex T. Jacobs. Sources: archive.org/details/seeing
Watch all the winners and honorable mentions at: blog.archive.org/2023/01/21/pub
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A zoo in Shanxi province held a ceremony of handover from the Year of Tiger to the Year of Rabbit. The ceremony did not go very well: the rabbit almost became the tiger's food.
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"This is not how you teach children to be good, contributing members of society. It’s how you make it so kids are kept in the dark about how the world works, how to make difficult choices, & how to respond when they’re put in a dangerous scenario."
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Philippine tax court clears Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, Rappler of 4 cases rappler.com/nation/philipp #CourageON
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11 years ago today, Wikipedia went down for 24 hours, joining Reddit and >115k other websites in a protest of the SOPA and PIPA congressional bills. A article about how to survive the Wikipedia blackout included alternatives like "call your grandpa"
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Such wonderful news!!
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An extraordinary outcome and win for @mariaressa, @rapplerdotcom & #PressFreedom! 
#HoldTheLine
Philippine tax court clears Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa, Rappler of 4 cases rappler.com/nation/philipp
#HoldTheLine
Philippine tax court clears Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa, Rappler of 4 cases rappler.com/nation/philipp4
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@wikimediauk has argued all along that the #OnlineSafetyBill is not fit for purpose and that there should be an exception for public interest sites like Wikipedia. I'm as keen as anyone to protect children from harm, but this Bill won't do that. bbc.co.uk/news/technolog
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has argued all along that the #OnlineSafetyBill is not fit for purpose and that there should be an exception for public interest sites like Wikipedia. I'm as keen as anyone to protect children from harm, but this Bill won't do that.
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This looks really great! 👇👇👇👇👇
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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
GOVERNANCE IN ONLINE SPEECH LEADERSHIP SERIES JUNE 26-28, 2023 @YaleLawSch
A small private 3 day educational & networking event for those in industry working in online speech governance in *any capacity*
rebootingsocialmedia.org/events/governa
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THIS WEEK: There are still spots available for our 2 big #PublicDomainDay celebrations this Thursday (virtual) & Friday (in-person)! Reserve yours now: blog.archive.org/2022/11/30/the
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We care deeply about keeping people safe online, but the UK's #OnlineSafetyBill as currently written will put Wikimedians at greater risk, weaken their privacy protections and breaks our volunteer-led content moderation model. 👇👇
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The UK #OnlineSafetyBill threatens volunteer-driven content moderation and public interest websites like Wikipedia. And its mandatory age verification "ultimately exposes everyone, including children to greater harm," warns @rmack.
bbc.com/news/technolog
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