- Saying ‘Conservative’ When They Mean ‘Fascist’
- Social Media Usage Shifts
- Record Labels Sue AI Company
- The French Murdoch and the Far Right
- Disability and Tech
- Silicon Valley Wants a Deal With Trump
- How New Movies Deal with Climate
- Data Workers Detail Exploitation by Tech Industry
- Tech and Popular Unrest in the Global South
- SCOTUS Sidesteps Social Media Rulings
Saying ‘Conservative’ When They Mean ‘Fascist’
By Mark Jacob
Stop the Presses
It’s obvious why mainstream news organizations like to use the word “conservative.” It’s a long-accepted term that doesn’t seem to offend anyone. And it’s the word that many people on the right prefer. But it’s not accurate.
Social Media Usage Shifts, Instagram On Top
By Greg Jarboe
Search Engine Journal
According to a new Consumer Pulse survey from Sprout Social, usage of social media platforms is shifting again – in ways that will significantly impact brands. Instagram (65%) has just passed Facebook (64%) as the No. 1 platform among the 2,059 consumers surveyed.
Record Labels Sue AI Company
By Mia Sato
The Verge
A group of record labels including the big three — Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Records — are suing two of the top names in generative AI music making, alleging the companies violated their copyright “en masse.” The lawsuits were brought by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents major players in the music industry.
The French Murdoch and the Far Right
By Benjamin Dodman
France 24
When conservative leader Eric Ciotti plotted his startling alliance with Marine Le Pen, the head of Les Républicains (LR) consulted none of his party colleagues. Instead, the morning after President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election on June 9, Ciotti paid a visit to Vincent Bolloré, the billionaire corporate raider who has built a sprawling media empire precisely to engineer such an alliance.
Disability and Tech
By Elaine Short
The Conversation
This disability community perspective can be invaluable in approaching new technologies that can assist both disabled and nondisabled people. You can’t substitute pretending to be disabled for the experience of actually being disabled, but accessibility can benefit everyone.
Silicon Valley Wants a Deal With Trump
By Evgeny Morozov
The Guardian
Venture capitalists and Democrats long shared a mutual belief in techno-solutionism – the idea that markets, enhanced by digital technology, could achieve social goods where government policy had failed. Over the past two decades, we’ve been living in the ruins of this utopia. Since Biden adopted a tougher stance on Silicon Valley, VCs are more than happy to support Trump’s Republicans.
How New Movies Deal with Climate
By Lovia Gyarkye
The Hollywood Reporter
From Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ to Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s ‘Banel & Adama,’ indie films are representing climate change as an ongoing negotiation between humans and the environment instead of a single catastrophic event.
Data Workers Detail Exploitation by Tech Industry
By Devin Coldewey
TechCrunch
The essential labor of data work, like moderation and annotation, is systematically hidden from those who benefit from the fruits of that labor. A new project puts the lived experiences of data workers around the world in the spotlight, showing firsthand the costs and opportunities of tech work abroad.
Tech and Popular Unrest in the Global South
SCOTUS Sidesteps Social Media Rulings
By Dante Motley and Pooja Salhotra
The Texas Tribune
The U.S. Supreme Court sent the legal challenge to a Texas social media law back to a lower court, sidestepping a landmark ruling for now. The legal battle centers on Texas’ law preventing large social media companies from censoring users’ content based on their political viewpoints. A lawsuit filed against a similar law in Florida by the same plaintiffs was also heard in the Supreme Court.
