mySociety news

July 2020

Democracy

Everyone's got something to tell their MP

Black Lives Matter; the easing of lockdown; Dominic Cummings - a series of emotion-stirring events has inspired thousands of UK citizens to contact their MP in the last few weeks.

How do we know? We can see it happening in real time on our 'contact your representative' website WriteToThem — in fact we've never known user numbers like this.

How WriteToThem works

It's not a petitions site, it doesn't permit bulk mailings, and there are several safeguards to ensure that it's used responsibly.

Test yourself: how many of these ten WriteToThem facts did you already know?

Digital technology and trust

Last year we submitted written evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies.

They've now released their report on Digital Technology and the Resurrection of Trust. Here's a look at the key points.

Citizens' Assemblies

You may remember the investigation we did into digital tools for Citizens' Assemblies last year, as part of the Innovations in Local Democracy programme.

The RSA has now published details, as part of a broader look at how we and our partners examined ways to involve citizens in local decision making. Read more here.

Black Lives Matter

A wake-up call for us all

mySociety’s work has always been about understanding where power lies and how to enhance people’s abilities to hold that power to account and call out injustice.

But we're aware there's more work to do, and the recent Black Lives Matter protests have thrown it into sharp focus. Read our statement here.

Transparency

Who's checking your social media?

A recent Freedom of Information investigation from Privacy International revealed that a large number of local authorities assess citizens by checking their social media.

See more about it here — and then you might want to go and look at your privacy settings.

What we're reading (and attending, and watching)

Code For All Summit is going online — details here.
Wait, it just... works? Inside the team that built the government's furlough scheme.
We were delighted to see this video from Youth Consumer Service, in which young people explain the benefits of TheyWorkForYou.
The Tip-Off is proving to be a great podcast for learning the ins and outs of investigative journalism.
Kudos to this tweeter for one of the most organised 'write to your MP' campaign threads we've ever seen.

Did you know that you can subscribe to our special interest newsletters too? Get an extra monthly bulletin on Democracy & Campaigning, Freedom of Information, Better Cities & Councils, or Research. Pick and choose your mySociety newsletters here.