For nearly a decade now, an increasingly large chunk of government, academia and civil society has fought against media manipulation, which has been associated with and blamed for a wide range of social and societal ills. Yet the tide doesn’t appear to be turning. Why, given the attention being paid to the problem, is nothing working to counter it?
Decarbonizing energy use by shifting to renewable energies relies on the extraction of minerals and metals that are primarily found in lower-income countries or fragile states. Accessing the critical minerals essential for developing low-carbon energy options brings us to what we might call the dark side of the green transition.
Many observers have raised questions about whether Elon Musk’s cozy business ties to Chinese politicians will create conflicts of interest when it comes to how Twitter handles issues like account verification, data privacy and security, and content moderation to prohibit harassment campaigns against activists and dissidents.
In South America, Twitter has become an online extension of real-life political battlefields, and likely will remain so given economic forecasts for the coming year. That raises big questions over how Elon Musk’s ownership of the platform will affect how protests are organized, how governments respond and how disinformation spreads.