While most of the world is trying to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems hackers are not on lockdown. Cyber criminals are trying to leverage the emergency by sending out “phishing” attacks that lure internet users to click on malicious links or files. This can allow the hackers to steal sensitive data or even take control of a user’s device and use it to direct further attacks. Read the rest of this entry »
As more and more U.S. schools and businesses shutter their doors, the rapidly evolving coronavirus pandemic is helping to expose society’s dependence – good and bad – on the digital world. Read the rest of this entry »
In times of mortal strife, humans crave information more than ever, and it’s journalists’ responsibility to deliver it. But what if that information is inaccurate, or could even kill people? Read the rest of this entry »
South Korea has been widely praised for its management of the outbreak and spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19. The focus has largely been on South Korea’s enormous virus testing programme. Read the rest of this entry »
News and views about coronavirus has spread via social media in a way that no health emergency has done before. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok and Instagram have played critical roles in sharing news and information, but also in disseminating rumours and misinformation. Read the rest of this entry »
Disinformation-spewing online bots and trolls from halfway around the world are continuing to shape local and national debates by spreading lies online on a massive scale. In 2019, Russia used Facebook to intervene in the internal politics of eight African nations. Read the rest of this entry »
As an epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, China has launched an unprecedented effort to control the disease, locking down Wuhan in the province of Hubei — a megacity of 11 million people. Read the rest of this entry »
From an ethical perspective, covering the coronavirus story is really hard to do well. The reason for this lies in an inherent conflict between two ethical obligations: the obligation to truth-telling and the obligation not to add unjustifiably to public anxiety. Read the rest of this entry »
It was recently reported that Google was planning to move the personal data of its UK users out of the EU and into the US. Several outlets reporting on this story have suggested that this would mean that, as Britain has left the EU, the data would no longer be covered by the EU’s world-leading data protection law, the GDPR. Read the rest of this entry »
The UK government recently announced a new plan to regulate social media companies such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The proposals give the government’s media regulator, Ofcom, extensive powers to tell tech giants what speech they must suppress – and to punish them if they don’t. Read the rest of this entry »
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