The advertising blitz

Advertising of any kind is as atrocious as it is incessant, and political advertising is no different although its impact may not be as great as many politicians like to think.

The fact of the meta

A new Australian survey finds that people who rely on social media for news tend to have less regard for traditional civic values than those who rely on newspapers and non-commercial broadcasters such as the ABC.

The streets have eyes

Automated facial recognition technology is a powerful form of surveillance that raises significant questions around privacy and liberty.

You are the product

A recent expose by the investigative journalists at The Markup revealed how Facebook uses detailed information about what people do online – the websites they visit and the search terms they use – to allow pharmaceutical companies to target people regarding medical conditions in which they’ve shown an interest.

When truth goes up in flames

The horrific tragedy of recent and ongoing Australian bushfires has highlighted the connection between threats to the natural environment and the media environment, through which misinformation and disinformation is spreading like, well, wildfire.

Will smart machines strip humans’ social skills?

After liberating us from “uncreative”, routine work and rote repetition, digital automation promises to relieve us of creativity and sociality itself – of the decisions that embody and reproduce our social and political commitments.