A large part of Israel’s economy and global influence are dependent on its military-technology complex that not only fuels the ongoing genocide in Gaza but is also exported to facilitate oppression around the world. In this thorough 2023 book, journalist Anthony Loewenstein makes explicit how Israel’s military industrial complex profits exorbitantly from exporting technologies “battle-tested” on occupied Gaza and the West-Bank.
Continue reading “On “The Palestine Laboratory””Intuit: “Our fraud fights racism”
Today’s key concept is “predatory inclusion”: “a process wherein lenders and financial actors offer needed services to Black households but on exploitative terms that limit or eliminate their long-term benefits”.
By Cory Doctorow for Pluralistic on September 27, 2023
Pokémon GO is changing how cities use public space, but could it be more inclusive?
Beyond the moral arguments for inclusion and equity, placemaking can help strengthen local economies, reduce crime, and drive civic engagement.
By Shiva Kooragayala and Tanaya Srini for Urban Institute on August 2, 2016
Is Pokémon Go racist? How the app may be redlining communities of color
PokéStops in communities of color suggest unconscious digital redlining within the game.
By Allana Akhtar for USA Today (EU) on August 9, 2016
Current state of research: Face detection still has problems with darker faces
Scientific research on the quality of face detection systems keeps finding the same result: no matter how, when, and with which system testing is done, every time it is found that faces of people with a darker skin tone are not detected as well as the faces of people with a lighter skin tone.
Continue reading “Current state of research: Face detection still has problems with darker faces”What languages dominate the internet?
Is English language the leading language of the internet? As of right now, English is the leading internet language, with Russian and Spanish following behind.
By Russell Brandom for Rest of World on June 7, 2023
From the Sasha into the Zamani: Death as a Moment of Radical Continuity
Weaving memory into computer systems and Yoruba divination chains.
By Zainab Aliyu for Logic on June 2, 2023
Who’s Afraid of Disparate Impact?
The answer could be crucial in the FCC’s attempt to combat “digital discrimination”.
By Aaron Sankin for The Markup on April 8, 2023
Dutch Institute for Human Rights: Use of anti-cheating software can be algorithmic discrimination (i.e. racist)
Dutch student Robin Pocornie filed a complaint with Dutch Institute for Human Rights. The surveillance software that her university used, had trouble recognising her as human being because of her skin colour. After a hearing, the Institute has now ruled that Robin has presented enough evidence to assume that she was indeed discriminated against. The ball is now in the court of the VU (her university) to prove that the software treated everybody the same.
Continue reading “Dutch Institute for Human Rights: Use of anti-cheating software can be algorithmic discrimination (i.e. racist)”Center for Critical Race + Digital Studies
CR+DS produces cutting edge research that illuminate the ways that race, ethnicity and identity shape and are shaped by digital technologies.
From Center for Critical Race + Digital Studies
Apartheid by Algorithm
The infrastructural legacies of apartheid have made modern South Africa into an especially stark illustration of the New Jim Code.
Continue reading “Apartheid by Algorithm”The Dutch government wants to continue to spy on activists’ social media
Investigative journalism of the NRC brought to light that the Dutch NCTV (the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security) uses fake social media accounts to track Dutch activists. The agency also targets activists working in the social justice or anti-discrimination space and tracks their work, sentiments and movements through their social media accounts. This is a clear example of how digital communication allows governments to intensify their surveillance and criminalisation of political opinions outside the mainstream.
Continue reading “The Dutch government wants to continue to spy on activists’ social media”