Thread by @webfoundation

Start your day off by catching up on the most important stories around the web.

Here’s what you need to know. 🧵 webfdn.org/3cHLqKr

A massive police database obtained by @theintercept reveals how an unrelenting surveillance operation leads to the extensive policing and detention of Uyghurs in China.

@yaelwrites #TheWebThisWeek theintercept.com/2021/01/29/chi…

Dr. @shoshanazuboff, author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, says we have a choice: we can have democracy, or a surveillance society powered by Big Tech.

@nytimes #TheWebThisWeek nytimes.com/2021/01/29/opi…

Digital ID can make the delivery of government services more accessible, efficient and transparent. But it’s vital that it go hand and hand with proactive measures to protect people’s data.

@WBG_DigitalDev #TheWebThisWeek blogs.worldbank.org/digital-develo…

"When we provide inputs to the algorithm, when we program the device, when we design, test and research, we are making human choices — choices that bring our social world to bear in a new and powerful way." - @alondra

@protocol @WHOSTP #TheWebThisWeek protocol.com/alondra-nelson…

Spotify has filed a patent for technology that aims to interpret users’ speech and background noise to better curate the music it serves up.

@axios #TheWebThisWeek axios.com/spotify-patent…

Charlette N'Guessan Desiree @dezye1693 hopes her facial recognition technology @bacehq, built with Africans in mind, will solve local challenges and open doors for previously excluded users.

@KimHarrisberg on @TRF_Stories #TheWebThisWeek news.trust.org/item/202101291…

🔖 What we're reading

📖 REPORT - Telling Stories: On Culturally Responsive Artificial Intelligence techpolicylab.uw.edu/telling-storie…

@TechPolicyLab @rcalo @yoshi_kohno #TheWebThisWeek

https://twitter.com/TechPolicyLab/status/1357095779303706624?s=20

The internet was created to democratise information, but from Myanmar to Uganda, India to Venezuela, it's now one of the most powerful weapons autocrats use to silence dissenters and maintain power.

@sarafischer & @DavidLawler10 on @axios #TheWebThisWeek axios.com/internet-black…

Comcast insists that its speeds meet the @FCC standard for high-speed broadband — but a former employee supports students’ claims that its low-cost internet plan isn’t always fast enough for remote learning.

@ceodonovan on @BuzzFeed #TheWebThisWeek buzzfeednews.com/article/caroli…

Africa’s internet capacity is indeed exploding — becoming faster, denser and more local, with profound implications for the continent’s economies. It is a shift that is attracting global infrastructure investors.

@jsphctrl @FinancialTimes #TheWebThisWeek ft.com/content/adb113…

On the frontlines of Indonesian political and civil movements for more than two decades, activist Dhyta Caturani @purplerebel is now reclaiming the internet for women and minority groups.

@timmerman91 on @restofworld #TheWebThisWeek restofworld.org/2021/feminist-…

.@DebunkEu tracked down and exposed false claims shared online in Eastern Europe, many of them from Russia. Then the pandemic happened, and it found itself face to face with a bigger problem: misinformation from its own citizens.

#TheWebThisWeek restofworld.org/2021/fighting-…

QAnon is not an exclusively American phenomenon. The conspiracy theory is gaining a foothold in Japan, home to one of its most active networks outside the U.S.

@Diplomat_APAC #TheWebThisWeek thediplomat.com/2021/01/qanon-…

🔖 What we're reading

📖 REPORT - Countering Disinformation and Hate Speech Online: Regulation and User Behavioural Change orfonline.org/research/count…

@archit_lohani @orfonline #TheWebThisWeek

https://twitter.com/orfonline/status/1358315810746490880

🔖 What we're reading

📖 REPORT - False Accusation: The Unfounded Claim that Social Media Companies Censor Conservatives bhr.stern.nyu.edu/bias-report-re…

@AuthorPMBarrett @NYUSternBHR #TheWebThisWeek

https://twitter.com/NYUSternBHR/status/1356262652377526275?s=20

US Senator @amyklobuchar’s antitrust legislation has the potential to fundamentally change the way the tech industry operates.

@birnbaum_e on @protocol #TheWebThisWeek protocol.com/amy-klobuchar-…

Following criticism that it has failed to combat harassment, @Wikipedia this week unveiled its crowdsourced Universal Code of Conduct.

@cgartenberg on @verge #TheWebThisWeek theverge.com/2021/2/2/22262…

TikTok has stayed ahead of the trend on transparency and accountability. But will it go further to establish genuine norms on these topics?

@bgeurkink and @baricks on @mozilla #TheWebThisWeek foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/is-tra…

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Microsoft are confident that Bing can step into the search engine void if Google follows through on its threat to exit the country. #TheWebThisWeek apnews.com/article/busine…

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