This week in unreal birds: My new article with @joncong.bsky.social offers a retrospective on the pathologies of disinfo programming in the Global South. I tackle civic engagement and social media for the @kettering.org. And implications for Orban's defeat: deans-list.ghost.io/unreal-bird-...

Unreal Bird #8: Landslide

Thanks for reading Unreal Birds, a newsletter about how tech, media, and capital undermine democratic accountability. Forwarded this newsletter? Consider subscribing. Subscribe to Unreal Birds In ...

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Article ALERT: doi.org/10.1080/1058... Towards the Comparative Study of Domestic Influence Operations: Cyber Troops and Elite Competition in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand – Political Communication How do domestic online influence operations vary across countries, and why?🧵

Towards the Comparative Study of Domestic Influence Operations: Cyber Troops and Elite Competition in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand

Online influence operations (IO) are typically studied as isolated cases, often independent of their political context. In this study, based on 78 in-depth interviews with industry insiders, we exp...

doi.org

Congratulations to @joncong.bsky.social, professor of communication & founding director of the Global Technology for Social Justice Lab (GloTech), @umassamherst.bsky.social, for being appointed co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Cultural Studies: www.umass.edu/news/article...

Jonathan Corpus Ong Named Co-Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Cultural Studies | UMass Amherst

Ong, professor of communication and founding director of the Global Technology for Social Justice Lab at UMass Amherst, says he and his team envision the journal as a “home for bold, critical and glob...

umass.edu

🎆🎆JUNE PUBLICATION ALERT🎆🎆 Our 18 #openaccess papers published in June are HOT to go, complete with the Special Section on "True Costs of Misinformation," guest edited by @joncong.bsky.social and @bostonjoan.bsky.social . Read at ijoc.org

a man is flying through the air with the words coming in hot

ALT: a man is flying through the air with the words coming in hot

media.tenor.com

Our Internationalisation Lead, @joncong.bsky.social, has co-guest edited a Special Section on True Costs of Misinformation for the International Journal of Communication. Read the edition here: ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc

Work-in-progress and powering thru this Boston heat wave 😅

In a short span of time there has been a global rise in "fake news" laws - legislation that purports to or is designed to curb the spread of false information. @sbradshaw.bsky.social, Monzima Haque, and I wanted to understand why. "The Global Spread of Misinformation Laws" ijoc.org/index.php/ij...

Now available! A special section of @ijoc-usc.bsky.social, True Costs of Misinformation, co-guest edited by @joncong.bsky.social, addresses key questions in disinfo studies. Check out the Intro: ijoc.org/index.php/ij...

Folks at #ica25 might wanna check out @ijoc-usc.bsky.social’s Special Section on True Costs of Misinformation, guest edited by me and @bostonjoan.bsky.social. The collection critiques mainstream frameworks of disinfo studies, written during a more hopeful "peak moment": ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc

🌐Counter-disinformation funding in the Global Majority is broken, @joncong.bsky.social & @dwj88.bsky.social argue. What can be done to fix it? Read their full piece in the new #DigitalDemocracyNetwork compendium on @carnegieendowment.org⤵️

Digital Democracy in a Divided Global Landscape

A global shift is taking place. Leaders recognize that tech innovation equals power, and they are marshaling their resources accordingly. Countries are working to create technological advantages for t...

carnegieendowment.org

New in academia: We have a special issue organized by @joncong.bsky.social and me about THE TRUE COSTS OF MISINFORMATION Incredible papers on a range of topics focused on the financial, political, social, and cultural toll of misinformation-at-scale. Phenomenal work! ijoc.org/index.php/ij...

Some colleagues are processing Duterte's arrest with anxiety and ambivalence. I don’t think that we should shame folks working thru these emotions. 1/5

Cited in this @gqmagazine.bsky.social piece on Chaotic Twinks as the Archetype of the Moment. Proud to show interdisciplinarity and impact to opine on unshaming our kinks to burn it all down in public and private lives. My Dean will be thrilled. 😘 www.gq.com/story/how-th...

Excited to be speaking in this timely event at MIT on Platforms & Justice with the brill @zoeglatt.bsky.social, @norasuren.bsky.social & @joncong.bsky.social; I'll bring the experiences of Palestinian and Jewish creators being culturally misread, flagged & muted—by both algorithms & humans; Join!👇🔥

Nora Suren, PhD@norasuren.bsky.social · last yr.

📢 Join us at MIT on February 21, 2025 for Platforms, Algorithms & Social Justice, a thought-provoking workshop exploring the evolving intersections of technology, equity, and creative labor! 🚀

📢📢📢 My brilliant friend @danijaradent.bsky.social and I have released a report (from our TCRN event) shedding light on the structural inequalities that shape the experiences of Latin American creators on TikTok. Their reality is one of constant struggle; see 🧵 tiktokcultures.com/latam-report/

Latin American Cultures on TikTok

Download the report (PDF). About ‘Latin American Cultures on TikTok’ collects and expands on some of the main takeaways from the Latin American Cultures on TikTok event, which took place on N…

tiktokcultures.com

Thank you Tom ☺️ We felt our research really spoke to the global tech justice piece you wrote with @joncong.bsky.social on the impact of Meta's decisions for marginalised communities + regions grappling with deep-seated conflicts. CN is not designed to address harm + its ethos will likely sow harm.

It's going to take a lot courage but courage is contagious. Refusing to live in fear is freedom in a fascist state. That doesn't mean you can't feel afraid, but it means overcoming it. It means putting your job, your livelihood, your comfort on the line. Solidarity for others is paramount.

It is precisely the Global Majority’s aversion to techno-legal fixes that gives rise to the creativity of its civil society. The world should take note. https://buff.ly/3E0Dunu @joncong.bsky.social & #GloTechLab advance a Global Majority-driven agenda on disinformation.

Trump nationalizing TikTok should light up a big, flashy neon sign ✨Platform Opportunism✨ It shows how quickly demonized platforms turn into tools of power when conditions align. As @jessmaddox.bsky.social points, we must confront these shifts with nuance and resist the lure of saviorism👇

Jess Maddox@jessmaddox.bsky.social · 2y ago

Now that I've slept on it, let's discuss the TikTok ban. The message popping up on everyone's app is propaganda, plain and simple. And having propaganda involved in something as precarious at the creator economy is very, very dangerous.

🤩 The CfP for the 7th Deliberative Democracy Summer School is out now 🤩 A toast to our colleagues from the University of Zurich for hosting the European version of the summer school. Grants available for students with limited institutional support. www.ipz.uzh.ch/en/study/doc...

What does a Global Majority agenda look like for tech and democracy? It's one that is civil society-driven and not dependent on techno-legal solutions from Washington DC or Brussels. @dwj88.bsky.social and I discuss GloTech Lab's South-to-South study for @ssrc.org👇 mediawell.ssrc.org/articles/the...

Civil society in the Global Majority is leading bold new approaches to counter-disinformation, prioritizing resilience, accountability, and creativity. Learn more in this article by @joncong.bsky.social and @dwj88.bsky.social : mediawell.ssrc.org/articles/the...

Discussing fact-checking. But at a deeper level offering solar plexus chakra healing 🌞 #OracleOng 🔮

The Philippines’ Vera Files reports below their fact-checking partnership with Meta is still on for 2025. This is important as it’s a big election year! Their editor quotes me and @tomdivon.bsky.social’s critique of big tech philanthrocapitalism 👇🏽 verafiles.org/articles/no-...

No letup in truth-telling for VERA Files

COMMENTARY: What is happening in Meta underscores the danger truthfulness poses to authoritarian leaders or those with authoritarian tendencies and the risks that people in the business of truth-telli...

verafiles.org

Great choice of thumbnail to accompany our op-ed about Zuckerberg’s techbro power play flexing exceptional American values against calls for global tech justice. Co authored with my own academic “bro” @tomdivon.bsky.social 🔥💪🏽

Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · 2y ago

Mark Zuckeberg’s announcement of sweeping changes to content moderation at Meta signaled a new alliance between Silicon Valley and Washington against global tech regulation, write Tom Divon and Jonathan Corpus Ong. The stakes are immense, especially in the Global South.

🔥 piece on Meta's global responsibility: "Rather than investing in culturally informed moderation with local language and regional expertise, Meta opts for a hands-off strategy, leaving fragile ecosystems to navigate a worsening crisis of truth." @jonathanong.bsky.social @tomdivon.bsky.social

Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · 2y ago

Mark Zuckeberg’s announcement of sweeping changes to content moderation at Meta signaled a new alliance between Silicon Valley and Washington against global tech regulation, write Tom Divon and Jonathan Corpus Ong. The stakes are immense, especially in the Global South.

This is a great piece! I'm less surprised by the alliance between Silicon Valley and DC, though (how new is this era?) And I hope over time we can better figure out why philanthrocapitalism and [corporate] content moderation have lost their appeal for Silicon Valley giants.

Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · 2y ago

Mark Zuckeberg’s announcement of sweeping changes to content moderation at Meta signaled a new alliance between Silicon Valley and Washington against global tech regulation, write Tom Divon and Jonathan Corpus Ong. The stakes are immense, especially in the Global South.

with my academic bro @joncong.bsky.social: “Rather than investing in regional expertise, Meta opts for a hands-off strategy, leaving fragile ecosystems to navigate a worsening crisis of truth. What they call "letting users decide" is, in reality, just responsibility dodging dressed as empowerment”👇

Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · 2y ago

Mark Zuckeberg’s announcement of sweeping changes to content moderation at Meta signaled a new alliance between Silicon Valley and Washington against global tech regulation, write Tom Divon and Jonathan Corpus Ong. The stakes are immense, especially in the Global South.

Great choice of thumbnail to accompany our op-ed about Zuckerberg’s techbro power play flexing exceptional American values against calls for global tech justice. Co authored with my own academic “bro” @tomdivon.bsky.social 🔥💪🏽

Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · 2y ago

Mark Zuckeberg’s announcement of sweeping changes to content moderation at Meta signaled a new alliance between Silicon Valley and Washington against global tech regulation, write Tom Divon and Jonathan Corpus Ong. The stakes are immense, especially in the Global South.

Mark Zuckeberg’s announcement of sweeping changes to content moderation at Meta signaled a new alliance between Silicon Valley and Washington against global tech regulation, write Tom Divon and Jonathan Corpus Ong. The stakes are immense, especially in the Global South.

Tech Bro Power Play: Zuckerberg vs. Global Tech Justice | TechPolicy.Press

Tuesday's announcement signaled a new alliance between Silicon Valley and Washington against regulation and tech justice, write Tom Divon and Jonathan Corpus Ong.

buff.ly