🌎 Sebastian Smart
@sebasmartl.bsky.social
Human rights, technology and extractivism. Senior Research Fellow at ARU
Americans Are Starting to Really Hate Data Centers—and It’s Making the Tech Industry Nervous gizmodo.com/americans-ar...
Americans Are Starting to Really Hate Data Centers—and It's Making the Tech Industry Nervous
A recent survey shows a dramatic swing against new data center construction.
gizmodo.com
SpaceX wins tax exemption for $55bn AI chip plant despite local backlash ft.trib.al/KWocswW
SpaceX wins tax exemption for $55bn AI chip plant despite local backlash
Elon Musk’s Terafab plant sparks fierce opposition and threat of legal action from residents of Texas county
ft.trib.al
Terrible decisión del gob de Zambia. Solidaridad con las organizaciones que llevaban más de un año organizando este RightsCon. Nos quedamos con las ganas.
Join me for a thought-provoking session on "The Hidden Costs of AI: Energy, Resources and Environmental Injustice" at the ClientEarth Summit 2026. Registration is free.
ClientEarth@clientearth.bsky.social · 6mo ago📢The ClientEarth Summit 2026 is open for registrations! 📢 3 days of thought-provoking conversations on the role of the law in shaping our future. Hear from us & our inspiring partners, peers, communities & experts. 📅 24-26th March 2026 🌍 Online 👀 Register here 👀 events.zoom.us/ev/AoABITLxs...
Datacentre developers face calls to disclose effect on UK’s net emissions www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Datacentre developers face calls to disclose effect on UK’s net emissions
Campaign groups write to technology secretary amid concerns that sites could double overall electricity demand
theguardian.com
New research is here! @harvard-carr-ryan.bsky.social 2024-2025 fellow @sebasmartl.bsky.social reviews AI legislation in Latin America, uncovering significant gaps in rights-based safeguards. Read the full publication: www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr... #AI #HumanRights #LatinAmerica #TechLaw
Analyzing a Charter of Rights and Institutions to Tackle Surveillance Capitalism in the Era of Artificial Intelligence: The Case of Latin America
Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, sparking global concern over its risks, from misinformatio
hks.harvard.edu
New publication out now! Business, Human Rights, Technology, and Transitional Justice in Latin America: Tracing Connections explores how Latin America’s transitional justice experience can inform debates on tech, rights, and accountability. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Very useful resource for researchers - on the Plan Condor website Links to state archives relating to Southern Cone dictatorships, which have been declassified plancondor.org/en/archives @slaslatam.bsky.social @paulodrinot.bsky.social @sebasmartl.bsky.social @john-mcevoy.bsky.social
Operation Condor - 50 years on Join us for two roundtables @slaslatam.bsky.social 🗓️ April 11 ⏰ 11-12:30 & 13:30-15 With brilliant Francesca Lessa, @sebasmartl.bsky.social @mollyavery.bsky.social @thomasrath.bsky.social @john-mcevoy.bsky.social @paulodrinot.bsky.social Karinna Fernandez
Mothers demand justice as London case over Brazil dam collapse concludes www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Mothers demand justice as London case over Brazil dam collapse concludes
Nineteen people died in the Mariana disaster, prompting a claim of up to £36bn claim against the mining firm BHP
theguardian.com
I have just published a piece on how Latin American governments are dealing with Musk, Zuckerberg and others theconversation.com/latin-americ...
Latin America is moving fast to protect democracy from excesses of big tech
Latin American nations are at the forefront of a movement to create restrictions on global technology firms to prevent misinformation or misuse.
theconversation.com
Call to make tech firms report data centre energy use as AI booms
Call to make tech firms report data centre energy use as AI booms
Experts say mandatory reporting on energy and water use is needed to avoid irreparable damage to environment Tech companies should be required by law to report the energy and water consumption for their data centres, as the boom in AI risks causing…
theguardian.com
www.404media.co/email/d8f4c3... Zuck happy to let rightwing propaganda fly while censoring stories about FB that don't flatter the company's supposed commitment to absolutist free speech.
Facebook Censors Stories About Facebook Censorship
Instagram, Facebook, and Threads are removing 404 Media stories for “nudity” as the company is paid to put ads with explicit pornography in front of its users.
404media.co
Curious about human rights cases? Discover: 1️⃣ One of the current most significant human rights investigations in Chile. 2️⃣ How lawyers used technologies, including AI, in their litigation strategy. Join us!
🌎 Sebastian Smart@sebasmartl.bsky.social · 2y ago🚨 Upcoming Event! 🚨 Join us for a seminar on AI in Human Rights Litigation. Explore the case against Chilean Police Command for 2019 protest abuses. 📅 11 Dec 2024 ⏰ 1 PM UK | 10 AM Chile 🌐 Online (Spanish/English available) 🔗 Register: forms.office.com/e/jskRGa8XuJ #HumanRights #AI #Justice #Chile
BREAKING: #ExxonMobil lobbyist investigated over hacking of American nonprofits. Hacked material fed PR campaigns & lawsuits against environmental advocacy orgs. Latest chapter in sprawling #infosec & #cybersecurity tale 1/ By @raphae.li & @chrisbing.bsky.social www.reuters.com/business/ene...
Major U.S. tech companies, including Microsoft and Google, have incubated Chinese startups that later provided surveillance tools to Chinese law enforcement agencies. Ex. LLVision, supply smart glasses to police & Tophant, developed tech to detect anti-gov content restofworld.org/2024/microso...
Chinese startups supported by Microsoft and Google incubator programs worked with police
Documents reviewed by Rest of World show several companies backed by U.S. tech giants provided policing or censorship tools to Chinese law enforcement.
restofworld.org
"Your Boss is Probably Spying on You: New Data on Workplace Surveillance" by Alexander Hertel-Fernandez lpeproject.org/blog/your-bo...
Your Boss is Probably Spying on You: New Data on Workplace Surveillance
New research reveals that more than two-thirds of U.S. workers are subject to electronic monitoring, and that more intensive productivity monitoring is associated with higher levels of anxiety…
lpeproject.org
DSA systemic risk assessment and audit report for @wikimedia.bsky.social! foundation.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal:E... ht @ramshajahangir.bsky.social
Legal:EU Compliance/DSA Publication Archive - Wikimedia Foundation Governance Wiki
foundation.m.wikimedia.org
Que desolador. Una misión sin financiamiento es otro ejemplo mas del poco compromiso de los paises “El Estado se ha derrumbado por completo” www.nytimes.com/es/2024/11/2...
En Haití, un sombrío barómetro: los trabajadores de la ONU se van
El aumento de la violencia en las dos últimas semanas ha llevado a las organizaciones internacionales de ayuda a replantearse la presencia de su personal en el país.
nytimes.com
US justice department plans to push Google to sell off Chrome browser www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Solve the climate crisis with... energy and water-hungry tech The logic here isn’t purely environmental—it’s deeply tied to Big Tech's negotiating power news.un.org/en/story/202...
COP29: Digital tech and AI can boost climate action, but curbing the sector’s emissions is key
Leaders in technology and the environment at COP29 in Baku endorsed on Saturday a declaration pledging to use digital technologies to accelerate climate action while reducing the carbon and pollution ...
news.un.org
"whether computer programmes are owed similar welfare rights as humans or animals." Applying a rights frameworks to AI, demands a whole new way of thinking. To prepare for 2035, we first need to regulate AI's impact on human rights now. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
AI could cause ‘social ruptures’ between people who disagree on its sentience
Leading philosopher says issue is ‘no longer one for sci-fi’ as dawn of AI consciousness is predicted for 2035
theguardian.com
US regulators plan to investigate Microsoft’s cloud business on.ft.com/48SbygW
US regulators plan to investigate Microsoft’s cloud business
FTC chair Lina Khan continues to pursue Big Tech in final days of Biden presidency
on.ft.com
Companies building AI-powered tech are using your posts. Here’s how to opt out www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Regulación de la IA en Chile desde una perspectiva de DDHH
Seminario: rol de la IA en la litigación de derechos humanos en el emblemático caso contra el Alto Mando de Carabineros de Chile . 🗓️ 11 Dic | 1 PM Reino Unido / 10 AM Chile 📍 En línea, con traducción español/inglés 🔗 Regístrate aquí: forms.office.com/e/jskRGa8XuJ cc @censelio.bsky.social
NSO – not government clients – operates its spyware, legal documents reveal.WhatsApp filed suit in California after it revealed that it had discovered that 1,400 of its users – including journalists and human rights activists – had been targeted by the spyware. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
NSO – not government clients – operates its spyware, legal documents reveal
Details of emerge in sworn depositions by employees of Israeli company as part of lawsuit brought by WhatsApp
theguardian.com
"Court stressed that business environmental rules were getting tougher. Both the EU’s corporate sustainability reporting directive and CSDDD, impose climate-related obligations on companies such as Shell." www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Shell’s successful appeal will not end climate lawsuits against firms, say experts
Dutch appeal court ruled in favour of oil and gas company over judgment telling it to limit emissions
theguardian.com
