In The Loop April 2025
12 minutes read | First published: April 29, 2025
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💡🤖💪Enviromental impact and Privacy and data tracking are the main concers of our community. What to do?
AI & US: Everything you wanted to know about AI, but were too afraid to ask
AI is a powerful tool. And thanks to digital trends, it's now everywhere, but not without consequences. We asked our community: What AI-related harms make you pause and think with every click? Their responses revealed shared concerns:
These are dilemmas and concerns shared by individuals, communities, and organisations across the world. So, how can we move from fear to action?
As AI becomes embedded in the fabric of our daily lives, we’re facing a deep transformation that’s increasingly hard to navigate. Tactical Tech’s AI & US initiative explores everything you’ve been wondering about AI, but didn’t know who to ask. It’s about demystifying AI, sparking critical reflection, and opening up real conversations about its role in our lives, our work — and the world. Discover AI & US — a modular set of resources made for action:
- 🖼️ AI & US Pop-up Exhibition: A flexible, portable display on AI's basic concepts and impacts featuring visualisations, interactive posters, and apps. Mix and match based on your space, scope and audience.
- 🧰 AI & US Digital Literacy Kits: A take-home resource designed to help participants explore key issues and take mindful, actionable steps to navigate AI safely.
- 💡AI & US Workshops: Interactive, hands-on workshops that encourage discussion, questions, and critical thinking among your audience or team. We also offer training focused on the practical use of AI-powered tools from a critical and responsible approach.
- 🧠 AI & US Masterclasses: Online or in-person training to equip your organisation to run in-house initiatives around AI and digital literacy.
Whether you’re organising an event, a festival, or a team retreat — AI & US has what you need. 📩 Interested? Get in touch for a customised proposal: partnership@tacticaltech.org
Digital Influence & Democracy 🗳️
Call for participants: Investigating the Influence Industry in Elections Mastercourse 2025. Deadline: 5 May 2025
Are you a journalist, researcher, or civil society investigator passionate about uncovering how political groups use digital technologies to persuade, and sometimes even manipulate, voters?Join our Mastercourse where you'll gain hands-on methods, tools, and resources to investigate elections in the digital age. This year’s course will dive into the role of private firms, misinformation, and data-driven technologies in shaping campaigns. Learn from experts, sharpen your skills, and connect with peers. Spots are limited. Apply now to be part of this unique learning experience!
Poster for Call for participants: Investigating the Influence Industry in Elections Mastercourse 2025
🚀 The Opinionator interactive experience: how can your opinion be shaped or manipulated online?
Ever wondered how your opinions are shaped in the digital space? Political groups and companies use digital and data-driven technologies to influence your opinions and decisions. The Opinionator online interactive experience walks you through the common tools used to influence and sometimes manipulate people in the digital space. Developed by Tactical Tech with the support of Futurium Berlin, The Opinionator, currently on display at Futurium, is now available for everyone online. Experience The Opinionator Online here
Screenshot from the Opinionator website experience
Tech, media, and investigative journalism 🔍
[In-person training 💡] Apply to attend the “AI for Non-Profit Newsrooms” training in Berlin, 7–8 July 2025. Deadline: 25 May 2025 (midnight CEST)
Are you a journalist or media professional in Europe working in or with a non-profit newsroom? Tactical Tech is inviting you to apply for “AI for Non-Profit Newsrooms”, an in-person training in Berlin on 7–8 July 2025. You will learn how to use AI tools ethically and effectively and connect with fellow media professionals across Europe. Apply now to receive travel & subsistence support up to €1000. Apply here
[Open call 📢] Call for Content Contributors. Deadline: 6 May 2025, 17:00 CEST (rolling review)
Are you passionate about investigative journalism, socially engaged research, or OSINT? Do you have strong writing skills and experience in crafting insightful, accessible content? We’re looking for contributors to develop articles, guides, or training materials focused on investigative methods, data exploration, and research techniques. This paid opportunity is your chance to help shape practical, hands-on resources for the next generation of investigators and researchers. Apply here
[Webinar 💻] Correctiv: Best Practices of Fact-Checking and Cross-Border Collaborations with Foreign Media. 29 April 2025, 14:00 (CET)
Correctiv is one of Germany’s leading investigative journalism outlets, known for its fact-checking expertise and international collaborations. This session will cover best practices for fact-checking, data research, OSINT, verifying information and working across borders with foreign media professionals. Organised by the Journalists in Need Network (jinn) as part of the CIJI initiative. Learn more & register
[Grants for investigative stories covering the EU💰] Deadline: 30 June 2025
Journalists currently working in or publishing stories covering the EU, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) call is for you! Apply for the programme that offers grants of €1,400 for the production of their investigative stories (The grant lasts a minimum of three and a maximum of six months) and mentoring support from BIRN editors/mentors in producing stories. Apply here
Poster of the open call Grants for investigative stories covering the EU
Media Literacy for all 💬
✨ Tactical Tech's Glass Room: Misinformation Edition is now available in Latvian
Our educational activation, The Glass Room: Misinformation Edition, which explores how misinformation works and spreads, is now available in Latvian, thanks to our partner Goethe-Institut Latvia, bringing the total number of languages to 30. Find out more about this activation. Want to host the The Glass Room: Misinformation Edition at your next event, festival or conference? Contact us at partnership@tacticaltech.org
🖼️ The "Supercharged by AI" exhibition is now available in French, Brazilian-Portuguese, Bolivian-Spanish and Paraguayan-Spanish
This portable, pop-up installation which explores the effects of AI on our online lives and how AI is "supercharging" harms like scams, harassment, polarisation and bias is now available in new languages thanks to our partners UBUNTEAM in Ivory Coast, data labe in Brazil, Internet Bolivia and Tedic in Paraguay who will soon organise exhibitions locally. Do you want to host the "Supercharged by AI" exhibition? Contact us at partnership@tacticaltech.org
⚠️ New article alert! AI isn't neutral — it reflects the flaws of those who build it
From bias and misinformation to exclusion and stereotyping, the systems powering our tools today are far from objective. In her article “AI’s Bitter Truth: It Has Biases Too,” for Global Voices, Tactical Tech’s Safa Ghnaim explores how human prejudice seeps into machines and what questions we should be asking. The article is available in English, Spanish, Rusian, Servian, Dutch, Portugues. Read the full article here
Cover of the article, AI isn't neutral
EVENTS THAT EMPOWER YOU 💡
⚡Workshop! Demystifying AI: What's Really Behind the Buzz?. 15 May 2025, 17:00 - 20:00. Futurium, Berlin
AI is everywhere—but what is it really? And what does it mean for us, society, and the planet? Join us for an interactive workshop that pulls back the curtain on artificial intelligence. We’ll zoom out to examine the bigger systems and structures behind today’s tech, unpacking not just what AI can do, but also its limitations and real-world impacts. No tech background needed—just curiosity! No registration needed. Info in English here. Info in German here.
Cover for the open lab on Demystifying AI
🔥Sensing Quantum Workshop: A workshop and art experience for young people in Berlin. Until May 4 2025
We've all heard about quantum computing in the movies, but do we really know what the buzz is about? In this workshop by Tactical Tech and LAS Art Foundation, young people will explore quantum computing through interactive exercises and immersive experiences—connecting it with Laure Prouvost’s artwork WE FELT A STAR DYING. Workshops are available in German or English. More info here. Want to bring this workshop to your school or youth group? Contact Tactical Tech at ttc@tacticaltech.org to book a session!
Photo of the exhibition visitors WE FELT A STAR DYING
💡Palestine Digital Activism Forum 2025. May 20-21, 2025. Online
How do algorithms shape what we see—and what gets silenced—online? How does bias show up in AI systems? And how can we respond when information is used to mislead or dehumanize? Join the workshop "Beyond the Algorithm: Fighting Censorship and Bias in Digital Spaces" with
Nada Kabbary Mousa, Chantal Joris and Tactical Tech's Safa Ghnaim to explore the answers. The Palestine Digital Activism Forum (PDAF) is a space for activists, organizations, and movements to exchange knowledge, build collective strategies, and strengthen solidarity. More information and registrations here.
Registration visual of the Palestine Digital Activism Forum
OUR CREATIVE EXHIBITIONS AROUND THE WORLD 🖼️
➡️ The Glass Room in the Fake News exhibition. El valor de la información. Until July 31, 2025. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Tactical Tech's The Glass Room: Misinformation Edition is featured in the Fake News exhibition, showcasing artworks that explore various types of misinformation and ways to combat its spread. Find out more
➡️ The Glass Room at Escola Superior Aveiro Norte (ESAN). Until May 12, 2025. Aveiro, Portugal.
What is misinformation and how it spreads on digital platforms? This is the core topic of this exhibition that explores the role of users in the dissemination of false content and the impact of social networks on people’s opinions and behaviours. Find out more
➡️ Supercharged by AI hosted by TEDIC. April 29, 2025. 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Asunción, Paraguay.
This portable, pop-up installation which explores the effects of AI on our online lives and how AI is "supercharging" harms like scams, harassment, polarisation and bias will be presented for the first time in Paraguay. Find out more
TACTICAL TECH: TRAINING AND ADVANCING THE SKILLS OF COMMUNITIES WORLDWIDE 🧠
Tactical Tech's team led conversations, hosted workshops and sessions, and participated in various events to advance knowledge and build the capacities of individuals and communities to address technology-related challenges. Here’s a recap of last month’s events:
➡️ Wael Eskandar from Tactical Tech joined a panel at the Perugia International Journalism Festival titled “International Reporting: Yet Another Colonial Tool for Geopolitical Europe,” with Chiara Sighele and Luisa Chiodi from OBCT, and Edgar Mannheimer of Kalam Podcast. The panel explored who benefits from international reporting, how to avoid serving domination projects, challenging colonial tropes, and striving for transnational solidarity in journalism.
➡️ The Killings They Tweeted: Screening and Q&A with Airwars. During this event, our Exposing The Invisible team discussed how publicly available military footage uncovers the human cost of conflict. Rowena De Silva from Airwars shared insights from their investigation, the largest public analysis of Israeli military strike footage, examining IDF videos from Gaza's first month. The session included a screening followed by a Q&A on Airwars' methodology and the challenges of analyzing military footage. The recording will be available online soon.
Photo from the event
WHAT WE ARE READING 🔍
- [🎤 PODCAST] Beyond the Shelves, a podcast featuring thought-leading librarians who inspire innovative approaches and shape responses to global challenges. Listen here.
- [🎤 PODCAST] "We're not just reporters, we are the reported" with Mariam Barghouti. Go to Kalam Podcast about the culture, history and politics of the Middle East.
- [📰 ARTICLE] AIxDemocracy: What are the politics of AI? https://ethanzuckerman.com/2025/04/24/aixdemocracy-what-are-the-politics-of-ai/ Go to Ethan Zuckerman's blog.
- [🔗 LIST] A short list of anti-AI tools. Go to Code Berg.
- [🔗 LIST] Non-U.S. Alternatives List - A collectively curated list of non-US-based alternatives to popular services, because it is time to prioritise our privacy, security, and digital sovereignty. Go to GitHub.
- [📚 BOOK] Decoding Misinformation: Why we fall for fake news. Go to Ipsos.
- [📰 ARTICLE] OpenAI updated its safety framework—but no longer sees mass manipulation and disinformation as a critical risk. Go to Fortune.
- [🎥 VIDEO] Can Big Tech and Privacy Coexist? Carole Cadwalladr and Chris Anderson. Go to TED.
- [🗞️ PRESS RELEASE] Commission finds Apple and Meta in breach of the Digital Markets Act. Go to European Comission.
- [📰 ARTICLE] The forces shaping the media landscape for the next generation. Go to BBC.
- [💡 JOURNAL ARTICLE] The Effect of Deactivating Facebook and Instagram on Users’ Emotional State. Go to NBER.
- [🔍 REPORT] Teens, Social Media and Mental Health. Go to Pew Research Center.
- [📰 ARTICLE] Digital ID systems in Africa: A dream of inclusion or a threat to privacy? Go to Global Voices.
- [🔍 REPORT] Report: The risks and opportunities of AI on humanitarian action. Go to ICTworks.
- [📰 ARTICLE] ChatGPT spends 'tens of millions of dollars' on people saying 'please' and 'thank you', but Sam Altman says it's worth it. Go to TechRadar.
- [📰 ARTICLE] DOGE Is Building a Master Database to Surveil and Track Immigrants. Go to Wired.
- [📰 ARTICLE] I’ve Worked at Google for Decades. I’m Sickened by What It’s Doing. Go to The Nation.
- [📰 ARTICLE] African Digital Colonialism is the New Face of Worker Exploitation. Go to ICTworks.
- [📰 ARTICLE] Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams says company targeted ads at teens based on their ‘emotional state’. Go to Tech Crunch.
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