In The Loop July 2024
9 minutes read | First published: July 31, 2024
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OUR LATEST NEWS 🚀
📹 Watch our Investigation Talk Webinars on disinformation networks, elections, and investigative methods
Tactical Tech's Exposing the Invisible project has published recordings of the webinar series from January 2024, part of the Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative- CIJI. The series covers investigation methods and cases, including:
- How to Track and Investigate Online Disinformation Networks, with Nicola Bruno.
- The Anatomy of ‘The Pylos Shipwreck’ Investigation, with Iliana Papangeli and Stavros Malichudis.
- Troubled Waters: Investigating How Intensive Agriculture Pollutes our Waters, with Jelena Prtoric
- Mixing Methods to Investigate the Influence Industry in Elections Campaigns, with Amber Macintyre.
🛡️ Tactical Tech resources featured in Amnesty International’s New Digital Security Resource Hub
Discover Amnesty International’s Security Lab's new Digital Security Resource Hub for human rights defenders, activists, journalists, and other civil society members. The hub offers accessible, high-quality, updated, and free advice and resources to build and protect digital resilience. Tactical Tech's resources, including the Data Detox Kit and the Holistic Security manual, are featured. Explore the Digital Security Resource Hub
Screenshot of the Digital Security Resource Hub
📬 The first edition of "The Link" newsletter for journalists and investigators is out!
"The Link" is the new quarterly newsletter by the Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative -CIJI for journalists and media professionals engaged in collaborative and investigative journalism. Check out the first edition on LinkedIn for new releases, open calls, jobs, opportunities, and curated resources and tools essential for your work. Want to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox? Sign up now!
OPEN CALLS 📢
[CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS 💻] Digital Investigation Residency: AI, Critical Climates, and Political Influence. In-person event in Berlin 18-22 November. Deadline for applications: August 30, 2024.
Tactical Tech invites Europe-based journalists, fact-checkers, researchers, OSINT investigators, artists, and anyone passionate about investigations to apply for this week-long event in Berlin. Focused on AI, critical climates, and political influence, the residency includes plenary sessions, workshops, skill-sharing, and co-creation sessions, where participants will learn and apply innovative methods to their investigative projects. Financial support for travel and accommodation is available for successful applicants. Learn about eligibility requirements and the application process here.
Digital Influence Residency Banner by Tactical Tech
[GRANT OPPORTUNITY 💰] Grants for Cross-Border Collaborative Investigations. Deadline: September 9, 2024
Free Press Unlimited (FPU) is offering grants for cross-border collaborative investigative stories. Ten grants of 10,000 EUR each will be awarded to teams of journalists to produce impactful investigative journalism that crosses national borders and addresses critical issues affecting European societies. Find out more and apply here.
Grants for Cross-Border Collaborative Investigations Banner by Tactical Tech
EVENTS THAT EMPOWER YOU 💡
[SUMMIT 🌐] Tech and Society Summit. October 1, 2024.
Thirty-nine civil society organizations will co-host the “Tech and Society Summit,” aiming to foster dialogue between civil society and newly elected EU decision-makers, focusing on technology, society, and the environment. Find out more
[FORUM 🌐] Registration for iMEdD International Journalism Forum 2024 is open! September 26-28, 2024. Athens, Greece.
Join this global event on press freedom in Europe, the role of artificial intelligence in investigative journalism, algorithmic accountability, and innovative sustainability schemes for media independence. Highlights include The UNCOVERED Conference 2024 and the European Press Prize Community Event. Tactical Tech will be speaking at the event. Register.
iMEdD International Journalism Forum 2024 Promo by iMEdD
OUR THE GLASSROOM: MISINFORMATION EXHIBITION EXHIBITION AROUND THE WORLD 🖼️
DigiDic Exhibition "Call to Digital Self-Defense". Until November 3, 2024. Graz, Austria. The world is rapidly heading towards monopolization by global digital players, leading to total control, algorithm-driven need creation, and loss of privacy. This exhibition, featuring Tactical Tech's The Glass Room, uses art, interactive installations, museum objects, workshops, performances, artist talks, and lectures to explore these issues and offer a manual on digital self-defense. 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:
➡️ On July 10, Tactical Tech's Influence Industry Project hosted the bilingual event "Digital Influence Industry in Brazilian Election Campaigns." Researchers Pedro Maia (Geneva Graduate Institute), Ester Borges and Alessandra Gomes (InternetLab), and Amber Macintyre and Louise Hisayasu (Tactical Tech) discussed the impact of digital tactics by tech firms and social media platforms on Brazilian elections and democracy. Participants, including researchers, organizations, and journalists, connected and learned. Explore the study case on Digital Technologies and the Brazilian democracy
➡️ The Anatomy of Influence forum in Tallinn, Estonia, drew 120 participants! Hosted by DCN Global and World Learning, this forum unraveled the complex layers of influence in our digital world, promoting a comprehensive understanding and strategic navigation of digital influence. Amber Macintyre from Tactical Tech's Influence Industry Project joined the conversation on virtual presence and global impact. Watch the recording here
➡️ On July 15-16, 2024, Tactical Tech attended the European Media and Information Fund's summer conference organized by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal. The event gathered representatives from 42 projects dedicated to combating disinformation, featuring research and projects promoting a more resilient, fact-based digital information ecosystem. Learn more about the European Media and Information Fund
MEET OUR PARTNERS WORLDWIDE 💫
The Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM): enhancing young people's understanding of digital technologies
MIM aims to improve journalists' professional skills, support independent and pluralistic media, and facilitate regional and international training. In collaboration with Tactical Tech, MIM is particularly focused on enhancing young people's understanding of digital technologies.
Since 2021, MIM has translated numerous Tactical Tech resources, including The Glass Room Misinformation Edition and IoT Edition, into Macedonian and Albanian. They have hosted over 10 exhibitions and events at Europe Houses across North Macedonia and have facilitated workshops, discussions, and promoted media literacy on a national level. Find out more
Visitors of The Glass RoomMisinformation Edition. Photo courtesy of Macedonian Institute for Media.
Photo courtesy of Macedonian Institute for Media
WHAT WE ARE READING 🔍
- [📰 ARTICLE] The AI Keeps the Score - The governing body of international gymnastics has pushed for an AI-assisted aid for judges. But what justifies the tremendous expense for such a system? The World Gymnastics Championship held an answer, and it might not have anything to do with gymnastics at all. By Dvora Meyers. Illustrations by Samar Hadddad.Go to The Verge.
- [🖼️ VISUALISATION] Cartography of generative. As AI consolidates, it's important to map its connections with human activities. AI By Estampa. Go to project.
- [📰 ARTICLE] The Saipan surprise: How delicate talks led to the unlikely end of Julian Assange’s 12-year saga. By Eric Tucker. Go to AP.
- [🔧 TOOL] "The Tarot of Tech Cards" are a set of provocation design help creators more fully consider the impact of technology. Created by Artefact. Go to Artefact.
- [📰 ARTICLE] At the Olympics, AI Is Watching You. A controversial new surveillance system in Paris foreshadows a future where there are too many CCTV cameras for humans to physically watch. By Morgan Meaker. Go to WIRED.
- [🎙️ INTERVIEW] Proof News founder Julia Angwin on trust in journalism, the scientific method and the future of AI and the news. By Clark Merrefield. Go to The Journalist's Resource.
- [🎙️ PODCAST] China's race to tech supreacy: Chatbots & chips. By FT Tech Tonic Podcast. Go to the podcast.
- [📰 ARTICLE] The moral bankruptcy of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. Two of Silicon Valley’s famous venture capitalists make the case for backing Trump: that their ability to make money is the only value that matters. By Elizabeth Lopatto. Go to The Verge.
- [📰 ARTICLE] Geopolitics and cyberespionage: A survey of the hacker groups who are targeting the Western world. By Luis Alberto Peralta. Go to El Pais.
- [💡 PROJECT] Follow the crypto, a project on how the cryptocurrency industry is heavily investing in politics to secure favorable policies in U.S. By Molly White. Go to the project.
- [✍️ ESSAY] We are not machines. Welcome to the new post-genomic biology: a transformative era in need of fresh metaphors to understand how life works. Go to AEON.
- [📰 ARTICLE] FOMO: Culture Through The Prism of Fear. The fear of missing out on things is driving the need to consume products, holidays, art and cultural events. By Ofèlia Carbonell. Go to CCCB Lab.
- [📊 REPORT] Queer resistance to digital oppression in the Middle East and North Africa. Go to Article19.
- [📊 REPORT] 2024 Aid Transparency Index. The Aid Transparency Index is the only independent measure of aid transparency among the world’s major development agencies. By Publish What You Fund. Go to report.
- [🎙️ INTERVIEW] ‘Second class: That’s how tech platforms treat citizens of the Global South’. Nina Santos is an expert and researcher on disinformation, hate speech and artificial intelligence. Based in Brazil, she approaches the debate from the perspective of the countries of the region. Go to El Pais
- [📘 GUIDE] Digital safety guide for LGBTQ+ activists in Africa. By Access Now. Go to the guide.
- [🔧 TOOL] 7amleh Launches Violence Indicator in Arabic to Combat Online Hate Speech and Violence. Go to source.
- [🎙️ PODCAST] Tech This Out! By 5Rights. Episode 1: Can we build a digital world children can trust? Go to 5Rights.
- [📊 REPORT] Covering the Planet: Assessing the State of Climate and Environmental Journalism Globally. A Report for Internews' Earth Journalism Network. Go to the report
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