Call for Submissions to First Monday Issue on: “Youth, Digital Media, and Civic Engagement”
2023-05-04
Announcements
Current Issue
Volume 28, Number 5 - 1 May 2023
Published:
2023-05-07
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This month: May 2023 Politics and disinformation: Analyzing the use of Telegram’s information disorder network in Brazil for political mobilization Over the past few years, with the increasing popularization of network communication in place of traditional mass communication, supported by social platforms and messengers, political campaigns have come to rely on new tools and methods, including the use of these structures to promote an environment of information disorder for the purpose of mobilization. This work followed the use of Telegram as a tool for political mobilization in Brazil, collecting data from a dense network of information disorder used to mobilize voters in support of then-president Jair Bolsonaro on 7 September 2021 and 2022, Independence Day in Brazil. The results showed that engagement was reduced, mainly due to the lack of support from certain groups such as anti-vaccination advocates and the truck drivers’ class. There was also a decrease in extremism on discussion themes and lower user activity levels. |
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Also this month Undetermined: A semi-academic exploration of the future of European data spaces via science fiction This paper concerns the future — a scenario that is not so distant in time, as the future starts today. With the increasing datafication of our society and the approval of the European Union Data Governance Act that establishes conditions and safeguards to encourage the free flow and reuse of data for scientific, economic and societal progress, we are left wondering whether the existing challenges surrounding personal data management will be solved by then — or whether they will only be exacerbated. This sci-fi short story depicts a future where individuals, since a young age, question whether they still retain agency over their lives and their destinies, given that data-hungry personalized services surveil them extensively and steer their personal development. Returning to science fiction narratives to explore a societal issue at the edge of technology and law has a threefold purpose, in: (1) developing critical skills and exploring future consequences safely through the imagination; (2) fostering foresight and proactivity in policy-making; and (3) democratizing the debate about technological developments that concern us all. If this story depicts a desirable or undesirable future is left to the readers to assess. |
