Global Issues|

Digital Disruption

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Disinfopreneurs and infodemics

The use of social media in influence campaigns, including grey-zone activities and hybrid warfare, is becoming more complicated, more diverse, more profitable and more dangerous. This is being led, in part, by the privatisation and industrialisation of “weaponised information”. Referred to

By Damien Spry

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Digital Authoritarianism, China and COVID

The coronavirus has showcased China's cyber-powered socialcontrol capabilities, with implications for human rights worldwide

By Lydia Khalil

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Colourless green content: AI, disinformation and geopolitical risk

“Orwell's goal was not good writing, Orwell's goal was to prevent people from lying.” In an essay in 1945, George Orwell discussed the relationship between military innovation and the world order. The democratisation of small arms, he argued, gave a chance to anti-colonial independence

By Quinton Temby

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Interesting times for TikTok

From Delhi to Washington to Canberra, the future of the digital economy may be heavily influenced by how one question is answered: What to do about TikTok? The popular short-video platform owned by Beijing-based parent company ByteDance has been at the centre of a storm of controversy. Concern

By Elliott Zaagman

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Disinformation and democracy: Podcast out now

In May 2016, before Brexit and Trump, the right-wing populist Rodrigo Duterte was elected President of the Philippines amidst a co-ordinated disinformation and trolling campaign on social media. In a nation of 105 million where Facebook is embedded into everyday life, political

By Kelsey Munro

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Paradigm shift: Understanding propaganda in the digital age

Influence operations in the digital age are not merely propaganda with new tools. They represent an evolved form of manipulation which present actors with endless possibilities – both benign and malignant. While the origins of this new form are semi-accidental, it has nonetheless opened up

By Zac Rogers, Emily Bienvenue, Maryanne Kelton

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The fourth industrial revolution and international migration

This working paper examines the implications of digitalisation for skilled migration in high-income countries such as Australia and outlines key areas for policymakers in relation to the future of work and migration policy

By Fiona McKenzie

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'LOpht' and the inherent vulnerabilities of the internet

Over the past month The Washington Post has published an awesome series on the internet's inherent vulnerabilities, and how its founders never envisioned its users 'attacking one another.' Here is part 1 and part 2. Below are extractions from part 3, which follows the 1990s hacking collective '

By Brendan Thomas-Noone

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Liberalism, China and the internet

'It's not that laws aren't relevant' said MIT Media Lab co-founder Nicholas Negroponte during the 1990s, 'it's that the nation-state is not relevant...The internet cannot be regulated.' Negroponte's assessment has not aged well, but to be fair, he was not alone in his belief. Digital activist

By Brendan Thomas-Noone

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Not appy in Melanesia

Everyone's talking about mobile phone apps. In Australia, apps are becoming a part of everyday life. You can check for real-time updates on your bus route, assess your alcohol intake, or manage your shopping list. There are so many specialised apps, it's impossible to catalogue them all. In the

By Amanda Watson

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Diplomats, trolls and memes

Barack Obama's tweeting entranced the media earlier this week, but he isn't the only US official making Twitter-related headlines; the social media service has recently played host to a number of high-profile disputes involving senators, ambassadors and spokespeople

By John Gooding

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ICT companies and internet freedom

How should ICT companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter conduct themselves when operating in states that crack down on media freedom? Should they comply with sometimes repressive and arbitrary laws to maintain market share, or should they stand up for a free internet? According to the 2014

By Aim Sinpeng

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Digital Asia links: Pakistan's cyber bill, Chinese social media, LINE hacking, smartphones in India and more

The Asia Pacific is the most dynamic digital landscape in the world, home to the fastest adopters of new technologies and the largest concentration of mobile and social media users. An escalation in online activism, changing cyber dynamics, developments in digital diplomacy and the exploitation of

By Danielle Cave

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Twitter for diplomats: Libya incident illustrates trade-offs

Danielle Cave has argued that Australia could benefit from a less cautious approach to digital diplomacy. For example, the increasing informality of Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's Twitter presence has led to new audiences. Would Buzzfeed have bothered to interview Bishop if she hadn't agreed to

By John Gooding

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Digital Asia links: Nepal earthquake special

Those monitoring the earthquake response will already be well acquainted with the #NepalEarthquake hashtag, but they should also subscribe to this Twitter list. How Facebook (via Safety Check) and Google (via Person Finder) helped connect people immediately following the 25 April earthquake.

By Danielle Cave

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Beijing's Great Cannon exposes vulnerable Chinese tech firms

News last month of the Chinese Government's Great Cannon cyber warfare tool should ring warning bells for Chinese technology companies abroad already compromised by their association with the Chinese state. Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba and British Prime Minister David Cameron in Shanghai, 3 December

By Sarah Logan

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Digital Asia links: Internet censorship special

By Danielle Cave

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Six ideas for rescuing Australian digital diplomacy

Australia's approach to digital diplomacy is second-rate and entirely inadequate for a nation that sees itself as 'a top 20 country'. Despite an expanded social media presence, Australia continues to lag far behind other countries – large and small – that are investing serious resources into

By Danielle Cave

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Countering ISIS online

When you look at the global response to the threat of ISIS, a glaring gap is the cyber domain. The internet has been critical to the terrorist group's success. It allows it to communicate unfiltered to the rest of the world, for onward mass dissemination by the media. It helps the group radicalise

By Fergus Hanson

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Does Australia do digital diplomacy?

After a decade of swimming against the tide, the Australian Government is slowly engaging in the world of digital diplomacy. The term 'DFAT the Dinosaur' no longer applies, a label slapped onto our foreign affairs department in 2010 after a series of public refusals to incorporate the internet

By Danielle Cave

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