Mitigating Cyber Threats with Limited Resources: Guidance for Civil Society

Simplified instructions from joint guidance by cybersecurity agencies in the US, Canada, UK, Estonia, Japan, and Finland published on 14 May 2024, and from the section focussing on civil society individuals. The full report is somewhat technical but recommended for IT admins and cybersecurity experts who advise or work in NGOs, and CSOs. The full …

A fake UN report: What does it portend for Sri Lanka?

Yesterday, I wrote about how generative AI-based content are present, and growing in Sri Lanka as we head into this year's consequential Presidential Election. In it, I passingly referenced an unprecedented development involving the United Nations in Sri Lanka having to issue a clarification around a fake report, linked to the presidential election, and attributed …

Manipulated media, and Sri Lanka’s 2024 presidential election

A trusted colleague, Asela Waidyalankara, sent this video to me last week, which I found rather interesting. In this manipulated media, very likely created through an app on a smartphone, a voice approximating Trump says, Sri Lankan friends and family. I am your next president for USA 2024. Also, I want you guys to support …

Australian eSafety Commissioner vs Twitter/X

A prescient paragraph 85 (on Page 22) of the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, penned by David Kaye, and presented to the UN General Assembly as far back as 2016 noted, States bear a primary responsibility to protect and respect the …

The launch of the Christchurch Call Foundation

The Christchurch Call became the Christchurch Call Foundation today. Public funding will stop. Jacinda Ardern will become the Patron of the new Foundation, which will be headquartered in Wellington. To be very clear, this is a a downgrade from the emphasis on the multilateral platform the Call was, jointly led by New Zealand, & France, …

AI, and the future of jobs

In a substantive note penned to Sri Lanka's Ministry of Technology - Sri Lanka, and UNDP Sri Lanka responding to what was sadly a performative public consultation on the country's first-ever national AI strategy, I stressed the importance of looking at job displacement because of AI. Address the significant risks, and challenges of AI more …

Inconvenient stories: The potential and pitfalls of narratives in the social media age

In addition to the lecture at Pathshala South Asian Media Institute on generative AI, and photography, Shahidul Alam also invited me to deliver a public lecture at Drik on 6th May. The talk was billed as 'Storytelling as Resistance', but I changed the title of the lecture as delivered to 'Inconvenient Stories'. A video of …

Irreal interplay: Generative AI, photography, & assault on meaning

I was invited by the legendary Shahidul Alam - one of the most influential photographers alive - to give two lectures in Dhaka, including to all the students of Pathshala Institute, one of South Asia's pre-eminent photography, film and media schools. I had a wonderful time engaging with the students, and what was billed as …

Eyes Wide Open: The Christchurch Call at 5

As Christchurch Call enters 5th year, the information environment (globally, and in New Zealand) linked to what it is designed to respond to is far more complicated, and violent than in 2019. One predominant aspect of this is the role, reach, and relevance of Twitter (I refuse to call the platform X). Pre-Musk Twitter was …

Sri Lanka’s proposed Anti-Terrorism Act, and encrypted communications

Since I stick to my subject/domain expertise of, and focus on online harms, I hadn't studied the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) in relation to clauses that may impinge on privacy, and the integrity of online communications. Based on how the Online Safety Act (OSA) alone can very seriously impact the integrity of encrypted communications I …