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Government vs The Robots
Bytes not Bombs
Of the moments in life when you worry you might have done something silly, asking a former GCHQ data analyst to scrutinise your internet footprint for an upcoming podcast ranks quite high for me.
That’s exactly what I did this week ahead of a show, where we ended up discussing how long Britain could survive without the internet, examining what might constitute a modern version of the London blitz in the event of a modern war and asking how long Government can retain the ability to authenticate information.
Rather than focus on a post-truth world this week’s guest Cameron Colquhoun chooses to see it differently. As the Managing Director of ethical intelligence company Neon Century chooses to accept that “everything is true” recognising that data and evidence can be used to fit any argument you want to make.
When it comes to the ongoing dissection of Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump, Colquhoun talks about the incredible rise of psychographic profiles which enable companies like Cambridge Analytica to identify around 5000 data points per swing voter, which in an election with only a few hundred thousand voters makes the manipulation of emotion more of a science than the art form it has been perceived to be by the political classes.
If you listen right to the end you might also learn something about your own digital footprint and what the powers that be should think about doing differently to keep us safe in the future
Subscribe to Government vs The Robots on itunes
Further reading: Carole Cadwalladr on social media andelections, Martin Robbins on Cambridge Analytica, James O'Malley on big data
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9. Talking Telengana
33:59||Season 3, Ep. 9Tackling misinformation in India is the subject of enquiry this week as Jonathan is joined by Rema Rajeshwari, District Police Chief in Telengana State. Rema has used a series of innovative approaches to prevent crimes such as mob violence which had been driven by false Whats App rumours. The episode also covers the pace of digital transformation in India and the rise of cybercrime.
8. Artificial Journalists
43:23||Season 3, Ep. 8This week we take a look at disinformation in the Middle East with Marc Owen Jones. Marc talks us through how he found fake journalists writing for US news sites, explains some of the disinformation he's seen put to use by countries like Saudi Arabia and gives the lowdown on which Twitterstorms it is really worth paying attention to.
7. Haters gonna...coin it?
46:53||Season 3, Ep. 7Jonathan is joined this week by Imran Ahmed, Chief Executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate. Imran sets out the relationship between disinformation and hate speech, picks apart why the financial architecture of fake news could be its achilles heel and leaves major social media companies nowhere to hide when it comes to calling out bad behaviour.
6. Polls apart
45:44||Season 3, Ep. 6How do we get better at agreeing to disagree? Jonathan talks to Alison Goldsworthy, Founder and CEO at The Depolarisation Project hosted at Stanford University to talk about what's driving polarisation in society and what we can do about. Taking a breather from in-depth analysis of disinformation they cover business case for polarisation, the role of fundraising and campaign professionals in contributing to the problem and Jonathan gets called out for mocking a well known politician.....
5. True or False
47:37||Season 3, Ep. 5What can a former CIA analyst teach us about misinformation? Find out in this week's episode with Cindy Otis who spent ten years working for the US Government's Central Intelligence Agency. Jonathan and Cindy discuss her new book 'True or False' and explore the history of disinformation, asking why it's often been used to harden racist sentiment and drive marginalisation. As well as looking at the past they also discuss the present and the possibility of hidden dimensions to modern protests and how to get under the skin of disinformation networks.
4. Bot or Not?
42:03||Season 3, Ep. 4This week Jonathan talks to Professor Samuel Woolley, author of The Reality Game, about the use of bots to plant and spread disinformation on social media platforms. The conversation covers how many bots there are online, how to spot them, the use of geolocation data and the current strategies of modern political communicators.
3. First Draft
36:19||Season 3, Ep. 3This week we talk to Dr Claire Wardle who is the co-founder of First Draft, an NGO committed to tackling misinformation. The conversation covers the difference between misinformation and disinformation, the weaponisation of context and why conspiracy theories are keeping Claire awake at night.
2. This is not propaganda
46:50||Season 3, Ep. 2In the first episode of a new series exploring misinformation, disinformation and communication, Jonathan talks to Author Peter Pomerantsev. Having lived in Post-Soviet Russia where he made TV, Peter has a unique insight into how some of the 'nebulous nostalgia' of that period is on display today in the UK and the US. The conversation covers the great 'f**k off to facts', why we buy into conspiracy theories, the challenges facing civil society in the internet era and how we might construct a new, neutral digital public sphere.