At #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, Prof. Fen Osler Hampson (@carleton.ca) shared new insights from the Carleton–CIGI–Ipsos Trust in the Internet Global Survey. The data show growing global concern about online privacy and sharply divided trust in AI across regions and types of AI. 🧵

At #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, @justinhendrix.bsky.social (@techpolicypress.bsky.social) spoke with @milestaylor.bsky.social (former Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Homeland Security) about the erosion of democratic guardrails and the expanding capacity of executive power in the United States. 🧵

This summer, David Suzuki received attention for his iPolitics interview titled: “‘It’s too late’: David Suzuki says the fight against climate change is lost.” This shift in tone led us to ask: Are Canadians Climate Doomers? @chrispyross.bsky.social 🧵

At #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, @vassb.bsky.social (Managing Director, @canadianshieldinstitute.ca) asked Marcus Bokkerink (former Chair of the UK Competition & Markets Authority) and @lutherlowe.bsky.social (Head of Public Policy, Y Combinator), what does successful digital market regulation look like?

Some jurisdictions have started regulating AI-enabled fraud. @taylorowen.bsky.social asked @ginasue.bsky.social (Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy, Cambridge) and Mediodecci Lustarini (Directorate General of Digital Space Monitoring, Indonesia) what Canada can learn from these models. 🧵

How do fraudsters get away with AI scams? In our second panel, guests Iesha White (Director of Intelligence, @checkmyads.org) and @craigsilverman.bsky.social (Journalist and Misinformation Expert) joined Moderator @davidreevely.bsky.social (@thelogic.co) to answer this question. 🧵

In our first panel, moderator @vassb.bsky.social (Managing Director, @canadianshieldinstitute.ca) spoke with @profjquaid.bsky.social (Professor in the Civil Law Section, University of Ottawa) how advertising technology is reshaping competition, value chains, and sovereignty in Canada. 🧵

To kick us off, we heard opening remarks from our host, @petermacleod.bsky.social (MASS LBP), followed by lightning talks featuring Anya Schiffrin and @abridgman.bsky.social. 🧵

Welcome to Securing Canada's Digital Sovereignty: AI and the Growing Economy of Fraud! We're honoured to convene experts on ad tech, misinformation, digital affairs, and public policy to discuss how AI is transforming the online fraud landscape and what Canada can do about it. 🧵

Securing Canada's Digital Sovereignty: AI and the Growing Economy of Fraud is happening today at 4:30PM at The Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa! It's not too late to register, click here to reserve your free tickets: tinyurl.com/fyaakr3n

We recently heard from @garymarcus.bsky.social at #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, where he argued that we are witnessing an AI bubble. This week, @taylorowen.bsky.social interviewed him on Machines Like Us to discuss whether an alternative AI could save us. Check it out here: youtu.be/Q72flbyc2yQ

Join us in congratulating Helen Hayes (Associate Director, Policy at the Centre) for being named a 2026 recipient of @forbes.com 30 under 30! 🧵 Read her full profile here: www.forbes.com/profile/hele...

Debates over public service media are rising globally. In Canada, the push to defund CBC/Radio-Canada before the 2025 election exposed real vulnerabilities. Parliament approved a funding increase, but the future of our public broadcaster is far from settled. 🧵

Data privacy was a recurring theme at our October conference, #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned. According to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Philippe Dufresne, this is a particularly fundamental value for Canadians, with 9/10 expressing deep concerns in OPC surveys. 🧵

Very happy to have been able to contribute to this event, and thanks to @taylorowen.bsky.social and colleagues for producing a stellar event.

AI is ushering a new era of fraud. Join us in Ottawa on December 4th for an evening with global experts, leading policymakers, and regulators to push forward a Canadian agenda on AI-driven financial fraud within the broader AI safety debate. 🧵

What is a democratic technology and what does that actually mean? This was the guiding question that @ivansigal.bsky.social posed to Professor @ethanz.bsky.social and Mark Surman in their panel, Building the Next Generation of Democratic Tech, at #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned. 🧵

At #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, @jameeljaffer.bsky.social (Executive Director, @knightcolumbia.org), @imranahmed.bsky.social (CEO, @counterhate.com) joined Professor @klonick.bsky.social (St. John’s University School of Law) to discuss the perilous new free speech moment in the U.S. and beyond. 🧵

🤔 What happens when 100 Gen Z youth get together to determine policy recommendations for our AI future? We'll soon find out thanks to Helen Hayes, Associate Director, Policy @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social. 🎤 Get the full episode now wherever you get your podcasts. cc @jeffmacarthur.bsky.social

Oftentimes, efforts to regulate the tech industry are framed as antithetical to innovation. Baroness Beeban Kidron (Member of the UK House of Lords) argued that the inverse is true in her virtual talk on valuing artists in the age of AI at #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned 🧵

A key debate in discussions about regulating online spaces is how best to frame legislation. At #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, moderator @damiancollins.bsky.social asked this question to Sasha Havlicek, @alexandrageese.bsky.social, and Sir Jeremy Wright. 🧵

🤩 Busy day in Halifax, but before we hit the stage to record an episode of The AmberMac Show podcast live, here's this week's new episode - released today: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/g... @jeffmacarthur.bsky.social @marcsaltzman.bsky.social @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social

In case you needed another reason to check out Left To Their Own Devices, Apple Canada’s editorial team just named it it one of the top 10 best podcasts of 2025! 🧵

Jim Balsillie (former Chair & Co-CEO, Research in Motion) joined us at #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned to address what he calls the "mythical three-headed Cerberus" of surveillance capitalism threatening Canada's democracy. 🧵 #cdnpoli

At #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, Megan Garcia (Mother, Lawyer, and Advocate) and Meetali Jain (@techjusticelaw.bsky.social) joined Ava Smithing (Young People's Alliance & Centre Youth Fellow) to talk about the latest threat to children online: AI chatbots. 🧵

We sre really looking forward to this online event and this collaboration with the @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social

We are very excited to partner with @migsinstitute.bsky.social for Digital Defenders: Youth Building Resilience and Change, on Nov. 17th This upcoming seminar will explore how youth respond to challenges of the digital age! 🧵

"Every innovation forces societies to decide if they want to govern technology or to be governed by it. The answer has never been less innovation, but more accountability." This was the reminder that @michaelmcgratheu.bsky.social gave us when opening #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned 🧵

In April, Jim Balsillie (former Chair & Co-CEO, Research in Motion) joined @taylorowen.bsky.social on the Machines Like Us podcast, where he asserted that Canada's problem isn't Trump, "Canada's problem is Canada." At #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, they reunited to talk about un-capturing democracy. 🧵

At #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, @yoshuabengio.bsky.social (Co-President & Scientific Director of @law-zero.bsky.social and Founder & Scientific Advisor of @mila-quebec.bsky.social) stressed the need to disentangle transparency of how AI is built versus transparency of what is going on inside the AI. 🧵

🤨 Who benefits from disinformation? @bostonjoan.bsky.social, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media Studies at Boston University, on this week's The AmberMac Show podcast. 📹 Recorded at Attention: Govern or be Governed @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social cc @jeffmacarthur.bsky.social

One of the guiding themes of #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned was how we can build digital technologies with humans in mind. This question has informed much of Frank McCourt's work, as the Founder of @projectliberty.io and Executive Chairman of McCourt Global. 🧵 #Attention2025

As Canada prepares for COP30, accurate climate information is more important than ever for effective climate action. The UN’s Global Initiative on Climate Change Information Integrity underscores that policy ambition cannot succeed without trustworthy information environments. 🧵

Amid the rise of climate disinformation and obstruction in Canada, our October 2025 polling from the Media Ecosystem Observatory, led by @sonjasolomun.bsky.social and @chrispyross.bsky.social, indicates that Canadians share this concern. #climateaction #COP30 #climatechange

86% of Canadians believe that during extreme weather events governments should require social media platforms to ensure the accuracy of information and prevent the promotion of disinformation.

82% of Canadians want Canada to participate in global efforts to strengthen information integrity on digital platforms.

78% of Canadians express concern about online disinformation related to climate change, while 88% report concern about public health disinformation.

78% of Canadians are worried about harmful information circulating during crises such as wildfires and floods.

You can read more about our findings here: tinyurl.com/4vvwrnkt

Writer & activist Cory Doctorow believes that we are witnessing an era where the services that matter most to us are getting worse. Namely, the internet, which was promised to us as a democratizing force, was colonized by platforms solely driven by their bottom line. 🧵

In May, @evansolomon.bsky.social became Canada's first Minister of AI and Digital Innovation. At #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, Solomon joined Anna Jahn (Executive Director, the Centre) to discuss his mandate 150 days in. 🧵 #Attention2025 #cdnpoli #EvanSolomon #AI

Attention: Govern Or Be Governed offered inspiring dialogue on how democracies worldwide can better navigate this digital era. Now, we are thrilled to share these insights with you, starting with @garymarcus.bsky.social and @muradhem.bsky.social. 🧵 #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025

🇨🇦 Canada is too often a wait-and-see country when it comes to digital governance. 🎧 Here's Taylor Owen, Director @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social & Host of Machines Like Us. 📹 The AmberMac Show at Attention: Govern or be Governed cc @jeffmacarthur.bsky.social youtu.be/sXPnddvFn5k?...

Exciting event next week 🚨 @mila-quebec.bsky.social is hosting the 2025 Digital Trust Convention, exploring how to "upgrade" our online environment to make it more resilient. The Digital Trust Convention will convene leading thinkers and experts, including Centre director @taylorowen.bsky.social 🧵

Last week, TJLP Executive Director Meetali Jain joined client Megan Garcia for a panel on the threats that AI chatbots pose to children for @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social ‘s ATTENTION: Govern or Be Governed.

When will the AI bubble burst? In the final conversation of #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, @garymarcus.bsky.social (Professor Emeritus of Psychology & Neural Science, NYU) likened Sam Altman's talk of "scaling laws" to insanity, or doing the same thing and expecting AGI. #Attention2025

Writer and activist Cory Doctorow joined us at #AttentionGovernOrBeGoverned to talk about reimagining digital public infrastructure. He pointed to a silver lining of Trump's trade war: the chance for Canada to finally circumvent harmful U.S.-first policies. #Attention2025

@milestaylor.bsky.social tried to warn us about Trump 2.0. And now, as the former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told @justinhendrix.bsky.social of @techpolicypress.bsky.social, he is paying the price. #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned #Attention2025

Another powerful moment from #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned was the day 2 plenary panel: Chatbots as the New Threat to Children Online, moderated by Ava Smithing (Centre Youth Fellow & Advocacy and Operations Director, Young People’s Alliance).

On day 2 of #AttnGovernOrBeGoverned, Professor Fen Osler Hampson (Carleton University) joined us to talk about public attitudes on digital governance. #Attention2025