Just out for comment: the African Union's draft Guidelines for Access to Data, covering both private and public sector data holdings. A big advance for the right to information in Africa. achpr.au.int/en/news/pres...

I don't really feel like the press coverage of the metaverse implosion honestly captures the access tech press' role in propping up Mark Zuckerberg's fake innovation mythology if you go back and read "journalism" from this era, 97% was indistinguishable from advertorial

What to do when big tech don't give access to data showing what content is labelled as AI-generated? I wrote about this opacity in regard to flagging #deepfakes here: www.linkedin.com/posts/guy-be...

One of the craziest things about Musk-era twitter is that because linking to anything is penalized by the algo, no one uses links and you have NO IDEA where any of the info you see is coming from. It's madness!

It's U.S. foreign policy that the whole world must serve up our data to the AI giants that are now an arm of the U.S. government. www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Suggestions to cope with how Agentic AI complicates Data Governance www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

How do you say something different to what an AI service would? One way is to use AI-generated images. Specifically, rock art style African animals to convey a message to the SADC’s forum of Election Management Bodies (EMBs), for their AGM in eSwatini in December. commspolicy.africa?page_id=134

Move slow... and move fast. That's the advice I gave to Election Management Bodies in southern Africa at their AGM this week. Concretely, it means a hardnosed calculation of costs and benefits of AI adoption - and the importance of AI adaptation www.linkedin.com/posts/guy-be...

Tomorrow Tuesday, a webinar on prospects for information as a public good - in the face of Generative AI. Along with the idea of Re-generating AI. Work within the system, or outside of it? We'll debate this as part of the International Panel on Social Progress www.linkedin.com/posts/guy-be...

"AI systems are reshaping Africa’s relationship with the global economy, determining whether the continent remains locked into extractive relationships or develops genuine technological sovereignty." And journalists are missing this story. www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/...

this is pretty shitty blog.cloudflare.com/perplexity-i...

My new piece, “AI is Not Africa’s Savior: Avoiding Technosolutionism in Digital Development,” is published on @brookings.edu! I reflect on the need to put the lived experiences and needs of African communities over AI hype, which is becoming prominent. www.brookings.edu/articles/ai-...

Between Musk & the Trump administration, Media Matters has been squeezed to the brink. In settlement discussions, lawyers for X demanded the organization hand over all its cash and shut down — all because MM reported ads appeared on X next to antisemitic content. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/u...

A new policy brief gives a little-heard perspective on AI. Informed by African interests in the 2025 processes of the G20, the authors signal potent connections and problems within the international AI tech stack www.linkedin.com/posts/guy-be...

A call for the G20 to come out in support of payment by AI companies for scraping news websites: media20.org/wp-content/u...

Africa's Continental AI Strategy now has an implementation plan. The African Alliance for Access to Data (I'm convenor), urges the plan to reference: the relevance of Right to Information systems, Open Science & work towards Guidelines on access to data. dataalliance.africa/alliance-hig...

Can media get any mileage with the concept of "information integrity" and the 2025 agenda of the G20 countries? South African editors see possibilities media20.org/2025/05/16/m...

Four categories of human rights are recognised by the African Union's draft study of AI, making for unique reading. But missing is access to data as part of the right to information as concerns digital dynamics. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

You've heard it's World Press Freedom Day, I hope. Needed more than ever. But where did it originate? With African journalists in 1991. You can see the story here: action-namibia.org/wp-content/u...

achpr.au.int/en/news/pres... On World Press Freedom Day, the ACHPR encourages "the media profession to make ethical use of AI systems in their operations and to be a watchdog that reports on the societal risks as well as opportunities of AI."

Just published this co-authored report "Data deficits and democratic processes: The under-explored role of data in African elections". Find link and a summary of key points at www.linkedin.com/posts/guy-be...

The African Union notes "with deep concern the recent regress by technology companies with regard to information integrity ..." & calls for "developing guidelines to ensure a public interest element for all platforms operating in Africa" achpr.au.int/en/adopted-r... achpr.au.int/en/adopted-r...

Lots to do with data! This research uncovers where African elections are heading in terms of stakeholder use of data. Which group will get on top of the game first - Electoral commissions, political parties, researchers, FIMI actors? researchictafrica.net/2025/01/23/f...

I wrote for The Contrarian about my decision to leave the New York Times contrarian.substack.com/p/departing-...

Excerpt from Kentridge clip on Mayakovsky

2016, Kentridge and colleagues created the Centre for the less good idea... So the periphery comes into centre

Kentridge recalls getting Mayakovsky's plays, while a student, which still today conveys energy and creativity to him as a reader

Suspension of U.S. media aid: the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls for mobilisation of European donors. europeanjournalists.org/blog/2025/01...

The Israeli authorities did not allow foreign journalists' access to Gaza, except embedded with the IDF, and at the same time, lambasted Gaza-trapped Palestinian journalists as biased or "militants". The news impasse must cease, say press freedom groups. www.cbc.ca/news/world/j...

What will the artist William Kentridge have to say in his lecture at UCT Summer School, coming up shortly? Title: To Cross One More Sea. Perhaps that we always hope there is only one more to go. www.kentridge.studio/mhome/

The difference between censorship and content moderation? It's a question of whether international human rights standards govern limitations on expression www.linkedin.com/posts/guy-be...

This #Wapo investigation shows the impact how Musk used X to get 200m followers for political influence. What was a platform is now a weapon. Might we see similar instrumentalisation on X.ai ? www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...

At Politikens Boghal in Copenhagen, I asked for Marietje Schaake's book "The Tech Coup". Sold out. Likewise at their sister shop. If there's a sequel - suggested title: "Tech *Capture* (of the US state)" - maybe one could fund a copy and dig into the post-election scenario. Coup to capture, right?

The goal of fact-checking and media literacy is being misrepresented by those who spread false information. In this piece, @guyberger.bsky.social & I argue we need a new framing showing not just what we are *against* - but what we are *for*: "information integrity". www.poynter.org/commentary/2...

<<“Countering information disorder” has served fact-checkers well... Updating in favor of “fighting for information integrity” can help position us to embrace what’s coming up next.>> And what's coming next (post the US-election) ain't fun-n-games for factchecking. www.poynter.org/commentary/2...

Would WAPO do a headline like "Biden in Latin America" or "Biden in Europe"? One could hope the paper and its readers know where Angola is... then again maybe not #AfricaIsACountry

6 of 10 gen Z in USA get "news" from social media, so I worry about this generation with its loneliness - Maria Ressa #Tutu Lecture

Journalist Yousra Elbagir: Tutu was able to laugh and carry on. You, Maria Ressa? Answer: "Hope comes from action"

Journalist Yousra Elbagir: "Online violence normalisés offline violence" #Tutu Lecture

Maria Ressa: AI llms are being used in warfare and mistargeting drone attacks.. "It's a bleak time.."

Journalist Yousra Elbagir says her parents and neighbours are amongst the millions who have had to flee Sudan, introducing a panel with 2 Nobel prize winners #Tutu Lecture

"First they came for the journalists, then we didn't know what happened next", quips Maria Ressa in a serious warning to world in the face of a threat of democracy dying.

Social media cenetration is 43 percent in South Africa, and with greater penetration there will be more polarisation, warns Maria Ressa - so "build trust now"

No facts, no truth, no democracy... Pursuit of truth is a peace building mission, essential for accountability - Nobel laureate Maria Ressa

Tutu stood for truth against power, and we can't be neutral in a world increasingly shaped by lies says Maria Ressa

MC Brenda Sisane reminds it was 40 years ago that Archbishop Tutu was awarded the Nobel prize. (14th lecture in his honour shortly)

Maria Ressa due to give the main address in 30 mins #journalism

Data access: good news from Africa: www.linkedin.com/posts/guy-be...

Joining Bill Drake's webinar tomorrow: Global Digital Governance on Disinformation, Information Integrity, and International Cooperation, Tuesday 19 November 2024 11:00-12:30th g EST / UTC - 5 (New York time) / UTC - www.ticketleap.events/tickets/colu...