Apple has been fined €1.8bn by the European Commission for breaking competition laws over music streaming. The EU Competition Commissioner said that Apple had restricted “developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem.” Although Apple says it will appeal,...
WACC and partner organizations are aiming to equip gender justice advocates to advance women’s digital communication rights with an event during the NGO CSW Forum 68 in New York on 11–24 March.The Forum is a civil society gathering held in parallel to the annual session...
Civil society advocates are concerned that governments, security services, and Big Tech may misuse digital technologies to suppress, control, and profit from ordinary people, says Philip Lee, Media Development editor, in the 1/2024 issue of WACC’s quarterly journal.The authors in “Towards Democratic Governance of Digital...
Three years after the Myanmar military seized power in a violent coup, the junta is still carrying out brutal attacks against those resisting its authority. It also uses Internet shutdowns, surveillance, and disappearances to hide its atrocities and to maintain its grip on power. In June...
Videos of Elon Musk promoting dubious investments. Popular news anchors advertising all manner of products. Seemingly plausible news articles bearing bylines of known journalists. Welcome to the world of AI-enabled misinformation and disinformation that has rapidly spiraled into the new normal. Over 11,000 business leaders in 113...
In Britain over 20 years ago a large group of local postmasters were prosecuted for fraud. Many were convicted, some jailed, most lost jobs and incomes. Why? Because the Horizon computer system, used to manage their financial accounts was thought incapable of error. Only later,...
An entrenched digital colonialism is shrinking public space and violating communication rights. The global ecumenical movement is called to respond with digital justice, WACC General Secretary Philip Lee told communicators from the Council for World Mission (CWM) gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 16–18 January. Our...
Substack is the latest digital communication platform to set off a freedom of expression debate after the co-founder Hamish McKenzie stated that the platform would not demonetize those posting extremist content on the newsletter platform — namely Nazi and white supremacists. The comments sparked both condemnation...
WACC has launched the webinar series “AI, You, and Your Organization” to offer social justice advocates an ethics-based approach to the use of artificial intelligence. “Artificial intelligence has been headline news since the launch of ChatGPT over a year ago, with many claiming that it can...
At a recent workshop on digital gender justice organized by WACC and the World Council of Churches (WCC), Lucina Di Meco, co-founder of #ShePersisted, shared research on gendered disinformation and online abuse against women in politics. She also shared suggestions for action during her presentation, as...