WebRoots Democracy: Our Story
By Areeq Chowdhury. I founded WebRoots Democracy in May 2014 from a rented studio flat above a travel agency in Leyton, East London, where I was living at the time. … Continue reading WebRoots Democracy: Our Story
Category: Blog
Conspiracy theories are breaching the bulwarks of political trust and certainty – are the defences crumbling?
By Olivia Migliari. According to conspiracies, COVID-19 is a hoax; vaccines are going to implant trackable microchips in humans; COVID-19 is the man-made creation of powerful individuals for nefarious ends. … Continue reading Conspiracy theories are breaching the bulwarks of political trust and certainty – are the defences crumbling?
Cyber-libertarianism, free speech, and the ‘social turn’
By Charlie Markham. “How do you define free speech with an online lens in mind?” This was the first question posed by the brilliant Charlotte Jee, during the WebRoots Democracy … Continue reading Cyber-libertarianism, free speech, and the ‘social turn’
Report calls for ‘generational ban’ on facial recognition surveillance
Facial recognition technology will ‘exacerbate racist outcomes’ in policing and should be banned ‘for a generation’ according to our new report, Unmasking Facial Recognition. The report also reveals that the … Continue reading Report calls for ‘generational ban’ on facial recognition surveillance
Free speech in the internet age
By Areeq Chowdhury. The concept of free speech is central to a lot of my work thinking about how we should regulate against the ills of social media. Disinformation, deepfakes, … Continue reading Free speech in the internet age
A Civil Internet Tax
By Areeq Chowdhury. Social media relays in black and white text the best and worst messages about the world. These messages are sent directly to us in our homes on … Continue reading A Civil Internet Tax
Virtual Parliament: A golden opportunity which shouldn’t be missed
By Milton Brown. In 2010 the Liberal Democrats found themselves ‘kingmakers’ and decided upon electoral reform as their number one bargaining request, creating the opportunity that electoral reform campaigners had … Continue reading Virtual Parliament: A golden opportunity which shouldn’t be missed
Cybersecurity and digital democracy in 2020
By Luke Cavanaugh. The new year brought with it news that Ciaran Martin, the founding head of the UK’s national cyber security unit, the NCSC, would be stepping down in … Continue reading Cybersecurity and digital democracy in 2020
Disinformation and the 2019 UK General Election
By Maria Benlaiter. On January 21st, WebRoots Democracy hosted its first event of the new year, discussing the recent general election, fittingly at the Houses of Parliament. We were joined … Continue reading Disinformation and the 2019 UK General Election
A lot of good proposals in the Online Harms White Paper but a lack of focus on taxation
By Areeq Chowdhury. The Government has finally published its long-awaited white paper on ‘online harms’. There are a lot of good and welcome proposals within it, however, ‘tax’ (which should … Continue reading A lot of good proposals in the Online Harms White Paper but a lack of focus on taxation
2019 will be a landmark year in the disinformation war
By Areeq Chowdhury. Fake news, Russian bots, data manipulation. If you think western democracy has been in freefall since the Trump/Brexit earthquake of 2016, brace yourself because that was just … Continue reading 2019 will be a landmark year in the disinformation war
The ‘digital services tax’ is a good idea in principle but it may be difficult to enforce
By Areeq Chowdhury. In the budget this week, Philip Hammond has announced the introduction of a new ‘digital services tax’, first hinted at in his party conference speech in Birmingham. … Continue reading The ‘digital services tax’ is a good idea in principle but it may be difficult to enforce
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