<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Dear all,</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">It’s been a few month since the last release of the Billions email. For those who may have forgotten, Billions is (content) tracing the story - through articles and viewpoints - of how social media and big and small digital tech are impacting our lives and our planet. <br class=""><br class="">Over the next few weeks, we are going to experiment with and co-opt Telegram and Whatsapp to spread Billions and ‘build community'. <br class=""><br class="">If you want to join the Telegram Billions group - click here:<br class=""><br class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><a href="https://t.me/joinchat/Hj1enhgpXjHH-6aYNFnaPg" class="">https://t.me/joinchat/Hj1enhgpXjHH-6aYNFnaPg</a><br class=""><br class="">As always, if you have any feedback or contributions to make, please reply to this message. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">And here’s this week’s Billions download.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Best, Sam / Billions</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">——</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">‘Conspiracy bingo’: Transatlantic extremists seize on the pandemic</b>, 12 May 2020, Politico</div><div class="">...extremist messages are finding fertile ground on fringe online platforms like 4chan, Telegram and a gamer hangout called Discord.</div><div class=""><a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-conspiracy-theorists-coronavirus-covid19-pandemic-lockdown-protests/" class="">https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-conspiracy-theorists-coronavirus-covid19-pandemic-lockdown-protests/</a></div><div class=""><br class=""><b class="">Facebook and the Folly of Self-Regulation</b>, 9 May 2020, Wired Magazine<br class="">The company's new review board is designed to move slowly and keep things intact.<br class=""><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-and-the-folly-of-self-regulation/" class="">https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-and-the-folly-of-self-regulation/</a><br class=""><br class=""><b class="">Screen New Deal</b>, 9 May 2020, The Intercept<br class="">Under Cover of Mass Death, Andrew Cuomo Calls in the Billionaires to Build a High-Tech Dystopia<br class="">https://theintercept.com/2020/05/08/andrew-cuomo-eric-schmidt-coronavirus-tech-shock-doctrine/<br class=""><br class=""><b class="">China’s Covid-19 QR code surveillance state</b>, 7 May 2020, Financial Times<br class="">In a techno-authoritarian system, it is best to carry the correct digital credentials at all times.<br class="">https://www.ft.com/content/eee43c3e-8f7c-11ea-9b25-c36e3584cda8<br class=""><br class=""><b class="">Why countries keep bowing to Apple and Google’s contact tracing app requirements</b>, 8 May 2020, The Verge<br class="">They own the hardware, they own the software, and national governments who would use it to find new cases of COVID-19 have to do it on the companies’ terms.<br class="">https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/5/8/21250744/apple-google-contact-tracing-england-germany-exposure-notification-india-privacy<br class=""><br class=""><b class="">The Republic of Facebook</b>, 6 May 2020, Just Security<br class="">With the Naming of Oversight Board Members, What Kind of Institution Will This Become?<br class="">https://www.justsecurity.org/70035/the-republic-of-facebook/<br class=""><br class=""><b class="">India COVID-19 app raises surveillance fears</b>, 2 May 2020, Aljazeera<br class="">Experts raise privacy concerns over government's Aarogya Setu app, now mandatory for public and private sector workers.<br class="">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/minefield-india-covid-19-app-raises-surveillance-fears-200501090057782.html<br class=""><br class=""><b class="">Covid-19 Disinformation & Social Media Manipulation</b>, 17 Apr 2020, Australian Strategic Policy Institute<br class="">Arange of actors are manipulating the information environment to exploit the COVID-19 crisis for strategic gain.<br class="">https://www.aspi.org.au/report/covid-19-disinformation<br class=""><br class=""><b class="">Deepfakes 2.0: The New Era of “Truth Decay”</b>, 14 Apr 2020, Just Security<br class="">According to Matthew Turek, a program manager for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), “We don’t know where this is going to end. We may be headed toward a zero trust environment.”<br class="">https://www.justsecurity.org/69677/deepfakes-2-0-the-new-era-of-truth-decay/</div></body></html>