Tag: Social networking

Britain, Europe, the New Cold War Finance & Technofeudalism. Talk at the Cambridge Union

Yanis Varoufakis On 7th February 2023, I returned to the Chamber to discuss a wide variety of issues, beginning with a Europe-at-war, post-Brexit Britain, the New Cold War that marks capitalism’s global transition to (what I call Technofeudalism), the state of the Left in Eastern Europe and more. Thanks Cambridge Union! https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/2023/03/24/britain-europe-the-new-cold-war-finance-technofeudalism-at-the-cambridge-union/

Dilip

‘Capitalism is dead. Now we have something much worse’: Yanis Varoufakis on extremism, Starmer, and the tyranny of big tech

We’re now in servitude to the fiefdoms of our new global masters, Lord Zuckerberg of Facelandia and Sir Musk of the rotten borough of X… Technofeudalism feels like an important new book. It’s a big-picture hypothesis rooted in a historical account of how capitalism came into being that describes what is happening in terms of an… Read More ‘Capitalism is dead. Now we have something much worse’: Yanis Varoufakis on extremism, Starmer, and the tyranny of big tech

Dilip

And then Elon Musk said there’ll be no more war – not via his satellite. Aren’t we lucky to have the world in his hands?

Please let’s put much, much more of our future security in the hands of people who treat war and the fallout from invasion like a broadband contract… it remains one of the more pathetic tragedies of our age that Musk is seen as a superhero analogue – but perhaps also an inevitable one, given that… Read More And then Elon Musk said there’ll be no more war – not via his satellite. Aren’t we lucky to have the world in his hands?

Dilip

Not so private room: Zoom’s AI privacy fiasco

If there’s been one topline tech story this week that feels synecdochal of the United States’ entire tech-politik zeitgeist, it’s got to be Zoom’s latest privacy fiasco. The video conference software-maker caught heat this week over a Terms of Service (ToS) change allowing it to harvest private user meeting data for artificial intelligence training. And, yes, once… Read More Not so private room: Zoom’s AI privacy fiasco

Dilip

The fall of Twitter is making the trolls and grifters desperate

By AMANDA MARCOTTE One can see the sheen of desperation in the world of self-identified conservatives who make a living by “triggering” the liberals. The usual dose of outrage bait isn’t working as well any longer, so the right-wingers are escalating the provocations. Tucker Carlson, for example, gave a glow-up interview with manosphere “influencer” Andrew Tate, who is… Read More The fall of Twitter is making the trolls and grifters desperate

Dilip

Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

Major UN report issues warning over excessive use, with one in six countries already banning the devices; Analysis: distraction and bullying are key concerns; ‘I would crank up the restrictions’: teachers on banning phones in school Smartphones should be banned from schools to tackle classroom disruption, improve learning and help protect children from cyberbullying, a… Read More Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

Dilip

Digital authoritarianism: How technology was seized by autocrats

*Originally published on November 12, 2020. This is Part 4 of the six-part 2020 Massey Lecture series Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society. Find the rest of the series here. The internet was supposed to be our salvation. While historically power has remained in the tight grasp of a select few, the initial vision of the internet… Read More Digital authoritarianism: How technology was seized by autocrats

Dilip