The Online Safety Act is kicking in and the reality of having an internet governed by Ofcom is starting to materialise; no matter what the Act’s advocates say, this reality isn’t pretty. Regulations like the Online Safety Act make Britain a bad place to do business and to be online, with two recent stories illustrating […]
I have never been on Bluesky, but I already hate it. The fast growth of this new social media platform seems to be primarily driven by the most annoying and irritating characters on X. But that is also precisely the reason why I believe that Bluesky is more than a passing fad: it has the […]
The UK has Schrödinger’s science and technology sector. On the one hand, we are a ‘science and technology superpower’. The strength of our R&D base is our national differentiator. Ministers celebrate the depth of the UK’s private markets. At the same time, universities demand more money to help commercialise innovation. Investors call on the government […]
A confession: I am not a football fan. I have never even been to a game. This does not mean that I am ignorant of the size of football’s fanbase, or the financial scale of the game. On the contrary. Association football is an English creation, emerging from English public schools, and the Football Association, […]
For many years, social media companies and search engines dominated the ‘Big Tech’ bias debates. According to conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic, social media companies such as Meta and YouTube and search engines such as Google curated their content in such a way as to discriminate against right-wing views. Allegations of anti-conservative bias […]
Economic growth has proven to be stubbornly elusive in the UK since the 2007/08 financial crisis. The average UK year-on-year GDP growth from 1980 to 2006 was about 2.5%. From 2007 to 2023, UK year-on-year GDP growth averaged less than half that, at under 1.2%. Our productivity gains have likewise been woeful. From 1980 to […]
Should making fun of politicians be illegal? According to some legislators, it should be. Elon Musk recently shared a video featuring the voice of presumptive US Democratic presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris. In the video, Harris can be heard claiming (among other things) that she was a ‘diversity hire’ pick for the […]
Unlocking investment and driving economic growth are two of the key missions of Keir Starmer’s new government. Yet for artificial intelligence – one of the UK’s highest growth industries – investments risk being held back by a lack of alignment between the Government and the competition regulator. While the UK has sought to position itself […]
We are in the midst of the UK’s first deepfake general election. Although only a few weeks old, you may have already seen a number of deepfakes (realistic video and audio content generated via deep learning AI techniques) portraying candidates in a less than favourable or humorous light. While deepfakes no doubt have valuable artistic and satirical applications, their […]
The UK once led the world in a civilisation-changing Industrial Revolution. Today, the country is in the midst of relative economic stagnation characterised by poor economic growth, stunted GDP per capita growth, and a slowdown in worker productivity. Despite this economic backdrop, the Government has been keen to portray the UK as home to a […]
A genie offers you three wishes. What do you do? World peace, end poverty, end climate change, infinite wealth, true love, fix the housing crisis. The possible answers and urgent problems are endless. The changes that policymakers will need to make to keep up with the opportunities and challenges of tech is as long as […]
Not content with passing one of the most restrictive pieces of internet legislation in the Western world, the Government is now rumoured to be considering a ban on under-16s buying mobile phones. The proposal comes amid renewed debate surrounding the effects of social media and smartphone use on teenagers. On one side are those who […]
Another week, another political embarrassment. This episode of humiliation involved what those in the know call a ‘honeytrap’, where a number of MPs, parliamentary staffers and journalists received messages from a shadowy individual (or potentially individuals) attempting to get them to send explicit images of themselves. The images would then presumably be used as blackmail […]
Earlier this week, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that, if passed into law, would effectively ban TikTok in the United States. Concern about the popular social media platform’s links to the Chinese government, the potential for it to be used to spread disinformation and propaganda and its potential as a surveillance tool […]
In the era of artificial intelligence and accessible photo editing, you can’t believe everything you see online. One exception, of course, is (usually) if it’s published by a reputable news source. The foundation of photojournalism lies in its ability to present reality in an authentic and unaltered manner. Digital manipulation poses a significant threat to […]
‘Nature abhors a vacuum’ may be an entry level scientific theory, but it is one that communications professionals should bear in mind at all times. And it is one the Royals have proved to be indisputably true over recent weeks. From the Princess of Wales’s surgery to the King’s cancer to the tragic death of […]
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