If we should

I had my final interview on my journey to French citizenship recently. As I think about what it means to "be French", one thing really resonates with me: how France so regularly stands out, in the global landscape, as a nation of principles. Last week, we saw this when French politicians evoked Marianne, their iconic personification of "Liberté", in defending the digital privacy rights of their citizens. Following heated debate, a 119-24 vote defeated a measure which proposed forcing messaging platforms to provide unencrypted user data to law enforcement. As Joe Mullin reports , "The French lawmakers who voted this provision down deserve credit. They listened—not only to French digital rights organizations and technologists, but also to basic principles of cybersecurity and civil liberties." This decision shows, "you don’t have to sacrifice fundamental rights in the name of public safety." This is a timely reminder for Australian legislators, wh...

Spinach is full of iron.  We only use 10% of our brain power.  Man never landed on the moon.  Vaccines cause autism.  They’re eating the cats. You have an influencer friend, Fred.  He tells you that he has discovered that he can reach more people and make more money if he just stops checking whether things are true before he shares them with his audience.  What would you think of Fred? Is it morally wrong if he doesn’t create the misinformation himself, but just passes it along to those who have chosen to listen to him?  Haven’t we all been guilty of repeating common misconceptions at some point?  Can we hold one person morally accountable for repeating reports of pet consumption in Springfield, but give another a pass for inflicting spinach on their children at every meal? As Gina Rushton reports , Meta has now taken a position on this ethical dilemma.  Where in 2021 it celebrated “industry leading” fact-checking, it recently announced the ...