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2020-02-01
The Pew Charitable Trusts;
This report from the Pew Charitable Trusts highlights practices for state programs aimed at expanding broadband access to un- and underserved areas.Based on interviews with more than three hundred representatives of state broadband programs, Internet service providers, local governments, and broadband coalitions, the report identified five promising and mutually reinforcing practices: stakeholder outreach and engagement at both the state and local levels; a policy framework with well-defined goals that connects broadband to other policy priorities; planning and capacity building in support of broadband infrastructure projects; funding and operations through grant programs, with an emphasis on accountability and data collection; and program evaluation and evolution to ensure that lessons learned inform the next iteration of goals and activities. The study explores how nine states — California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin — have adapted and implemented different combinations of those practices to close gaps in broadband access.
2021-09-01
Pew Research Center;
Results from a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted April 12-18, 2021, reveal the extent to which people's use of the internet has changed, their views about how helpful technology has been for them and the struggles some have faced.
2020-07-21
OCLC Research;
To extend OCLC's work on both linked data and special collection and to respond to identified community needs, OCLC recruited 16 professionals from the Research Library Partnership to form an "Archives and Special Collections Linked Data Review Group." This group, supported by OCLC staff, explored key areas of concern in transitioning to a linked data environment. Members of the group presented on a variety of projects to help showcase promising areas for linked data for special collections, as well as to explore areas of friction. This OCLC Research publication is a summary of findings from those discussions. Among the issues discussed in this publication:Descriptive data models for special collections in linked data environmentsChallenges around multilingualityEthical issues, community engagementExpressing relationships and change over timeThe long tail of authorities and identifiers in special collectionsSustainability
2020-07-01
OCLC Research;
This report is the culmination of efforts from across the OCLC membership to answer the question raised at a Global Council (GC) meeting: "What is the status of open access and open content in libraries across the globe?" The underlying open content survey was conducted in 2018-2019 by the OCLC Global Council in partnership with staff from OCLC Research. The survey's broad definition of library open content activities and global scope offers a new perspective on open content activities within the library community as it uncovers and highlights the maturity and versatility of these activities.Open Content Activities in Libraries: Same Direction, Different Trajectories—Findings from the 2018 OCLC Global Council Survey synthesizes survey findings on current and future planned open content activities and areas of investment for a large cohort of research and university libraries. This subgroup of 511 respondents from 69 countries is highly involved in open content activities (97%), and the overwhelming majority are stepping up their activities and planning new ones. Overall, the figures suggest a future increase in involvement of 10-18% across all open content activities. Future growth areas that indicate likely new emerging services are the management of open research data and interactions with (digitized) open collections through statistical and machine learning techniques.
2020-06-16
Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania;
The Transatlantic High Level Working Group on Content Moderation Online and Freedom of Expression was formed to identify and encourage adoption of scalable solutions to reduce hate speech, violent extremism, and viral deception online, while protecting freedom of expression and a vibrant global internet. The TWG comprises 28 political leaders, lawyers, academics, representatives of civil society organizations and tech companies, journalists and think tanks from Europe and North America. We reviewed current legislative initiatives to extract best practices, and make concrete and actionable recommendations. The final report reflects views expressed during our discussions and charts a path forward. We did not seek unanimity on every conclusion or recommendation, recognizing that diverse perspectives could not always be reconciled.
2021-07-30
Center for Countering Digital Hate;
This report shows how social media companies fail to act on anti-Jewish hate on their platforms. As a result of their failure to enforce their own rules, social media platforms like Facebook have become safe places to spread racism and propaganda against Jews.Our research concludes that the platforms are failing to remove hateful and antisemitic content even after it is specifically reported and flagged. Our methodology sidesteps debates about algorithms and claims by the companies about automated hate removal that they refuse to have independently verified. Instead, we measured the effectiveness of the platforms' opposition to antisemitism by assessing what they do with user reports of anti-Jewish hatred.CCDH researchers, using the platforms' own reporting tools, reported hundreds of examples of clear, grotesque antisemitism to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok over a six-week period in 2021. We found that the platforms acted on fewer than 1 in 6 reported examples of antisemitism. The posts that we reported for this analysis received up to 7.3 million impressions. Facebook and Twitter showed the poorest rate of enforcement action.
2021-07-19
5Rights Foundation;
Bad actors and bad content online command our attention. While they should and must be addressed, there is another aspect of the online world that gets limited attention: design. The impact of digital design urgently requires greater public understanding and regulatory focus.Pathways: How digital design puts children at risk offers the opportunity for both. The Pathways report is the outcome of a research project undertaken by Revealing Reality on behalf of 5Rights Foundation. It examines how design choices embedded in digital products impact the lives of children. Through interviews with digital designers and children, and through innovative research using avatars, it lays bare how the commercial objectives of digital companies translate into design features that impact on children.
2021-06-24
New America;
This report presents the findings of a nationally representative, probability-based telephone survey of more than 1,000 parents of children ages three to 13, all with household incomes below the national median for families in the United States (i.e., $75,000). The survey was conducted in March and April of 2021: one year into the pandemic, and a crucial turning point. Parents could reflect on a full year of remote learning and pandemic parenting, and also look forward—thanks to the proliferation of vaccines—to their children's full and safe return to in-person schooling in the fall. But this survey goes beyond documenting families' challenges. We also uncover what parents feel they have learned through this pandemic year, from increased confidence in their ability to help their child with schoolwork to greater comfort communicating with teachers and developing a deeper understanding of their child's learning patterns. And we look ahead to the next school year, delving into what parents think schools' priorities should be for smoothing their children's transitions to, or back into, the classroom in the fall of 2021.
2021-01-25
International Forum for Democratic Studies;
Civil society organizations (CSOs) play a central role in addressing disinformation's growing impact on democracy. Given the vast scope of the global disinformation challenge, the landscape for CSOs working in this space has evolved rapidly in recent years. Established efforts to combat disinformation have incorporated the new challenges posed by social media into their agendas, while new initiatives have emerged to fill gaps in research, monitoring, and advocacy. The work of these organizations in the disinformation fight is critical for positively shaping policy making, improving platform responses, and enhancing citizen knowledge and engagement.Yet, CSOs face ongoing challenges in this complex and fast-changing field. How has civil society grown in its understanding and response to the digital disinformation challenge and what should be done to further empower this work?To acquire insights into these questions, this paper draws on two methods—a mapping exercise of civil society initiatives and a survey of leading CSOs working in this field. This approach reveals that CSOs bring a wide range of skill sets to the problem of digital disinformation. Some organizations focus on digital media literacy and education; others engage in advocacy and policy work. Another segment has developed expertise in fact-checking and verification. Other organizations have developed refined technical skills for extracting and analyzing data from social media platforms.This research yielded several clear observations about the state of CSO responses to disinformation and, in turn, suggests several recommendations for paths forward.
2021-05-28
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation;
Our world is becoming increasing Funesian in that we are perceiving and storing more and more information in the form of data. But, as with Funes, access to information is not the same as understanding. Are we also better at extracting meaning from all of this data? What does understanding rely on – is it only possible through sophisticated data-processing techniques or is something else required? This paper will briefly discuss three common pitfalls related to the challenge of extracting meaning from data.
2021-06-03
National Research University;
The goal of the study is to identify digital practices, key barriers and incentives for the digitalization of Russian NGOs. The objectives of the study are: form an inventory of digitalization practices amongst Russian NGOs and assess their prevalence; identify key barriers to digital adoption and integration in NGO operations, including in terms of staff digital competency and NGOs' resource capabilities; identify the existence and nature of the effects of digitalization practices on individual aspects of the organization; identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the digitalization of NGOs; compile an inventory of best digital practices for NGOs (including by organization size and activity area) anddevelop recommendations for digitalization of the non-profit sector.
2021-03-01
Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET);
The use of social media platforms and chat applications in Asia has grown exponentially in recent years. Throughout the 2010s, violent extremists (VEs) in different parts of the continent exploited this growing access to audiences, disseminating their divisive messages broadly, while targeting individuals in fringe online groups. Technology companies and governments eventually imposed relatively effective measures to moderate overtly terrorist content, remove accounts and limit reach. However, the dynamics of broader communication on platforms that reward contentious engagement is continuing to inflame domestic political polarisation and societal division.Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, and India are four Asian nations with unique but comparable experiences regarding the impact of online communications on social fault lines, extremism and violence. This report outlines and analyses these respective contexts.
