Anmol Alphonso

‘We’re fighting for the soul of the country’: how Minnesota residents came together to face ICE Networks created after police killed George Floyd were reactivated to challenge Trump’s mass deportation policy Cory never expected he’d spend hours each day driving around after immigration agents, videotaping their moves. The south Minneapolis resident is “not the type of person to do this”, he said. The dangers of what he’s doing, even after the killings of two observers, largely stay out of his mind when he’s watching Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents – even when he’s gotten hit with pepper spray. In quieter moments, it occurs to him that agents likely know where he lives. Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old whom agents killed while he was filming them, “100% could have been me”, Cory said. Continue reading...

‘We’re fighting for the soul of the country’: how Minnesota residents came together to face ICE

Historic! New York City elects Zohran Mandani (34), its first Indian-origin Muslim mayor. Born in Uganda, he is the son of Bollywood filmmaker Mira Nair and academic Mahmood Mamdani, a Gujarati Muslim. #NewYork #ZohranMamdani #Diversity

The #CASResearchGroup around Sahana Udupa @sahanaudupa.bsky.social @lmumuenchen.bsky.social has come to an end, but the project will continue.

www.cas.lmu.de/de/programme...

Policy Directions on Encrypted Messaging and Extreme Speech | TechPolicy.Press Encryption, disinformation, and democracy: rethinking policy for messaging apps with rights-based safeguards.

A summary of the policy report can be found on the TechPolicy.Press website: www.techpolicy.press/policy-direc...

Encrypted Messaging & Extreme Speech: How can we tackle harmful content without compromising privacy? The policy report, produced by Sahana Udupa's #CASResearchGroup, is now available!
📄 Read here 👉https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/127250/1/Encrypted_Messaging_and_Extreme_Speech_Policy_Report.pdf

How journalists can hold algorithms accountable in India – and beyond Journalist Karen Rebelo from India unpacks tech accountability in India.

This @reutersinstitute.bsky.social piece about how new algorithm-driven tools are degrading the welfare system in India – as well as the original reporting it rounds up – should be required reading for anyone covering government, policy or tech.

reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/how-journali...

Policy Directions on Encrypted Messaging and Extreme Speech | TechPolicy.Press Encryption, disinformation, and democracy: rethinking policy for messaging apps with rights-based safeguards.

"Extreme speech thrives in encrypted spaces, but killing encryption won’t stop it, says a group of researchers that have studied the problem from multiple angles. We need context-driven governance, not backdoors, they say. www.techpolicy.press/policy-direc... @techpolicypress.bsky.social

The full report can be read here: epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/127250/

Policy Directions on Encrypted Messaging and Extreme Speech | TechPolicy.Press Encryption, disinformation, and democracy: rethinking policy for messaging apps with rights-based safeguards.

At the start of the year, I joined an incredible team at @caslmu.bsky.social for a policy report led by @sahanaudupa.bsky.social on encrypted messaging and ways to counter disinfo & extreme speech

The condensed version is out at @techpolicypress.bsky.social

This last acad year, I spent time in Munich at @caslmu.bsky.social, working with a fab group of folks led by @sahanaudupa.bsky.social on a policy report on encrypted messaging apps and extreme speech.

Report is out & below is a summary of findings & recommendations in @techpolicypress.bsky.social 🔽

German Hospital Denies Link To Fake ‘Dr. N John Camm’ Arrested By MP Police | BOOM Germany’s Klinikum Nürnberg Hospital confirmed to BOOM that Narendra Yadav, who posed as ‘Dr. N John Camm’ in India, has never been employed or associated with the hospital.

www.boomlive.in/news/fake-do...

BOOM debunks yet another false claim by #NarendraYadav, aka 'Dr N John Camm'.

Germany’s Klinikum Nürnberg hospital confirms to @boomlive.in that the fake doctor was never associated with them.

#MadhyaPradesh #BOOMReports

During an inspiring three day workshop organized by @sahanaudupa.bsky.social, a group of expert researchers, practitioners and policy makers presented and discussed the results of their research about extreme speech on encrypted messaging platforms. 1/4

Israeli military admits initial account of Palestinian medics’ killing was ‘mistaken’ Phone video appears to contradict IDF claims vehicles were not using emergency lights when troops opened fire The Israeli military has backtracked on its account of the killing of 15 Palestinian medics by its forces last month after phone video appeared to contradict its claims that their vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire on them in the Gaza Strip. The military said initially it opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” on nearby troops without headlights or emergency signals. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations late on Saturday, said that account was “mistaken”. The almost seven-minute video, which the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Saturday was recovered from the phone of Rifat Radwan, one of the men killed, appears to have been filmed from inside a moving vehicle. It shows a red fire engine and clearly marked ambulances driving at night, using headlights and flashing emergency lights. Continue reading...

Israeli military admits initial account of Palestinian medics’ killing was ‘mistaken’

People packed the streets across the U.S. on Saturday to protest against President Trump, his administration's cutbacks, financial turmoil and more. nyti.ms/43GRvS7

However, a larger trend it definitely points to is how we might love the 'idea' of art, but do we value it's artistic expression? Not so sure about that.

The whole Ghibli AI art controversy has thrown up several questions to ponder about. One of them definitely being Chat Gpt accused of stealing an artist's work to train its model to churn out imitated cheap AI rendered versions it.

Inviting a stellar group of speakers to the Munich symposium @caslmu.bsky.social Naomi Miyashita, UN Peacekeeping, Courtney Cooper, WhatsApp Global Director Public Policy, Katharina Goede @hateaid.org Launching "WhatsApp in the World" (New York University Press) & UN commissioned policy report

Vatican shares first image of Pope Francis since hospitalization The photo is said to have been taken Sunday when Francis was co-celebrating Mass in the chapel of his hospital suite where he has been battling a health crisis.

In the photo, Pope Francis appears slightly slumped in his wheelchair, adorned in white robes and a purple stole before an altar. The shot is not head on — perhaps because it remains frowned upon in the Holy See to capture clear images of an ailing pope.

Will be out soon! UN commissioned policy report on encrypted messaging and extreme speech with this fantastic research group @martinriedl.bsky.social @hwasser.bsky.social @erkan.bsky.social @anmolalphonso.bsky.social @cayleyclifford.bsky.social @caslmu.bsky.social

Fact Check: NO Evidence Coca Cola Called ICE On Their Own Workers in Texas -- Company Denies Rumor Is there evidence the Coca Cola Company called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on their own workers in Texas and did several of them get deported as a result? No, that's not true: Online posts and videos making this...

Fact Check: NO Evidence Coca Cola Called ICE On Their Own Workers in Texas -- Company Denies Rumor

Extreme speech in messaging apps and its encryption and enticement is the focus of the #CASResearchGroup led by communication scientist Sahana Udupa
@sahanaudupa.bsky.social (LMU).
Members of the #CASResearchGroup are:

We warmly welcome the #CASFellow/s and members of Sahana Udupa's @sahanaudupa.bsky.social #CASResearchGroup [...]

‘It’s Total Chaos Internally at Meta Right Now’: Employees Protest Zuckerberg’s Anti LGBTQ Changes Meta's decision to specifically allow users to call LGBTQ+ people "mentally ill" has sparked widespread backlash at the company.

in trying to kiss trump's ass, zuck has pissed so many employees off that they're considering mass resignation www.404media.co/its-total-ch...

Meta is killing off its own AI-powered Instagram and Facebook profiles Instagram profile of ‘proud Black queer momma’, created by Meta, said her development team included no Black people Meta is deleting Facebook and Instagram profiles of AI characters the company created over a year ago after users rediscovered some of the…

Meta is killing off its own AI-powered Instagram and Facebook profiles

2024 Rewind: Misinfo During LS Polls, Bangladesh Turmoil, and AI Hoaxes | BOOM BOOM recounts the top events of 2024 that triggered a flurry of misinformation.

2024 Rewind: @boomlive.in debunked several pieces of #misinformation surrounding the 2024 election in #India, the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in #Bangladesh, and the #US presidential election.
www.boomlive.in/yearender/20...

Its a privilege and excited to be a part of this amazing group! #ExtremeSpeech #Disinformation #Munich

Poster for the research group at the University of Munich’s Center for Advanced Studies on the topic of Encrypted Messaging and Extreme Speech. The poster shows headshots and names of participants and associated universities.

Excited to join @sahanaudupa.bsky.social's group on encrypted messaging & extreme speech @ @caslmu.bsky.social w/ @anmolalphonso.bsky.social, Caley Clifford / @africa-check.bsky.social, Elonnai Hickok / @thegni.bsky.social, @erkan.bsky.social, Sérgio Barbosa, Kiran Garimella, & @hwasser.bsky.social

Lee Jae-myung, Leader of South Korea's Democratic Party, live-streamed himself scaling the walls of the National Assembly to bypass military barricades so that he could vote to overturn the President's martial law.