Gary R. Bunt

The Digital Turn in Religious Studies. Research, Services, Infrastructures ITSERR (Italian Strengthening of the ESFRI RI RESILIENCE) is a research project launched in 2022 with the goal of enhancing RESILIENCE, the European research infrastructure for the study of religions....

New and noted:

Curious to read this one (it's available as an e-Book). The methodological aspects look particularly interesting, although beyond much of my immediate area. Always good to see digitally oriented research ...

Turkey detains 16 people in OnlyFans probe as authorities seize $6.9million OnlyFans has been blocked in Turkey since June 7, 2023

"Prosecutors said suspects generated income by sharing explicit content on social media and directing users to paid platforms, including OnlyFans and private messaging channels such as Telegram." #Turkey

UAE public schools to adopt online learning on Fridays during Ramadan | The National Remote study will be implemented for the second year as part of a national drive to promote family values

#Ramadan #UAE online learning

Men jailed over plot to attack Jewish community in Manchester They were planning what police say could have been

Online dimensions in this case:

"Walid Saadaoui came to the attention of the authorities when he used 10 Facebook accounts, none of which were in his own name, to spread a torrent of Islamic extremist views."

Palestine Action wins High Court challenge against government ban It remains in place for now to allow further legal argument and the government to consider an appeal.

Oh...

Indonesia turns to digital finance to reach unbanked population With millions still lacking access to banking services, Indonesia is drawing on regional lessons and forging international partnerships.

#Indonesia e-finance

"With millions still lacking access to banking services, Indonesia is drawing on regional lessons and forging international partnerships"

UAE shuts down hundreds of social media accounts over domestic worker offences | The National Accounts did not have necessary licences

UAE social media ‘clean up‘

Saudi Arabia reshapes Vision 2030 around new priorities Riyadh has announced an overhaul of its economic and societal reform agenda. It's now focused on technology and religious tourism, not urban construction and giga projects. Where do human rights stand...

#KSA Vision 2030 reframed

Rejecting Muslim hostility definition sends message ‘your safety doesn’t matter’, peer says Shaista Gohir says every group has right to be protected after critics warn proposed definition risks breaking law

"Failing to adopt a definition of anti-Muslim hostility would signal to British Muslims that their safety does not matter, a charity’s head has warned, as critics argue that adopting a definition risks breaking the law." opinion/analysis

Russia is restricting access to Telegram, one of its most popular social media apps. Here’s what we know | CNN Russian authorities have begun restricting access to Telegram, one of the country’s most popular social media apps, as the government continues to push everyday Russians toward its own tightly control...

"Russian authorities have begun restricting access to Telegram, one of the country’s most popular social media apps, as the government continues to push everyday Russians toward its own tightly controlled alternatives to foreign tech platforms." www.cnn.com/2026/02/10/e...

Ratcliffe is where populism leads. To multimillionaires spouting ignorant racist horseshit that divides us but unites the far right in their cynical bid to exploit prejudice for power. Ratcliffe will just shrug from his tax haven home. He doesn’t care. Farage laps it up. Everyone else loses.

A must read article (as are his books) from @russincheshire.bsky.social

#Bangladesh thread from @reuters.com on a significant issue, buried in other headlines today

A year on from DeepSeek shock, get set for flurry of low-cost Chinese AI models One year after Chinese startup DeepSeek rattled the global tech industry with the release of a low-cost artificial intelligence model, its domestic rivals are better prepared, vying with it to launch new models, some designed with more consumer appeal.

A year on from DeepSeek shock, get set for flurry of low-cost Chinese AI models reut.rs/3O7JM9X

long rows of shoes on a building wall

Vahit Tuna.

440 pairs of black high-heeled shoes mounted on the facade of a building in Istanbul, Turkey.
The number of shoes represents the 440 women murdered by their partners in Turkey in 2018.

mymodernmet.com/vahit-tuna-f...

The royals have seen what they're up against with Epstein scandal - despite hopes William's Saudi trip would shift attention The demand to hear from the royals has been enormous. But the calls for them to tell us more risk overshadowing how huge it was to get those statements earlier in the week from both William and Kate a...

#KSA #Epstein good @skynewsrss.bsky.social piece from Rhiannon Mills on William’s Saudi visit.

Not my field(!) but interesting findings

Tech bosses ‘not even close’ to doing enough on extremist content, UK counter-terror chief warns LBC | LBC Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism police officer has accused tech companies of failing to do enough to stop extremist material spreading online, warning that algorithms can rapidly push vulnerab...

Tech bosses ‘not even close’ to doing enough on extremist content, UK counter-terror chief warns LBC - reports @thecrimeagents.bsky.social

With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet Ring's 'Search Party' is dystopian surveillance accelerationism.

NEW: Ring has introduced "Search Party", a horrifyingly dystopian feature nominally designed to turn all of the Ring cameras in a neighborhood into a dragnet that uses AI to look for, in their commercial, a cute lost dog.

With Ring, US consumers are actually building a surveillance dragnet.

Meanwhile, at Stanford …

Is this the torture video? 2009 "The American citizen is a former business partner of Sheikh Issa, and claims he, too, was tortured in the UAE after the pair fell out. Nabulsi said the first tape was shot by his brother on the orders of Sheikh Issa, who liked to view them later for his own pleasure"

Universities told to report foreign interference on campus to MI5 Ministers say UK universities have become a

Universities told to report foreign interference on campus to MI5 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Starting to think these weren’t really applied with the consideration required by law

Trump shares racist video depicting the Obamas as monkeys The White House defended Trump's post, saying it was "from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle."

FFS:

"The White House defended Trump's post, saying it was "from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle.""

Very happy to be distracted by this appropriate (in many contexts!) monologue from the brilliant Sir Ian McKellen:

Malaysia imposes ban on e-waste imports Malaysia has imposed a ban on imports of electronic waste, as it looks to tighten controls on the entry of hazardous materials and safeguard the environment, the head of the country's anti-graft body ...

"Environmental group Basel Action Network in a report last year estimated that the United States alone exported about 32,947 metric tons of e-waste per month with Malaysia being the primary recipient."

This bizarre job site lets AI agents hire humans and pay them for tasks A crypto developer has launched RentAHuman, a job site where AI agents can rent humans to perform real-world work to complete tasks that AI cannot handle.

An interesting prospect ...

Why the ‘Godfather of AI’s’ warnings about AI are getting serious attention now Geoffrey Hinton’s work on artificial neural networks made him a respected figure in the deep learning community — his warnings about AI should be taken seriously

"Geoffrey Hinton’s work on artificial neural networks made him a respected figure in the deep learning community — his warnings about AI should be taken seriously."

Egypt blocks Roblox over child safety concerns Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation announced the ban soon after several senators called for tighter controls on the platform

"Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulation announced the ban soon after several senators called for tighter controls on the platform, arguing that it contained inappropriate, violent and otherwise unsuitable content for children." #Egypt