Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
big techlatest news & developments
In solidarity: This group of protesters condemning violence against young people in Kenya, do so at a time when illegal and unconstitutional
detentions are common and crackdown legislation is consistently used to block peaceful gatherings in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Photo: Ezekiel Aminga

Elections and power in the digital age

These prosecutions mark a rising pattern: as elections approach across Africa, the distance between digital civic space and state power grows

Ikamva Digital, a digital skilling platform co-developed by Microsoft Elevate and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), was officially launched on Tuesday at Microsoft South Africa’s headquarters in Bryanston, Johannesburg. (Flickr)

Microsoft launches AI partnership to empower TVET educators and students

The initiative is supported by the department of higher education and training, underscoring the government’s commitment to digital transformation in education, alongside a…

Free media is battling to survive in the face of unprecedented repression, AI-driven disinformation and severe revenue declines intensified by the dominance of Big Tech. Photo: File

World’s top economists urge action to protect the media

As world leaders convene for the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly in New York, 11 of the world’s leading economists urge the recognition and upholding of the economic…

AI is not a side issue; it is an economic governance challenge that will determine who captures value, who holds power, and whose interests technology ultimately serves for decades to come. (Science Photo Library/ Sergi Laremenko)

AI Armageddon is coming. Why aren’t we panicking?

Artificial intelligence will replace most jobs and create few. The future is bleak – except for the rich

US President Donald Trump. Photo: Supplied

There is no genocide in South Africa – but there is billionaire disinformation

The scene in the Oval Office reflected the apartheid of the excessively wealthy, supported by Big Tech that peddles lies of white genocide, and the poor

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) wants the Competition Commission to impose an unassailable obligation on Google, Meta and X to give more prominence to trustworthy news content on their platforms.
 (Photo Illustration by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Reporters Without Borders wants big techs to give more prominence to trustworthy news content on platforms

The media freedom group said a provisional report by the Competition Commission in February ‘clearly recognises journalism’s value in the content circulating on online platforms’

On AI itself, Pope Leo calls for technological projects that protect what he describes as the grandeur of humanity. He warns against reducing people to measurable outputs, predictive profiles or behavioural categories.

The mirage of AI: South Africa’s reality check on the tech ‘utopia’

Automation, driven by artificial intelligence, threatens jobs for low-skilled and semi-skilled workers and these groups are also subjected to higher interest rates and…

The Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Traditional Council and Observatory Civic Association says that application for leave to appeal interim interdict is attempt to save face

Right of reply: A rejoinder to the Zenprop chief executive about Amazon’s HQ

Zenprop chief executive James Tannenberger, who stands to benefit financially from the River Club development, failed to address the substantive points of our original article

Meta’s algorithms have deprioritised news content, reducing organic reach and referral traffic for local publishers.
 (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The metaverse: colonial fantasies of the wild West

Whether it becomes reality or just another fad, the metaverse misadventure is another indictment of the capitalist system and American empire

Former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen testifies before a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on Capitol Hill, October 5, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP)

Facebook needs a facelift

Steven Hill thinks “digital operating permits” could be the key to reining in tech giants and protecting their users.

Supporters of data localisation cite developing countries’ structural dependency on foreign-owned digital infrastructure and an unfair share of the industry’s economic benefits. (Reuters)

‘Digital colonialism’: Why some countries want to take control of their people’s data

Can developing countries get rich from data?