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Faith: Chairperson of the Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Commission, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva. Photo: Supplied

The church must grow up 

Christians being treated as cows to be milked is not an insult. It is an observation. The monetisation of fear, blessing, prophecy, oil, water, soil and access has turned pulpits…

SAPS already recognises the digital terrain but recognition must evolve into localised practice. Photo Delwyn Verasamy

Crime is increasingly detected online but policing remains offline

Being digitally present is a form of accountability: it signals that the station is not hiding behind central bureaucracy when communities are scared. It also enhances…

Corporate-controlled social media platforms, designed to keep us hooked, are fuelling a silent mental health epidemic.

Why we must abandon corporate social media for community-rooted tools

We can build a digital landscape that prioritises people over profit, collaboration over control and justice over exploitation

Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Online news participation dwindles

A report says fewer people are commenting and posting about news articles — and those who do are likely to be men, higher educated and politically partisan

Meta-owned messaging service WhatsApp is introducing a new feature that gives group admins more control of the participation and content that is being shared on groups. Photo Illustration by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

New WhatsApp feature introduced that puts the onus of risky content on group admins

The popular messenger mobile app introduced additional changes that give group admins more control, but also exposes them to more liability

Competition Commission wants Facebook, WhatsApp prosecuted for market abuse

The commission has asked the Competition Tribunal to impose a maximum penalty against Meta Platforms

3 December 2021: A sign points toward the eKhenana settlement in Durban. Picture: Rogan Ward

Going back to the future of KwaZulu-Natal politics

The past is helpful in understanding the predatory and violent nature of political factionalism in the province. But it doesn’t answer the question of how to fix it.

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

The solution isn’t always about developing cutting-edge technology. Sometimes it’s about using existing technology in clever ways

Fintech’s unique applications in emerging markets

The solution isn’t always about developing cutting-edge technology. Sometimes it’s about using existing technology in clever ways

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO – JULY 08: CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Facebook face plants

This outage comes at a precarious time for Facebook, which is still navigating the fallout of whistleblower Frances Haugen accusing the company of prioritising profits over…

WhatsApp assures users that no one can see their messages — but the company has an extensive monitoring operation and regularly shares personal information with prosecutors. (Nicolas Ortega for ProPublica)
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How Facebook undermines privacy protections for its 2bn WhatsApp users

WhatsApp assures users that no one can see their messages — but the company has an extensive monitoring operation and regularly shares personal information with prosecutors

The bad news headlines may be true but the good news is often overlooked

Pandemic accelerates decline of printed news, but trust in media grows — report

Covid-19 has forced newsrooms to find new business models, but the public has turned to the news more in the last year

After two decades reporting from front lines I’ve learned that truth in conflict is rarely clean. Photo: Said Khatib/AFP

Israel’s war on the truth

The government’s spokesperson has posted tweets and videos that have nothing to do with the current conflict with Palestinians

Uganda police disperse crowds in Kayunga town as they gather to welcome Ugandan musician-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, on December 1, 2020. (Sumy Sadurni/AFP)

Uganda comms regulator orders social media shutdown ahead of vote

The vote will come after one of the bloodiest campaigns in years, as veteran leader Yoweri Museveni seeks a sixth term against popstar-turned-MP Bobi Wine

Around the word, adult-literacy programmes were absent in initial pandemic response plans. Most were suspended, with just a few courses continuing virtually as best they could. Fortunately, many of these programmes are now rallying.

It’s time to reimagine adult literacy in a post-Covid-19 world

As we celebrate International Literacy Day, it’s important that adult learners aren’t left left behind. The lockdown has curtailed face-to-face lessons, but companies in the…

(Graphic: John McCann/M&G)

Homecoming: Quarantine chronicles

Fourteen days of quarantine in a Centurion hotel may be tedious, but for Kate Bartlett, there are plenty of laughs with new friends

Disadvantaged: Students who live in rural areas with inadequate or no network coverage will struggle to keep up. (Graphic: John McCann/M&G)

Students ‘dreams are crumbling’

Those at historically disadvantaged universities feel abandoned while their peers at richer institutions continue with their studies

The most effective way to mitigate the negative effect of fake news without neutering WhatsApp’s capacity to strengthen democracy is through digital-literacy campaigns. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images)

Is WhatsApp shaping democracy in Africa?

A study shows that the social messaging platform is both emancipatory and destructive, particularly during election campaigns

(John McCann/M&G)

Eusebius McKaiser: A way to find meaning in a strange world

How we live has changed – we cannot avoid the threat of death brought by the coronavirus

(Graphic: John McCann/M&G)

Work and school from home is a complete F**kApp!

The problem with high-tech is that there is just way too much to choose from