- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Re: [Air-L] ARPANET resurrection update and possible significances?
by Charles Melvin Ess 06 May '26

06 May '26

Hi Ulf, And many thanks in turn for the pointer to the CHM. I can only imagine how valuable and enjoyable those live demos must have been for you and your students - lucky you! Even better - especially for those of us not within reasonable travel distance to Mountain View, CA - as Jacob Johanssen helpfully pointed out, it has been possible for some time to interact with a version of ELIZA at <https://sites.google.com/view/elizaarchaeology/home>. In retrospect, moreover, I see that I may not have been as clear as to why I called attention to the possibility of running a version of ELIZA on the reconstructed ARPANET. I meant to highlight ELIZA as a test scenario for getting acquainted with the reconstructed ARPANET project was that interacting with the program gives a new user some experience with the, um, leisurely pace of the communication across the network, along with the (quickly irritating) sounds of the teletype at work, etc. I haven't spent enough time there to see how far / easy it might be to strike up a conversation with someone else online to go still further: so I thought this might be as good a place as any to start with. Clearly: this is the golden opportunity to start up the Association of ARPANET Researchers... ;-) In the meantime: I'm further grateful for these pointers as they prompted me to check further into a particular curiosity I've had for quite some time regarding the ELIZA / DOCTOR programs themselves. As a start, I'm not sure which version of the program is on offer at the elizaarcheology site. Not that it matters much to most of us - but as the terrific paper by Lane et al (including our colleague David M. Berry) explains, Weizenbaum's original 1963 version was written in MAD-LISP - whereas the version that became "the lingua franca of AI" was a clone written in 1966 by Bernie Cosell in LISP (Lane et al, 2025: <10.1109/MAHC.2025.3564095>) The latter version has also been available for some time for those of us lucky enough to have a PiDP-10 sitting on our desk - a Raspberry-Pi driven emulator / replica of the DEC PDP-10 that was used at MIT, among other places, in those days. This also appears to be the version available to the rest of us now via the ARPANET reconstruction project I mentioned: <https://obsolescence.dev/arpanet_home#> when following their first 2026 scenario: SCENARIO 1: MIT-AI DOCTOR === HOST #134 Engaging the latter opens up the same ITS operating system at work in the PiDP-10 instantiation of ELIZA; both invoke LISP alone, etc. So I wonder if the version on elizaarcheology is the Cosell version rather than the more recently discovered (2025) and only very recently reconstructed (2026) Weizenbaum version in MAD-LISP? Perhaps Jacob Johanssen and/or David Berry will know off the tops of their very capacious heads? In any case, kudos to David Berry and his colleagues who further made the Weizenbaum MAD-LISP version available to anyone working in a UNIX-like environment: <https://github.com/rupertl/eliza-ctss?tab=readme-ov-file#readme> (Lane et al, 2025, p. 76) David was also interviewed on the reconstruction of this earliest version here: <https://www.livescience.com/technology/eliza-the-worlds-1st-chatbot-was-jus…> Again, many thanks all around - and happy hacking! - c. On 26/04/2026 15:33, Ulf-Dietrich Reips wrote: > Hello Charles, all: > thank you for the pointer to the wonderful ARPANET recreation project. > > The computer history musuem (https://computerhistory.org) used to have a > live demo of the original ELIZA, which for us in psychology and > psychotherapy research became very important in both showing how > simulation could inform us about effective ingredients of psychotherapy > and how computers could contribute to mental health. I visited the > museum first in Boston at its original location and some years ago also > in Mountain View. > > The museum provides both very insightful explanations AND the hands-on > experience needed to at least partly make young people understand what > it was like to experience software on pre-Internet computers and the > beginning Internet. The exhibition was very nicely done, I highly > recommend a visit. > > Best wishes from Europe, > ulf > > At 11:12 Uhr +0200 26.04.2026, Charles Melvin Ess via Air-L wrote: >> Hi AoIRists, >> >> As I mentioned in an earlier note to Morten Bay, there is an active >> project to recreate the ARPANET from ca. 1972. You can see the update >> here: >> >> <https://obsolescence.dev/arpanet_home> >> >> Including the chance to log in yourself to one of the now 35 working >> nodes. >> >> One of the documents referenced here is titled >> >> SCENARIOS for using the ARPANET at the INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON >> COMPUTER COMMUNICATION, Washington, D.C., October 24-26, 1972 >> >> and is in fact reproduced in the pages giving further instructions on >> logging in - along with 2026 scenarios that might also be fun to play >> with. >> >> One of the available programs from the MIT.AI node is: >> == >> DOCTOR is a LISP program written by Joseph Weizenbaum and described in >> "ELIZA - A Computer Program For the Study of Natural Language >> Communication Between Man And Machine" in the Communications of the >> ACM, January 1966. >> DOCTOR simulates a psychiatric interview with a Rogerian psychotherapist. >> == >> (I'll come back to this below.) >> >> I know that ARPANET is central to the work of e.g.,Janet Abbate's >> early history, _Inventing the Internet_ (1999). >> But what I'm asking here, especially of historians who know these >> domains far better than I: >> 1) how far did these early exchanges, so far as they could be followed >> and/or documented - and/or, as at least some study of primary aims, >> practices, affordances, etc. might have been possible - enter into >> early research on CMC? >> 2) Might this reconstruction project, insofar as it grants access to >> "the rest of us," be of possible use / interest for historical / >> current research on CMC and its descendants? >> E.g., I know a great deal has been written about ELIZA - but, to my >> knowledge at least, not with direct access to the working program >> itself. I suspect the working program would give researchers a chance >> to not only become much more familiar with how the program works and >> "behaves," but also to try out hypotheses as to how different sorts of >> engagements, expectations, etc. might be dis/confirmed through >> actually using it? >> >> In any case, to quote the welcome message from the first terminal I >> tried: Happy Hacking! >> >> - charles >> _______________________________________________ >> The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list >> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org >> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/ >> listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org >> >> Join the Association of Internet Researchers: >> http://www.aoir.org/ > >

3 5

CFP | "The Betting Epidemic: Gambling, Financialization, and Digital Platforms" | Revista Alceu, Brazil
by Daniel Marques 06 May '26

06 May '26

Revista Alceu (PUC-Rio, Brazil), a peer-reviewed, open-access journal (Qualis A3 / CAPES), invites submissions for a thematic dossier: The Betting Epidemic: Gambling, Financialization, and Digital Platforms Guest Editors: Thiago Falcão (Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil) and Daniel Marques (Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil) Submission deadline: June 30, 2026 Expected publication: December 2026 Over the past decades, gambling has taken on new sociotechnical contours. Sports betting, online casinos, and digital gambling platforms have reorganized its ludic dimension, shifting it from an episodic practice to continuous forms of engagement, risk exposure, calculation, and the promise of return. Under the guise of entertainment, these platforms articulate affective capture, persuasive design, datafication, and metrics-driven business models, converting attention, expectation, and leisure time into economic value. This process is not confined to the financial sphere. The popularization of digital betting produces significant cultural, subjective, and political effects, especially when associated with narratives of individual entrepreneurship, social mobility, and personal responsibility. By presenting betting as an accessible and meritocratic opportunity, these platforms may intensify regimes of instability, indebtedness, and precarity, particularly among vulnerable populations. The dossier seeks to investigate digital betting platforms as a structural and multidisciplinary phenomenon in which design plays a transversal role. Understood as a form of technopolitical mediation, design participates in the organization of conduct, the construction of decision-making environments, the modulation of affective states, and the naturalization of risk, in articulation with algorithmic infrastructures, regulatory regimes, advertising strategies, and media imaginaries. We welcome contributions addressing, among other topics, the following central axes: 1. Political economy of betting and the financialization of everyday life: 1. gambling, betting, and the financialization of everyday life and leisure; 2. business models and the political economy of betting platforms; 3. relations between digital betting platforms and financial markets; 4. parallels between betting, gamblification, and platformized work; 2. Digital infrastructures, data, and algorithmic opacity: 1. datafication, collection, modeling, and monetization of behavioral data; 2. algorithmic opacity and informational asymmetries; 3. digital platforms and their technical infrastructures; 3. Platform design, attention, and regimes of engagement: 1. persuasive design, dark patterns, and choice architectures; 2. affective capture, the attention economy, and regimes of engagement; 4. Culture, media, and betting imaginaries: 1. advertising, influencers, and the spectacularization of betting; 2. sports, esports, and the normalization of betting; 3. masculinities, ideologies, and betting imaginaries; 4. childhood and betting imaginaries; 5. Social inequalities and sociopolitical impacts: 1. class, race, and gender, and the cultural and political effects of betting; 2. addiction, indebtedness, and psychosocial impacts; 6. Regulation, ethics, and public policy: 1. platforms, regulation, ethics, and public policy; 2. national and international regulatory frameworks; 3. limits and contradictions of “responsible gambling” policies; 7. Resistance, frictions, and alternatives: 1. critical alternatives, frictions, and counter-design. Articles may be submitted in Portuguese, English, or Spanish. No submission or publication fees are required from authors. Full CFP and submission guidelines: https://revistaalceu.com.puc-rio.br/alceu/announcement Contact: Thiago Falcao: thiago.falcao(a)academico.ufpb.br | Daniel Marques: danielmarquescontato(a)gmail.com *Daniel Marques* Departamento de Mídias Digitais - DEMID/UFPB Programa de Pós-Graduação em Culturas, Linguagens e Tecnologias - PPGCULT/UFRB Doutor em Comunicação e Cultura Contemporâneas - Póscom/UFBA Fulbright Alumni - C21/University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee *Google Scholar <https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=l9tQQuwAAAAJ&view_op=list_w…> | Lattes <http://lattes.cnpq.br/9571839733024528>*

1 0

Job announcement: Three Lecturers in Digital Media and Culture at the University of Manchester
by Lukasz Szulc 06 May '26

06 May '26

Dear colleagues, The University of Manchester invites applications from suitably qualified candidates for three full-time Lectureships (Teaching and Scholarship) in Digital Media and Culture. These posts are fixed-term for two years, commencing 1 August 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter. The successful candidates will contribute to the delivery, development and administration of the BA (https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/2026/21197/ba-digi…) and MA (https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/20641/ma-digital-me…) programmes in Digital Media, Culture and Society, and will join the core team of The Centre for Digital Humanities, Cultures and Media, https://www.digital-humanities.manchester.ac.uk/about/people/ Colleagues on Teaching and Scholarship contracts are typically allocated 80% of their time for teaching and administrative duties, and 20% for scholarship, which is currently defined as discipline-based educational or pedagogic research, and the development, application and synthesis of disciplinary knowledge to inform teaching (e.g. research-informed teaching). Further details, including the full job description and person specification, are available here: https://www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetail?JobId=34755 Informal enquiries may be directed to Dr Łukasz Szulc, Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Culture, at lukasz.szulc(a)manchester.ac.uk Best regards, Łukasz Dr Łukasz Szulc<https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/%C5%82ukasz-szulc> (he/him) Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Culture School of Arts, Languages and Cultures University of Manchester UNITED KINGDOM RECENT PUBLICATIONS (2025) Sad dating apps: Emotional technological determinism and agency in late modernity. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20563051251380042 (2024) Special Issue: Transnational Queer Cultures and Digital Media. https://academic.oup.com/ccc/issue/17/3 (2023) Culture is transnational. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13678779221131349

1 0

Digital Methods Summer School at The University of Manchester
by Lukasz Szulc 06 May '26

06 May '26

Dear colleagues, I'd like to invite you to our 3rd Digital Methods Summer School at The University of Manchester, which will take place between 6 and 10 July 2026. This year, we'll focus on: · Visual Methods · Sensing AI Methods · Creative AI Methods · Text Analysis with R · Data Visualisation · Geospatial Methods · Ethics & Open Science For more details, see: https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/53uwG1yp7TISE Very best, Łukasz Dr Łukasz Szulc<https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/%C5%82ukasz-szulc> (he/him) Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Culture School of Arts, Languages and Cultures University of Manchester UNITED KINGDOM RECENT PUBLICATIONS (2025) Sad dating apps: Emotional technological determinism and agency in late modernity. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20563051251380042 (2024) Special Issue: Transnational Queer Cultures and Digital Media. https://academic.oup.com/ccc/issue/17/3 (2023) Culture is transnational. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13678779221131349

1 0

The Annual ACM Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI 2026): Call for Participation
by Announce 06 May '26

06 May '26

*** Call for Participation *** The Annual ACM Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI 2026) July 13-16, 2026, 5* St. Raphael Resort & Marina, Limassol, Cyprus https://iui.hosting.acm.org/2026/ (*** Standard Registration Fee Deadline: June 30, 2026 ***) The 2026 ACM Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (ACM IUI) is the annual premier venue, where researchers and practitioners meet and discuss state-of-the-art advances at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Ideal IUI submissions should address practical HCI challenges using machine intelligence and discuss both computational and human-centric aspects of such methodologies, techniques and systems. This year we had a record number of submissions, so we have a record number of accepted papers (114), a record number of posters and demos (53) and we hope for a record number of participants. Furthermore, we have 8 workshops and 6 tutorials. Finally, the technical program will feature two keynotes, by Antonio Kruger on the role of HCI in trusted A.I. and Pattie Maes on designing A.I. interaction for human flourishing. The detailed program of IUI 2026 can be found on the conference website: https://iui.acm.org/2026/program/ . The standard fee registration deadline is on June 30th and the registration page is: https://iui.acm.org/2026/registration/ We are looking forward to meeting everybody in Limassol. Organisation General Chairs • Tsvi Kuflik, The University of Haifa, Israel • Styliani Kleanthous, Open University of Cyprus, Cyprus Local Organising Chair • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Program Chairs • Li Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University, China • Giulio Jacucci, University of Helsinki, Finland • Alison Renner, Dataminr, USA

1 0

New Book on Digital Nationalism, Propaganda, and Affective Governance in China
by Dechun Zhang 06 May '26

06 May '26

Dear Colleagues, I apologize for the cross-posting. I am excited to announce that my book, Digital Nationalism and Affective Governance: Propaganda, Public Sentiment, and Soft Authoritarianism in China (https://www.routledge.com/p/book/9781041308775) will be available for pre-order on May 5 and officially released on May 26. The book investigates how digital propaganda in China operates as a platform-shaped practice under soft authoritarianism, where nationalism functions as a discursive technology that organizes meaning, structures visibility, and channels public affect. Propaganda is no longer purely top-down; it emerges from a dynamic co-production between state narratives, platform affordances, and public emotions. Governance is enacted subtly through emotional guidance, algorithmic visibility, participatory cues, and discursive standardization, while overt censorship persists in the background. At the same time, citizens are active participants: they use nationalist discourse to express identity, perform loyalty, reshape official narratives, and voice critique. In this system, the public and the state co-produce political meaning, creating fragmented yet structured nationalist expressions that circulate within a platformized governance model. This highlights a form of participatory propaganda, where control is affective and publics negotiate legitimacy, belonging, and authority through digital nationalism. While the book focuses on China, it also provides insights into the broader dynamics of digital politics, affective governance, and authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes. You can pre-order the book https://www.routledge.com/p/book/9781041308775, 20% Discount with code CISYCDNAG20, and I would be delighted if you share it with colleagues interested in digital politics, digital nationalism, propaganda, online participation, media, governance, and China. I also welcome feedback, discussion, and engagement with anyone working on related topics. Best wishes Dechun

2 1

ISOC LIVE - What's On & What's New
by Joly MacFie 05 May '26

05 May '26

Hatched, matched, and despatched! Thanks to those of you who have Substack subs <https://isoclive.substack.com/>! Here is what is up. *Upcoming Events* - MAY 06 10:00 UTC - Small Business, Big Target: How to Avoid Small Business Scams <https://isoc.live/20955/> - MAY 06 16:00 UTC - Columbia Global Reports Book Talk: The Fragile Undersea Cables that Power Our World <https://isoc.live/20884/> - MAY 06 18:00 UTC - New America - Private 5G Networks at Risk: How U.S. Enterprises Leverage CBRS to Lead the World <https://isoc.live/20892/> - MAY 07 05:30 UTC - UN 2.0 Data & Digital Solutions Expo #4 <https://isoc.live/20969/> - MAY 07 07:00 UTC - APRALO Policy Forum + EURALO - Understanding the Role of Trusted Notifiers in DNS Abuse Mitigation <https://isoc.live/20897/> - MAY 07 18:00 UTC - What If We Could Rebuild the Internet? <https://isoc.live/20839/> - MAY 08 08:00 UTC - Cyber stability under pressure: A reality check for cyber norms in an era of AI-driven cyber risks <https://isoc.live/20916/> - MAY 11-15 - The West Africa Internet Governance Forum 2026 <https://isoc.live/20853/> - MAY 11 05:00 UTC - PCC - When the State Goes Digital: Public Platforms, Cooperative Hybrids, and the Politics of Infrastructure <https://isoc.live/20871/> - MAY 13 16:00 UTC - ICANN OCTO ISPCP/SSAC: Implementing DNS Blocking Responsibly <https://isoc.live/20880/> - MAY 20 00:00 / 06:00 UTC - Global Expo 2026: From Harm Mitigation to Intentional Design <https://isoc.live/20946/> - MAY 20 16:30 UTC - Folk Tech x Protopian Prize - Storytelling Workshop + Connection Call <https://isoc.live/20905/> - MAY 21 10:00 UTC - Emerging Threats Through AI Adoption and the Need for Human Risk Management <https://isoc.live/20960/> - MAY 21 12:00 UTC - Book Launch - Platforms and the Planet: Big Tech, Digital Platforms and Environmental Responsibility <https://isoc.live/20973/> - MAY 26 08:00 UTC - What Digital Futures Do We (Not) Want? <https://isoc.live/20952/> - MAY 27 12:00 UTC - What Makes a DNS Abuse Complaint to ICANN Actionable: Insights and Common Challenges <https://isoc.live/20671/> - MAY 27 13:30 UTC - ISOC PERU - Más allá del acceso: ¿qué significa 'Internet significativo' en educación? <https://isoc.live/20860/> - MAY 28 10:00 UTC - Helping Older Adults Stay Safe Online: Tips and Resources <https://isoc.live/20964/> - MAY 28 13:00 UTC - CODI Universal Acceptance Day 2026 <https://isoc.live/20439/> - JUN 02 - A11yNYC - Scaling Accessibility with Design Systems - Jesse Gardner <https://isoc.live/20976/> *Recaps / Recordings* - MAY 01 - Unlocking the Safer Internet Initiative <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/isoc-safer-internet> - APR 30 - Social Media And Digital Sovereignty In South Asia <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/saidgi-digital-sovereignty> - APR 29 - Phishing and DNS Abuse - Operational Blindspots <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/icann-emea-phishing> - APR 28 - ICANN Global Public Interest Framework (GPIF) and its Relevance to At-Large <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/at-large-gpif> - APR 28 - ITU Council 2026 State of the Union Address <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/itu-council-sotu> - APR 23 - ISOC Perú - Community-Driven Connectivity Solutions <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/isoc-peru-connectividad> - APR 15 - Digital Access Day 2026: Access, Autonomy, and the Open Internet <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/tcis-digital-access-day-2026> - APR 15 - The New gTLD Program 2026 and the Future of the DNS Ecosystem <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/ispcp-newgtld> - APR 14 - Effective Youth Participation and Digital Inclusion Action Toward WSIS 2035 <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/ecosoc-youth-wsis> - APR 14 - From Spectrum to Service: Building with Unlicensed Fixed Wireless <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/ntia-fixedwireless> - APR 13 - Quantum Technologies, Implications for the Global Digital Divide <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/dc-ddht-quantum> - FEB 26 - At-Large Meets OCTO-SSR <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/at-large-octo-ssr> *Other Report Summaries* - Stanford AI Index Report (Summary) <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/stanford-ai-index-report-summary> - Access Now statement on RightsCon "postponement" (summary) <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/access-now-statement-on-rightscon> - FCC to Satellite Operators: Stay in Your Lane <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/fcc-to-satellite-operators-stay-in> - ICANN and the IETF (summary) <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/icann-and-the-ietf-summary> - Age Verification Architecture (summary) <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/age-verification-architecture> -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

1 0

Deadline extended: Submit to SEASON 2026 until 10th May
by Rosie Graham 05 May '26

05 May '26

Deadline Extended: Annual Conference of the Search Engines and Society Network (SEASON 2026) Dear colleagues, We are pleased to announce that the submission deadline for SEASON 2026 has been extended to 10 May 2026! If you were working on a contribution and needed a little more time, now you have it. We warmly encourage you to submit, whether your work is complete or still in progress. The conference takes place 15–17 September 2026 at HAW Hamburg, Germany. Original CFP information is included below: On behalf of the Search Engines and Society Network (SEASON), we invite submissions for the 2026 edition of the Search Engines and Society Annual Conference (SEASON 2026), to be held at HAW Hamburg, Germany, from 15-17 September 2026. Following the success of SEASON 2025, which brought together an engaged and diverse international community of researchers, practitioners, and students, SEASON continues as a dedicated conference series for critical and interdisciplinary research on search engines and their societal implications. SEASON explores the multifaceted role of search engines in today’s culture and society. The conference fosters interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration to deepen our understanding of search engines as cultural, societal, political, and technical artefacts, as well as their role in everyday practices. We invite submissions for: -Long presentations -Short presentations -Interactive sessions (e.g., panels and workshops) -Posters Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: -Social and cultural aspects of relevance -Epistemic implications of search-engine use -Search engines and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) -Search engines and information disorders (e.g., disinformation, data voids) -AI and changing patterns of search engine use -Search engines and environmental crises -Political economy of search -Accountability and responsibility of search engine providers -Search engine bias and fair search -Ethical and affective dimensions of search -Media and information literacy -Search engines in everyday life and educational settings -Search engines and specific communities -Methods and data collection for search engine research -Comparative and historical studies of web search -Approaches to opening the “black box” of search engine rankings We welcome conceptual and empirical contributions from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, including the humanities, social sciences, and technical disciplines. Interdisciplinary approaches, work in progress, submissions from practitioners, and student contributions are especially encouraged. Submission categories and formats: -Long presentations: Extended abstracts, max. 1000 words (excluding references) -Short presentations: Abstracts, max. 500 words (excluding references) -Interactive sessions: Proposals (60–90 minutes), max. 1000 words (excluding references) -Posters: Abstracts, max. 500 words (excluding references) Submission guidelines: -Submissions must be in PDF format -APA referencing style Please submit via EasyChair: https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=season2026<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=season…> Submission deadline: 30 April 2026 extended to 10 May 2026. Accepted contributions will be made available to conference participants ahead of the event. All accepted abstracts will be freely accessible after the conference. SEASON 2026 Website: https://searchenginesandsociety.net/season-2026/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://searchenginesandsociety.net/season-2026…> We look forward to your contributions. With best regards, The SEASON 2026 Organizing Team

1 0

Book launch webinar May 21st: Platforms and the Planet: Big Tech, Digital Platforms and Environmental Responsibility
by Laaksonen, Salla-Maaria 05 May '26

05 May '26

Invitation to a book launch webinar on May 21 at 3pm EEST (2pm CEST): *Platforms and the Planet: Big Tech, Digital Platforms and Environmental Responsibility* "Platforms and the Planet: Big Tech, Digital Platforms and Environmental Responsibility <https://bookstore.emerald.com/platforms-and-the-planet-hb-9781836621737.html>" is an edited volume recently published by Emerald, edited by Salla-Maaria Laaksonen, Mervi Pantti and Olga Dovbysh. The book is part of the new Emerald series Digital Materialities and Sustainable Futures <https://bookstore.emerald.com/digital-materialities-and-sustainable-futures>. More timely than ever, the book develops a critical understanding of the environmental responsibility and accountability of digital platforms (the so-called Big Tech), and their role in the sustainability transition as a discursive, material, and ethical question. With its 11 chapters, the book brings together a multidisciplinary group of authors across the globe. Please register on May 20 the latest using this form. The Zoom link will be shared with registered participants on May 21st. ==> https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/140335/lomake.html *WEBINAR PROGRAM: * *Opening and welcome */Series Editors Adi Kuntsman, Erinma Ochu and Liu Xin./ Introduction:*Where platforms and the planet collide* /Book Editors Salla-Maaria Laaksonen, Mervi Pantti & Olga Dovbysh, University of Helsinki/ Chapter teaser: *Platform opacity in the global e-waste dilemma /Lauren E. Bridges & Vusumuzi Maphosa, University of Virginia / National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabw/e* Chapter teaser: *Understanding moral lapses in design: Cultural biases, beliefs, and narratives as factors of accidental evil* /Thomas Olsson, Tampere University/ Commentary:Sara Marcucci <https://aiplanetaryjustice.com/sara-marcucci>, the Founder and Director of the AI + Planetary Justice Alliance The book is already available as an eBook and as a print version on May 11th. See: https://bookstore.emerald.com/platforms-and-the-planet-hb-9781836621737.html -- Salla-Maaria Laaksonen // @sallamaaria@eurosky.social Docent, PhD, Senior Researcher Centre for Consumer Society Research (Kuluttajatutkimuskeskus) Faculty of Social Sciences P.O. Box 16, 00014 University of Helsinki tel. +358 50 415 6576 salla.laaksonen(a)helsinki.fi http://blogs.helsinki.fi/smlaakso

1 0

CfP – Dossier: Regulating Digital Platforms in Political Communication
by Eurico Matos 05 May '26

05 May '26

Call for Papers Dossier: “Dilemmas and Challenges of Regulating Digital Platforms in the Context of Political Communication” ECO-Pós – Revista do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação da UFRJ Volume 29, Issue 2 Many of the dilemmas shaping public debate in contemporary societies are fundamentally communicational in nature and are directly linked to the growing mediatization of everyday life and the digitalization of social, political, and economic interactions. In the context of recurring diagnoses of democratic crises, multiple forms of disinformation, hate speech, political radicalization, and profound transformations in the world of work, a wide range of social, political, and legal actors have been called upon to debate the regulation of contemporary communication systems, characterized by the coexistence of digital and traditional media. The emergence and popularization of digital platforms have produced a new structural transformation of the public sphere, as argued by Jürgen Habermas. As a result, social and political phenomena with direct implications for the foundations of democratic societies have intensified or taken on new and challenging forms, including political polarization, ideological radicalization, and epistemic crises related to the delegitimization of science and democratic institutions. These dynamics are often associated with platform-related structural determinants, such as monetization models, content curation mechanisms, and the limited or absent transparency surrounding digital advertising regimes. This thematic dossier aims to bring together scholarly articles that engage with debates on the regulation of digital media in the field of political communication, while maintaining an open and critical stance toward regulatory approaches as forms of social, economic, and political control. Multidisciplinary contributions are welcome, particularly those addressing (but not limited to) the following topics: – Comparative and transnational approaches to models of digital platform regulation – Legal, ethical, and political dilemmas of regulatory initiatives, with particular attention to civil and political liberties – Critical perspectives on the regulation of digital media – Regulation and the new structural transformations of the public sphere – Challenges to electoral regulation in contexts of expanding online political advertising and media coverage of opinion polls – Media agenda-building and public perceptions of platform regulation – Self-regulation versus state regulation: digital sovereignty, algorithmic transparency, and content moderation – Transparency, removal, and content labeling policies in electoral contexts Submission deadline: May 15, 2026 Editors: Camilo Aggio (Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG) and Eurico Matos (FGV School of Communication, Media and Information) Estimated publication: September/October 2026 No submission or publication fees are required from authors. Further information and submission guidelines are available at: https://revistaecopos.eco.ufrj.br/eco_pos/announcement/view/334 <https://revistaecopos.eco.ufrj.br/eco_pos/announcement/view/334> Contact: eurico.neto(a)fgv.br or camiloaggio(a)gmail.com -- *Eurico Matos * Professor da Escola de Comunicação, Mídia e Informação da Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV Comunicação) | Coordenador do Mestrado Profissional em Comunicação Digital e Cultura de Dados da FGV Comunicação | Pesquisador do Instituto Nacional de Ciência & Tecnologia em Democracia Digital (INCT.DD) cv(lattes) <http://lattes.cnpq.br/6936324574792283>

1 0