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Animated videos on click farm
by Rafael Grohmann 22 Apr '22

22 Apr '22

Hello, DigiLabour Lab launched two animated videos about the work in Brazilian click farms. Available in English and Portuguese, "In the Click Farms" is a result of the research "Click Farm Platforms in Brazil and Colombia: work conditions and worker organizing", funded by the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k_0fBQN2xU The two episodes tell the story of Maria, who lost her job and starts working for these platforms with the function of clicking and commenting on profiles of influencers, celebrities and politicians. Along her journey, she faces deactivations, fake accounts, coaches selling mentorships, and parallel markets of fake accounts and bots. The research showed that workers receive US$0,0013 per task and, through fake accounts, feed likes and comments on Instagram and TikTok. There is also a parallel market for fake accounts, bots, and photo packs, where each worker is a potential reseller. "In the click farms" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k_0fBQN2xU best, Rafael Grohmann

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New Book: "Concealing for Freedom"
by Francesca Musiani 22 Apr '22

22 Apr '22

Dear colleagues, I am happy to announce the publication of my book with Ksenia Ermoshina, "Concealing for Freedom: The Making of Encryption, Secure Messaging and Digital Liberties" (Mattering Press, April 2022, with a foreword by Laura DeNardis). The book is released in open access and available here in a variety of digital formats: https://www.matteringpress.org/books/concealing-for-freedom Please consider however to buy a paper copy if you or your university library can do so, it will help Mattering Press to thrive. The publication is accompanied by a blog post that reflects on the relationship of phenomena and events described in the book to current events: https://www.matteringpress.org/blog/encryption-and-technologies-of-power-in… Thank you to everyone who supported us during this research and writing endeavor (including several colleagues in the AoIR community), and in advance to everyone who considers reading or buying the book. All the best Francesca (and Ksenia) -- Francesca Musiani, Ph.D. Chargée de recherche | Associate Research Professor, CNRS <http://www.cnrs.fr> Directrice adjointe | Deputy Director, Centre for Internet and Society <https://cis.cnrs.fr> (UPR 2000 & GDR 2091 CNRS) Chercheuse associée | Associate Researcher, i3-CSI <http://www.csi.ensmp.fr/>, MINES ParisTech Global Fellow, Internet Governance Lab <https://internetgovernancelab.org>, American University I'm involved in: CPT-IAMCR <https://iamcr.org/s-wg/section/cpt> | Internet Policy Review <https://policyreview.info> | RESET <https://journals.openedition.org/reset/> | ISOC France <https://www.isoc.fr> | ResisTIC <https://www.resistic.org> On the Web <https://cis.cnrs.fr/francesca-musiani/> | On Twitter <https://twitter.com/franmusiani>

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CFP: Special Issue on Cyber(in)security || Review of Digital Politics
by Mauro SANTANIELLO 22 Apr '22

22 Apr '22

Dear colleagues, A new call for paper has been issued by the Review of Digital Politics for a special issue on cyber(in)security. This issue will investigate the political dimension of cybersecurity, including public policy making, relationships between public institutions and private actors, political controversies emerging in different national contexts, and the processes of negotiation, cooperation and conflict resolution occurring in international arenas as well as in multistakeholder global fora. Articles may be written in English or Italian. The full call for papers is available at: https://www.digitalpolitics.it/call-for-paper-n6/#cfp3-english Further information about the Review of Digital Politics is available at: https://www.digitalpolitics.it/rivista/#en *Key dates:* Abstract submission deadline: 19 May 2022 Notification of acceptance: 26 May 2022 Full contribution deadline: 1 October 2022 We look forward to receiving your submissions. Best wishes, Mauro Santaniello (PhD) *Professor, Internet Governance and Digital PolicyDirector, Internet & Communication Policy Centre (ICPC)* *Scientific Coordinator, Salerno Winter School on Internet Governance (SWING)* *Department of Business, Management and Information Systems (DISA-MIS)* *Università degli Studi di Salerno * *Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132 84084 Fisciano (SA) - Italy * *E. msantaniello(a)unisa.it <msantaniello(a)unisa.it> * *W. http://docenti.unisa.it/mauro.santaniello <http://docenti.unisa.it/mauro.santaniello>* *Skype: internetpolicy * *T. twitter.com/webvoodoo <http://twitter.com/webvoodoo>* *Recent publications* M.Santaniello (2021) "From Governance Denial to State Regulation: A Controversy-Based Typology of Internet Governance Models." In Haggart B., Tusikov N., Scholte J.A. (eds.) *Power and Authority in Internet Governance. Return of the State? *Routledge. N.Palladino, M.Santaniello (2021).* Legitimacy, Power, and Inequalities in the Multistakeholder Internet Governance. **Analyzing IANA Transition*. Palgrave Macmillan. *Pubblicazioni recenti in italiano* M. Santaniello (2021) "Fortezza Internet. L’incastellamento del cyberspazio e il regime feudale della cyber security." In Amoretti F.* Per una cultura della sicurezza democratica* Pag.131-148 Soveria Mannelli Rubbettino. F. Amoretti, M. Santaniello (2021) "Sovranità (con)tese. Le digital corporation nello spazio pubblico globale." In F.Tuccari; G. Borgognone *La sovranità* Pag.175-194 M. Santaniello (2021) "Sunburst. La grande eclissi della cybersecurity Usa." *Rivista di Digital Politics*. Vol. 1/2021. Pag.179-194. F. Amoretti, M. Santaniello (2021), "Partecipazione politica e opinione pubblica online in tempo di crisi." *Iride* Vol. 92. Pag.57-67. F. Amoretti, R. Fittipaldi, M. Santaniello (2021), "Poteri monocratici e comunicazione politica ai tempi della pandemia. Dal governo Conte II al governo Draghi". *Comunicazione politica, n. *3/2021, pp. 333-356.

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CFP || Global Media and China_Special Issue: Human-Machine Communication Culture: Artificial Intelligence, Media and Cultures in a Global Context
by Xiao Han 22 Apr '22

22 Apr '22

Global Media and China CFP (Follow us at: https://twitter.com/GCHjournal <https://twitter.com/GCHjournal>; https://www.facebook.com/Global-Media-and-China-110136464998539/ <https://www.facebook.com/Global-Media-and-China-110136464998539/>) Special Issue: Human-Machine Communication Cultures: Artificial Intelligence, Media and Cultures in a Global Context Guest Editors: Simone Natale, University of Turin, Italy, (simone.natale(a)unito.it <mailto:simone.natale@unito.it>) Deqiang Ji, Communication University of China, (jideqiang(a)cuc.edu.cn <mailto:jideqiang@cuc.edu.cn>jideqiang(a)cuc.edu <mailto:jideqiang@cuc.edu>.cn) Time Schedule: —31 July 2022: a 300-word abstract and a 100-word bio, mentioning the title of the special issue in the subject line, to the guest editors: simone.natale(a)unito.it <mailto:simone.natale@unito.it> and jideqiang(a)cuc.edu.cn <mailto:jideqiang@cuc.edu.cn> —5 September 2022: authors of accepted authors will be notified —28 February 2023: full paper submission Overview: Traditionally, communication studies investigate the social, cultural and political dimensions of human communication, especially but not exclusively when mediated by technology. Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) pose a new challenge to existing frameworks: technologies such as voice assistants, social media bots, and the application of automatic text generators to news media not only play the role of the channel through which communication is achieved, as in traditional definitions of the term medium (McLuhan, 1964), but also the role of the communicator (Natale, 2021) or moderator (Gillespie, 2018), since they are programmed to produce communicative messages directed at human interlocutors. The new area of inquiry called Human-Machine Communication emerged in response to this challenge, with the objective to apply to communications between humans and machines the conceptual, theoretical and methodological tools originally developed in communication and media studies to examine communications between humans (Guzman & Lewis, 2019; Gunkel, 2020). Human-machine communication, however, is still often declined in the singular form. Too little consideration is given to the fact that communication is always situated in specific cultural, linguistic and national environments, which in turn inform the situations and outcomes of all communication processes (Gunaratne, 2010; Xiangzhong, 2016). This special issue of Global Media and China aims to contribute to existing efforts (e.g. Lawrence, 2021; Komarraju et al., 2021) to fill this gap. Contributions are invited that examine and enlighten the plurality of human-machine communication cultures, both at a diachronic (i.e. historically across time) and at a synchronic (i.e. geographically across different areas of the globe, including but not limited to China) level. As a whole, the special issue will show that if we want to understand the impact of AI technologies in the contemporary world, we need to better situate the cultural and social dynamics that contribute to shape the meanings and the pragmatic outcomes of these technologies for human societies across the globe. We encourage submission of essays that illustrate the above-mentioned dynamics with specific cases/ examples/ empirical studies. We are especially interested in research based within the broad remits of communication and media studies, but interdisciplinary collaborations that highlight the relationships with other areas are also encouraged. Selected articles will address questions such as: · How do different linguistic, cultural and national dimensions impact on the functioning and outcome of AI technologies? · How can we better understand the plurality of algorithmic imaginaries and human-machine communication cultures in a global world? · How does AI and human-machine communication change global media industries around the world? How do they affect specific media sectors, such as journalism, computer games, social media, film and broadcasting? · How are technologies such as AI and robots domesticated in different cultural environments? · How do human-machine communication cultures change across time, both in the history of AI and in the longer history of media technologies? · How can the scope of human-machine communication research be enlarged to encompass wider historical trajectories and geographical boundaries? References Gillespie, T. (2018). Custodians of the Internet : platforms, content moderation, and the hidden decisions that shape social media. Yale University Press. Gunaratne, S. A. (2010). De-Westernizing communication/social science research: Opportunities and limitations. Media, Culture & Society, 32(3), 473-500. Gunkel, D. J. (2020). An Introduction to Communication and Artificial Intelligence. Polity. Guzman, A. L., & Lewis, S. C. (2019). Artificial intelligence and communication: A Human–Machine Communication research agenda. New Media & Society, 22(1), 70–86. Komarraju, S. A., Arora, P., & Raman, U. (2021). Agency and servitude in platform labour: A feminist analysis of blended cultures. Media, Culture & Society, published online before print 10 July 2021, doi: 10.1177/01634437211029890 Lawrence, H. M. (2021). Siri Disciplines. In T. S. Mullaney, B. Peters, M. Hicks, & K. Philip (Eds.), Your computer is on fire. MIT Press. McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man. McGraw-Hill. Natale, S. (2021). Deceitful Media: Artificial Intelligence and Social Life after the Turing Test. Oxford University Press. Xiangzhong, L. (2016). New hope, new global media and China. Global Media and China, 1(1-2), 5-6. Dr HAN Xiao Research Associate, State Key Lab of Media Convergence and Communication, Communication University of China (CUC) Commissioning Editor, Global Media and China http://journals.sagepub.com/home/gch <http://gch.sagepub.com/>

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AoIR2022 review deadline
by Kylie Jarrett 22 Apr '22

22 Apr '22

Hi everyone, Just a final reminder that the reviews of the AoIR2022 conference abstracts are due in by the end of today. There's still a lot of outstanding reviews so please do get to them today. Thanks, Dr. Kylie Jarrett AoIR2022 Programme Chair Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) Department of Media Studies Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co. Kildare Ireland Author: Feminism, Labour, and Digital Media: The Digital Housewife Co-author: NSFW: Sex, Humor and Risk in Social Media Google and the Culture of Search

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Online Summer School on Digital Technologies and the Environment
by Adi Kuntsman 21 Apr '22

21 Apr '22

**Digital Politics Summer School: Digital Technologies and the Environment** What are the environmental impacts of and conditions for digital technologies or digitization practices more generally? What constitutes the relation between digital technologies and the environment? Whether and how is the relation maintained, disrupted, repaired and reconfigured? What are its temporalities? What are the ethical and political implications of reconsidering the relation between digital technologies and the environment? And what are the methodological and epistemological challenges of doing so? The School will explore the relations between digital technologies and environmental concerns, covering topics of digital waste, digital toxicity, e-waste, communication infrastructures, and smart cities, in a series of on-line Masterclasses with Alenda Chang, Nanna Bonde Thylstrup , Rahul Mukherjee, Liu Xin and Adi Kuntsman. Registered participants will also be invited to attend a pre-School keynote by Benedetta Brevini, the author of “Is AI Good for the Planet”, on June the 10th. Please check the link below for further details and registration. Masterclasses are kept intentionally small, early registration is recommended. https://digitalpoliticsmanmet.bloggi.co/digital-politics-summer-school-digi… Dr Adi Kuntsman, Reader in Digital Politics Programme Leader, MA in International Relations and Global Communications and MSc in Digital Society Coordinator, PhD pathway in Digital Politics Department of Politics | Manchester Metropolitan University Geoffrey Manton Building| Manchester | M15 6LL| Web | Online office hours (term time only): Tuesday 3-4pm or by appointment- please email to arrange Digital Politics Blog

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8th IEEE International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2 2022): Fourth Call for Contributions
by Announce Announcements 21 Apr '22

21 Apr '22

*** Fourth Call for Contributions *** 8th IEEE International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2 2022) "Community Smartification and towards ZERO emission Smart Cities for a Green New Era" September 26-29, 2022, Aliathon Resort, Paphos, Cyprus https://attend.ieee.org/isc2-2022 The Call-for-Contributions for the 8th IEEE International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2 2022) is OPEN! The IEEE ISC2 2022 Organizing Committee is glad to announce that it is currently accepting papers for the 8th edition of the IEEE International Smart Cities Conference. This year, the IEEE ISC2 will be held in-person on September 26-29, 2022, in Paphos, Cyprus and the theme of the conference is “Community Smartification and towards ZERO emission Smart Cities for a Green New Era.” The IEEE ISC2 is the flagship conference sponsored by the IEEE Smart Cities Technical Community, a coalition of eight IEEE technical societies and organizations. Besides contributions addressing the conference theme, authors are welcome to submit their original research results in traditional topics across broad application and functional domains, within the context of smart urban infrastructure systems. The technical areas include, but are not limited to: • Smart city theory, modelling and simulation  • Intelligent infrastructure • Sensors and actuators • Open data and big data analytics • AI powered smart cities services • Safety and security systems • Smart healthcare • Smart emergency management • IoT and Smart X services • Data security and privacy • Connected Vehicle (CV) technologies • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) • Smart mobility and transportation • Smart energy systems • Smart buildings and Smart grid • Digital city and smart growth • Smart traffic system operations • Environmental monitoring technologies The complete list of technical areas can be found here: https://attend.ieee.org/isc2-2022/call-for-papers/ . Should you need further clarifications or have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us at: isc22022(a)easychair.org . Paper Submission Guidelines Prospective authors are invited to submit high quality original (Full or Short) papers via the EasyChair submission site at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=isc22022 . Full papers should describe novel research contributions with evaluation results and are limited to seven (7) pages. Short papers, limited in length to four (4) pages, should be more visionary in nature and are meant to discuss new challenges and visions, highlight early research results, and explore novel research directions. All submitted papers must be unpublished and not considered elsewhere for publication, should be written in English and formatted according to the IEEE Template ( https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html ). Each submitted paper will pass through the standard IEEE peer-review process. If accepted and presented at the conference, it will appear in the conference proceedings and be submitted for inclusion in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library. The conference organisers are currently negotiating a number of special issues with high quality journals. More information is available on the conference web site (https://attend.ieee.org/isc2-2022/journal-special-issues/ ). The best papers will be awarded in the conference Best Paper Award and a Best Student Paper Award contests. For more information, please visit the conference website: https://attend.ieee.org/isc2-2022 . Special Sessions Proposals Please refer to the web site for further details: https://attend.ieee.org/isc2-2022/call-for-special-sessions/ . Workshops Proposals Please refer to the web site for further details: https://attend.ieee.org/isc2-2022/call-for-workshop-proposals/ . Tutorials Proposals Please refer to the web site for further details: https://attend.ieee.org/isc2-2022/call-for-tutorial-proposals/ . Sponsorship Opportunities Please refer to the web site for further details: https://attend.ieee.org/isc2-2022/sponsorships/ . Important Dates • Conference Paper Submission Deadline: May 15, 2022 • Conference Acceptance Notification: July 15, 2022 • Conference Camera-ready Deadline: July 31, 2022 • Special Sessions and Workshops Proposals Submission Deadline: April 25, 2022 • Special Sessions and Workshops Proposals Selection: April 29, 2022 • Tutorial Proposals Submission Deadline: May 27, 2022 • Tutorial Proposals Selection: June 3, 2022 • Conference Dates: September 26-29, 2022 Organizing Committee https://attend.ieee.org/isc2-2022/chairs/ Special Track Chairs Committee https://attend.ieee.org/isc2-2022/special-tracks-committee2/ IEEE Smart Cities https://smartcities.ieee.org

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New open access book: Ageing with Smartphones in Urban Brazil (UCL Press)
by Coughlin, Margie 21 Apr '22

21 Apr '22

*** We apologise for any cross-posting*** UCL Press is delighted to announce the publication of a new open access book that may be of interest to list subscribers: Ageing with Smartphones in Urban Brazil, by Marília Duque. Download it free: https://bit.ly/3JTh3xF ******************************************* Ageing with Smartphones in Urban Brazil By Marília Duque. Free download: https://bit.ly/3JTh3xF ******************************************* With people living longer all over the world, ageing has been framed as a socio-economic problem. In Brazil, older people are expected to remain healthy and autonomous while actively participating in society. Based on ethnographic research in São Paulo, Ageing with Smartphones in Urban Brazil shows how older people in a middle-class neighbourhood conciliate these expectations with the freedom and pleasures reserved for the Third Age. Work is what bonds this community together, providing a sense of dignity and citizenship. Smartphones have become of great importance to the residents as they search for and engage in new forms of work and hobbies. Connected by a digital network, they work as content curators, sharing activities that fill their schedule. Managing multiple WhatsApp groups is a job in itself, as well as a source of solidarity and hope. Friendship groups help each to download new apps, search for medical information and guidance, and navigate the city. Together, they are reinventing themselves as volunteers, entrepreneurs and influencers, or they are finding a new interest that gives their later life a purpose. The smartphone, which enables the residents to share and discuss their busy lives, is also helping them, and us, to rethink the very representation of ageing. Free download: https://bit.ly/3JTh3xF ---------------------- uclpress.co.uk | @uclpress

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PhD studentship @ Sheffield: Trust and inequalities in the context of data-driven media
by Helen Kennedy 21 Apr '22

21 Apr '22

Dear list members Excellent MA students may be interested in this opportunity. Best wishes Helen --- PhD studentship: Trust and inequalities in the context of data-driven media (part of the Designing For All <https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2022-03-phd-research-fund-public-service-digi…> cohort) Deadline: 11 May 2022 Applications should be submitted to the University of Sheffield Postgraduate Online Application system https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply. The University of Sheffield and BBC R&D are offering a 4-year full-time EPSRC/BBC-funded PhD studentship, to start in October 2022. The successful applicant will research the challenge of delivering equitable provision of future media in the context of growing digital inequalities. Data-centric technologies, including AI, are at the centre of the BBC technology and innovation plan and will transform audiences’ experiences in the future. However, not everyone has equal access, or the same capability to engage and to benefit, and people who are excluded are often already experiencing social, cultural and economic marginalisation. As part of the BBC’s commitment to universality, this PhD will contribute to understanding digital inclusion in a data-driven society, through empirical research into underserved audiences’ experiences of and trust in data-driven media and what good data uses look like for them. The student will be supervised by Professor Helen Kennedy ( h.kennedy(a)sheffield.ac.uk) at the University of Sheffield and Dr Rhianne Jones (Rhia.Jones(a)bbc.co.uk) from BBC R&D (with bases in Salford’s Media City and Central London). The studentship is part of a wider multidisciplinary cohort of four industrial PhD projects: *Designing for All*. The student will have the opportunity to conduct research at the BBC, and to collaborate with the other students in the cohort. Information about the *Designing For All* programme can be found in this BBC R&D blogpost <https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2022-03-phd-research-fund-public-service-digi…>. *The Person* This is a multidisciplinary research challenge, and we are keen to receive applications from people from Sociology, Media & Communications, HCI, Information Studies, Politics or related disciplines or with relevant professional experience, and with interests in one or more of the following: ● digital media; social and digital inequalities; digital inclusion; data-driven technologies; value-sensitive design; responsive innovation; public service media ● qualitative methods; co-production; participatory design; deliberative inquiry; speculative design; prototyping. The successful applicant should have a first class or high upper second class honours degree and preferably a Masters qualification or comparable professional experience. A key aim of this cohort-based studentship is to develop future research leaders, with experience of working in multidisciplinary teams and across academic and industry contexts. Candidates should expect to learn new, cross-disciplinary skills, including those related to empirical research design, data science/analysis and cutting-edge technology. *How to Apply* Applications should be submitted to the University of Sheffield Postgraduate Online Application system https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply. Applications should be accompanied by 1. A CV, certified copies of degree certificates and transcripts, details of two referees and proof of eligibility (e.g. a copy of your passport/ residence permit) 2. A personal statement of no more than two pages describing: a) your research interests, a central question for this project and an indicative methodology; b) your experience to date that makes you suitable for this studentship, and what you would learn through this opportunity; and c) the impact you hope to make through working with us on this project. Applicants applying for more than one of the ‘*Designing for All’ *studentships should indicate this in their personal statement. For queries about the application process, please contact scs-pgr(a)sheffield.ac.uk. Interviews will take place in May 2022. -- Helen Kennedy, she/her, Professor of Digital Society, @hmtk, Living With Data <https://livingwithdata.org/> *RECENT PUBLICATIONS: * Context and prior awareness matter in public concern about data uses <https://livingwithdata.org/resources/living-with-data-survey-results/> (2021, w/Mark Taylor, Susan Oman, Jo Bates, Itzelle Medina-Perea, Hannah Ditchfield, Lulu Pinney) Public perceptions of good data management: findings from a UK-based survey <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053951720935616>, *Big Data and Society* (2020, w/Todd Hartman, Robin Steedman & Rhia Jones) *Data Visualization in Society <https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463722902/data-visualization-in-society>* (2020, ed w/ Martin Engebretesen, Open Access with Amsterdam University Press)

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Call for Applications: Institute for Rebooting Social Media Assembly Fellowship at Harvard Berkman Klein Center
by Joanne Cheung 20 Apr '22

20 Apr '22

Dear all, The Institute for Rebooting Social Media <https://rebootingsocialmedia.org/> at Harvard Berkman Klein Center recently launched a call for Assembly Fellows. This funded fellowship (Oct 2022-Apr 2023) will convene practitioners from all domains (e.g. policy, engineering, and social activism) to build tangible prototypes that demonstrate what a healthy online information ecosystem could be. The RSM Assembly Fellows will be in community with the RSM Visiting Scholars <https://cyber.harvard.edu/story/2022-04/inaugural-cohort-visiting-scholars-…>, putting theory and applied research in dialogue. If this is something you’re interested in, or if you know people who might be a good fit for the Assembly Fellowship, here is the application page <https://cyber.harvard.edu/apply/jobs/38?admin_view=true&apptracker_id=24>. Please help us spread the word! Thank you so much! Joanne Cheung (on behalf of the RSM team) — joannekcheung.com

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