Media Bits and Bytes - May 5, 2020

Why Press Freedom Day? Is encrypted messaging the future of social media? And more media news

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Anger ... Protesters outside ICANN's HQ,photo: The Register

Bye, Amazon

By Tim Bray
May 1, 2020
Ongoing

An Amazon engineer and vice president “quit in dismay” on Friday, and followed up with a scorched earth open letter accusing the global behemoth of firing whistleblowers who were raising concerns about unsafe working conditions.

Freedom of Press Day

By Jan Lundius
May 1, 2020
Inter Press Service

UNESCO has declared that the 3rd of May will be a day to remind us that media are in several parts of the world under attack, their independence are denied, critical thinking is considered as a threat and journalists seeking the truth are harassed, threatened, roughed up, or even killed.

Encrypted Messaging Apps On the Rise

By Samuel Woolley
May 1, 2020 
Brookings Tech Stream

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Researchers have focused heavily on political manipulation campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit. The next phase of “information operations” is already being deployed over encrypted messaging applications like Telegram, WhatsApp, and Signal.

Anti-Lockdown and the Rightwing Media

By Jon Allsop
April 17, 2020
Columbia Journalism Review

Whatever the source of the anti-lockdown protests, right-wing media has thrown its weight behind them. Several mainstream outlets have compared the anti-lockdown protests to the Tea Party movement.

Congress Fights Over Digital Divide

By Allison Stevens
April 13, 2020
Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Lawmakers are urging congressional leaders to prioritize emergency funding for high-speed internet access in upcoming coronavirus relief legislation.

AI Can’t Legally Claim Credit For Inventing

By Jon Porter
April 29, 2020
The Verge

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has ruled that artificial intelligence systems cannot be credited as an inventor in a patent.

DOT ORG Is Not For Sale

By Kieren McCarthy
May 1, 2020
The Register

The decision by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will likely spark a mixture of relief and celebration from millions of .org domain holders, including some of the world’s largest non-profit organizations.

Computers Create Memes? (Affirmative, Dave)

By Aja Romano
May 1, 2020
Vox

Imgflip’s neural-network meme generator is going viral for its eerie, hilarious coronavirus memes.