Today's social platforms' business models are not inevitable, but because we see them as such we constrain "the solution space we consider for combatting mis-/disinformation, polarization, and promotion of extremism... we need to consider what technologies [and] digital media to have a productive role in democratic societies".H…

scientific caution, rather than a strategy of “herd immunity”, drove the UK’s slow response...Sage agreeing “to publish a chronological set ... documents which have informed the questions it has considered and its advice to date... to demonstrate the uncertainties scientists have faced, how understanding of Covid-19 has developed over time, and th…

rejects accusations there has been ‘lack of transparency’ about Sage committee... key meetings have been attended by Dominic Cummings... risk of them being subject to ... undue influence... Ministers have repeatedly insisted ... “followed the science”

The editor-in-chief of The Lancet... I do believe lives could have been saved had we acted earlier"... demanded transparency on the opaque epidemiological models ... included ... “herd immunity”... The idea you can strip out politics from medicine or health is historically ignorant. The medical establishment should be much more politicised...…

A thread written by @pmdfoster: "NEW: The inside story of the Ventilator Challenge - the muddled thinking, the wasted time the political egoism...around March 13... Panic is on in UK to DO SOMETHING ... UK doesn't have much advanced manufacturing capacity... start on March 14 by summoning the 'Blitz spirit' ... urging UK manufa…

Britain’s leading epidemiologists ... extremely tense ... private — discussions among themselves, with the UK’s chief scientific advisor Patrick Vallance, and Boris Johnson’s government...no consensus... While the scientific debate was raging... Johnson’s government ... criticised other countries ... taken more dramatic steps, claiming Britain wa…

European countries... still behind the U.S. in terms of sheer volume of fake-news ... But posts designed to be entirely false and deliberately trick people is growing. In the U.K.... “It’s rare that a complete falsehood goes viral ... stories written by hyper-partisan sites, that have a kernel of truth and then are expanded into lies lathered with…

Yes. The Cult committee. That’s what the European Parliament calls their Committee on Culture and Education. - Yes, There IS EU Propaganda In Schools, And It’s Worse Than You Think

The real story might have been that data played a more important role than social media... reports that smart campaigns used data intelligently to target the right voters with the right messages... This combination of data and social media, with more traditional campaigning techniques will surely develop still further in the next few years. …

A whole load of recommnendations for the UK's House of Commons, including some intriguing ones - eg: "We believe the public want the opportunity to have their say in House of Commons debates; we also believe that this will provide a useful resource for MPs and help to enhance those debates. We therefore recommend a unique experiment: the use of…

"an interactive mission, with all other elements of the campaign designed to direct people to experience it.... a range of media including TV, online rich video takeovers and a 30-second You Tube trailer." That doesn't scratch the surface of what I reckon is probably the best thing I've seen online all year. A must see.

"Following on the heels of the Guardian and Metro UK, News UK has developed a Creative Content Unit to focus on native advertising... We've entered a new world where lines are fuzzier. The ethics shouldn't be fuzzy... If you're straight up and disclose who you are and where you're coming from, readers are mature enough to determine whether it's s…

"Government around the world is pretty good at thinking about its own needs — they often put their political needs followed by the policy needs. The actual machine of government comes second. The third need then generally becomes the system needs, so the IT or whatever system’s driving it... the user comes a poor fourth, really." Turning that ups…

A story in two parts? I'd like to think this is a story about agility-oriented web guys winning the argument with politicians and their unrealistic deadlines and steamroller tactics: "NHS England has abandoned its plan to fully roll out the controversial Care.data patient records sharing scheme in the Autumn. Instead, a trial with up to 500 GP p…

"watch leading European politicians and experts carry out actual, real-time negotiations over the UK's relationship with the EU in a so-called war-game." Clever idea from Open Europe.