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Publications by Alexander Pirang
All Issue Areas
Global Order
Humanitarian Action
Migration
Monitoring & Evaluation
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Data & Tech Politics
Years
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articles 27 Apr 2020
User Attention is the New Frontier in Content Regulation
Social media platforms have an infamous history of algorithmically promoting and amplifying misinformation. But we should not overlook another looming challenge in this space: Algorithmic content curation has powerful gatekeeping functions, and platforms are increasingly putting them to use.… -
Commentary 23 Apr 2020
Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Social Media Platforms’ Chance at Redemption?
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Commentary 23 May 2019
The EU Terrorist Content Regulation Is Unfinished Business for the European Parliament
The new draft EU Regulation that aims to prevent online platforms from being abused to spread terrorist content is misguided and gravely threatens freedom of expression.… -
Commentary 12 Apr 2018
Germany’s Half-Baked Approach to Fighting Disinformation
Europe, with its zealous regulators at both national and EU level, has proven to be a difficult terrain for U.S. tech companies. This trend will continue when the European Union‘s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect in May. The GDPR, among other provisions aimed at improved… -
Commentary 29 Jun 2017
Germany’s Misguided Social Media Law Is a Minefield for US Tech
U.S. tech firms have always found the European market a tricky one to navigate. They struggled with a public backlash following Edward Snowden’s disclosures and have had to cope with what they perceive to be awkward court decisions, like the right to be forgotten. Now, they face an entirely new… -
Commentary 12 Apr 2017
Why Policymakers Should Care About Weak Digital Infrastructure Abroad
Last month, INTERPOL cybercrime experts travelled to Sri Lanka to advise local police officers on cybercrime investigations and the development of digital forensics capabilities. Similar workshops have slowly been set up in various countries where digital infrastructures are being developed, and… -
Commentary 27 Mar 2017
Renaissance of the Militant Democracy?
The collapse of democratic forms of government is still most commonly associated with violent coups, military juntas, or civil war. If current trends persist however, democracies could increasingly fall apart without any of these martial displays. Paradoxically, autocracies could be ushered in… -
Study 06 Mar 2017
Advancing Cybersecurity Capacity Building: Implementing a Principle-Based Approach
Executive Summary Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become critical catalysts for sustainable development. Yet no country will be able to reap the full potential of ICTs without also building cybersecurity capacity to address the risks associated with connectivity, such as… -
Commentary 12 Dec 2016
The Fight Against Filter Bubbles Needs to Start Offline
German Chancellor Angela Merkel aims to be as uninteresting as possible in public speeches, observed The New Yorker a few years ago. By this standard, her November speech in parliament outlining government priorities started with a big bang: liberal democracy is increasingly under threat in a… -
Commentary 12 Dec 2016
Der Kampf gegen Filterblasen fängt offline an
Ein Reporter des amerikanischen Magazins The New Yorker hielt in einem Porträt von Angela Merkel einmal fest, dass die mächtigste Frau der Welt sich bei öffentlichen Reden augenscheinlich darum bemühe, so wenig interessant wie möglich zu erscheinen. Gemessen an diesem Maßstab eröffnete die… -
Commentary 02 Dec 2016
Trending on Fakebook
On October 30, 1938, chaotic scenes took place in parts of the United States. Thousands of radio listeners who had tuned in to an adaptation of H. G. Wells’s novel The War of the Worlds had mistaken the fictional account of an impending alien invasion on the East Coast for an actual emergency… -
Commentary 01 Apr 2016
Reform, Especially in Times of Terror
He would be forced to “close up shop.” With these words, Gerhard Schindler, head of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND), warned against a substantial reform of the agency, implying that stronger regulation of the BND would harm its ability to provide security to Germany. After the recent…