Unrelenting surveillance - A massive police database obtained by The Intercept reveals how an unrelenting surveillance operation leads to the extensive policing and detention of Uyghurs in China. ➤ The Intercept 

The threat to democracy - Dr. Shoshana Zuboff, author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, says we have a choice: we can have democracy, or a surveillance society powered by Big Tech. ➤ The New York Times

Data protection by design & by default - Digital ID can make the delivery of government services more accessible, efficient and transparent. But it’s vital that it go hand and hand with proactive measures to protect people’s data. ➤ World Bank Blogs

Your digital shadow - Ad tech companies turn the data they collect about you into a frighteningly accurate picture of your interests and habits. Here’s a rundown of what these companies do with your data — and what you can do about it. ➤ Privacy International 

Emotion recognition and invasive tech - Spotify has filed a patent for technology that aims to interpret users’ speech and background noise to better curate the music it serves up. ➤ Axios

AI by Africans, for Africans - Charlette N'Guessan Desiree hopes her facial recognition technology, built with Africans in mind, will solve local challenges and open doors for previously excluded users. ➤ Thomson Reuters Foundation

REPORT - Telling Stories: On Culturally Responsive Artificial Intelligence ➤ University of Washington Tech Policy Lab

404: Internet & democracy not found - The internet was created to democratise information, but from Myanmar to Uganda, India to Venezuela, it's now one of the most powerful weapons autocrats use to silence dissenters and maintain power. We urge governments to keep all of the internet available, all of the time. #KeepItOn ➤ Axios, BBC, Daily Monitor, CNN

The teenagers taking on Comcast - Comcast insists that its speeds meet the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) standard for high-speed broadband — but a former Comcast employee supports high school students’ claims that the company’s low-cost internet plan isn’t always fast enough for remote learning. ➤ Buzzfeed

Digital scramble for Africa - Africa’s internet capacity is indeed exploding — becoming faster, denser and more local, with profound implications for the continent’s economies. It is a shift that is attracting global infrastructure investors. ➤ Financial Times (Paywall)

Making a feminist internet - On the frontlines of Indonesian political and civil movements for more than two decades, activist Dhyta Caturani is now reclaiming the internet for women and minority groups. ➤ Rest of World 

Infodemic from within - The Lithuanian group Debunk EU tracked down and exposed false claims shared online in Eastern Europe, many of them from Russia. Then the pandemic happened, and it found itself face to face with a bigger problem: misinformation from its own citizens. ➤ Rest of World

QAnon's Japanese rise - QAnon is not an exclusively American phenomenon. The conspiracy theory is gaining a foothold in Japan, home to one of its most active networks outside the U.S. ➤ The Diplomat

REPORT - Countering Disinformation and Hate Speech Online: Regulation and User Behavioural Change ➤ Observer Research Foundation

REPORT - False Accusation: The Unfounded Claim that Social Media Companies Censor Conservatives ➤ NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights

Tech trust-busting - US Senator Amy Klobuchar’s antitrust legislation has the potential to fundamentally change the way the tech industry operates. ➤ protocol

The free encyclopedia, by & for everyone - Following criticism that it has failed to combat harassment, Wikipedia this week unveiled its crowdsourced Universal Code of Conduct. ➤ The Verge

Trending: transparency - TikTok has stayed ahead of the trend on transparency and accountability. But will it go further to establish genuine norms on these topics? ➤ Mozilla Foundation

Hey Bing - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Microsoft are confident that Bing can step into the search engine void if Google follows through on its threat to exit the country. ➤ AP

2020 was a year like no other, revealing that the reality of digital inequality demands urgent action. The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) outlines our progress over the past year to deliver affordable and meaningful connectivity for all. ➤ A4AI

As 2021 begins, the Web Foundation passes the baton to our Indonesian partners to take forward the work the Open Data Labs Jakarta has pioneered. Here’s a look back at the impact of the Lab’s work. ➤ Web Foundation

A4AI Executive Director Sonia Jorge explains why technological innovation can only be one part of the solution to drive down the cost to connect worldwide. ➤ IEEE Spectrum

Web Foundation Research Manager for Gender and Digital Rights Chenai Chair spoke to Executive Director of Pollicy Neema Iyer about the intersection of gender, data and tech.  ➤ Centre for International Governance Innovation

The Web Foundation joined a coalition of 60+ organisations to call on Facebook and Google to provide equal and better transparency about political advertising on their platforms. ➤ Privacy International

A4AI Regional Coordinator for Asia Anju Mangal pointed to the need to prioritise solutions to the crisis of online gender-based violence at a virtual forum on citizen access to information and empowerment. ➤ Express Computer

Internet access that meets A4AI’s meaningful connectivity target is essential to ensure that individuals and businesses can thrive in our growing digital economies and societies. ➤ The Business Times

A4AI National Coordinator for Nigeria Olusola Teniola outlined the economic impact of Nigeria’s plan to block unregistered SIM cards. ➤ The Guardian

The Contract for the Web calls on governments and companies to respect and protect human rights in the digital age. ➤ CircleID

To avoid pushing internet access further out of reach for citizens, A4AI urges the Nigerian government to not pass its Communication Service Tax bill into law. ➤ New Telegraph

Ethiopia ranked 69th out of 72 countries on A4AI’s Affordability Drivers Index, a measure of the policy conditions necessary to lower internet costs. ➤ African Business

Research from the Web Foundation and World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts found that over half of young girls surveyed had experienced online harassment. ➤ MSN (Spanish)