Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 55
Posts 21 - 30

Darum ist Pokémon Go bei Muslimen verpönt

(This is why Pokémon Go is frowned upon by muslims)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 6.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | diversity, game, law, politics, privacy, threat
Summary | Many muslim authorities in varioius countries such as Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have declared Pokémon Go as wildly inappropriate for muslims. It references othher religions (with symbols) which allow for multiple gods along side each other, it propagates Darwin's theory of evolution, and most importantly: it constitutes gambling which is prohibited by the Qur'an. This does not mean that the state in Malaysia enforces that religious advice as a law. Non-muslim people are also worried about Pokémon Go but not because of ideological issues but because it can be seen as a surveillance scam and so a privacy breach hazard.
Image Description | Men playing Pokémon Go and portraits of a few male experts mentioned in the article.
Image Tags | game, male(s), smartphone

Afro-Frisur einer Schülerin wird zum Politikum

(Afro hair of a student becomes a political issue)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 2.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | diversity, Facebook, gender, hashtags, politics, school, Twitter
Summary | A black girl at a high school in Pretoria in South Africa was chastised for wearing her hair naturally in an afro. This resulted in a lot of backlash against the school on social media under the hasthag #StopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh. As many as 28'000 people signed an online petition to end racism at schools and major polititians condemned the chastising of wearing natural black hair.
Image Description | A black woman doing another black woman's hair in a salon.
Image Tags | female(s)

Texts Live On, but That's Often Forgotten in Politics

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 12.8.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | email, politics, privacy, texting
Summary | Politicians seem to forget an important rule: do not write a text message that could bring serious consequences if it appeared on the front page of a newspaper. In the George Washington Bridge scandal, it was said that Christina Genovese Renna (one of Chris Christie's aides) had texted a colleague that if his boss's emails were found, they would reveal that he was plotting to block traffic to the bridge. If you are a public servant, you should know that you can't send any confidential text messages. Text messages are often perceived as a "thoughtless" form of communication, which can have serious consequences.
Image Description | N/A

Blue State

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 28.8.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, politics
Summary | Facebook users have maybe noticed that their facebook feeds have become bluer or redder, especially in the last year. They may have seen posts from celebrities, candidates themselves, unknown media sources, or friends. Facebook has also been a new source for political news. There are pieces of news that are only made for Facebook and that are made to reach Facebook users in particular. Media companies want people to share the posts they have in front of them; Facebook is thus an intermediary between publishers and audience. With the above strategy and the fact that Facebook users have access to their feeds all the time (through their smartphone), it became obvious that Facebook was more than just a source of news.
Image Description | N/A

The Age of Email Is Nearing an End

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 20.10.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | email, politics, social media
Summary | The 2016 US Presidential election has been called the Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Meerkat, Periscope, and meme election. Nevertheless, the 2016 campaign has been defined by something less technological: the email (e.g. Hillary Clinton's emails). With Clinton's situation, people have seen that we have perhaps overcommited to email, and that the age of email is nearing an end. Email might not be the best tool for modern politics.
Image Description | N/A

Hausdurchsuchungen wegen Hass-Postings auf Facebook

(House searches because of hate posts on Facebook)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 13.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, politeness, politics, threat
Summary | The Bavarian police have issued multiple search warrants for the residence of people who have posted hateful comments on Facebook. In light of the recent refugee crisis, online hate has skyrocketed on Facebook with many people glorifying the Third Reich. Users who witness such behavior online are encouraged to report it both to Facebook and to the local police. Facebook has however been doing a poor job in keeping hate language off their platform.
Image Description | A tweet by a German government department explaining what a hate post is.
Image Tags | Twitter

On Twitter, a Battle Among Political Bots

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 14.12.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, fake news, politics, Twitter
Summary | People on social media are often discussing/debating with bots when it comes to politics. A lot of bots are created to misinform the public (they are called protests bots or propaganda bots). During the 2016 US Presidential election, many tweets with the hashtag MAGA or CrookedHillary came from automated bots.
Image Description | Photograph of people at a rally for Trump, photograph of a street with many police cars, and screenshots of several tweets
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), Twitter

La méthode Suzi LeVine: connectée

(Suzi LeVine's method: connected)

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Newspaper | Le Temps
Date | 25.11.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | politics, social media
Summary | The future ex US ambassador in Switzerland used social media a lot during her mandate. Being active on social media allows proximity, intuitivity, and freedom. Suzi LeVine said that social networks are the perfect example of direct democracy.
Image Description | Photograph of Suzi Levine and three other people dressed up for Halloween
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)

Der Shitstorm vom Fließband

(Shitstorms from the conveyor belt)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 3.4.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, politics, social media, threat
Summary | Social bots are becoming more frequent on social media. Some are quite believable, other not so much. Nevertheless they can reak quite some havoc on social media. They can be vocal supporters of an opinion and voice that opinion very stongly all the time, like in a shitstorm. They are responsible for much of the hate language online. Social bots can be assumed to have influenced political elections as they were used to push an opinion. The technology is similar to that of chatbots but they are designed to be assisting humans through conversational orders.
Image Description | N/A

Facebook, schlimm!

(Facebook, terrible!)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 26.3.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, politics, threat
Summary | Facebook is seen as the root of all evil. The shift to more right-wing politics has happened because of Facebook. Such conclusions are questionable at best since a) Hitler did not have Facebook and managed to create a fascist regime without it and b) because the practice of scapegoating new media is as old as time.
Image Description | N/A

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