20 Aug 2020
In Malaysia’s Covid “infodemic”, crime is all too easy
A crackdown on the spreading of false information is unfair if people don’t have the means to spot it.
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14 Aug 2020
From Santiago to Sydney, opening Latin America with fibre-optic cable
While no panacea, a new cable link is an unexpected chance for greater trans-Pacific ties away from superpower rivalry. -
13 Aug 2020
Japan’s tech industry reboot will have region-wide effects
Japan can play a key role in digital debates facing democratic and authoritarian societies alike. -
7 Aug 2020
Cyber sovereignty cuts both ways
China’s barricades against foreign tech helped its companies grow massive. Now they’re being blocked in other markets. -
4 Aug 2020
Defending Australia in a high-tech future
Australia must prioritise education and research, in science and humanities, too. Regional engagement may depend on it. -
3 Aug 2020
Under the influence: Peddling conspiracy in a pandemic
Lifestyle and wellness personalities are lending conspiracy theorists a glossy sheen, and not without danger. -
22 Jul 2020
Interesting times for TikTok
The debate over banning the social media app hits on big issues of tech, trade and sovereignty. -
22 Jul 2020
Is Huawei in the UK a canary in the coalmine?
Britain’s 5G ban shows that political risk must be priced into commercial calculations as the world considers value. -
20 Jul 2020
Social credit: The next China risk for Australian business
Continuous monitoring via technology raises numerous questions and will bring unforeseen consequences. -
9 Jul 2020
The semiconductor industry is where politics gets real for Taiwan
These tiny strategic products can profoundly change the world as the US and China fight over the brains of electronics. -
6 Jul 2020
The cost of conspiracy in muddling public health messages
A Covid-19 outbreak in Victoria shows the need to counter hate speech, extremist content and misinformation online. -
1 Jul 2020
India’s TikTok stars collateral damage in Chinese app ban
The move signals that decades of appeasement towards China by a succession of Indian leaders is coming to an end. -
25 Jun 2020
K-pop “stans” unleashed: Hijacking hashtags for social action
Digital disruption can reflect a growing desire to pair fandom with activism. But such a movement is itself vulnerable. -
22 Jun 2020
Debt threatens Digicel’s Pacific dominance
The sprawling telecoms provider is deep in the red, and it might be the company’s PNG profits that help bail it out. -
19 Jun 2020
Morrison’s messages to the “sophisticated state-based cyber actor”
The Prime Minister appears to be sending a warning – that Australia is on to you. -
19 Jun 2020
Belt and Road means big data and facial recognition, too
China is exporting the same social control technology it employs to monitor its own population. -
11 Jun 2020
China toys with a new propaganda technique: Irony
The already reductive US-China spat has now been turned into an actual cartoon, in an earnest bid for foreign sympathy. -
31 May 2020
Playing Monopoly in space
Privatising astronaut launches was only one objective of the latest venture beyond the atmosphere. -
20 May 2020
India’s Covid-19 tracing app: Power in the right hands?
Download rates for tracing apps can also be read to indicate how much trust there is in government. -
20 May 2020
We’re all losers in the space arms race
Nations have battled one another for strategic advantage in space for decades. Actual fighting would be a step beyond. -
19 May 2020
Covid-19 chaos creates fertile ground for cyberattacks
Major events that capture population attention, whether pandemics or elections, are ripe for manipulation. -
14 May 2020
Covid-19 and the acceleration of state surveillance
The pandemic has suddenly made the unthinkable acceptable. Data and privacy may never be the same. -
7 May 2020
Digital declarations: Political ads on PNG social media must be clear
Local politicians are deploying Facebook’s paid advertising tools. The dominant social platform should take a hard look. -
29 Apr 2020
Information warfare in the theatre of Covid-19
Viral misinformation thrives amid the very conditions we see today – a lesson China appears to have identified. -
29 Apr 2020
Beyond the buzz: A primer on swarms
Militarised and ready for battle, artificial intelligence could bring new numbers of drones to the fight – eventually. -
29 Apr 2020
Back to the future: Keeping Australian air lines of communication open
Not for the first time Australia is cut off from the world. Government has an essential role in preserving a connection. -
20 Apr 2020
The Nth Room case and modern slavery in the digital space
South Korea is again confronted by an example of women being exploited – and the global challenge of misused technology. -
16 Apr 2020
What price privacy? Contact tracing apps to combat Covid
Smartphone technology hold the greatest promises in outpacing the virus, but surrendering to surveillance has a price. -
3 Apr 2020
The danger meme: Countering visual disinformation in Asia’s politics
The Covid-19 “infodemic” has made plain the risks from ill-intended videos and photos. This is true for elections, too. -
30 Mar 2020
Doom surfing and fact checkers prosper in Covid-19 infodemic
With so much information swirling around, especially on social media, just what should we believe? -
25 Mar 2020
Disinformation and coronavirus
The dilution of information on the internet is currently posing a risk to global health and safety. -
17 Mar 2020
The uncertain fate of .org
A profit-free corner of the internet is going through a rapid and controversial process of privatisation. -
28 Feb 2020
Is media literacy the magic bullet for fake news?
The continued threat of misinformation online demands real solutions. -
25 Feb 2020
“Coordinated inauthentic behaviour”: Facebook haunts US democracy
Facebook has gone through the motions of fighting disinformation, but not enough to matter – or to risk its profits. -
14 Jan 2020
The Australian lag in tech policy
As European regulators catch up with the digital economy, their Aussie counterparts seem nothing but laid-back. -
13 Jan 2020
Australia’s new strategic geography
The “sea-air gap” has collapsed amid the proliferation of technologies that are agnostic about distance and domain. -
27 Dec 2019
Best of The Interpreter 2019: Technology
The digital age has brought its share of wonders, but it has also created whole new realms of confusion, and rivalry. -
10 Dec 2019
Share, like, comment, attack: Social media as weapon and battlefield
Parliament will examine threat of foreign actors using social media to cajole, harass, hoodwink, and exploit the public. -
3 Dec 2019
As Facebook caves to Singapore censorship, the writing is on the wall
The tech giant’s capitulation, while unsurprising, sets an ominous precedent that others would be happy to follow. -
27 Nov 2019
The Nazi in your feed: Regulating social media and hate speech
A boundary-pushing comedian calls out tech giants for ignoring social responsibility as they profit off disinformation. -
8 Nov 2019
Beijing’s cryptic blockchain gambit
The technology has enormous potential to support good governance. The Party may have something else in mind. -
18 Oct 2019
Are free trade deals expanding a digital divide?
E-commerce is a big feature of regional trade talks, but developing countries should be wary of the pitfalls. -
23 Aug 2019
Deep fakes could have real consequences for Southeast Asia
<p>In a fractuous political climate, video manipulation threatens to play havoc with democracy.</p> -
21 Aug 2019
Battleground states: Twitter and Facebook ban Chinese-linked accounts
It’s not only the complications of international politics here, but the commercial desire to keep platforms “social”. -
20 Aug 2019
All may not be smooth along China’s Digital Silk Road
Tech transfers allow emerging economies to leapfrog a development stage but may not guarantee competitive advantage. -
23 Jul 2019
Cyber threats go beyond hackers and scams but to democracy itself
As awareness of digital vulnerabilities grows, fostering resilience against exploitation across open societies is key. -
15 Jul 2019
Remembering the Moonwalk
It was the moment humans first stepped on another world, yet after the Apollo missions, why haven’t people been back? -
4 Jul 2019
The “new era” of digital authoritarianism
A growing online divide has curbed freedom of expression and opinion but it’s not time to surrender to a “splinternet”. -
24 Jun 2019
The transformative potential of big data
But collecting ever more information might just end up posing ever more difficult questions. -
18 Jun 2019
Are we ready for a rare earths trade war?
As China holds extraordinary power over material essential to high-tech products, Australia is key to diversification.