In a short span of time there has been a global rise in "fake news" laws - legislation that purports to or is designed to curb the spread of false information. @sbradshaw.bsky.social, Monzima Haque, and I wanted to understand why.
"The Global Spread of Misinformation Laws" ijoc.org/index.php/ij...
5/ The solution? Instead of banning foreign ownership after the fact, we need strong privacy laws that limit how all companies—foreign & domestic—collect & use user data. Privacy shouldn’t depend on who buys your favorite game.
4/ This isn’t just about Pokémon Go—foreign investments in gaming are growing. Tencent (China) owns Riot Games & 40% of Epic Games (Fortnite). Governments worldwide are realizing that gaming data = intelligence goldmine.
3/ With the Saudi government now in control of Pokémon Go, what happens to years of collected location & image data? Will new ownership expand data collection, and could this data be used for mass surveillance?
2/ Niantic’s AR tech doesn’t just track PokéStops—it builds detailed maps of cities, homes, & sensitive locations. Players scanning locations help train its AI-powered Visual Position System (VPS), adding millions of new scans weekly.
1/ On March 12, 2025, Niantic sold its gaming unit—including Pokémon Go—to Scopely, a company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. This raises serious concerns about data privacy and surveillance.
Excited to share a new piece by @dwj88.bsky.social and myself about Pokemon Go's sale to Scoply.
Pokémon Go has been a global phenomenon since 2016. But beyond the fun of catching Pokemon, the game collects huge amounts of location & visual data from players. Who controls that data now?
We have a new paper explaining all the ways you can use natural language processing to analyze text data in @natrevpsych.bsky.social
We provide user friendly recommendations for using NLP to ensure rigour and reproducibility
Here is a free link: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Had such a great time speaking about disinformation and media literacy for the launch of the DCN Global Hub in Nadi, Fiji today. Was so wonderful learning about the unique challenges facing the pacific islands, and inspiring to see so many voices come together to problem solve.
Plus you get to work with the awesome Dr. Elizabeth Dubois!
#phd #academicjob Alert 🚨💥
The Pol Comm Tech lab at UOttawa is recruiting a PhD student and Postdoc to join a project examining building trust between members of marginalized communities and political parties/governments through digital contact.
www.polcommtech.com/about-us/car...
Consider submitting research on misinformation to this special issue of Behavioral Science and Policy: behavioralpolicy.org/wp-content/u...
Like many, I've decided to migrate to BlueSky!
For new friends, I am an Assistant Professor at American University and Director of the Center for Security, Innovation & New Technology. I study security, democracy, and technology with a focus on #disinfo & #AI
samanthabradshaw.com
www.au-csint.com
In Singapore and just had a great panel for the CENS Conference on DRUMS, talking about #AI, #FIMI and global elections.
My main takeaway from today's event is that AI threats are overhyped and instead we should focus on the ongoing and persistent challenges of polarization or trust in the media.
🚨 Excited to share my new paper: "Technical Infrastructure as a Hidden Terrain of Disinformation."
It explores how the deception of digital infrastructures—like the DNS—poses serious risks to internet security and trust, shifting the focus from content moderation to strengthening cybersecurity.
