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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 15h

From @hackedoff.bsky.social Nathan Sparkes latest piece in Common Ground
bit.ly/4obg6p7

Nathan Sparkes, Chief Executive at Hacked Off, shares his insights on how the phone hacking scandal didn't come from nowhere and without real reform, history will repeat itself.

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 15h

Either, the Government will do nothing and the cycle of scandal and cosmetic reform will repeat. Press disinformation, intrusion and other abuses will go on, day to day, destroying peoples’ lives, distorting elections and misleading the public, but making little impact on the national policy agenda

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 7d

How is phone hacking connected to one of the most notorious unsolved murders in Britain? Episode 2 of #afterthehack is out now. If you're watching the Hack on ITV 9pm, this is the best companion podcast for all the insights, hot takes and more.

youtu.be/hN1NgxsJbxw

After The Hack #2 | with Byline Times & Impress

YouTube video by Byline TV

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 7d

For the full @itvnewspolitics.bsky.social interview, watch here youtu.be/A9AkTVtd6yE?...

Hugh Grant: Hacking victims have been ‘betrayed’ by Sir Keir Starmer – Talking Politics | ITV News

YouTube video by ITV News

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 7d

Really powerful words from Hugh Grant on the last 12 years of political failure, including the current Government, for victims of press abuse. If we want a better media we need this collusion to end.

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 7d

At the Labour Party conference this week advocating for quick wins and ready made solutions for a better media with @hackedoff.bsky.social @mediareformuk.bsky.social and @pressjustice.bsky.social

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 12d

Started watching #theHack on ITV and want more? 'After the Hack', our recap show with @bylinetimes.bsky.social is now out! Weekly episodes on the real politics and behind the scenes goss of the phone hacking scandal, plus what action you can take to build a better media

youtu.be/VlCYtc_IGoU?...

After The Hack | Preview Show with Byline Times & Impress

YouTube video by Byline TV

youtu.be

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 13d

Media, be it news or entertainment, is very expensive to produce. Sometimes the risk pays off, but most of the time it doesn't. Only the extremely wealthy can weather the sunk costs and they do so because of the second order benefits, i.e. to yield influence, not because media is good business.

Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 13d

Media barons are nothing new, studios and papers have always existed to promote the agenda of their owners. What's breaking is the illusion that free market capitalism would produce plurality and editorial independence.

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 13d

It's lack of independence, discretion to interpret public interest and blended remit over content and market controls that allows US agencies like the Federal Communications Commission to become ideologically captured by Commissioners at the top #jimmykimmel

Reposted by Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana

nilay patel @reckless.bsky.social · 26d

Just to be blunt, if you want Wired and 404 and The Verge to employ reporters who understand the memes on bullet casings and can connect them to gaming culture while having the legal and support resources to deal with waves of harassment when we do it… you have to subscribe and pay for the work

onion person @junlper.beer · 26d

the entire media ecosystem is just not built or ready for events like this and far right billionaires like larry ellison buying news orgs will only make this worse

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 25d

I write more about this in my latest post for Common Ground lexiekirkconnellkawana.substack.com/p/online-hat...

Newsflash: The Internet isn’t a Lawless Zone for Online Hate

How decades of weak enforcement around online speech created a culture of digital illegality—and why that's finally changing.

lexiekirkconnellkawana.substack.com

Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 25d

Lucy Connolly and Graham Linehan are the latest high profile cases of speech being policed online. Posting hateful content and inciting violence against others without early intervention can fuel a pattern of behaviour which gives them the confidence to continue to post.

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 25d

scarce and inconsistent policing of hateful and abusive content online has reduced that risk and emboldened people to push the boundaries further. Lack of enforcement online has created a culture of illegality.

Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · 29d

Spoke too soon

Nepal ban is lifted after tragedy during public protests

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Nepal protests: Social media ban lifted after 19 killed in protests

Thousands had taken to the streets demanding that the government lift the ban and tackle corruption.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · Sep 7

In case you missed it Nepal just shut down access to 26 major platforms, including Meta and X for failing to meet new legal requirements. The age of platform sovereignty is ending. Global connectivity will be superseded by physical borders.

Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · Aug 21

Curriculum changes that ignore 80% of adults, a new minister when DCMS already exists, and platform levies (a ‘when pigs fly’) promise

The real issue? We expect the public to be media literate, but we don’t hold the professionals who create and distribute media to any standard.
👉 bit.ly/4p0COS6

On Media Literacy: Building Professional Standards for Public Trust

Disinformation costs $78 bn per year globally and undermines public trust in democratic institutions. Yet current government responses in the UK are failing because they misunderstand the problem.

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · Aug 21

The House of Lords Communications Committee released a sobering report on #medialiteracy painting a picture of a nation in a literacy crisis.

However the recommendations proposed are all over the place

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Reposted by Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana

Sohan Dsouza @sohandsouza.info · Jun 26

🇬🇧🗞🔥🕵️ I wrote a guest post at @lexiekk.bsky.social's Common Ground newsletter, about six character profiles involved in misinformation and manipulation patterns surrounding the UK Southport-spinoff summer riots of 2024, and ideas for systemic-level mitigation measures.
#platforms #OSINT #SOCMINT

How Platform Design Amplified Misinformation in the Southport Attack Aftermath

Sohan Dsouza, open-source intelligence (OSINT) investigator, takes over Common Ground to analyse six key actors who exploited social media to spread false claims that fueled anti-immigrant riots.

lexiekirkconnellkawana.substack.com

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · Jun 20

The question I am exploring in the newsletter: Will governments hold the line on tech regulation, or will lobbying influence win the day?
Subscribe to understand which way the regulatory winds are blowing - and how you can to position yourself and your business 🔗 bit.ly/3G6Xztw

Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · Jun 20

That media awakening gave us Europe's Digital Markets Act, UK's Online Safety Act, and global antitrust cases.
But now some companies are fighting back with record lobbying spending and massive political donations to the current US administration.

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · Jun 20

The turning point in case you missed it: Around 2017-18, tech companies changed their algorithms, slashing traffic to news websites. Publishers who'd been neutral about regulation suddenly became its fiercest advocates.

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · Jun 20

Last week I broke down how Big Tech spent 25 years dodging regulatory scrutiny with a simple playbook and turned a blind eye to illegal behaviour of its users online.

This week's focus is the news publishers who became the catalyst for change.

bit.ly/3G6Xztw

Why Calls for Big Tech Regulation Feel New But Aren't: Part 2

News publishers now ‘fed up’ and concerned about digital market power on commerce and democracy, started regularly investigating tech company practises and raising awareness with the public.

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Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · Jun 12

But here's what's changing: Today's centralised, monopolised internet makes accountability easier. Fewer players, more direct enforcement pathways.

👉 Read the full breakdown on why today's regulatory momentum was inevitable. bit.ly/4n4028U

Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana @lexiekk.bsky.social · Jun 12

The three-step playbook:
→ Hide behind US jurisdiction
→ Use scale to overwhelm enforcement
→ Normalize the unacceptable

Why? The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act became the internet's constitution, shielding platforms from user liability.

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