Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Taylor Owen

Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social · 15d

This debate isn't just about classrooms, it's about the future of how we think.

Watch season 2 episode 1 here: tinyurl.com/muvw84hu

AI is Upending Higher Education. Is That a Bad Thing? (Niall Ferguson & Connor Grennan)

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

tinyurl.com

1 1

Reposted by Taylor Owen

Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social · 15d

Season 2 of Machines Like Us is out now!

AI has thrown universities into turmoil. This week's episode: should educators embrace AI or ban it outright?

#MachinesLikeUs #Podcast #AI #HigherEd

The Globe and Mail @theglobeandmail.com · 15d

Is AI the learning tool of the future, or should we be worried about its use in higher education?

Many students are already using AI to conduct research, summarize readings and write essays. On Machines Like Us, two experts make their arguments for how post-secondary schools should respond

www.theglobeandmail.com

1 2 4

Reposted by Taylor Owen

Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social · Jun 12

With a new ministerial mandate and growing political momentum, Canada has an opportunity to chart a new course. This final panel looked to the next phase of digital policy – featuring @raisapatel.bsky.social, @taylorowen.bsky.social and Elissa Strome (CIFAR).

Raisa Patel, Federal Politics Reporter, Toronto Star. Photo by Lindsay Ralph.

Taylor Owen, Director, Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy. Photo by Lindsay Ralph.

Elissa Strome, Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy at CIFAR. Photo by Lindsay Ralph.

2 2

Reposted by Taylor Owen

Raisa Patel @raisapatel.bsky.social · Jun 12

Learned a lot at this event from
@mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social. Watch our panel with @taylorowen.bsky.social and CIFAR's Elissa Strome on the future of digital policy and governance here: www.cpac.ca/public-recor...

1 2

Reposted by Taylor Owen

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · Jun 5

I'm just glad one of these men has the nuclear codes and the other has all our personal data.

1.6K 15K 67K

Reposted by Taylor Owen

TVO Today | The Agenda @tvotoday.bsky.social · Apr 24

In a high-stake federal election, accurate campaign information is essential, and the line between what's real and what isn't is blurry. @spaikin.bsky.social asks @taylorowen.bsky.social (@meo-cdmrn.bsky.social @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social) how vulnerable Canadian voters are to disinformation?

Are Canadian Voters Vulnerable to Online Disinformation? | The Agenda

YouTube video by TVO Today

www.youtube.com

2 4 13

Reposted by Taylor Owen

Media Ecosystem Observatory @meo-cdmrn.bsky.social · Apr 24

“How do you separate the signal from the noise,” asks @taylorowen.bsky.social , “when the noise is just a baseline of really bad content?” Our team is tracking when online chaos crosses the line into strategic, manipulative, or malicious: sites.libsyn.com/434604/elect...

The Paul Wells Show: Election week 4: it's a jungle online

How concerned should we be about election interference online? Taylor Owen and his colleagues at the keep a close eye on who's trying to sway our elections, and whether or not they're succeeding. He…

sites.libsyn.com

1 1

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 24

A wide ranging conversation with @spaikin.bsky.social @tvotoday.bsky.social about our work @meo-cdmrn.bsky.social this election: youtu.be/Ipe6udE0eEE?...

youtu.be

1 1 3

Reposted by Taylor Owen

Media Ecosystem Observatory @meo-cdmrn.bsky.social · Apr 23

“News” ≠ journalism anymore. @taylorowen.bsky.social says Canadians are losing their ability to distinguish between reliable reporting and random info online, and it’s reshaping our democracy. The Meta news ban? “Radical.” 11M journalism views a day, gone: share.transistor.fm/s/f862a48d

Taylor Owen from McGill’s Centre for Media, Tech & Democracy | Get Fact by Kevin Newman | Episode 1

A deep dive into how disinformation is evolving—and what it means for Canada’s democracy and elections.

share.transistor.fm

1 1

Reposted by Taylor Owen

Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy @mediatechdemocracy.bsky.social · Apr 16

"We're in a pretty big reset moment with two potential governments that have very different views of what the state's role in governing our digital technologies is," says director
@taylorowen.bsky.social on the Paul Wells Show with @inklesspw.bsky.social. Listen: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/e...

Election week 4: it's a jungle online

Podcast Episode · The Paul Wells Show · 2025-04-16 · 51m

podcasts.apple.com

5 6

Reposted by Taylor Owen

Marie Lamensch @marielamensch.bsky.social · Apr 16

Great to hear @taylorowen.bsky.social on Paul Wells
@inklesspw.bsky.social podcast talking about mis-and disinformation and foreign influence in the Canadian elections. Tune in paulwells.substack.com/p/election-w...

Election week 4: It's a jungle online

Making sense of the online invective-scape. Plus: Continued effort to make sense of Quebec!

paulwells.substack.com

1 2

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 14

I spoke with Kevin Newman about our work
@meo-cdmrn.bsky.social for his new podcast @getfact.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/g...

Taylor Owen from McGill’s Centre for Media, Tech & Democracy

Podcast Episode · Get Fact by Kevin Newman · 2025-04-13 · 31m

podcasts.apple.com

1

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

@markcarneyforpm.bsky.social framed the problem correctly, but now they need to propose the policies to solve it.

3

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

This would enable researchers to use the data provided by platforms and tech companies to help Canadians better understand our always evolving information ecosystem and to hold tech companies accountable for their design, safety and moderation decisions.

1 2

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

Third, in order to address threats to the integrity of our information ecosystem, we need to better understand it. Therefore we should adopt the recommendation of the Hogue Commission to establish an independent arm’s-length national digital observatory.

1 2

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

Building on the widely supported core duties of the online harms act, this could also include data protections, the inclusion of AI chatbots, ad tech policy, and cybersecurity measures.

1 2

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

Second, as Helen Hayes and I argue, previous efforts to protect our digital infrastructures were spread across multiple cumbersome bills. We suggest pulling core components from each into one piece of legislation: The Tech Accountability and Sovereignty Act. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Opinion: How the next government can protect Canada’s information ecosystem

A unified digital governance agenda would help the next prime minister quickly buttress our democracy, which is now under attack from the United States

www.theglobeandmail.com

1 3

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

As has been the case at various points in our history, how we communicate in Canada has again become an issue of national sovereignty. We think this moment demands a dedicated Minister tasked with protecting Canada’s information system and coordinating our digital and communication policies.

1 3

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

First, as @petermacleod.bsky.social and I argue, we need to think of online harms as situated within the context of the sovereignty of our information and communication infrastructure. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

In a changed world, Canada faces an information war. There is an answer

To fight misinformation, we need to re-establish a critical cabinet portfolio for the digital age.

www.thestar.com

1 1 6

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

Here are three things they could do:

1 1

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

What’s more, Carney may have a unique opportunity to reset the digital governance agenda of the previous government and to build an approach purpose-built for the moment we are in.

1 2

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

It includes, risk assessments, mandated transparency, a strong independent regulator, specific rules for tech likely to be used by children, better data privacy, and user empowerment tools and processes.

1 3

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

Luckily, we know what to do. Over years of policy experimentation we have learned from the experiences of the EU, UK and Australia and have a pretty clear idea of the broad tool set required.

1 2

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

The challenge is the solutions he has so far proposed, embedded in a criminal justice based approach, are necessary but insufficient to address it. They rely on limited tools to address a very important subset of problem. But don't address the broader structural issues he is addressing the speech.

1 1

Taylor Owen @taylorowen.bsky.social · Apr 12

And he is right to argue that much of the problem ‘washes in from across our virtual border,’ as we have shown through many studies at the Media Ecosystem Observatory www.meo.ca

The Media Ecosystem Observatory

MEO is an interdisciplinary collaboration between McGill University and the University of Toronto that studies information ecosystem health.

www.meo.ca

1 2