Developing a cutting-edge data-driven methodology for identifying early signals of new trends & technologies. |
Mapping the ecosystems & networks surrounding these key topics, evaluating their social, legal, technological, ethical & economic contexts. |
Creating a value-driven vision for what the future internet could and should look like, involving a wide variety of voices across Europe. |
The spread of fake news, misinformation and the decline of trust in reliable sources create a profound challenge for the functioning of democracies and societies. While regulating platforms or implementing advanced topic filtering algorithms are among possible solutions, bringing back trust to written words may be far more complicated.
Blockchain has been long regarded as a transformative technology with large disruptive potential. Blockchain technologies may play a central role in the future of social media, financial services and in other intermediation services. As of today, the most widespread implementation of blockchain is related to cryptocurrencies. As an emerging technology, blockchain raises pressing regulatory issues.
Much has changed for online privacy in recent years. GDPR was a landmark for personal data protection in the EU and beyond, and the debate is now largely about how to regulate online platforms, not whether regulation is required. However, online privacy is not only threatened by the business models of tech giants, but also by applications like Pegasus and other non-transparent practices of foreign and national agencies.
Climate change remains humanity’s top challenge, with great impact on technological and social development. Besides already available consumer products, emerging technologies such as AI and quantum computing may play a significant role in reducing the harmful effects of global warming. However, the content crisis on social media divides society by popularising fake news. Therefore, Internet services play a greater role in the fight against climate change that is beyond the carbon footprint of using them. Reducing the spread of fake news and propaganda will be key to build a global consensus in the necessity to take more significant steps.
Cyberviolence in many shapes and forms is a growing concern, and it has a significant impact on an increasing number of people, LGBTQ+, ethnic minorities, women and children in particular. It will be vital for a more human-centric Internet to build safe online environments. For this to happen, a range of issues needs to be taken into consideration, including the role of social media providers and the protection of free expression. Big tech increasingly uses algorithms to combat the spread of discrimination, hate speech, online extremism and child exploitation. In the 2019 alone, Facebook claims to have flagged almost 20M hate speech posts using AI systems before they were reported by users. However, the efficiency of such solutions remains questionable.
The state of public debate is heavily influenced by social media, the spread of fake news and conspiracy theories. Since the Russian interference scandal in the US elections, and the Cambridge Analytica campaign during the Brexit referendum, there are increasing warning signs that elections can be manipulated through social media.
The digital transformation has a profound impact on the economy. Platformisation changed the market dynamics, facilitating the development of giant companies. Competition policy became highly relevant not only in the case of existing services (e.g. social media), but also for emerging technologies, such as cryptocurrencies or 5G. While the US has been less active in regulating market competition, e.g. in the case of Facebook acquisition of rival Instagram and Whatsapp, the EU is leading the discussion on ensuring competition in the Digital Single Market.
The fast development of artificial intelligence algorithms and their increased use in facial recognition and autonomous weapons are among the most important identified trends. The use of facial recognition by companies, governments, law enforcement and the military has been in the centre of heated debates. Recent examples, such as Google's censored search engine developed for the Chinese market ('Project Dragonfly'), instances of algorithmic bias in criminal cases, racially targeted ads and “differential” pricing, and the use of Facebook data for voter manipulation, all raise serious concerns. Further research is needed in order to develop targeted ethical frameworks for the development and implementation of new technologies.
Most positive | Most negative |
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hyperledger fabric | venezuela |
supply chain | shutdown |
decentralised | ecb |
consent | protest |
digital identity | sanctions |
Most positive | Most negative |
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coinbase | political ads |
fiat currency | political parties |
stablecoins | misinformation |
calibra | president donald |
central bankers | ftc |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
heat pumps | geoengineering |
autonomy | climate emergency |
plantbased | extinction |
solar wind | protest |
electric vehicles | democracy |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
electric vehicles | deep fakes |
ai | conspiracy |
bezos | wildfires |
qubits | vaccine |
supply chain | heatwave |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
ikea | infowars |
sonos | conspiracy |
qubits | tvcs |
smart speaker | content moderation |
decentralised | political ads |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
libra association | modem chips |
duckduckgo | discriminatory |
cryptocurrency | €2.4bn |
section 230 | protest |
fortnite | clegg |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
blockchainbased | christchurch |
5g | deepfakes |
gdpr | juul |
facial recognition | terrorist content |
tiktok | surveillance capitalism |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
strayer | huawei cfo |
gavin | us sanctions |
5g deployment | skycom |
ban huawei | extradition |
blanket ban | iran |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
climate change | myanmar |
migration | farright |
bernerslee | free expression |
gdpr | conspiracy theories |
big tech | chinese government |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
media literacy | aiq |
factual information | authoritarian regimes |
coordinated disinformation | conspiracy theories |
democratic process | lgbtq |
election interference | mueller |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
jonathan zittrain | maza |
gdpr | homophobic |
bernerslee | robinson |
consent | rohingya |
factchecking | 8chan |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
yuval noah | weapons systems |
supply chain | rohingya |
gdpr | nso group |
5g | pegasus |
tech giants | khashoggi |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
finance minister | misconduct |
le maire | antifascist |
pelosi | racial profiling |
avaaz | deepfakes |
propublica | infowars |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
openai | lethal autonomous |
democracy | weapons systems |
defense infrastructure | human oversight |
dod | ban |
jedi contract | amazon rekognition |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
byton | afr |
thinkpad | uighurs |
voice assistant | metropolitan police |
zoom | cardiff |
ml | hikvision |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
ai | goncharov |
facial recognition | bias |
ethics | tiktok |
ftc | chinese |
consent | ban |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
ccpa | whois |
voice assistant | marriott |
face recognition | tiktok |
data portability | disinformation |
mozilla | irish data |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
trustworthy | nationalist |
recognition | graphic violence |
gdpr | hateful content |
midterm elections | selfharm |
warren | antisemitic |
Most positive | Most negative |
---|---|
cryptocurrency | espionage |
european elections | infowars |
5g | alex jones |
libra | president trump |
gdpr | conspiracy theories |