skeptechs

This week Josh and Nayana discuss attempts in the US to break up Facebook parent company Meta—while the company files new patents for the collection of sensitive personal data in the 'metaverse'. Then they turn to Nigeria, where the government has just agreed to allow Twitter to return to the country.

It's a new year and a new season of Skeptechs, as Josh and Nayana return to cover the latest news in tech. This time, they discuss the suspension of a US politician from social media, unacceptable working conditions at an iPhone assembly plant in India, and a new cooperative which reimagines the relationship between people and their data.

It's been two years since the show first launched! Josh and Nayana briefly reminisce on the story so far, before looking ahead to another year of big stories in tech, such as the "metafication" of big tech platforms, the rise of unionised tech work, and the persistence of TikTok. Thanks for listening!

This week Josh and Nayana are back to (briefly) discuss Facebook's name change before turning to two areas of the world where its policies are having an impact: India, in the context of anti-Muslim hate speech, and Nicaragua, in the context of election disinformation. Then they turn to Wikipedia and ongoing "edit wars" between rival narratives about Chinese politics.

Josh and Nayana are back with another episode recorded in-person, this time to discuss Facebook's rumoured rebrand, the use of facial recognition in school canteens, and Microsoft's decision to shut down LinkedIn in China.

Josh and Nayana are back with the first episode recorded in-person in eighteen months — with guests! Fellow PhD students Julia Słupska (@jayslups) and Charlie Smith (@charliehrysmith) join the show to discuss the mass outage of Facebook's systems and the revelations from whistleblower Frances Haugen about the ongoing challenges facing the company.