rabble.coop news…
Providing evidence and insights for human rights defenders
In August 2024, following anti-immigrant protests and riots in Belfast, the Committee on the Administration of Justice approached rabble.coop to conduct social media monitoring of local accounts promoting anti-immigrant and racist narratives. The study, which monitored social media activity around a series of events up to February 2025 and examined the links between local accounts and far-right accounts in Britain and the south of Ireland, will be launched in Belfast and Derry at the start of May. The Belfast event is closed for registration however there are still places left for the Derry launch. You can download the publication from CAJ’s website following the launch or get in touch with us for further information.
Big Tech news…
Meta monetising the migrant crisis and more
Open Rights Group (ORG) has produced a report “Bad Ads: Targeted disinformation, division and fraud on Meta’s platforms” detailing how Meta profits from advertisements aimed at voter suppression, disinformation, deepfakes and financial fraud, targeting vulnerable communities, far-right propaganda and more. ORG’s Platform Power Manager James Baker said “Meta are turning the migrant crisis into a marketplace, profiting while first criminal gangs then the UK Government target them with adverts. This isn’t just a failure of Meta to moderate content, it’s a feature of their intrusive surveillance capitalism model.”
Government news…
Public sectors decoupling from US technology
France’s Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs and Germany’s Centre for Digital Sovereignty of Public Administration have collaborated to produce Docs - an alternative to Google Docs. Docs is a clear attempt to move away from dependency on US Big Tech services and promote digital sovereignty. The project, which is currently in beta version, is open source and can be hosted by organisations who want to control their own data or – when available – accessed through a provider. The increased push across Europe for digital sovereignty does not appear to have generated the same urgency in Ireland – north or south.
Movement news…
“Genocide is not a game”
The international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement have elevated Microsoft to to a “priority BDS target”, saying that it is “perhaps the most complicit tech company in Israel’s illegal occupation, apartheid regime and ongoing genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.” The BDS movement is calling on people to cancel XBox Game Pass subscriptions and other gaming services and products. rabble.coop is currently working with trade unions and community partners to install Linux systems on laptops and PCs to replace Microsoft Windows. If you would like to know more, get in touch with us.
Free Software: Pick of the Month…
Nextcloud: Regain control over your data
Nextcloud is the primary free software alternative to proprietary cloud providers such as Google Drive and Office 365. With a wide range of app add-ons and features, it stacks up very competitively with the main big tech providers. At rabble.coop, we have Nextcloud accounts with Hetzner, but you can find loads of providers on this list – with helpful information on whether they use green technology.
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