Sexism and oppression are tied to culture, which in turn impacts the tech industry, tech design and deployment. To talk about the relationship between the patriarchy, women in tech, and how to fight back, I talked with Mia Shah-Dand, founder of Women in AI ethics and creator of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics. In this episode, Mia talks about her personal story and upbringing, what women have to put up with when they work in tech, gender based violence enabled by technologies, diversity in tech, and how to fight back to reclaim space.

What does it take for Big Tech to exist? Who does it take? What knowledge do we value and amplify in AI systems? In this episode, Laurence Meyer, Racial and Social Justice Lead at the Digital Freedom Fund and co-director at Weaving Liberation teaches us about the importance of decolonization, questioning the system, and how to do it. Our guest unpacks the narratives surrounding technology and AI, and she brings us on a hell of a ride to understand the relationship between tech, digital rights, data colonialism, colonization, and post-colonial culture. Check out weavingliberation.org

The Digital Services Act was recently passed in the European Union, and I wondered how did this piece of regulation related to climate change and how did it impact online activism? In this episode, Rachel Griffin, PhD candidate and lecturer in law at Sciences Po Paris, talks about the intersections between platform regulation and digital justice, the impacts of tech on the environment, shadow banning, and more. Check out Rachel’s policy brief on environmental risks in the DSA: https://www.hertie-school.org/en/news/detail/content/climate-breakdown-as-a-systemic-risk-in-the-digital-services-act

Did you know that encryption could save lives? In this episode, Elina Eickstaedt, spokesperson at the Chaos Computer Club, answers my questions with no BS about privacy, surveillance, German and European tech policies and their impacts, surveillance capitalism, and explains why tech solutionism is not the magical answer to all of our problems.

Remember when Clearview AI got fined 20 million euros by the Hellenic Data Protection Authority for its intrusive Facial Recognition & data collection practices? Yeah, that wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible work of the non-profit Homo Digitalis. In this episode, Lamprini Gyftokosta, Director of Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights at Homo Digitalis, talks about mass surveillance in Greece, digital rights, and the three pillars of Homo Digitalis: raising awareness, advocacy, and litigation. PS: do NOT accept cookies!

What is the relationship between content moderation, social media organizing, censorship and the online space? How is one of our fundamental human rights, free speech, protected or not in the online space? In this episode, Eliška Pírková, Senior Policy Analyst and Global freedom of expression lead at Access Now, gives us expert insight on the topic.

Welcome to the CPDP special series: Governance and the voice of the people, dedicated to the intersection of activism & tech governance.

In this highly informative episode, poet & organizer Tawana Petty talks about her data justice centered work, how she empowers her community to think about alternative systems that are not hyper surveilled and rather create a sense of community through her non-profit Petty Propolis, how facial recognition impacts marginalized communities, and much more. These are tough topics as always, but Tawana really made it a feel-good episode full of hope thanks to her energy.