Archives: Articles

Jair Bolsonaro’s election in October 2018 as president of Brazil marked a major shift in Latin American politics, ending nearly two decades of left-wing governments. On January 1, the far-right populist officially took power and is set to introduce new policies on virtually all fronts. Many of these policies – his plan for the environment, for example – are problematic, especially given Brazil’s status as the world’s eighth largest economy and one of the five most populous nations in the globe. But the deeper and most pressing concerns – both at national and global levels – are arguably the

Donald Trump may well be remembered as the president who cried “fake news.” It started after the inauguration, when he used it to discredit stories about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. He hasn’t let up since, labeling any criticism and negative coverage as “fake.” Just in time for awards season, he rolled out his “ Fake News Awards” and, in true Trumpian fashion, it appears he is convinced that he invented the term. He didn’t. As a rhetorical strategy for eroding trust in the media, the term dates back to the end of the 19th century. Then – as now – the term became shorthand for

On February 4, 2019, Facebook will complete 15 years of existence. The first version of the website was called FaceMash and was set up in November 2003 as an application that let students at Harvard University in the US rate one another based on their “attractiveness”. Two weeks later, the academic community at Harvard was disgusted by what the then 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg had done. He was hauled before the university’s administrative board for using images and information from directories by violating copyright rules, individual privacy and breaching the security of computer systems. He