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Technology

The technology police are using to target minorities

Surveillance state — FoIs obtained by Huck reveal a sharp increase in police fingerprint scanners, with Black and minority ethnic communities more likely to be scanned than their white counterparts.

  • Activism
  • Jack Barton

Disabled benefits claimants are being unfairly investigated

Cruel system — The government is using an algorithm forcing people into gruelling and invasive benefit fraud investigations. Now, disabled people who claim they have been unfairly targeted are mounting a fight back.

  • Activism
  • Anna Dent

The young people plunged into debt by borrowing apps

‘It put me in a dark place‘ — With young people bearing the brunt of economic precarity, many are now turning to cash advance apps to get by.

  • Activism
  • Chloé Meley

TikTokers are using secret hashtags to discuss self-harm

Under the radar — The hashtag #selfharm is censored on TikTok, but that hasn’t stopped users from speaking out about their experiences. While the platform needs to do more to keep young people safe from triggering content, experts stress that the problem runs much deeper than social media.

  • Activism
  • Serena Smith

The dystopian megacities of anime architecture

Brave new world — A new book celebrating the creative process behind Japan's animated cityscapes offers both architectural escapism and bold imaginings of a near future.

  • Culture
  • Gunseli Yalcinkaya

The young hackers transforming rural China

Blockchain Chicken Farm — In their new book, author and technologist Xiaowei Wang meets the residents of a place often left out of Silicon Valley narratives who are building their own high-tech future.

  • Culture
  • Josh Gabert-Doyon

A guide to unplugging from capitalism (for sanity's sake)

Doing nothing, finding everything — Technology’s grip on our attention span is grinding us down, sapping us of life. But artist and writer Jenny Odell has come up with a manifesto for opting out: a mindset where slowing down is the only way to survive.

  • Magazine
  • Jenny Odell

The creators of Black Mirror want you to stop worrying

Future shock — As creators of the dystopian series Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones have mastered the art of depicting society at its most anxiety-inducing. But when it comes to the future, the pair aren’t ready to panic just yet.

  • Magazine
  • Daniel Dylan Wray

Is the internet leading us into a 21st century dark age?

New Romantics — Social media platforms keep guzzling our most personal data, with the promise it will be saved forever – but what if it was all lost?

  • Tech
  • Emily Reynolds

The tech industry has a serious sustainability problem

And it’s going unchecked — While consumers have forced the fashion industry to start confronting its ethical and environmental shortcomings in recent years, the tech world remains unchecked. Why?

  • Tech
  • Kat George

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