The European Union is at it again, with regulations that not only threaten the privacy rights of Europeans but also set a dangerous global precedent due to the Brussels effect. On 9 July 2026, the European Parliament managed to extend “Chat Control 1.0,” a major exemption to European privacy laws that allows platforms to voluntarily scan private chats, despite the majority of MEPs voting against it. 

Lebanon is on the verge of creating a Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Technology. The government has been pushing to advance the draft law quickly, but Parliament just decided to slow things down, referring the proposal to joint parliamentary committees for deeper review. 
We think that’s the right call, and we want to explain why.

Lebanon’s digital landscape has grown more volatile with every year of crisis. Financial collapse, a rise of disinformation, the spread of hate speech, and the ongoing pressures of instability have all left their mark on how people in Lebanon experience the internet. Several cases of disinformation have been documented by SMEX’s digital safety Helpdesk, highlighting the escalating online threats and increase in hate speech.

Generative AI is Taking Over Everyday Life in Switzerland: From Experimentation to Regular Use

New publications on techno-religion, human augmentation technologies, internet use in Switzerland

“Artificial Intelligence” in Switzerland 2024: Rapid Diffusion and Increasing Digital Inequality

Daniela Jaramillo-Dent wins Best Seminar Award for outstanding teaching

Vortragsreihe: Wie Digitalisierung und Künstliche Intelligenz unsere Gesellschaft verändern

Michael Reiss successfully defended his cumulative dissertation  

New publications on Transhumanist Anthropocene, Content Creators and Chilling Effects

Two Awards at SACM 2025 for the Media Change and Innovation Division

Internet Use as Everyday Religion on the Rise, Cyborgization Still in its Early Stages

Kiran Kappeler successfully defended her dissertation

SkyCommons Observatory released, protecting our BrainCommons, a responsible AI chatbot, shared learnings at UN Big Data, preparing for the Open Technology Symposium, and more.
The post New frontiers for open knowledge – OKFN Newsletter July 2026 first appeared on Open Knowledge Blog.

After reading about, experiencing and analysing the current technical and regulatory landscape of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), and speaking with technologists, policy makers, legal scholars, and data experts, we encapsulated our learnings into eight recommendations for how to shape the ‘tech we want’ for our brain commons. Share your feedback with us here.  1. Understand the...

Governments around the world are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve policymaking. But when and how they should be used has become the subject of much debate.
Recently, the matter came to the fore when South Africa’s draft national artificial intelligence (AI) policy had to be withdrawn after it was found that the reference list included fictitious sources.

Imagine describing access to government data as a ‘boda boda’ (public transportation) ride. 

That exercise kicked off “Sandboxing the future: experimentation for inclusive data systems,” a session organized by the Datasphere Initiative and GPSDD at the Global Data Festival in Nairobi. This 90-minute co-creation lab convened policymakers, civil society, and researchers to examine operational sandboxes as controlled, collaborative environments for testing technical standards, governance frameworks, and data access agreements.

Leishmanien sind einzellige Krankheitserreger, die in den Tropen und Subtropen, aber auch in den Ländern rund ums Mittelmeer vorkommen. Durch den Stich von Sandmücken können sie auf Menschen, aber auch auf Hunde und andere Tiere übertragen werden. Manche Leishmanien verursachen an der Einstichstelle Hautgeschwüre, andere befallen hauptsächlich Leber und Milz, was unbehandelt in mehr als 95 Prozent der Fälle tödlich endet.
Warum manche dieser Parasiten lokal begrenzt bleiben und andere sich im Körper ausbreiten, ist eine der ungelösten Fragen der Infektionsbiologie.

By Elonnai Hickok, Jhalak Kakkar, and Jason Pielemeier, Multistakeholder Approaches to Participation in AI Governance – MAP-AI I. Assessing the UN’s First Steps on AI Governance The inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance (UNGDAI) took place on July 6–7, 2026, in Geneva. Mandated by the Global Digital Compact, the UNGDAI brought together over 2,000 regional […]