Mozilla’s Responsible Computing Challenge (RCC) joined student groups at San José State University. Mozilla strengthens its commitment to empower students at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and train the next generation of technologists _____ On February 11th and 12th, Mozilla’s Responsible Computing Challenge (RCC) joined student groups at San José State University (SJSU) to get on the ground and build student engagement in the responsible tech ecosystem. RCC emphasized its commitment to the inclusion and empowerment of MSIs and their local communities through two student-led events in ..read more

X’s transparency tools ‘an utter disappointment’ - Apple, TikTok, and LinkedIn not much better None of the ad transparency tools created by 11 of the world's largest tech companies to aid watchdogs in monitoring advertising are operating as effectively as needed, leaving voters worldwide vulnerable to disinformation and manipulation, according to Mozilla and CheckFirst research released today. These tools, mandated by the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), Article 39, would enable researchers to monitor a wide range of issues such as election disinformation by monitoring ad content ..read more

A paper by Mozilla Awardee Esther Mwema and Mozilla Senior Advisor Dr. Abeba Birhane highlights the extractive nature of Alphabet’s Equiano and Meta’s 2Africa undersea cables (ZAMBIA & ETHIOPIA | APRIL 15, 2024) — From monopolizing infrastructure, to appropriating local language, to following the same historical routes of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Meta and Alphabet’s underseas cable projects are using colonialist tactics to exploit Africa on a massive scale according to a new paper by Mozilla Awardee Esther Mwema and Senior Advisor Dr. Abeba Birhane. The paper, titled “Undersea Cabl ..read more

Common Voice is a global community of contributors, dataset users, researchers and interested hobbyists who come together to create text and speech datasets that can power a more inclusive, open and healthier data ecosystem. We wanted to create more space for community participation as we build the future of Common Voice with you. As a part of this, we wanted to share our 2024 goals and roadmap for feedback and discussion with the wider community. This blog post doesn’t detail all the work our tiny team does - for example, we’ll still be fixing bugs, adding new languages, answering support qu ..read more

The SIVIO Institute is a Mozilla IRL Fund Awardee. It has developed a tool to measure the effectiveness of financial inclusion policies aimed at Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) – a critical first step in ensuring the success of smaller businesses. We spoke with Executive Director Tendai Murisa and Project Coordinator Belinda Chaora about how the organization is expanding its work from Zimbabwe to Zambia, Malawi, and Kenya The SIVIO Team, from left: Tendai Murisa, Executive Director; Eddah Jowah, Programs Manager; Belinda Chaora, Coordinator, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Financ ..read more

Buying two T-shirts costs twice as much as one. This is obvious when we see the money leave our wallet. Driving twice the distance will cost you twice the fuel. Also obvious when we look at the gas tank indicator. If everything we do online costs the environment in some way, how much does a Google search cost? How does it compare to the cost of that same search on ChatGPT? As we move through the web — streaming, searching, downloading and more — we leave behind a footprint. Yet the size of that footprint, or even the fact that it exists, feels abstract and hidden away. Our internet carbon foo ..read more

Looking to learn more about or engage with Mozilla Fellows and Awardees around the world? Keep your eye on the Mozilla Foundation blog to stay up-to-date with regular updates about these leaders and their work by reviewing the current and upcoming news and announcements below. AI and internet health News from current fellows and awardees How AI is resurrecting dead Indian politicians as election looms — featuring senior fellow Amber Sinha in AlJazeera African Creativity is the Key to Getting Data (and Innovation) Right on the Continent — featuring senior fellow Kiito Shilongo in Tech Policy ..read more

At the IDE&A Conference in Kerala, India Last month, the Responsible Computing Challenge (RCC) community in India — along with several allies — explored the crucial issue of digital accessibility. On the 19th and 20th of February 2024, the Vathil Foundation and Marian College Kuttikkanam (Autonomous), in partnership with the Responsible Computing Challenge, organized the IDE&A Conference in Kerala, India. The conference’s focus was on "Equitable Digital Access for Persons with Disability," emphasizing the importance of holistic digital approaches that adhere to principles of inclusiv ..read more

Mozilla will support technologists, researchers, activists, and others at the intersection of digital technology and social justice (THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2024) – Today, Mozilla is opening applications for its 2024 Senior Fellowship cohort — a program that empowers change-makers working at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and society. Mozilla is seeking up to 10 experienced technologists, researchers, policy experts, or activists for the cohort. During their two-year tenure, senior fellows will work on independent projects that lay the groundwork for more trustworthy AI. Projec ..read more

Mozilla research found that detection tools aren’t always as reliable as they say. Further, researchers found that large language models like ChatGPT can be successfully prompted to create more ‘human-sounding’ text Introduction As we wrote previously, generative AI presents new threats to the health of our information ecosystem. The major AI players recognize the risks that their services present: OpenAI published a paper on the threat of automated influence operations and their policy prohibits the use of ChatGPT for “political campaigning or lobbying, including generating campaign material ..read more