Joanna Lovatt

When not investigating tech & business misdeeds, I climb rocks to escape existential crises or consume sci fi to dive further into them. @BSRNews alum. She/Her.

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

@tariqahmadbt how did your UN ITU council seat campaign go? I work for @AmnestyGlobal on tech & geopolitical human rights issues, v interested in standard setting & would love to ask you a few questions

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

This is my former role and a fantastic opportunity to work with brilliant minds on cutting edge #bizhumanrights issues - get in touch with me if you'd like to learn more!

[Ranking Digital Rights @rankingrights]

In a new policy, @Reddit removes all programmatic #Ads on their site, moving away from behaviorally targeting consumers using automated, opaque, unaccountable #adtech platforms. Eyes are on other companies if they’ll follow suit in the post-cookie world https://t.co/k4ehpLOEEC

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

This is a great read, bravo. A win against corruption is a win for #bizhumanrights everywhere, and it's always cathartic to see corrupt beneficial ownership arrangements exposed.

[Netra News @NetraNews]

Netra News investigation reveals Bangladesh minister's involvement in securing a $305 million deal with Japanese consortium involving a front company controlled by his own aides and family members. https://t.co/lJHf3sVthN

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

2/2 Every #bizhumanrights assessment I've undertaken on surveillance tech identified this as a severe potential risk. Should I be consoled or terrified that these absolutely-not-hypothetical human rights violations happened so many years ago?https://t.co/jjiNhgLaDx

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

1/2 Quite casually, I picked up a @privacyint @toftdjanegara briefing on #biometricsurveillance, published several months ago. In light of the suffering that's ongoing in Afghanistan right now, the text clipped below was a sobering punch to the gut.

[Justice For Myanmar @JusticeMyanmar]

📣45 orgs around the world incl. Justice For Myanmar wrote to @TelenorGroup, urging they cancel or pause sale of @Telenor_mm to @Najib_Mikati's M1 Group. Telenor must do credible & transparent human rights due diligence & consult w/ civil society. Full 📩👉🏽https://t.co/2ANE5nDa0a

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

@sienaanstis Many #bizhumanrights examples, both related to business transparency & reporting (UNGP 21) & transparency in access to remedy (UNGP 31). @dunstanhope knows and writes a lot about this. We wrote a tech-specific report recently, but unsure if it's public. Will DM some public links.

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

@dunstanhope Do you think it would help if we just tattooed "COLLABORATE" across our foreheads? I kid, but I am running out of ideas (and opportunities) to incentivize this!

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

While at @BSRNews, I spent 3.5 years exploring every nook and cranny of #bizhumanrights product misuse and abuse. My very last publication was a primer on downstream human rights due diligence, co-authored w/ @Linds_Anders. I think it bookends that research chapter quite nicely.

[BSR @BSRnews]

Business plays a key role in respecting #humanrights. Explore our primer on how companies can respect human rights through downstream HRDD of products and services: https://t.co/Agip5stYwa #UNGPs10plus

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

@Diagnostiics I don't understand the intent of your statement - can you rephrase?

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

Important coverage on the responsibilities of investors to step up on human rights by @FinancialTimes's @journofletcher: https://t.co/3u2t4SmrsW

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

With Apple's track record in this area, the announcement of its child sexual abuse detection system does concern me a bit: https://t.co/FZ4hiDq7dh

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

I'm reminded of Apple's 2019 shareholder resolution on human rights, which followed the company's decision to remove a pro-democracy protest app from its App store in response to a law enforcement request: https://t.co/VHgxhNaSxN

[Dunstan @dunstanhope]

This is why we need a human rights strategy in tech that takes a systems approach, rather than a narrow company-by-company approach, and address root causes of problems collaboratively

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

Germany may soon enforce DNS geo-blocks against a number of porn websites, citing child protection concerns. I am fervently pro-free speech and pro-civil and political rights, but I think Germany does a good job of balancing appropriate speech limitations:
https://t.co/SgLJpiN8ec

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

@Linds_Anders @dunstanhope It's hilarious, I definitely recommend it!

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

Contemporary comparisons to Orwell's #1984book have been done to death, but I'm enamoured with Fido Nesti's @penguinbooks 2021 graphic novel and think everyone should buy and treasure a copy. It's the first ever graphic novel retelling of the story: https://t.co/iKRbMjdPHA

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

@dunstanhope @Linds_Anders Actually, although it is pop culture fluff and super pulpy, Ready Player One plays with the same themes. As does Wall-E and The Mitchells vs. The Machines (both amazing movies). Definitely deserves a commentary at some point!

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

My dear former colleagues @BSRnews recently published a #bizandhumanrights assessment of @GIFCT_Official. They all have incredible brains, and tech and terrorism is an incredibly important topic, so go read it!

[Dunstan @dunstanhope]

Key notion in the UNGPs is that human rights should be "embedded" across organizations. Pleasing to hear at #GIFCTGlobalSummit21 today how @BSRnews human rights assessment of GIFCT is informing different
work steams. #bizhumanrights Assessment is here: https://t.co/8zYY71bQof

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

I think about the future of our internet a lot: the firewalls and legal borders are closing in. I enjoyed @pnhoward's 2020 Lie Machines as a non-fiction prologue to the fictional autonomous AI that destroy the open internet in #Cyberpunk2077: https://t.co/RgupKmOBIB

[Joanna Lovatt @jlovattwrites]

One detail I love about #Cyberpunk2077 is the speculation that future AI & cyber-warfare forces the world to close the internet and resort to manually transferring news and information across borders into local INTRANETS. NB: Not a spoiler & this is my own in-game screenshot.