Curated expert opinion on intractable contemporary issues

Global Outlook: Social Media, Technology and Peacebuilding

Rethinking Digital Platform Design: A Systems Approach

By Lisa Schirch  |  29 May, 2025

In 2025, we stand at a crossroads in the digital era. Our platforms have become the new public squares, but rather than fostering democracy and dignity, many are optimized for manipulation, division, and profit.

How Technology Can Build Trust in the Israeli-Palestinian Context

By Adnan Jaber  |  10 January, 2025

A peacetech ecosystem is emerging in Israel and Palestine to leverage the power of technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), to build bridges between communities and promote peacebuilding efforts.

Religion and AI Ethics for Peace

By Lisa Schirch  |  18 September, 2024

AI offers blessings and burdens that can foster peace and democracy or fuel violence, inequality, polarization, and authoritarianism. Religious ethics have something to offer.

Artificial Intelligence Is a Threat to Society

By Don Byrd  |  23 November, 2023

Many things that AI is being used for now or is likely to be used for soon bother me. Some actually scare me, and I hope they scare you!

Building Tech “Trust and Safety” for a Digital Public Sphere

By Lisa Schirch  |  10 October, 2022

The first annual “Trust and Safety” conferences took place this week in Palo Alto, California. Tech platform staff from Zoom, Meta, TikTok, and DoorDash met together with researchers studying how to reduce the harmful content on social media platforms.

Disinformation: A Growing Threat for Faith-Based Organisations 

By Prithvi Iyer and Zoe Skoric  |  08 August, 2022

From hindering public health efforts to disrupting election cycles, it is clear that disinformation threatens public trust and democratic principles worldwide. Yet, despite disinformation becoming a more prevalent topic within the international community, its impact on the operations and public image of faith-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) remains relatively unexplored. With nearly 60% of U.S.-based foreign assistance organisations being faith-based, it is essential to not only understand the impact of disinformation on these organisations, but also to examine the strategies used to counter disinformation so that it does not adversely impact their humanitarian work.

The views and opinions expressed in Global Outlook are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toda Peace Institute.