Censorship

Posted by Keren Wang, FA 2024 In this session, we aim to achieve several key learning objectives: Understand the fundamental principles of framing and visual rhetoric, exploring how they shape the design and interpretation of data visualizations. Examine the art of designing and manipulating graphic systems of signs that disclose or conceal specific quantitative or qualitative information. Identify common types of data visualizations, such as bar charts, pie charts, line graphs, and network graphs, along with their appropriate applications. Recognize the advantages and potential misuses of data visualizations, including manipulative techniques like framing and scaling distortions. Critically analyze real and hypothetical examples to detect misleading or biased visual representations. Develop best practices for creating clear, honest, and effective data visualizations, ensuring accuracy and ethical integrity. Photography and Visual Rhetoric To truly grasp the fundamental principles and perils of data visualization, we must journey back to the birth of photography and photojournalism. When photography was first employed in news reporting, it carried an inherent demand for credibility. Unlike paintings or sketches, photographs were perceived as unfiltered, unmediated representations of reality. Ironically, as our discussion will reveal, even from its inception, photojournalism was subject to rhetorical manipulation. ...

Demystifying The Chinese Social Credit System - Presentation for the Symposium on China’s Data Governance and its Impact on US-China Relations, hosted by the Carter Center China Focus Introduction: There is nothing new about public authorities using collected numerical info as a governing technology. Census has been a central governance tool throughout Ancient Rome and Imperial China. In fact, the need for keeping taxation records was a key historical exigence driving the invention of many earliest writing systems. Throughout human history, public authorities have relied on collected numerical data as a tool for governance. This was evident with the census in Ancient Rome and Imperial China, where early writing systems were developed primarily for taxation records. The digitization of data and advancements in data science have revolutionized governance-by-data, making it continuously updated and more encompassing. The Chinese Social Credit System (SCS) is a testament to this evolution. Despite its significance, the SCS remains misunderstood, especially outside the Global North. Today, I aim to provide clarity on this topic, considering its implications on human rights and rule of law both within and beyond China, and shedding light on US-China relations. This talk will bring together relevant historical, rhetorical, socio-cultural and legal contexts to unpack the emergent structures of the Chinese social credit system and data governance experiments. By catalyzing greater open dialogue and critical inquiry on this thorny topic, this lecture seeks to advance the vision of The Carter Center and contribute to a deeper understanding of the past, present, and future of US-China relations. ...