Jonathan Obar
Jonathan Obar, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at York University. He also serves as a Research Fellow with the Quello Center at Michigan State University.
Antitrust and Competition
Social Media Clickwraps and the “Manufacture of Consent”
A new study identifies a political economic interface design strategy that threatens privacy protections by maintaining “the biggest lie on the internet.”
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Academic Capture
Cogs and Monsters: Is Economics Destined to Remain a Dismal Science?
In her bold new book Cogs and Monsters: What Economics Is, and What It Should Be, Cambridge professor Diane Coyle offers a...
Antitrust and Competition
Is there a “California Effect” in Data Privacy Law? Why the EU is Not the World’s Privacy Cop
It is common lore in data privacy law and other fields that stringent regulatory standards (such as the ones introduced in the...
Coronavirus
Governments Were Forced to Restrict Civil Liberties to Deal With Covid-19. More Flexible Constitutions Could Prevent That From Becoming the New Normal
A new paper argues that exploitation of gaps within democratic constitutions during emergencies, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, has the potential to...
Corporate Governance
The Social Responsibility of Business Includes Profits
Profits these days are often seen as a dirty word, but it is wrong to demonize profits. A company’s responsibility is not...
Academic Capture
Academic Gatekeepers, Real and Imagined, Are Threatening the Credibility of the Field of Political Finance
One objective of political finance is to hold power to account. However, gatekeeping, both direct and indirect, is keeping important work from...
Academic Capture
A Call for Comments: Have You Been Affected by Academic Gatekeeping?
On Friday, ProMarket published a piece by Renée Adams about the impact of academic gatekeeping in political finance. Do you have a...
Antitrust and Competition
How Big Data Fuels Big Tech’s Anticompetitive Conduct and Gatekeeping Power
Achieving a truly open internet is only possible through robust online competition free from the control of today’s digital gatekeepers like Facebook...
