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Amazon’s Alexa will keep you up to date with the UK election
It's general election week, and politicians have only four days left to curry favour before we fill those ballot boxes on June 8th. Between work and everything else, staying on top of the week's developments can be a tall order, so Amazon's tasked Alexa with keeping you informed while you're busy cooking dinner and cleaning up after the kids. You can now bark various commands at your Echo devices (or any other Alexa prison) to catch up on latest news, including "what's the latest with the election/the Conservatives/Theresa May?"
Twitter will livestream five BBC UK election specials
Twitter's attempt to reposition itself as a major video provider has led to a number of important partnerships, but many of them have been US-based, or held at a time where UK users are unable to watch. However, that's all set to change with the upcoming General Election. The BBC announced today that it's linking up with the social network for the first time to share coverage of five major debates that begin on May 31st.
What the Conservative election manifesto means for UK tech
Strong and stable. Strong and stable. Strong and stable. Following Labour and the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative party has put forward its manifesto for the UK general election in June. Many of its 86 pages focus on strong leadership, a strong economy (are you getting the picture?) and the need for a "smooth, orderly" exit from the European Union. A large chunk, however, is also dedicated to science and technology, and how the government would support research, technical training and fledgling startups. In fact, the government considers "fast-changing technology" to be one of five key pillars essential to its success in the next parliament.
Lib Dem election manifesto promises a greener UK
Less than 24 hours after the Labour party, the Liberal Democrats have published their manifesto for the UK's snap election in June. The party, which has long been a third-place contender, is trying to reposition itself as the true opposition to the Conservatives. Labour is in disarray, they argue, and the Liberal Democrats won't consider a coalition government this time. Instead, party leader Tim Farron wants voters to choose an MP that will stick up for their local area, while fighting for a better Brexit deal and championing investment in healthcare and education.
UK turns to Snapchat to boost young voter turnout
The Electoral Commission has partnered with Snapchat to launch a UK-wide geofilter encouraging selfie-swappers to register to vote in the upcoming general election. It's live in the app right now and asks users to "Find your voice!" ahead of the May 22nd registration deadline and actual vote on June 8th. This nationwide geofilter follows a more localised campaign in Scotland last month, which was intended to get youngsters hyped for council elections -- 16 and 17 years old particularly, given it was the first vote they were eligible to participate in.
Labour’s election manifesto: What it means for UK tech
The UK has entered election season, which means it's time for all of the major political parties to cough up their manifestos. Today it was Labour's turn to put forward its proposed vision, which includes better broadband access, more investment in renewable energy and a renewed effort to tackle cybercrime. Most of these ideas are covered in vague, broad strokes — there's a lot to cover in a manifesto, after all — but they're still worth reading and considering, if only to get a general sense of what Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn thinks is most important for the country.
The UK is worried fake news will impact General Election result
UK politicians are worried fake news will have an impact on the outcome of the General Election in June. Speaking with The Guardian, Damian Collins, a Conservative MP and the chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee, has warned that misleading information threatens "the integrity of democracy in Britain." Voters need to be reliably informed, and false reporting could affect their decision at the ballot box. "The risk is what happened in America," he said. "The top 20 fake news stories in the last three months of the election were shared more than the top 20 most shared stories that were true."
Election 'hashflags' are about to invade your Twitter feed
If you hadn't noticed, the upcoming general election is kind of a hot topic in the UK right now, but discussion and debates don't just play out on Question Time. Social media is the perfect place to broadcast your political ramblings, and because you can never have enough emoji, Twitter has today launched a set of "hashflags" to spice up election-centric tweets. In the same way national flags popped up alongside country-code hashtags during the most recent footy World Cup, most political parties now have little icons associated with their preferred hashtags (though they're not showing up in Twitter's Android app currently). Like most things political, you can spin it one of two ways. Either they'll bring a welcome a dash of iconography to tweets, or make your feed a distracting, emoji-ridden nightmare.
Twitter brags that your location data could swing Britain's next election
The UK is 100 days away from one of the most contentious general elections in a generation, but locals shouldn't expect to be visited by a door-to-door campaigner. Instead, Britons that also have a Twitter account are going to find that their social feed has been taken over by political campaigners. In a pitch both to advertisers and politicians, Twitter's Gordon MacMillan boasts that the service's location information is now so precise, it can target voters in individual postcodes. Anyone, therefore, who lives in an area that's likely to decide the fate of the election will find no respite by staring into their smartphone.
