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	Accountability for harms arising from algorithmic systems by Amnesty International   Dec. 2025   With the widespread use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making systems (ADMs) that impact our everyday lives, it is crucial that rights defenders, activists and communities are equipped to shed light on the serious implications these systems have on our human rights, Amnesty International said ahead of the launch of its Algorithmic Accountability toolkit.   The toolkit draws on Amnesty International’s investigations, campaigns, media and advocacy in Denmark, Sweden, Serbia, France, India, United Kingdom, Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the United States and the Netherlands. It provides a ‘how to’ guide for investigating, uncovering and seeking accountability for harms arising from algorithmic systems that are becoming increasingly embedded in our everyday lives specifically in the public sector realms of welfare, policing, healthcare, and education.   Regardless of the jurisdiction in which these technologies are deployed, a common outcome from their rollout is not “efficiency” or “improving” societies—as many government officials and corporations claim—but rather bias, exclusion and human rights abuses.   “The toolkit is designed for anyone looking to investigate or challenge the use of algorithmic and AI systems in the public sector, including civil society organizations (CSOs), journalists, impacted people or community organizations. It is designed to be adaptable and versatile to multiple settings and contexts.   “Building our collective power to investigate and seek accountability for harmful AI systems is crucial to challenging abusive practices by states and companies and meeting this current moment of supercharged investments in AI. Given how these systems can enable mass surveillance, undermine our right to social protection, restrict our freedom to peaceful protest and perpetuate exclusion, discrimination and bias across society,” said Damini Satija, Programme Director at Amnesty Tech.   The toolkit introduces a multi-pronged approach based on the learnings of Amnesty International’s investigations in this area over the last three years, as well as learnings from collaborations with key partners. This approach not only provides tools and practical templates to research these opaque systems and their resulting human rights violations, but it also lays out comprehensive tactics for those working to end these abusive systems by seeking change and accountability via campaigning, strategic communications, advocacy or strategic litigation.   One of the many case studies the toolkit draws on is Amnesty International’s investigation into Denmark’s welfare system, exposing how the Danish welfare authority Udbetaling Danmark (UDK)’s AI-powered welfare system fuels mass surveillance and risks discriminating against people with disabilities, low-income individuals, migrants, refugees, and marginalized racial groups through its use of AI tools to flag individuals for social benefits fraud investigations.   The investigation could not have been possible without the collaboration with impacted communities, journalists and local civil society organisations and in that spirit, the toolkit is premised on deep collaboration between different disciplinary groups.   The toolkit situates human rights law as a critically valuable component of algorithmic accountability work, especially given this is a gap in the ethical and responsible AI fields and audit methods’.   Amnesty International’s method ultimately emphasises collaborative work, while harnessing the collective influence of a multi-method approach. Communities and their agency to drive accountability remains at the heart of the process.   “This issue is even more urgent today, given rampant unchecked claims and experimentation around the supposed benefits of using AI in public service delivery. State actors are backing enormous investments in AI development and infrastructure and giving corporations a free hand to pursue their lucrative interests, regardless of the human rights impacts now and further down the line,” said Damini Satija.   “Through this toolkit, we aim to democratize knowledge and enable civil society organizations, investigators, journalists, and impacted individuals to uncover these systems and the industries that produce them, demand accountability, and bring an end to the abuses enabled by these technologies.”   http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2025/12/algorithmic-accountability-toolkit/ http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/12/global-amnesty-international-launches-an-algorithmic-accountability-toolkit-to-enable-investigators-rights-defenders-and-activists-to-hold-powerfu/ http://www.citizen.org/news/trump-grants-his-greedy-big-tech-buddies-christmas-wish-with-dangerous-ai-preemption-eo/ http://www.citizen.org/news/bipartisan-group-of-state-lawmakers-condemn-federal-ai-preemption-efforts/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2025/12/16/trump-administration-takes-aim-at-ai-accountability-laws http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/civicspace/resources/brief-data-privacy-ai-report-rev.pdf http://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/technology/ai-slop-sora-social-media.html http://pwd.org.au/disability-representative-organisations-call-for-transparency-on-computer-generated-ndis-plans/ http://www.acoss.org.au/media_release/acoss-statement-on-the-robodebt-settlement/ Visit the related web page
	Fifa 2026 World Cup ticket pricing, privacy rights, ethics breaches outrage soccer fans by Guardian News, FairSquare, FSE, news agencies   Dec. 2025   Fifa urged to halt World Cup ticket sales after ‘monumental betrayal’ of fans.   Fifa, (Federation Internationale de Football Association) the global governing body for soccer has been accused of a ­“monumental betrayal” by fan ­representatives after it emerged that the cheapest tickets for next summer’s World Cup final will cost more than $4,000 US Dollars.   Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which represents fans across the ­continent, described the prices as “extortionate” and called for an immediate halt to ticket sales after a day when England fans ­discovered that tickets to follow their team through the tournament could cost up to $16,590 (£12,375) in the top categories.   Clarity came from the Croatian football federation publishing prices in its participant member association (PMA) allocation, which is designed to be made available to fans who attend the most matches and means that tickets are sold at fixed prices rather than distributed via the ­controversial dynamic ­pricing system.   The Croatian federation listed the cheapest tickets for the final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 19 July at $4,185 (£3,120).   The prices drew a furious reaction from FSE, which said the minimum the most dedicated fans can expect to pay to watch their team from the first match to the final would be $6,900 (£5,137.74) – five times more than it would have cost to do so when the World Cup was held in Qatar in 2022.   That figure could more than double once costs such as flights and accommodation are factored into attending a tournament held in Canada, Mexico and the US.   FSE said: “Football ­Supporters Europe is astonished by the ­extortionate ticket prices imposed by Fifa on the most dedicated ­supporters for next year’s Fifa World Cup. This is a monumental betrayal of the ­tradition of the World Cup, ­ignoring the contribution of ­supporters to the spectacle it is.   “We call on Fifa to immediately halt PMA ticket sales, engage in a consultation with all impacted parties, and review ticket prices and category ­distribution until a solution that respects the tradition, universality, and cultural significance of the World Cup is found.   Members of England ­Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) were also ­astonished to hear of the prices from the Football Association on Thursday. The cheapest tickets for England’s opening match, against Croatia in Dallas, will cost $265 (£195) and are priced at a minimum of $220 (£165).   FSE’s outrage was shared by the England supporters group Free Lions, which said: “This can’t be allowed to happen. Match-goers across the world deserve protection from these rip-off prices.”   The Associted Press reported "a list published by the German soccer federation revealed prices ranged from $180-$700 for varying group stage games. The lowest price for the final was $4,185 and the highest was $8,680.   Those group-stage prices are very different from FIFA’s claims of $60 tickets being available, while the target from United States soccer officials when bidding for the tournament seven years ago was to offer hundreds of thousands of $21 seats across the opening phase of games".   Fans also discovered earlier this week that tourists to the US face ­having to reveal their social media activity from the last five years, under new plans from President Donald Trump’s administration.   http://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/dec/11/world-cup-2026-ticket-prices-fifa http://www.fanseurope.org/news/statement-historically-high-world-cup-ticket-prices-fse-calls-for-immediate-halt-to-ticket-sales/   Trump plan for World Cup tourists to reveal social media activity described as ‘chilling’. (Guardian News)   A plan to require supporters travelling to the United States for the World Cup to disclose information about their social media accounts has been described as “profoundly unacceptable”.   Tourists from 42 countries, including the UK, which use the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (Esta) as part of the visa waiver programme would be obliged to provide information about accounts they have held in the last five years in their applications. Previously it had been optional to provide the information.   Ronan Evain, the executive director of Football Supporters Europe, said: “The US government’s announced plans are profoundly unacceptable. Freedom of expression and the right to privacy are universal human rights. No football fan surrenders those rights just because they cross a border.   “This policy introduces a chilling atmosphere of surveillance that directly contradicts the welcoming, open spirit the World Cup is meant to embody and it must be withdrawn immediately.”   Human rights organizations have warned that Fifa risks becoming “a public relations tool of an increasingly authoritarian US government”. With cross-border travel between Mexico and the US increasingly fraught, the Sport and Rights Alliance has demanded Fifa ensure protection against “racial profiling, arbitrary detention, and unlawful immigration enforcement”, both of local communities and of visiting fans during the tournament.   The free speech advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Fire) condemned the new tourism requirement.   “Those who hope to experience the wonders of the United States – from Yellowstone to Disneyland to Independence Hall – should not have to fear that self-censorship is a condition of entry,” said Sarah McLaughlin of Fire.   “Requiring temporary visitors here for a vacation or business to surrender five years of their social media to the US will send the message that the American commitment to free speech is pretense, not practice. This is not the behavior of a country confident in its freedoms.”   The checks will be carried out when a traveller applies for their Esta and “will require Esta applicants to provide their social media from the last five years” as well as “telephone numbers used in the last five years” and “email addresses used in the last 10 years”, government documents show.   “The seriousness of this move should not be downplayed,” said Jemimah Steinfeld, the chief executive of Index on Censorship in London. “Through a simple search any posts critical of Trump and his administration could be revealed and then what? Will admission to the USA be predicated on being nice about the president? That would be censorship pure and simple and the result will extend far beyond as people start to self-censor to keep the door to the USA open to them.”   Amnesty International UK called the plan “wildly out of proportion to any legitimate border need”.   “This moment shows how ‘slippery slopes’ on human rights suddenly become cliffs. Years of unchecked data-trawling at borders have led us here,” said Javier Ruiz Diaz, the group’s technology and human rights lead.   The Big Brother Watch campaign group called the plan “the latest evidence of the Trump administration’s enthusiasm for shredding civil liberties in the name of border control and national security”.   “The US government would each year have access to millions of years’ worth of social media content, the vast majority of which includes speech that is legal in the United States,” said Matthew Feeney, the group’s advocacy manager. “This would encourage millions of law-abiding people, including many American citizens, to self-censor criticism of the US government. So much for the Trump administration’s commitment to free speech.”   The border measures were “a dramatic overreach and breach of fundamental rights,” said the German MEP Birgit Sippel, a member of the European Parliament’s committee on civil Liberties, justice and home affairs.   Minky Worden, the director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said the new entry requirements were “an outrageous demand that violates fundamental free speech and free expression rights”, according to Politico.   FairSquare files ethics complaint over FIFA President’s repeated breaches of political neutrality rules   FairSquare has this week filed a complaint against the FIFA President Gianni Infantino with FIFA’s Ethics Committee. The complaint alleges repeated breaches of the obligation in FIFA’s Code of Ethics (FCE), which requires football officials to remain politically neutral.   The FairSquare complaint, filed with the Investigatory Chamber to the Ethics Committee on 8 December 2025, addresses four instances in which Mr Infantino expressed his public support for the actions and policies of the US President, Donald Trump. It also requests that the Ethics Committee investigate Mr Infantino’s role in the decision to introduce a FIFA Peace Prize, the decision to award it to President Trump on 5 December, and the conformity of these processes with FIFA’s procedural rules.   Nicholas McGeehan, FairSquare’s programme director, said:   “This complaint is about a lot more than Infantino’s support for President Donald Trump’s political agenda. More broadly, this is about how FIFA’s absurd governance structure has allowed Gianni Infantino to openly flout the organisation’s rules and act in ways that are both dangerous and directly contrary to the interests of the world’s most popular sport.”   In view of the fact that the complaint pertains to issues that are squarely in the public interest and is based entirely on information in the public domain, FairSquare has decided to make the complaint public.   http://fairsq.org/fifa-ethics-complaint/ http://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6873068/2025/12/09/fifa-infantino-trump-peace-prize-complaint/ http://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6784737/2025/11/06/infantino-fifa-statues-donald-trump/ http://www.euronews.com/2025/12/09/peace-prize-for-trump-triggers-complaint-about-infantino-to-fifa-ethics-investigators http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/12/global-fifa-needs-to-act-on-human-rights/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2025/12/03/world-cup-2026-fifa-needs-to-act-on-human-rights http://sportandrightsalliance.org/us-fifa-cancels-anti-bias-messaging-for-club-world-cup/ Visit the related web page
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