In this week’s digest, police are crowdsourcing investigations and computers are diagnosing eye problems

Computer says yes: how tech is a force for good

Pity the poor tech billionaires. It’s a solid industry if you want to make obscene profits (Google racked up more than $1,000 a second in the last three months of 2018), but these days it’s a poor way to make friends.

Big Tech has become as unpopular as a Brexiter in Brussels, as multiple issues pile up – from data privacy to fake news, election meddling and obnoxious content. But technology is still a formidable force for good, as Upside reporters pointed out this week.

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Example one: Senay Boztas, in Amsterdam, reported on how European police are using technology and the wisdom of crowds to identify potential crime scenes from images retrieved from the darkest corners of the web. More than 20,000 tipoffs have resulted.

Example two: Kamala Thiagarajan wrote about how computers are now able to diagnose a serious eye condition because an algorithm has analysed thousands of previous cases and can recognise symptoms from images.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Eyeball to eyeball. Photograph: Kamala Thiagarajan

And finally, a sliver of good news from Big Tech itself, as two companies took action to clean up toxic content on their platforms. WhatsApp said it was deleting 2m accounts each month to stop fake news spreading. Instagram said it would move to ban graphic self-harm content amid a furore in Britain over whether such images are exacerbating the distress of young people.

Instagram’s Adam Mosseri said: “We are not where we need to be on self-harm and suicide, and we need to do more to protect the most vulnerable. We will get better and we are committed to finding and removing this content at scale.”

It remains to be seen how this will be done. Every silver lining has a cloud.

What we liked

A lovely piece from the Boston Globe: when a Massachusetts family gave birth to a deaf child, the neighbours learned sign language so they could communicate with her.

Also, this BBC World Hacks item about a Swedish mall where everything is a recycled product.

Great to hear also that we have fellow travellers in Hull. More and more editors are recognising that readers want to hear not just about the big problems of the world but about ways to tackle those problems.

What we heard

We are very much looking forward to Jodie’s book in April: You Are What You Read.

Where was the Upside?

In Mississippi, at the tattoo parlour that covers up hate ink.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nate Greer and his covered up swastika tattoo. Photograph: Melissa Golden/The Guardian

Also, in the natural world, where it has been established that bees can do maths, and some fish can recognise themselves in the mirror.

If you have a thought, comment, criticism or suggestion for story ideas or subjects, please email us at theupside@theguardian.com. Which global crisis might best benefit from some Upside treatment?