Standing up to the authoritarian wave requires more than cheerleading for democracy; it demands making democratic societies more participatory, responsive, and adaptable at all levels, from local to national, in response to the societal shifts driven by the Internet over the past 15 years. - ThreadSky

eliothiggins.bsky.social • 1 day ago

Standing up to the authoritarian wave requires more than cheerleading for democracy; it demands making democratic societies more participatory, responsive, and adaptable at all levels, from local to national, in response to the societal shifts driven by the Internet over the past 15 years.

Comments

wndlb.bsky.social•1 day ago

Ever searched for well anything in the Federal Register? Are you still looking?

verivir.bsky.social•1 day ago

I agree, We need to teach students not just how to talk and recognise propaganda, but also how to work on projects with people with disparate views. Democracy requires trust, negotiation, and tact - which social media doesn't promote.

We could actually make classes which teach how to work with

verivir.bsky.social•1 day ago

local government and ngos and how to procede on getting things done at the community level by forming majority agreements, setting deadlines, and learning from failures from past projects.

benedziktau.bsky.social•1 day ago

Wrong. We must find way to control informational space. You can’t “explain” something against propaganda. It isn’t how propaganda work. Stopping propaganda or at least making harder to influence should be an aim.

carlgomb.bsky.social•1 day ago

I think we also need to go deeper and teach, from a young age, about evidence, probability, scientific method, as well as human biases, fallibility,etc.

It will take some very creative and smart teachers and education leaders to create the right materials, assessments, lesson plans, etc.

verivir.bsky.social•1 day ago

Indeed. The curriculum would also benefit from politicians and ngo leaders to propose real problem encounters so that things dont get too abstracted from the skills training side.

carlgomb.bsky.social•1 day ago

We at LIS do this at the UG and PG levels. However, with the dawn of AI in particular, I think it needs to start as soon as children are at school.
https://www.lis.ac.uk/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ARM-LIS-Search-Brand-Core-EX&utm_term=[London_interdisciplinary_school]&utm_term=london%20interdisciplinary%20school&utm_campaign=&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=8961843458&hsa_cam=22196061786&hsa_grp=174198934243&hsa_ad=731932149109&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-2395692586540&hsa_kw=london%20interdisciplinary%20school&hsa_mt=e&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA5eC9BhAuEiwA3CKwQhOzNQBUGuHfwvR9P0j4KuLHfdLvJ-Uflmr-e-u4qeQ1BoU7EOZN_BoC-AIQAvD_BwE

verivir.bsky.social•1 day ago

I dont know if anyone has tried explaining confidence intervals or conditional probability to ks2.
But the ideas could be simplified.
Certainly the debate skills, project management, group skills, and spotting biases would be worth trying out on different age groups.
You could test it all

verivir.bsky.social•1 day ago

Out by doing workshops and after school club events.
It could even be done in a fun way by mixing it with table top gaming themes like Shadowrun or DnD, where roleplay and problem solving are part of the appeal.

clarissaoakes.bsky.social•1 day ago

This is well and good, but what do you do when all such good work is completely ignored by biased newsmedia, whose only interest is pumping out propaganda that serves their owners, under the guise of 'free speech'? What do you do when such newsmedia *opposes* and misrepresents your work?

1/2

clarissaoakes.bsky.social•1 day ago

If 'free speech' guarantees the right of your propaganda organ to pump out poison, then you either curb 'free speech' in some way, or you accept newsmedia owners as your overlords - as we have done for hundreds of years.

Or you become more populist than the newsmedia and appoint yourself King!

2/2

rgmere.bsky.social•1 day ago

Sounds great. However unlikely to be achieved if many voters, either:
1) lack education and hence a perspective of what it means to be a citizen, or:
2) have been pushed into a corner by austerity & by policies servicing only the business & the rich.

As you said, root causes. Very deep ones.

rgmere.bsky.social•1 day ago

Disenfranchising those outside the 1% is the root cause of collapse of democracy.

scratchpost.news•1 day ago

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romieblois.bsky.social•1 day ago

📌

jerseypatrick.bsky.social•1 day ago

Wise words! There definitely was something deeply hollow about this idea that democracy is being an ATM for our Dem candidates for a few months every 4 years, or 2. And voting and then going on to disengagement. Democracy literally means people governance. So we need to be engaged in everything.

joelitobarski.bsky.social•1 day ago

This has been a common demand at least since the Port Huron Statement in 1962 (and, arguably, it's much older), and it's certainly partly true but with important caveats. The most important, I think, is that the specific details of *how* democratic participation is structured make a huge difference.

bbbb01.bsky.social•1 day ago

We need to help FL flip Gaetz and Walz’s seats April 1. There may be just enough pain by then. Inflation, food and gas prices, Putin, 10000s fired, VA, etc.

katiecannon.bsky.social•1 day ago

Locally issued *public* money issued by some *public* institution/organization

No, this is NOT a private crypto bro thing

Just old fashioned public money

https://www.aaup.org/article/stop-trying-find-money%E2%80%94create-it

dcminx.bsky.social•1 day ago

📌

adrianbebb.bsky.social•1 day ago

📌

abilityrules.bsky.social•1 day ago

I would go one step farther. When there is a crisis racing down the hill we need to tell people what is happening, how it impacts them and what we can do about it. Bite size pieces will lead to victory. Day by day scorecards declaring victory don't help. We need to hear about small steps forward.

carolinejmolloy.bsky.social•1 day ago

A big part of what’s got us to this point is what The Lancet called “digital exceptionalism” re policy & evidence. Plus the digital debate is usually framed around privacy, rather than a more European-social democratic framing around relationships with the state
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ournhs/will-big-tech-save-the-nhs-or-eat-it-alive/

lizardg.bsky.social•1 day ago

📌

azalisa.bsky.social•1 day ago

No argument here - but this seems to be a 30,000 foot view. What specifically should be happening at the ground level? Is there any kind of a implementation checklist or set of guidelines?

eliothiggins.bsky.social•1 day ago

The bedrock of any response has to be teaching critical thinking skills from primary level onwards, something Estonia and Finland are doing effectively in their education system, and is crucial as we move from top down, gatekeeped models of information to peer to peer models enabled by social media

eliothiggins.bsky.social•1 day ago

I dive into that here
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/how-protect-democracies-falsehoods-empowering-young-open-source-investigation-skills

azalisa.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Thank you!

frankwalker.bsky.social•1 day ago

And it requires an all out war against the massive dis- and misinformation that the internet has been flooded with by malign actors with a political agenda. Relatedly, oligarchs (i.e. billionaires) need to be defanged of their concentrated wealth.

no2sin.bsky.social•1 day ago

I don't know about that - low participation voters voted for the wanna-be-dictator & protecting democracy should involve grappling with that fact instead of just pabulum like "make it more participatory!"

But it probably does require banning billionaire/foreign manipulated social media algorithms.

avielroshwald.bsky.social•1 day ago

📌

fgw.bsky.social•1 day ago

I think it would be helpful to put restoring freedom, as championed by T. Snyder and J. Stiglitz, on equal footing with democracy. For half the country, saving democracy is partisan-speak for opposing Trump.

monkeypeter.bsky.social•1 day ago

americans are lazy - you can say it

carlosdiazruiz.com•1 day ago

It could also help stop running around like lemmings chasing the latest controversy

3liz-y-que.bsky.social•1 day ago

https://youtube.com/shorts/i5rVcNop3Lc?si=RlZl1pJpidnSsacO

tylerbigbyrd.bsky.social•1 day ago

It requires "action" and within that action adding to your numbers to make your impact bigger.

sanho.bsky.social•1 day ago

We need to destroy their algorithms.

joiningupthedots.bsky.social•1 day ago

I speak to people who say ‘we’re not interested in politics, we don’t talk about it.’ My response perhaps you should - politics isn’t just what goes on in Westminster it’s the misinformation you are being fed, price you pay to put food on your table and the time you wait for a doctor’s appointment.

swisscheese.bsky.social•1 day ago

Great point

lucastosborne.bsky.social•1 day ago

📌

edtechris.bsky.social•1 day ago

PR-STV takes power away from political parties and ensures that elected representatives reflect the priorities of the district’s voters.

bowleskov.bsky.social•1 day ago

I don't think this is limited to the Internet but instead dates back to media consolidation which has destroyed Local coverage in many democratic nations.

It is very easy to feel forgotten if the media you read does not reflect your daily experience.

Representatives need to be seen to represent.

ellenrey.bsky.social•1 day ago

Such an important point!

alv134.bsky.social•1 day ago

Florida voters, please contact representative Vern Buchanan, and request a Townhall meeting to discuss the violations to the constitution that have been flagrant and ongoing

#floridavoters
#fiftyfiftyone
#tampa
#florida
#VernBuchanan

jahojariaho.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thankyou Eliot 🙏

eliothiggins.bsky.social•1 day ago

Authoritarians exploit frustration with stagnant institutions, while disinformation fuels cynicism and disengagement. A stronger democracy isn’t just about defending it—it’s about making it work. That means tackling corruption, increasing transparency, and ensuring public input leads to real change.

sberreth.bsky.social•1 day ago

I would even go so far that it is not about defending it, but it is about „doing“ it. Every moment. It should be a verb, not a noun.

lucastosborne.bsky.social•1 day ago

📌

carlgomb.bsky.social•1 day ago

Who is doing the most interesting work in transparency:

Financial,
Business/company connections,
Family connections,
Etc?

eliothiggins.bsky.social•1 day ago

Disordered information (mis/dis/mal-info) thrives where trust is broken, and conspiracy theories fill the gaps left by unresponsive institutions. Fact-checking helps, but rebuilding trust requires more: accountability, transparency, and giving people real ways to shape the decisions that affect them

carolinejmolloy.bsky.social•1 day ago

We’ve known for a long time you can’t build deep trust online. But face to face services are increasingly being withdrawn.

eliothiggins.bsky.social•1 day ago

Democracy isn’t just voting every few years-it’s about having a real say in decisions that shape our lives. When people feel unheard, frustration grows, and bad actors exploit it. Strengthening democracy means expanding civic engagement, from local initiatives to national policy.

the0point.bsky.social•1 day ago

Yeah but reality has shifted away from the fruitful planet we grew up with. The game is designed more than ever to let Trump and Musk win. It's only because it's in the final throes of possibility that it is so contrastive.

eliothiggins.bsky.social•1 day ago

Strengthening democracy isn’t about chasing populism or pandering to anger-it’s about making institutions truly responsive. Quick fixes & empty slogans fuel more disillusionment. Real engagement means addressing problems at their root, not just reacting to the loudest voices.

eliothiggins.bsky.social•1 day ago

Democracy doesn’t win by default-it withers without constant care. Ignoring its flaws or assuming it will self-correct creates space for authoritarianism to creep in. A healthy democracy needs ongoing effort: accountability, engagement, and adapting to a changing world.

anywhy.bsky.social•1 day ago

I think democracy is the social equivalent of agriculture vs. hunting-gathering. You can't just throw some seeds on the ground and expect a great harvest every year. You have to do soil management, irrigation, organize timely planting and harvest, line up buyers, etc. It's a whole system to upkeep.

eliothiggins.bsky.social•1 day ago

Healthy democracy thrives on participation, transparency, and accountability. Authoritarianism works by eroding all three-pushing passivity over engagement, secrecy over openness, and impunity over justice. A democracy left unattended is one that can be slowly dismantled. Sound familiar?

prathap.bsky.social•1 day ago

Standing up to authoritarianism will also require nominating someone better than Kamala, Joe, or even Obama, for that matter.

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