Social media like X-twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have been used to spread disinformation and influence elections. Some of the disinformation is domestic, but much of it originates in Russia.
Information, whether flattering or disparaging, is essential for a healthy democracy. Disinformation, whether flattering or disparaging, is inherently hostile to democracy because democracy is a decision-making system; healthy decisions cannot be made on the basis of disinformation.
In the best case, when disinformation is researched and denounced, public debate about real matters is reduced. Political attention is a finite resource, and there is arguably not enough to deal with only the complexities of modern civilisations, even without disinformation. Even the best case is disastrous.
By promoting or allowing disinformation, the billionaire owners of social media platforms are undermining democracy. Terror organisations like ISIS and Al-Kaida do not pose a threat to Western civilisation on this level.
Whether or not the owners of social media platforms should be obliged, legally or morally, to stop disinformation is not the question. A democracy which does not shut down such threats does not remain a democracy for long, so this is a question of natural selection, not morality.
What You Can Do
When government agencies, universities, businesses, and celebrities maintain a presence on a social media platform, it gives that platform legitimacy. It helps the platform present itself as a source of useful information. Some of these parties are sensitive to public perception. For example, a business which sells lifestyle products to health-conscious and educated people cannot afford to have its products placed next to right-wing propaganda. Center-left politicians risk being seen as siding with the tech oligarchy that their constituents see as inimical.
Determining which businesses and politicians are subject to pressure is not a straight-forward evaluation. However, it is essential to apply pressure where possible, because there is otherwise no counter-weight to right-wing forces.
See the resources section below for ideas regarding graphic media campaigns, including memes, posters, stickers, postcards, and business cards. You may use them immediately at home, free of charge – give credits and make reference to our website activersity.org to help our project. Or maybe you have…
…Time For Activism?
If you have a few weeks time to actively engage in this particular project, consider our Activists-in-Residency fellowship program in Leipzig Germany and stay with us for a couple of weeks to work on this very Anti-Asocial Media Campaign and to help the Activersity grow.
Resources
Memes
Print-at-Home Posters
Stickers/Sharepics
Postcards/E-mail
You are receiving this message due to your presence on Elon Musk’s X social media platform. As you know, the battle against society that billionaires like Elon have waged on our behalf is far from over. And it is expensive.
Elon spent $277 million of his own money to influence the US 2024 elections, and that’s not fair. Please consider making a monthly donation to Elon Musk so that he may continue this important work on our behalf.
No matter how much you can afford to donate, the internet shall always remember you for your presence on X and the faith you have shown in Elon’s vision of a better world.
Sample open letter to celebrity
Dear _________,
As someone with a large following on _________, you have a unique opportunity to weaken the harm it does. This platform has been pointed out for spreading disinformation, both foreign and domestic. It has become a serious threat to democracy, perhaps democracy’s most serious threat. The presence of public personalities such as you helps legitimise ________, despite the clear and present danger.
Your income stream is in no way dependent of maintaining a presence on _______. You could therefore begin posting on Mastodon or PixelFed. The new accounts your supporters would make would begin the long process of shifting away from privately controlled platforms to public platforms. Please consider how future historians shall view your role in this struggle.
Sincerely,
__________________________
News Articles
- A parade of tech billionaires attended Donald Trump’s inaugural celebrations
- Elon Musk suggests support for replacing democracy with government of ‘high-status males’
- ‘We live in a climate of fear’: graphic novelist’s Elon Musk book can’t find UK or US publisher
- Musk Doubles Down on Support for German Far-Right Party
eXit
- Meta’s pivot to the right sparks boycotts and calls for a user exodus
- Scores of German universities drop their presence on X (formerly Twitter)
- Are European governments next? Paris joins growing exodus from Musk’s X
- Le Monde, French newspaper of record, quits Elon Musk’s X
- French researchers aim to ease X refugees’ path with ‘HelloQuitX’
- Meta and X are going rogue. Here is what Europe should do now.
National Security
- Musk’s new Twitter policies helped spread Russian propaganda, E.U. says
- Elon Musk Is a National Security Risk
- Elon Musk’s and X’s Role in 2024 Election Interference
- When Do Parties Lie? Misinformation and Radical-Right Populism Across 26 Countries