Asocial Media

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.

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.

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 of the same severity to Western civilisation.

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, they give that platform legitimacy. It helps the platform present itself as a source of useful information.

Some of these parties are sensitive to public perception and might therefore be convinced to unsubscribe. 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…

Resources

Memes

At t he top a black and white picture with a man in a make shift soldier outfit wearing a rifle, a wom an with a hat, a blouse, shorts and boots with a rifle, and a third man behind, also with a rifle. The caption says "This is an 18-year old farm girl fighting fascism in 1944." Underneath is a modern color picture a peatonal street with two women chatting and walking, passing by a McDonald's restaurant. The caption says "This is you in 2025. That's right, that's all it takes. Just walk by. You can do this!"
At a fine dining restaurang, a close up of a table with table cloth, a plate with a golden border, a silver spoon, a glass of champagne. In the background we see that someone is sitting at the same table. In the foreground, we see a female hand in a velvet black glove and a diamond bracelet, holding a smartphone. On screen, we see the sign-up screen for joinmastodon.org
We see Mr. Spock from "Star Trek" at his screen, he is sitting on his turnable office chair. Holding on to his buttons still, he is turning around, presumably to speak to the captain. The caption quotes him "We are receiving posts from decentralised social media... apparently, some part of the civilization survived." On the screen is a very small QR-code.
In the style of a pharmaceutical ad, we see a friendly doctor holding a smartphone, on the display we see the landing page for joining the mastodon platform. On the top, it says "More Doctors prescribe Mastodon!" To the left of the doctor, we see a red X, and next to it says "Young adults who use social media are three times as likely to suffer from depression." Next there is a gree checkmark and it says "Decentralized Social Media like Mastodon is 100% billionaire-free." At the bottom under a wavy line it says "Ask your mental health professional if decentralized social media is right for you."
In the style of a fashion advertisement, we see the horizon of the sea and a blue bright sky in the background, and a young model wearing a black summer mini dress and earrings. In the original fashion ad she'd be holding a purse, but here she's awkwardly holding - as models in such ads usually do - a sort of tablet with a handle, and the display displays the fediverse logo, which is a five-point star shape in all colors of the rainbow, bearing a different color dot at each spike, representing a "node" or "server". The dots are all connected with a different color line, making the logo represent a network (it is the official fediverse logo). At the top, it says in fancy letters "Fediverse" and underneath "Spring Collection". To the left of the woman, there is a list consisting of 4 items, each bears the logo of the platform: "Mastodon", "Friendica", "Loops", "Pixelfed". At the bottom right in small letters, it says www.fediverse.party
Elon Musk is sitting in a dark room with black walls and antique chandeliers full of lit candles. He is sitting on a large dark wood and dark leather Armchair, his hands folded in his lap. He is wearing a black suit with a black shirt that has the first few buttons opened and no tie. He is relaxed and smirking. On the top, we read in gothic letters "Everyone you trust is obsolete".

Print-at-Home Posters

At the top, it says "Solidarity with Canada Solidarity with Europe Boycot Trump" Underneath we see the logos of big companies: H&M, Instagram, X, Tesla, Netflix, KFC, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Maestro, McDonalds's, Burger King, Amazon, Google, Facebook Underneath it says "When billionaires cry, the become nostalgic about democracy"

Stickers/Sharepics

X logo on the left, an arrow to Mastodon logo on the right
Whatsapp logo on the left, arrow to Signal Messenger logo on the right
Instagram Logo on the left, arrow to Pixelfed logo ont he right

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,
__________________________

…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.

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