6 ms·
Authoritarians use social networks to undermine democratic principles so not exposing kids to that takes power away from them. Or did I misunderstand something?
by kubb 10mo ago
Authoritarians use social networks to undermine democratic principles so not exposing kids to that takes power away from them. Or did I misunderstand something?
- api 10mo agoMy take for a while has been that authoritarian ideas (both hard right and hard left) dominate on social media because of the short form short attention span format. Authoritarianism tends to run on simple slogans, grievances, and identity politics. That stuff is very well suited to 140 characters, memes, and short videos. Liberal ideas require more explaining and historical context, and they don’t play well when everyone has been triggered and trolled into limbic system mode by rage bait. Liberal politics speaks to the neocortex. Authoritarianism speaks to the brain stem.
- nxor 10mo agoLiberals can also be authoritarian. See reddit, where ideas that don't conform are typically downvoted out. Here too.
- api 10mo agoI’m using the word liberal to mean things like liberty, individual rights, democracy, and the rule of law. That’s why I also mentioned hard left authoritarianism. Also there’s a world of difference between people registering dislike on an online forum and the use of state power. It seems like a lot of people these days draw no distinction between removal from a private space or even people just showing disapproval and actual state force.
- docmars 10mo agoThis doesn't surprise me much; social networks have worked in tandem with governments, allowing them to call the shots to remove any content that opposed their political agendas, narratives, and opinions, to the extent that facts were flat-out censored to paint certain political opponents in a bad light, or worse, create potential legal issues. It created a world where: when disapproval inside an echo-chamber fails to a critical mass of people telling the truth, just pretend the content doesn't exist and then gaslight people using official media outlets, including Congress and the White House. So it gave people the impression there's no difference between the two. Not only were disapproval and state force in agreement, they colluded.
- positr0n 10mo agoPretty sure OP means liberal in the sense of "classical liberalism". Ideas like free market, rule of law, private property, etc.
- strbean 10mo ago> authoritarian >downvoted out Erm...
- iamtedd 10mo agoRussia has elections, where people overwhelmingly vote for Putin..
- mason_mpls 10mo agoYou’re confusing democracy with tyranny.
- computerthings 10mo ago[dead]
- exoverito 10mo agoYou're assuming mutual exclusion. Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner.
- mason_mpls 10mo agowe’re people, not fairytale beasts
- tired-turtle 10mo agoWhile your point (about the potential for liberal authoritarianism) is true, reddit is an example of partisan, not authoritarian, behavior.
- bamboozled 10mo agoMy take for a while has been that authoritarian ideas That's odd because I don't see a lot of that. Care to elaborate?
- eimrine 10mo agoIn what country do you need to be shown some of that?
- bamboozled 10mo agoAustralia
- nomel 10mo agoAuthoritarians also use state influenced media to undermine democratic principles.
- Gigachad 10mo agoSocial media is the worst state propaganda machine ever created. Destroying it would be a huge hit to authoritarians.
- DaSHacka 10mo agoBahaha right, so that way dissidents have no way of speaking out. Man, I'm sure they'd hate to see that happen.
- komali2 10mo agoThe civil rights movement was organized before social media existed.
- expedition32 10mo agoMLK would have been banned from YouTube.
- komali2 10mo agoYes, absolutely, and most of the media would have portrayed him as an antifa rioter. Maybe the civil rights movement wouldn't even be possible in this era.
- kubb 10mo agoWhen did social media enable dissidents to do anything?
- AlOwain 10mo agoThe Arab Spring, the Mahsa Amini protests, the recent resurgence of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, have all been conducted primarily using social media. This is a very narrow scale when taking the bigger picture, as these are just prominent events in Middle Eastern history since the growth of social media usage, say after 2011. You are not even considering the travesties avoided due to social media, what regulatory action has been avoided (or taken) to avoid social media backlashes. You are being extremely disingenuous, and you are directly attacking some peoples' only hope of minimizing repression. I urge you to reconsider your beliefs. This directly and critically affects me.
- dizlexic 10mo agoAuthoritarians use power. That’s why consolidation of power is bad. Government is historically the most dangerous place to centralize power.
- hsuduebc2 10mo agoIt seems to me that this is much bigger problem for vulnerable or stupid adults. You can be naive when you are young but you can change. I would say that much bigger problem is possibly the influence of these sites on development of young people. We know it's addictive, we know it's harmful. Cigarettes and alcohol are banned for the same reason so I'm kinda glad for this Australian experiment. We'll see.