mastodon 4.7.3Free thinking for the world 🌍 We're an independent media organisation covering world affairs and ideas.
Mastodon experts, we need your help! openDemocracy is now publishing on Ghost which brings a suite of lovely fediverse features with it. Buuuut it also brings a new handle, @openDemocracy@opendemocracy.net,
what's the best way to handle a situation like this? Repost the posts from the Ghost page using this account? Encouraging everyone to follow the new one? Or is there a more elegant solution we should be taking advantage of? #mastodon #fediverse #ghost
Why the Green Party Just Broke Labour's "Filthy Rich" Orthodoxy: The 25‑point swing away from Labour shows voters want people‑centred solutions rather than cautious managerialism https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/labour-greens-reform-gorton-denton-by-election/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
AI bots may lead to the end of the internet as we know it: In recent weeks, openDemocracy’s website has been repeatedly brought down by an army of bots. We’re not the only ones https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ai-chatbots-scrapers-chatgpt-website-offline-change-internet/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Chilean women flood streets to defy Kast’s incoming far-right government: As the president-elect prepares to take office this week, women and LGBTQ+ people are standing up for their rights https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/jose-kast-inauguration-chile-women-8m-protest-santiago-lgbtq-abortion-far-right-pinochet/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Some good news: Labour is to scrap an ‘arbitrary’ time limit on investigating sexual misconduct by doctors.
Read our full analysis here
Our UK local elections tracker is getting more data daily.
In some areas it is already a useful tool for an at-a-glance overview of candidate opinions. We have reached out to more campaigns for their pledge data and welcome anyone to submit info on candidates – this is a crowd-sourced tool.
“We’re being forced into permanent defence mode. Residential proxy networks let AI scrapers hide in plain sight, rotate identities, and extract data at scale. That shifts real costs onto projects that exist to serve people, not feed training pipelines.” @Firefishy@en.osm.town
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ai-chatbots-scraper-bots-chatgpt-website-offline-change-internet/
AI bots may lead to the end of the internet as we know it: In recent weeks, openDemocracy’s website has been repeatedly brought down by an army of bots. We’re not the only ones https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ai-chatbots-scraper-bots-chatgpt-website-offline-change-internet/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Top civil servant boomeranged between government and Tony Blair Institute: Exclusive: Tech firms such as TBI are embedding staff in government, sparking fears AI policy is being ‘outsourced’ https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/dsit-civil-servant-revolving-door-between-government-and-tony-blair-institute/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Sex, power and backlash in Africa: An extract from Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah’s new book Seeking Sexual Freedom https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/backlash-sex-power-africa-book-extract/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Brazil: How the CIA funded Catholic marches that paved the way for the 1964 coup: Thousands clutching rosaries and dollars from Washington formed the march that paved the way for the 1964 coup https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/cia-fund-brazil-family-march-dictatorship/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Are anti-rights movements infiltrating high schools? We uncover the deliberate, decades-old strategy the far-right is using to target young people, weaponise their insecurities, and build a pipeline of extremist power.
Defeating authoritarians: Notes from the Hungarian playbook: What can progressives everywhere learn from Magyar’s historic victory over Orbán’s anti-democratic regime? https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/hungary-election-orban-defeat-peter-magyar-win-lessons-progressives/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
“We are living a right-wing turn,” Sotomayor said. “These are people who deny the violence from the Chilean state that occurred during the dictatorship. It is very sad but also very cruel that we as a country, which still has scars from this dictatorship, will see these people coming into government.”
As missiles fall on Iran, the case for global disarmament becomes urgent: Despite what Donald Trump may claim, my work at the United Nations is now more important than ever – for all of us https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/iran-us-war-israel-global-disarmament-urgent-united-nations-donald-trump/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
The Greens’ real fight has begun – and the establishment will be out for blood: After a stunning victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection, Green activists are preparing for a major establishment backlash https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/the-greens-real-fight-has-begun-and-the-establishment-will-be-out-for-blood/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Orbán’s election defeat is a blow to the global anti-gender movement: Europe’s great replacement prime minister lost on Sunday, and so did the global anti-gender movement https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/orban-hungary-abortion-lgbtq-great-replacement/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Brazil: How the CIA funded Catholic marches that paved the way for the 1964 coup: Thousands clutching rosaries and dollars from Washington formed the march that paved the way for the 1964 coup https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/cia-fund-brazil-family-march-dictatorship/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Leaving to survive, staying to resist: Persecution and exile in El Salvador: We speak to journalists and defenders of human and environmental rights about how their lives have come under threat https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/el-salvador-nayib-bukele-journalists-human-rights-defenders-persecution-exile/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
The US is facing its Suez moment – the outcome could change the world order: If Donald Trump fails to end the Iran war soon, its effects could last for decades, with unpredictable consequences https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/iran-war-united-states-israel-suez-crisis-donald-trump-change-world-order/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Orbán’s election defeat is a blow to the global anti-gender movement: Europe’s great replacement prime minister lost on Sunday, and so did the global anti-gender movement https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/orban-hungary-abortion-lgbtq-great-replacement/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
What is the Danish immigration model, and does it work?: Denmark’s foremost professor of mobility studies decodes a policy that is increasingly touted as a model to emulate https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/what-is-denmark-immigration-asylum-model-does-it-work-uk-starmer-migration-refugees/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
In US/Israeli war on Iran, all roads point to rise in global nuclear weapons: Trump and Netanyahu are already boasting of success. But the war is not going to plan for any of the parties involved https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/us-iran-israel-war-lead-to-nuclear-weapons-donald-trump-netanyahu/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
As Bolivia’s left fractured, the Kremlin sent ex-Wagner agents: Exclusive: New dossier exposes how Russian operatives sought to ensure their ally won Bolivia's presidential election https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/russia-bolivia-south-america-putin-evo-morales-wagner-prigozhin-covert-operations-propaganda-disinformation-foreign-interference/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Nothing to see here: Ex-Amazon UK boss to lead competition watchdog: Experts described the decision to appoint Doug Gurr as the head of the CMA as “very positive” if you are Big Tech https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/cma-chair-doug-gurr-amazon-competition-monopoly-big-tech-anti-trust/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
The Secret Pipeline: How the Far-Right is Radicalising Gen Z | With Jamie Vernaelde: How anti-rights groups are targeting the next generation https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/podcasts/in-solidarity-podcast/far-right-radicalising-gen-z-jamie-vernaelde-ipas/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
The "Danish Model" of Asylum Explained: Cruelty by Design? | With Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen: How anti-rights groups are targeting the next generation https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/podcasts/in-solidarity-podcast/danish-model-asylum-immigration-explained/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
For Trump and Netanyahu, the Iran war is a problem of their own making: The US president’s claim that the war is ‘very complete’ was little more than wishful thinking https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/trump-netanyahu-iran-problem-own-making-us-israel-oil-strait-of-hormuz/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
What movements can learn from their own histories: Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah on memory, risk and organising beyond backlash https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/nana-darkoa-sekyiamah-movements-history-learning/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Revolution begins with care: Confronting the polycrisis: We’re living through a series of interlinked disasters, confounded by the rise of surveillance. How do we fight back? https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/surveillance-tech-facial-recognition-revolution-begins-with-care-confronting-polycrisis/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
What movements can learn from their own histories: Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah on memory, risk and organising beyond backlash https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/nana-darkoa-sekyiamah-movements-history-learning/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Revealed: Morocco forcibly displaced Black migrants ahead of AFCON tournament: Keen to present itself as a key EU partner on migration, Morocco pushed migrants out of sight before tourists arrived. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/revealed-morocco-forcibly-displaced-black-migrants-ahead-of-afcon-tournament/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
The Climate Wars: How Superpowers Are Carving Up the Earth | With Arthur Snell: What do melting Arctic ice, a war for farmland in Ukraine, and the panic of Gulf petro-states have in common? Arthur Snell exposes the terrifying new geography of global conflict and how humanity can adapt to survive it. https://www.opendemocracy.net/podcasts/the-climate-wars-how-superpowers-are-carving-up-the-earth-with-arthur-snell/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Every single time that India has had to endure oil over $100, it’s led to enormous chaos. In the 1970s after the OPEC oil crash, we had a period of essentially authoritarian rule and enormous amounts of political unrest in the late eighties and early nineties when Iraq invaded Kuwait. India went bankrupt and essentially had to go to the IMF and eventually launched an entire giant package of structured reform.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/iran-trump-israel-oil-iran-india/
Defeating authoritarians: Notes from the Hungarian playbook: What can progressives everywhere learn from Magyar’s historic victory over Orbán’s anti-democratic regime? https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/hungary-election-orban-defeat-peter-magyar-win-lessons-progressives/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Netanyahu is behind Iran war, not Trump – and that makes peace unlikely: Israel’s strikes on Lebanon are a reminder that Netanyahu will do whatever he can to avoid a peace deal with Iran https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/iran-war-israel-trump-netanyahu-peace-unlikely/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Sex, power and backlash in Africa: An extract from Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah’s new book Seeking Sexual Freedom https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/backlash-sex-power-africa-book-extract/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Oil, Inflation, Unrest: The Global Fallout of the US-Israeli War on Iran: “The only coordinated mechanism that most policy makers across the global South are indulging in right now is prayer.” https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/iran-trump-israel-oil-iran-india/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Leaving to survive, staying to resist: Persecution and exile in El Salvador: We speak to journalists and defenders of human and environmental rights about how their lives have come under threat https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/el-salvador-nayib-bukele-journalists-human-rights-defenders-persecution-exile/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Revealed: Morocco forcibly displaced Black migrants ahead of AFCON tournament: Keen to present itself as a key EU partner on migration, Morocco pushed migrants out of sight before tourists arrived. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/revealed-morocco-forcibly-displaced-black-migrants-ahead-of-afcon-tournament/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Netanyahu has lulled Israelis into a false sense of security: The Israeli prime minister may have done enough to win re-election this year. But Israel’s future remains unstable https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/netanyahu-israel-election-false-sense-security-gaza-palestine-west-bank-trump-turkey-iran/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Greens triumphant, Amazon exec’s worrying new gig, Russians in Bolivia: Our weekly newsletter https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/uk-green-reform-amazon-executive-russia-bolivia/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
“Hamas designed the tunnel network with integrated electricity, ventilation, and communication systems, enabling fighters to operate within them for extended periods,” the report finds. Even detecting the tunnels requires Israel and the US to use multiple technologies, including seismic and acoustic sensors, thermal imaging, ground-penetrating radar, satellite and drone reconnaissance, AI and machine learning.
Big Tech platforms under fire in inquiry into Southport mass stabbing: Amazon and X’s policies on age verification and content moderation criticised in report on murder of three children and stabbing of others https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/southport-murders-amazon-x-big-tech-criticised-age-verification-content-moderation/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
Big Tech platforms under fire in inquiry into Southport mass stabbing: Amazon and X’s policies on age verification and content moderation criticised in report on murder of three children and stabbing of others https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/southport-murders-amazon-x-big-tech-criticised-age-verification-content-moderation/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
It’s hard to know who stands for what in elections. UK local election candidates have made various pledges and we’re tracking data from the London Jewish Forum, Council for the Preservation of Rural England, Vote Palestine, and Pledge to Oppose Austerity, with more to come – over at
https://candidask.opendemocracy.net
You can add info to our system and make the data useful for voters in your area.
The US is facing its Suez moment – the outcome could change the world order: If Donald Trump fails to end the Iran war soon, its effects could last for decades, with unpredictable consequences https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/iran-war-united-states-israel-suez-crisis-donald-trump-change-world-order/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=RSS
In just two days, on 11 March, Chile will fall under the power of its most right-wing president since Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship ended: José Antonio Kast of the Republican Party. Kast will also be the country’s first president since then to have openly supported the 17-year dictatorship.
