A fascist monster who demonizes migrants, exacts revenge on his perceived foes, actively destroys the rule of law, and whose real agenda is not “America First” but rather “Trump First” is in charge of today’s United States.
        • DandomRude@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          16 days ago

          Yes, but it seems very questionable to me if anyone will still be able to find proper news when LLMs are already telling fantasy stories about “white genocide,” social media algorithms are being adapted even more toward Nazi propaganda, and Drump may possibly introduce a “great firewall” like in China. I would say that the country is clearly moving in that direction under this criminal administration - and fast.

          You are right: It is high time to actually do something about that while it is still somewhat possible.

          And I would say that this also applies to other countries, especially since the US tech giants are active worldwide and are therefore also destroying free discourse elsewhere. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Nazi parties are gaining influence in most democracies around the world.

          • lowleekun@ani.social
            2·
            16 days ago

            It is in fact something that we know russia has pushed for at least the last two decades. They have fought an information war against us for long and it is taking form in ways that we do not know how to answer. For russia it is easy since they censor and silence they way they feel like while the western democracies try to abide largely by their own laws. It makes me want to rip my hair out.

            The question remains: What are we gonna do about it when a large portion of our population has fallen down the rabbit hole of neo-nazism while at the same time believing that the leftist are the real nazis (i am still baffled at how the russian trolls managed to do that)? To be honest i do not know if peaceful means are even an option in the U.S. but thats an outsiders point of view.

            • DandomRude@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              16 days ago

              Yes, exactly. I don’t think it’s just coming from Russia though, but rather that it’s an information war being waged by oligarchs around the world against their own populations. It still amounts to the same outcome: rational, decent average Janes and Joes against autocratic billionaires who are vastly better equipped to artificially influence public opinion.

              What can be done?

              Here are a few suggestions:

              • Participate in real-world protests on an ongoing basis and promote those protests however you can. This is important in order to illustrate that the apparent majority opinions propagated on social media do not necessarily correspond to reality: when hundreds of thousands of citizens regularly take to the streets, they can reassure each other that Nazi ideology is in fact still decisively rejected by large sections of the population, even if the media continuously try to propagate a different, artificially created image.

              • Promoting alternatives such as the Fediverse or FOSS applications, which are significantly better protected against one-sided influence by powerful players: both in your personal circle of friends and online – including on those mainstream platforms that the masses unfortunately use uncritically. This is certainly a battle that requires a lot of perseverance, but unfortunately there is no other way.

              • Turn the oligarchs’ weapons against themselves: For example, I am currently using LLMs to unleash chatbots on the comment sections of traditional news sites to automatically refute the nonsense spouted by Nazis. I am planning to do the same for Instagram. I simply believe that, despite its ethical problems, AI can be used to at least somewhat counteract the resource advantage of the oligarchs. I mean, they brought this technology into the world and use it rigorously – why shouldn’t we do the same?

              • Participate in real-world politics: Ask uncomfortable questions at public events, support petitions, or even join a party to at least make a small difference and, above all, to expose corruption and influence from within.

              • Take legal action: File lawsuits against corporations — for example, for data protection violations or misinformation. It’s best to formulate class action lawsuits and try to get lawyers on board.

              Overall, I don’t think all is lost yet, but it will be a tough fight with unequal conditions.

              Probably even more so in the US than here in Europe. I myself come from Germany, but unfortunately things are clearly moving in the same direction here as well (we have the despicable AfD instead of MAGA).

              As I said, I am now pretty much convinced that it is less a battle between one country and another, but rather a battle between the people and the one percent in their respective societies, because, in my opinion, these billionaires have the same power- and profit-driven interests, largely independent of the respective country and it’s system – and these interests are unfortunately most effectively pursued in autocracies, which is why functioning democracies are a thorn in their side.