There was a bit of discussion on this earlier today, but the weekend thread is more suitable for a more in-depth exploration.
While on principle I would be opposed to election nullification (as a small-d democrat), the extraordinary and unprecedented nature of the situation means that whatever the intelligence services found regarding Rus…
There was a bit of discussion on this earlier today, but the weekend thread is more suitable for a more in-depth exploration.
While on principle I would be opposed to election nullification (as a small-d democrat), the extraordinary and unprecedented nature of the situation means that whatever the intelligence services found regarding Russian involvement must be incredibly serious and damaging. (I know, we are all sick and tired of this "crisis era")
I do wonder if the incoming parliament will be able to take office at all. That election was held only a week after and subject to the same social media influence, as evident by far-right parties gaining seats. Though we all know in politics, logical consistency goes out the window for convenience (see the Republicans in 2020 who claimed the presidential race was stolen, but their races were just fine).
I am surprised by the court acting so quickly. At the very least, it is better optics to annul the election before any votes are cast, as opposed to declaring it void after the fact (which is what happened in Austria in 2016).
As for what Lasconi (the 2nd place finisher) said, I would not be so confident in winning. The few polls released show her stuck in the 40s (sound familiar?)
Finally, I will note that the center-left/pro-EU candidate did better in the revote than the initial round in Austria, an outcome we can only hope repeats itself again here.
I'm not really on board with banning TikTok; for purposes of entertainment, promoting businesses, and such, it's often been much more constructive than its critics are willing to admit. (I do not use it myself even for entertainment consumption).
But politically, it's increasingly concerning to me that it's become a destructive source of misinformation. Even if we dismiss the idea of a Russian, Chinese, or whatever conspiracy to warp US elections and public opinion, there's been way too much crap on it giving people (especially but not exclusively young voters) false ideas on all range of issues, ranging from the economy to social issues to certain international conflicts that aren't for discussion here.
Regarding Romania, nullifying an election result or imposing a do-over is an extreme measure that understandably people can be wary about. But it's good to see someone taking decisive action against Russian meddling.
Problem is broader than TikTok though, and even foreign disinfo (even if that’s more concentrated), but rather social media more broadly. There’s so much bullshit swirling around and so much incentive to perpetuate it that one platform or one foreign actor doesn’t begin to cover the problem. And it’s global
I would propose that there should be a complete redesign of social media that’s based on legislation which limits the ability for users to get corrupted the way they have been under Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
AOL was the far superior social media platform because it gave users more autonomy and control over their own domain with less problems. Social media should not allow people to show their own name unless there’s a process by which to verify it legally or if they have to pay.
There was a bit of discussion on this earlier today, but the weekend thread is more suitable for a more in-depth exploration.
While on principle I would be opposed to election nullification (as a small-d democrat), the extraordinary and unprecedented nature of the situation means that whatever the intelligence services found regarding Russian involvement must be incredibly serious and damaging. (I know, we are all sick and tired of this "crisis era")
I do wonder if the incoming parliament will be able to take office at all. That election was held only a week after and subject to the same social media influence, as evident by far-right parties gaining seats. Though we all know in politics, logical consistency goes out the window for convenience (see the Republicans in 2020 who claimed the presidential race was stolen, but their races were just fine).
I am surprised by the court acting so quickly. At the very least, it is better optics to annul the election before any votes are cast, as opposed to declaring it void after the fact (which is what happened in Austria in 2016).
As for what Lasconi (the 2nd place finisher) said, I would not be so confident in winning. The few polls released show her stuck in the 40s (sound familiar?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2024_Romanian_presidential_election#Georgescu_vs_Lasconi
Finally, I will note that the center-left/pro-EU candidate did better in the revote than the initial round in Austria, an outcome we can only hope repeats itself again here.
Meanwhile, to tie this all together, a US appeals court upholds the forced sale/threat of ban of Tiktok: https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/06/tech/tiktok-ban-law-court-decision/index.html
I'm not really on board with banning TikTok; for purposes of entertainment, promoting businesses, and such, it's often been much more constructive than its critics are willing to admit. (I do not use it myself even for entertainment consumption).
But politically, it's increasingly concerning to me that it's become a destructive source of misinformation. Even if we dismiss the idea of a Russian, Chinese, or whatever conspiracy to warp US elections and public opinion, there's been way too much crap on it giving people (especially but not exclusively young voters) false ideas on all range of issues, ranging from the economy to social issues to certain international conflicts that aren't for discussion here.
Regarding Romania, nullifying an election result or imposing a do-over is an extreme measure that understandably people can be wary about. But it's good to see someone taking decisive action against Russian meddling.
Problem is broader than TikTok though, and even foreign disinfo (even if that’s more concentrated), but rather social media more broadly. There’s so much bullshit swirling around and so much incentive to perpetuate it that one platform or one foreign actor doesn’t begin to cover the problem. And it’s global
Yep. Not an America problem, but rather a humanity problem.
I think we are past the tipping point, and pretty much screwed.
Agreed, sadly. That and the climate combine for a bad one-two punch
I would propose that there should be a complete redesign of social media that’s based on legislation which limits the ability for users to get corrupted the way they have been under Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
AOL was the far superior social media platform because it gave users more autonomy and control over their own domain with less problems. Social media should not allow people to show their own name unless there’s a process by which to verify it legally or if they have to pay.