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Is the concept of Dissident Communities as a form of online protest still effective with the rise of censorship from a government level?

The idea of Dissident Communities has been a way for online activism groups to spread their message and do outreach for their cause, often used when referring to countries or places that are non-democratic. For example, recently over the last 5(ish) years, the “Free Palestine” movement has taken the globe by storm. Creating outbreak and opposition to the occupation of Palestine by the IDF (Israeli Defense Force). We saw the use of social media (mainly TikTok) to not just spread the human rights violations and war crimes that Israel is committing but, we also saw the real time documentation of said crimes. Muder, Bombing, Drones, Concentration camps, bleeding or dead children and many many more. With the outbreak in the United States in specific and the massive protests on college campuses. The conversion and the notion to ban TikTok was rising in popularity in the government. Citing that the app was a national security threat and needed to be banned, but couldn’t provide sufficient evidence. This isn’t even mentioning the manipulation of the algorithm to censor key phrases and hashtags aligned with the movement. WHile it is not completely ineffective it has definitely seen a decline in its effectiveness. As we have been told our entire lives, nothing is gone off the internet, even when you delete it. This also applies to the government's attempt to censor and the atrocities that have been spread globally of the occupation of Palestine.

What does the change in the nature of the game Animal Crossing achieve and could it be seen as a version of propaganda.

The game Animal Crossing is what would be considered a “cozy game”. Typically a single player game that one plays to relax and unwind. The game originally was for the gamecube in 2002 and focused on the creation and upkeep of “your” island. This means decoration and upgrading your house, decorating the outside with crops and flowers, attending to the other villagers on your island and many more. The original game had you barter, trade, and communicate with the other villagers to build community and aid in tasks for them. In 2020 the newest instalment into the series was announced, “New Horizons”. This game had a different approach to the island, The player's role as the "Island Representative" introduces a layer of political responsibility. Players have the power to shape the island's development, enact ordinances, and influence the lives of their residents. These decisions, while seemingly trivial, have political implications. For example, choosing to prioritize economic growth over environmental conservation reflects a particular political ideology. With the game being known as a “cozy game”, could that have other effects outside of the game? Are the players being conditioned to find the needing and want for economic growth cozy? Especially since the game was being played so much due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and with one of the games main demographic and player base being children, it could have an influence on the way they see the types of economic systems.

How did “Black Twitter” use its platform to create change in the misrepresentation of black individuals in mainstream news?

Black twitter was a subsection of twitter that was humorous, funny, entertaining, and highly political. The people of “black twitter” saw the use of negative and harmful stereotypes to demonize black people's image in mainstream media. Using misleading and incorrect information within the headlines to describe black people. This also applies to other areas of mainstream news as well, with things like photos. This is especially harmful when white people that committed similar or worse crimes are being represented in a more positive light. Within the article it references the Alternative Press’ tweet about the killing of Renisha McBride at the hands of a Detroit man. It reads The tweet, “Suburban Detroit homeowner convicted of second-degree murder for killing woman who showed up drunk on porch”. “Black Twitters” took major offense to that and wanted to make sure the Alternative Press knew it. This led to the creation of new headlines created to mock and make fun of the ridiculousness of the tweet. With @Phil_Lewis_ tweeting “#APHeadlines millions of Africans complain after free cruise to the Americas; slave traders find them ‘ungrateful”. The use of humor and the matching of energy did end in the tweets language boeing changed to, “Jury convicts Michigan man in killing of unarmed woman on his porch”.

How has the American government used online activism spaces to spread propaganda to a wider audience?

With the 2024 election cycle, we saw the use of online right wing personalities being used to spread information that aligns with the parties extreme views. Being walking propaganda puppets for the Republican/ MAGA party, spreading mass amounts of misinformation, disinformation, hateful rhetoric, and uplifting other personalities that share the same views. While the election cycle was happening, the news broke that these republican talking heads have and were actively being paid by the Republican Party and other outside nations (Russia mainly). I also have to mention that this wasn’t just a Right wing problem, the democratic party was also paying people to be left wing talking heads. While this was happening we also saw the rise in the use of bots on social media to instigate, rile up, and further spread dis/misinformation. Going to great lengths to try and make these bots as realistic and human as possible. The manipulation of social media and online activism spaces was effective and relied on people being to stupid to understand and recognize the signs of a bot account.

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1 Is AI software a possible solution to dis/misinformation on social media platforms? 

X(Twitter) has started to implement Ai on their app as a fact checking tool named Grok. An app as described by elon a “maximally truth-seeking AI”. This AI can be accessed in the app, ask a question then be tweeted as if the response was a tweet created by someone. As of recently, people on the app have been using it to troll right wing politicians or more so Elon Musk himself. I asked Grok the question, “who spreads the most disinformation on X?” The response was basically, it's hard to nail down specific people, but Elons and Donald Trump's names are  coming up a lot. It then goes into the numerous things that Elonand trump has said or tweeted in the last 5 ish years. It then also has links to 15 articles that are both based in the United States and in other countries outside of the X app that ask similar questions. It links to places like Forbes, The Washington Post, Metro.co.uk, among others. This brings us back to the question of, can AI be a tool / solution to combat disinformation? In the case of the Grok tool, yes it definitely can be a tool to use against disinformation. Whether it will stay like this is another question, but at this moment it seems to be spitting out sensible information that has some data to back it up. It obviously needs to be looked into way way further but could be promising if used correctly. 

2 Has “addiction” to social media and the use algorithms helped online political spaces help engage people into activism? 

Online political spaces are something that is being used now more than ever to help mobilize like minded people into creating change. It helps that the internet and social media has become embedded into everyone's life and thus can be seen by almost everyone that stumbles across it. Also the ever improving use of algorithms to curate content that you in specific will like has only exacerbated the engagement in these online political spaces. As this is still extremely new in its current form, it has some issues and kinks that need to be smoothed out but is overall an engaging tool. These spaces also help people who may not be able to actively participate in protests. People who are disabled, to young, caregivers, parents, etc.

3 When does free speech got o far on internet spaces? Can it be something that can even be addressed without it beeing seen as mass censorship? 

As we saw in the “A Timeline of Leslie Jones’s Horrific Online Abuse” article, the level and severity on online harassment can be absolutely brutal. Ranging from common bullying language to full on hate crimes. While these may has real consequences outside of the apps, within them it seems to be unchecked or unregulated. In the Pew study, 73% of people have witnessed online harassmement online, 73% is a massive number of people. With this type of behavior being so common on social media, is there even a way to handle it anymore? Can we even ban someone from an app permanently and lets say that is a viable solution, would that be an infringement on an individuals free speech? Would it be considerd an invasion of privacy?

4 Could anonymity on online spaces be seen as a “white hood”?

Anonymity online gives individuals the freedom to openly share and promote extreme views without fear of real-world consequences. This sense of invisibility encourages people to form communities around shared beliefs, where they can express ideas that might otherwise be marginalized. As these ideologies spread, they attract others with similar views, creating a network that strengthens and amplifies these beliefs.

In these communities, the lack of accountability fosters a strong sense of belonging, making it easier for these ideas to grow and gain traction. Over time, the ideas become more entrenched, and the group’s influence expands. With algorithms recommending similar content, these views can reach a wider audience, making it harder for opposing perspectives to break through, further cementing the spread of these extremist ideologies.

httpswww.pewresearch.orginternet20141022online-harassment.pdf

Timeline of Leslie Jones’s Horrific Online Abuse.pdf

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Is the voice of Mavis Bekan in the game perpetuating harmful stereotypes for women?

In the typing game Mavis Beacon released in the late 80s, the mascot was a woman and Haitian immigrant named Renée L'Espérance . A woman who was approached to model advertising for said game. After the first edition of the game, the creators kept using her image and likeness for all future editions of the game. In the later editions they have her do a voice over for Mavis. Before hearing the voice the game used for her, I was wondering if it would be her voice or would it be done by a different person/ ethnicity. Knowing she is a Haitian immigrant, we could presume she has a Haitian accent. After looking and finding a video of the game with the voice acting, we hear no accent. Instead we hear what sounds to be an older white woman, almost completely erasing her identity as a Haitian immigrant. This further pushes the stereotype of what type of demographic of who is the “teacher” and who is nurturing.

Can representation for minorities be harmful and inspiring at the same time?

After Watching the snippitis of the Mavis Beacon documentary, we see that Renée L'Espérance, the face of Mavis Beacon, we see that this black woman touched the lives of so many young children who use the program to learn how to type while growing up. While this is true and why she became this beloved character, we also know that the creators of the game stated that she was used as a marketing tool. While on paper this move was revolutionary, in actuality we can see that she was seen as an object to market their game or as a publicity stunt. That combined with the use of her likeness for all of the future editions almost diminishes the representation and progress that the game did for black girls and women who saw themselves in Mavis.

How does the Digital Assistant perpetuate the patriarchy?

Figures such as Mavis Beacon and other digital assistants highlight the influence of feminized digital interfaces on societal perceptions of both technology and gender. Companies push the notion that technology should be accessible, docile, and nurturing—traits historically associated with women—by casting artificial intelligence and digital assistants as pleasant, female-coded avatars. This practice reinforces traditional gender roles, wherein women are expected to embody qualities of warmth, kindness, and passivity, and are often viewed as non-confrontational and subservient. These portrayals not only perpetuate a limited understanding of women’s roles within technology but also contribute to the broader societal tendency to frame women as passive, secondary figures rather than active, innovative contributors to technological progress.

What can the screen name of an individual on online spaces say about that individual.

In these online spaces you need to have some sort of userman. These usernames could be seen as an extension of the individual. With text on the internet incapable of sounding sarcastic or as a joke due to the lack of the human language, we can only assume that the names are an extension of themselves. Whether they do or don't actually align with those beliefs, parties or ideology is irrelevant once you type that name. As the viewer only knows you through that name. See it almost as the first impression and as we know, you always want to make a good impression. As I play games that are usually multiplayer and competitive, I see a lot of interesting stuff. From your normal jokey usernames to blatant hate. Names like, H@rdR@pe, Females Suck, ICantBreathe, No_Consent ( Also yes these are real names i have seen while playing). Oftentimes directed at anyone but white straight males. Jesse Daniels writes that men typically pick names that signify power or dominance. While this is harmful in itself, we also have to recognize that these are probably children and if they can feel comfortable doing this in online public spaces, it makes you wonder how they actually think outside of the online space.

Sources

Seeking Mavis Beacon, Netflix

Daniels, Jessie. 2009. Gender, White Supremacy, and the Internet

O’Riordan, K. (n.d.). Gender, technology, and visual cyber cultural Virtually Women [Review of Gender, technology, and visual cyber cultural Virtually Women]

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1 In the Black Mirror episode 1, season 3, we see the use of an extreme version of a meritocracy. Does this level of severity already exist in our society today?

Thinking about the merit system from the episode and trying to compare it to our society in a 1 to 1 fashion is narrow thinking. Yes we can compare this to the idea of social media since it seems to be an in world social media. We see this system reach much further into everyday society than just social media. So, thinking outside of the box when thinking about their society to ours IRL we can start to find other similarities. For example, people with low scores are people typically that work more in the working class jobs. We see this with the truck driver being a low low score. We can maybe start to see the similarities to people who work working class jobs in our society. Typically people in these types of jobs are viewed lower than someone who is white collar. Thus working class people are seen with less merit. Overall, yes I do think we have this system and it may look different in our society comparatively, we are more similar than we would like to think. 

2 Does the human race subconsciously already use the merit system? 

As humans, we know that it is in our nature to judge anyone and everyone for just existing. Which most likely stems from our ancient ancestors need to stay safe and out of danger. This now being ingrained into us as a species has seem to lead to a lot of negativity and problems globally This can be seen in any type of hate crime. These are just the use of a ranking system to determine who is on top (The most highly rated). I think this is also a thing that we see in dating or having preferences. The system that was shown in the Black Mirror episode is almost a recreation of Tinder and Similar apps. Swiping to the right for yes and the left for no. While you aren't giving someone a star rating, you are using a merit like system to determine whether you find that individual attractive.

3 Can the merit system that we see in the Black Mirror episode be seen as a type of (social) currency?

In the episode we can see the merit points be used as a symbol of social status, the higher you are, the more opportunities you have. The Lower you are, the less opportunities you have. Does that sound familiar? The currency system we have in our society has the same effect. The richer you are the more opportunities you have, the poorer you are, the less opportunities you have. People in the merit system universe almost use their rating as a currency in similar ways to our money. Obviously not in the literal sense out using your points to buy physical things. We can look at it similar to this idea of social currency. A currency that isn't physical but is purely based on your place in the social and economic ladder. This and physical currency typical go hand and hand. 

4 How does the merit system keep people oppressed? 

The show's rating system is designed around the concept of popularity, utilizing a five-star scale to evaluate individuals. Its main objective is to impose control over people's actions and thoughts, limiting their ability to freely express themselves or act authentically. Consequently, individuals find themselves compelled to conceal their genuine emotions and to put on a facade in almost every interaction. This oppressive system is further reinforced by its connection to essential resources—people’s access to fundamental needs like food, housing, and healthcare is directly tied to their rating. As a result, individuals are trapped in a relentless cycle, where maintaining a high rating becomes essential for their survival, leaving them with little choice but to conform and suppress their true selves in order to secure their basic well-being.

Nosedive Short Film

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#TCL25

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Post 2, Week 3

Has Cyberfeminism(s) impacted feminism as a movement?

Cyberfeminism as a whole has changed the landscape of the feminist movement as a whole. The movement was born out of the theory that the internet can be a place for all women to transform their lives and feel liberated. Using the internet to expand the ideology of the feminist movement to more women. Cyberfeminism(s) has been able to achieve a more widespread display of feminism but has some issues. The movement has been critiqued by many scholars for a multitude of things. Some scholars touch on Cyberfeminism(s) not having a grounding point for its ideology and are described as “just a developing theory”. Other scholars will focus more on the movements sporadic and contradicting points. This coupled with the assumed “educated, white, upper-middle-class, English-speaking, culturally sophisticated readership” has thrown the movement into this weird spot. A spot where it is,by nature, excluding some women by making it inaccessible. I think cyberfeminism(s) has also pushed it to an audience (men) that may have not seen the movement or already had opinions on the movement. Typically an audience who is the oppressor of women. This new found audience has belittled the movement and deduced it to nothing more than “crying” or being “too sensitive”. Playing into the point of why the movement is needed. Which has impacted the feminist movement.

Can the use of Ai technologies be unbiased?

Ai and its many implications have been promised the future of the world and a way for mankind to make life easier. While it has the possibility to be true, we have to ask the question of easier for who exactly? For example in America, our healthcare system has adopted the use of AI to determine care for people and whether they need it. Studies have shown that people who spend more or have more access to healthcare that they get the care they need more often than others. Typically people who have more access to healthcare are white people. Basically implying that since white people have access to healthcare they are determined that they will get said care. While others who don’t have the access will get denied more because of the lack of frequency. Ai as it is built gathers information from other users on the internet (people) and by nature is a product of its environment. Then a question arises will AI ever be able to be unbiased sometime in the future? While we may not be able to answer that question as of now, we can speculate. With the way that AI is set up and is being used it is most likely not going to be able to be as unbiased as they say.

How has the internet helped the anti-I.C.E movement?

The media has always been a powerful tool in the fight against injustice, helping to raise awareness and mobilize people. In today’s world, social media makes it easier than ever to share information and organize movements. A recent example of this was the protests against Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies. Social media platforms played a central role in organizing and spreading the message, with people across the U.S. coming together to protest I.C.E. For me, TikTok has been a primary source of media, and I saw numerous videos documenting how the protests managed to shut down a major highway in Los Angeles. Most of the content I encountered was filled with positive support and messages of solidarity. However, as is often the case, there was also a darker side, with some videos attracting racist and harmful comments. This duality highlights both the power and the negative aspects of social media platforms.

How has facial recognition software been used to target minority communities?

Facial recognition technology is heavily influenced by political perspectives, especially when it’s used by police to track down criminals. This raises serious concerns for minority communities, as one of the biggest issues with the technology is its inability to accurately recognize people from diverse racial backgrounds. A 2019 study examining over 100 facial recognition systems found that they performed significantly worse on Black and Asian faces, as highlighted by Kashmir Hill in her article "Another Arrest, and Jail Time, Due to a Bad Facial Recognition Match." This flaw has led to innocent individuals—particularly those from minority groups—being wrongly arrested and imprisoned. Hill details the case of Nijeer Parks, who ended up spending "10 days in jail and paid around $5,000 to defend himself" after being falsely identified by facial recognition software. Not everyone has the resources to fight such charges, and the increasing use of this technology could lead to more wrongful incarcerations and innocent people facing time in prison.

Nicole Brown - Race and Technology

Rethinking Cyberfeminism(s): Race, Gender, and Embodiment Jessie Daniels

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KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, ICE

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Post 1

Growing up my family went on a decent amount of road trips. Usually we would go across multiple states stopping at each one along the way to see something. The Longest that we went on was from California to North/South Carolina. My family rented a small motorhome for us to stay in. My Grandfather was the one that drove every time. Growing up for a while he would follow a Map Quest print out that my mom probably printed out for him. Luckily around this time Cars and phones would have an AI to navigate your car, like for directions. Another trip we did was to Lake Tahoe when I was about 13. My Grandpa got a new car thar had the talking AI to navigate the touchscreen in the middle of the car. This can do stuff like directions but can also change radio stations and make calls. My grandpa was super excited to have his new car with the new features. It works well for a while and the “new toy” mentality is still in full effect. You have the occasional times when the AI woman didn’t understand him or had trouble working, but that's just technology my Grandpa would say. Fast forward and we are about hour five in and someone calls and he tries to answer it with the speak button on his car, the call hangs up because it couldn't detect his voice. He also learned that when it does work there is a delay to the person hearing his voice. So eventually it turned into him saying “hello” over and over again till he got a response back. Always charming to hear. Fast forward again and we are about to leave California and the GPS is acting up, its choppy and overall laggy. It turns out that since we left Nevada, it didnt know what to do since it started in California. He tried over and over again to reset the GPS by trying to cancel it with his speak button and the touch screen. Eventually, to fix this my grandpa did the old “turn it off and on again”. He pulled over and turned the car off… waited… then turned it back on. It worked perfectly after letting it warm up. He still has this car and it is still the same… just much worse.