How to survive the broligarchy:
20 lessons for the post-truth world
Carole Cadwalladr

Includes:

5 You have more power than you think. We’re supposed to feel powerless. That’s the strategy. But we’re not.

10 Listen to women of colour. Everything bad that happened on the internet happened to them first.

11 Think of your personal data as nude selfies.

19 Take the piss. Humour is a weapon.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

How to survive the broligarchy: 20 lessons for the post-truth world

In the wake of Trump’s unnerving appointees, the investigative journalist and veteran of the libel court offers pointers on coping in an age of surveillance

^{Carole Cadwalladr (The Guardian)}

When you're ready to wean yourself off the broligarchy, here is a list of digital services you can consider.

Just because they're based in Europe doesn't mean they will serve your purpose. As always, Caveat Emptor, buyer beware. And if you can use it for free, beware even more. Do your homework.

european-alternatives.eu/alter…

Sarah Kenzior wrote this almost exactly eight years ago, and a lot of it resonates even harder this year.

"You may be wondering why I am writing a letter to Americans in a Dutch news outlet. It is because I do not trust the US outlets to remain free, and believe that many are already compromised."

thecorrespondent.com/5696/were…

Select your news sources carefully, and
PAY FOR YOUR NEWS.

"Fortunately, not every service out there is trying to monetize your personal data, and many offerings are just as good (if not often better) as their commercial or ad-supported rivals."

More alternatives to popular apps that can help reclaim your online life from billionaires and surveillance

techcrunch.com/2024/11/24/thes…

These alternatives to popular apps can help reclaim your online life from billionaires and surveillance | TechCrunch

Not every app or service is trying to monetize your personal data. Here are some of our favorite alternatives to popular apps.

^{Devin Coldewey (TechCrunch)}

It's easy to remember Carole Cadwalladr's term, "broligarchy" (see upthread).

TIL it has a technical term: big tech feudalism.
Reijer Passchier of Leiden University observes that "The power of big tech companies is eclipsing the sovereignty of the state."

nrc.nl/nieuws/2024/12/24/de-de…

He says it's not a matter of "taming" Big Tech: what's required is de-feudalising.

Expect calls for a separation of tech and state, soon.

‘Big Tech heeft de democratische staat op feodale wijze aan zich onderworpen’

Reijer Passchier | hoogleraar digitalisering: Er is nu geen sprake van kapitalisme, zegt de Leidse jurist Reijer Passchier, maar van feodalisme. De macht van grote techbedrijven overvleugelt de soevereiniteit van de staat.

^{Mark Lievisse Adriaanse (NRC)}

The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide
In bullet points, under the headings:

– YEAR 1 Under Authoritarianism: What to Expect?

– Authoritarian Checklist

– 6 RULES for Survival under an Authoritarian Regime

– 7 RULES on Approaching Authoritarian Supporters
What if your neighbour, friend or family member supports the authoritarian regime?

Mycielski, Martin: The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide, VerfBlog, 2018/3/26, verfassungsblog.de/the-authori…

Thanks to @GreenFire for the link!

The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide

This text was published in social media in January 2017 in a series of improvised, spontaneous tweets, which reached 3 million views within one month.

^{Verfassungsblog}

So: surveillance.
All the big tech companies do it.
Can you get away from it?

This story is of a writer who went without Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple, first one at a time for one week each, then all five at once.

Turns out they pervade our lives.

"Amazon’s most profitable business isn’t retail; it’s web hosting."

Even Signal uses AWS.

gizmodo.com/i-cut-the-big-five…

This piece is 5 years old, but I have a feeling things haven't improved since then.

I Cut the 'Big Five' Tech Giants From My Life. It Was Hell

Week 6: Blocking them all A couple of months ago, I set out to answer the question of whether it’s possible to avoid the tech giants. Over the course of

^{Kashmir Hill (Gizmodo)}

When you're ready to cut the influence of Big Tech on your life, here is a really good step by step guide, by someone who's done it and can warn you about the pitfalls on your way out.

Includes: Secure your email; Protect your passwords; Get social again; there's more.

The 21-day Cyber-Cleanse: designed to remove toxic tech from your life

optoutproject.net/tags/cleanse…

"Misinformation and #disinformation are viewed as the most severe global risk over the coming two years, matching the ranking in the 2024 report. #ExtremeWeather events ranked second and state-based armed conflict is viewed as the third biggest threat."

aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/15/a…

Armed conflict and climate change driving global economic uncertainty: WEF

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2025 warns wars and extreme weather are buffeting economic confidence.

^{Al Jazeera}

"We find that radical-right populism is the strongest determinant for the propensity to spread misinformation. Populism, left-wing populism, and right-wing politics are not linked to the spread of misinformation.

Political misinformation should be understood as part and parcel of the current wave of radical right populism, and its opposition to liberal democratic institution."

"Misinformation and Radical-Right Populism Across 26 Countries"

Link to paper via @jeffjarvis
mastodon.social/@jeffjarvis/11…

"More than 60 German and Austrian academic organizations say they will leave the messaging platform X owned by Elon Musk. The German government has also voiced fears that the platform is warping political discourse.

On Thursday, the trade unions GEW, which represents educators and teachers, and Verdi announced they were deleting their X presence, as did the Federal Court of Justice (BGH)."

dw.com/en/german-institutions-…

#Xodus

German institutions depart X, a day after Musk's Weidel talk

^{Deutsche Welle}

"The French Human Rights League (LDH) and the National Centre for Scientific Research (#CNRS) cofounded the collective “#HelloQuitteX,” which is now supported by a group of 86 unions and organisations that pledge to no longer post any content on X because the algorithms “favour the proliferation of hateful content and conspiracy theories,” according to a press release on theirwebsite. "

euronews.com/next/2025/01/15/f…

#Xodus

French group encourages mass departure from Elon Musk's X platform on US inauguration day

The French Human Rights League (LDH) is asking the public to join them in a mass exodus of X, formerly Twitter, on January 20.

^{Anna Desmarais (Euronews.com)}

If you have not yet left facebook and instagram, read this.

"You might think of Meta as a social media company, but its primary business is surveillance advertising. Meta’s business model relies on collecting as much information as possible about people in order to sell highly-targeted ads. That’s why Meta is one of the main companies tracking you across the internet—monitoring your activity far beyond its own platforms."

How to cut free:

eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/mad-…

Mad at Meta? Don't Let Them Collect and Monetize Your Personal Data

If you’re fed up with Meta right now, you’re not alone. Meta tracks you across millions of websites and apps and its business model relies on your data.

^{Electronic Frontier Foundation}

Paris has joined the #Xodus

brusselssignal.eu/2025/01/are-…

Are European governments next? Paris joins growing exodus from Musk’s X

The city of Paris has become the latest European municipality to abandon Elon Musk’s social media platform, saying it will close its X account January 20.

^{Anne-Laure Dufeal (Brussels Signal)}