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Reposted by Alexander Hohlfeld

Alberto Acerbi @acerbialberto.com · 6d

Humans are humans on TikTok too.

PsyPost @psypost.bsky.social · 6d

Negativity drives engagement on political TikTok

TikTok users are more likely to interact with political videos that target out-groups, express negative emotion, or call for action. Engagement patterns differ by political leaning, but conflict-driven and emotionally charged content consistently performs better across the ideological spectrum.

www.psypost.org

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Alexander Hohlfeld @alhohlfeld.bsky.social · 7d

It's not available yet, will start at the end of this month

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Signal @signal.org · 17d

We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...

signal.org

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Berin Szóka @berinszoka.bsky.social · 18d

“Every counterrevolution, like every revolution, begins by being afraid of its own people.”
—Hannah Arendt, On Revolution (1963) 🇩🇪

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Reposted by Alexander Hohlfeld

The Future of Free Speech @futurefreespeech.org · 20d

20 years ago, Denmark upheld free speech even when cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad sparked deadly protests.

But today, @mchangama.bsky.social says European democracies are increasingly choosing appeasement — and the violence hasn't stopped.

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Gurwinder @gurwinder.bsky.social · 29d

Those who point out falsehoods on their own side are assumed to be working for the enemy, because our hunter-gatherer brains struggle to comprehend that someone could genuinely care about the truth more than any tribe. This makes political movements hard to self-correct.

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Gurwinder @gurwinder.bsky.social · Sep 19

Free speech doesn’t belong to the left or the right. Both will claim it when it suits their purpose, and both will disavow it for the same reason. The only people who genuinely support free speech are those rare souls whose principles are strong enough to survive politics itself.

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Sarah McLaughlin @sarahemclaugh.bsky.social · Sep 17

In a webinar today about the threats to expression in the U.S., I said the question was ultimately more about whether people would have the courage to fight for their rights than whether they would win those fights. You do not retain rights you willingly give up.

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Ezra Klein @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social · Sep 17

"I had friends say to me, look, we can oppose political violence without whitewashing this guy. I spent some time thinking about that over the weekend...and my reaction honestly is that it is too little to just say we oppose political violence."

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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · Sep 12

Student acceptance of violence to silence speakers is at a record high.

In 2020, 1 in 5 students said violence was acceptable to stop a speaker. In 2025, that number is 1 in 3.

That’s a 79% increase in just five years. And it’s chilling.

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Ezra Klein @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social · Sep 11

Tweet from Ezra:

In the last few years we've seen:

- The plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer
- The Storming of the Capitol and pipe bombs left at the RNC and DNC
- The break-in to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and the brutal on Paul Pelosi
- Multiple assassination attempts against Trump
- The assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and the shooting of on State Senator John Hoffman and his wife
- Luigi Mangione's assassination of Brian Thompson
- The assassination of Charlie Kirk

Political violence is contagious. It is spreading. It is not confined to one side or belief system. It should terrify us all.

The foundation of a free society is the ability to participate in it without fear of violence. Political violence is always an attack against us all. You have to be so blind not to see that.

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Alexander Hohlfeld @alhohlfeld.bsky.social · Sep 12

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Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression @thefireorg.bsky.social · Sep 10

BREAKING: Charlie Kirk was shot during an event at Utah Valley University today. Details of the incident are still unfolding.

Political violence is never an acceptable response to speech. Free speech allows us to settle our differences peacefully and is essential to a free and democratic society.

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Reposted by Alexander Hohlfeld

Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · Sep 9

"Nobody ever says, 'We're censoring protected speech'...They say it's misinformation, or it's support of terrorism, or it's antithetical to American values."

This free-speech defender makes enemies left and right

First Amendment lawyer Jenin Younes backed anti-vaccine activists against the Biden administration’s covid restrictions. Now she is ready to sue the Trump administration for suppressing free speech.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Alexander Hohlfeld @alhohlfeld.bsky.social · Sep 5

"For pro-Palestinian activists, exercising academic freedom includes preventing Israeli colleagues from presenting their scientific findings [...]. In other words: politicized in this way, the concept of self-empowerment serves to violate the academic freedom of others"

Alexander Hohlfeld @alhohlfeld.bsky.social · Sep 5

Scientific activism "shares essential basic assumptions with its populist counterpart and thus plays into its hands" 💯
www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

Die konfuse Logik der politisierten Wissenschaft

Die Politisierung der Wissenschaft läuft anders ab als früher. Um sie aufzuhalten, muss man verstehen, dass aktivistische Bestrebungen innerhalb der Wissenschaft und rechtspopulistischer Druck von auß...

www.faz.net

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Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · Aug 22

Bluesky is now blocking access to people in Mississippi due to the state's problematic age verification law. Thread (and attached blog post) have more details...

Bluesky @bsky.app · Aug 22

Unfortunately, Bluesky is unavailable in Mississippi right now, due to a new state law that requires age verification for all users.

While intended for child safety, we think this law poses broader challenges & creates significant barriers that limit free speech & harm smaller platforms like ours.

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Reposted by Alexander Hohlfeld

Rob Sica @robsica.bsky.social · Aug 22

🎯"the dominant approach since 2016 fundamentally misunderstands the nature of communication... researchers and policymakers ought to engage with the full complexity of communication processes, including the agency of messengers and audiences"

Unpacking the Risk of Misinformation: A Communication‐Based Critique

A raft of authors argue that society is drowning in a sea of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news. Some claim we are living in a new world disorder, misinformation age, or post-truth era, fu...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Alexander Hohlfeld

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Aug 21

Given the current moment in the US, liberals should reflect on the dangers of illiberal censorship and government repression of speech in all forms www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Europe’s Free-Speech Problem

Republicans are right to criticize Europe for attacking free expression, even if that makes them hypocritical.

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by Alexander Hohlfeld

☠️ DeathNerd Killer 🎃 @daphnek.bsky.social · Aug 20

Have there been civil society complaints about the binding commitments that Ali Express entered with the EU Commission to settle its DSA investigation? They look like they were negotiated by someone who didn't read the whole DSA. Particularly Art. 8. 1/

digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/comm...

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Alexander Hohlfeld @alhohlfeld.bsky.social · Aug 19

Never empower government in ways you would regret once power changes hands

Alexander Hohlfeld @alhohlfeld.bsky.social · Aug 19

"Should the right gain more power on the continent (as it has done in Hungary, with dire consequences for free speech), more centrist European leaders could soon realize the risks of the infrastructure they are building to surveil and punish hate speech" @conor64.bsky.social

Europe’s Free-Speech Problem

Republicans are right to criticize Europe for attacking free expression, even if that makes them hypocritical.

www.theatlantic.com

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Alexander Hohlfeld @alhohlfeld.bsky.social · Aug 19

"Should the right gain more power on the continent (as it has done in Hungary, with dire consequences for free speech), more centrist European leaders could soon realize the risks of the infrastructure they are building to surveil and punish hate speech" @conor64.bsky.social

Europe’s Free-Speech Problem

Republicans are right to criticize Europe for attacking free expression, even if that makes them hypocritical.

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by Alexander Hohlfeld

The Future of Free Speech @futurefreespeech.org · Aug 18

What happens when democracies silence dissent in the name of fighting extremism? In an essay for the UK's Commission for Countering Extremism, @mchangama.bsky.social warns that censorship can backfire—fueling the very extremism it seeks to stop.

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Antoine Marie PhD @a-marie-sci.bsky.social · Aug 17

While it was primarily a left-wing thing (2015-21), canceling attempts are now dominated by the right in U.S. academia:

open.substack.com/pub/heterodo...

Attack data show the vibe shift has officially arrived on campus.

The censorious left has handed the baton to the censorious right.

open.substack.com

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Alexander Hohlfeld @alhohlfeld.bsky.social · Aug 1

"We cannot allow fear to become the quiet condition of exile. Protecting freedom of expression must mean more than providing refuge; it must also mean defending the right to speak, organise, and live without intimidation—even beyond borders" @carmenlau.bsky.social 💯 www.linkedin.com/posts/carmen...

I spoke to The Guardian about an unsettling experience: UK police asked me to “stay low profile” due to safety concerns. | Carmen Lau

I spoke to The Guardian about an unsettling experience: UK police asked me to “stay low profile” due to safety concerns. As someone living in exile under a HK$1 million bounty, I understand the risks—...

www.linkedin.com