Michael S. Daubs, PhD
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mdaubs.bsky.social
Michael S. Daubs, PhD
@mdaubs.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Media, Film and Communication at the University of Otago. Co-Director for Kōtaha: the Internet, Social Media and Politics Research Lab at Te Herega Waka - Victoria University of Wellington | 🇨🇦 in 🇳🇿 (he/him) | @[email protected]
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
In the wake of the tragedy in Australia today, someone took the time to create a fake news website and made up a white “IT professional” named "Edward Crabtree" and claimed he stopped the Bondi shooting.

The real hero is a man named Ahmed Al Ahmed. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...
December 15, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
This is fucking grim. Somebody invented a white guy, an "IT professional" named Edward Crabtree, who stopped the Bondi shooting and spread it all over the internet, which was picked up by AI agents and slop aggregation sites.

The real hero is a fruit stand owner named Ahmed el Ahmed.
December 14, 2025 at 8:02 PM
I‘m starting to suspect the expectation will be that teaching at a university level is less about a researcher’s field of research and more about prompt engineering sooner rather than later.
Universities have just decided that their new mission is to create permanent consumers for mostly useless and harmful technologies.
December 14, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Apropos of nothing, anyone remember that Safer Online Systems and Media Platforms discussion document? Good times.
#BREAKING

Education Minister Erica Stanford confirms on the Duncan Garner podcast today the government will be following Australia’s lead and banning under 16yo’s from social media before the next election.

#nzpol
December 8, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
🎉 New publication 🎉 Why do #youngpeople vote for the #AfD? This question has kept our research project busy for quite some time, so I'm beyond excited that our first article - co-authored with @timonscheuer.bsky.social - is now out in #GermanPolitics! 🤩 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
November 22, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
For lots of reasons, I don’t like LLMs and I don’t use them, but I know there are serious people working on ways to meaningfully incorporate them into education and I don’t doubt there are ways to do that productively. It’s probably obvious that “Have the LLM tell you the answer” isn’t one of them.
November 21, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.

Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 11:48 AM
I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to contribute some information on the definitional challenges and ethical questions about 'digital wellbeing' to the latest edition of CPI's TechREG Chronicle. Thanks to the editors there, who were very kind and patient.

www.pymnts.com/cpi-posts/wh...
Who Is Responsible for Digital Wellbeing? An Overview of Approaches, Threats, and Perspectives on Accountability | PYMNTS.com
The widespread availability and use of digital tools such as smartphones and social media platforms have led to extensive discussions about their social
www.pymnts.com
November 2, 2025 at 6:28 PM
🙌
Die Fans von Bayern München mit einer eindeutigen Botschaft - direkt hinter dem Tor, damit es alle im Fernsehen sehen: "Wer Antifa verbietet, der will Faschismus! Fuck Trump, Fuck Wilders and ... Make Antifa great again!"
September 28, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
They are saying 32% GST and 72 for retirement age so we will happily accept 20% GST and 68 for retirement age. Why don’t they say 5% wealth tax and 40% corporate tax on big conglomerates? No of course they won’t say that no siree.
September 25, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Sadly, this is not surprising. And people in influential positions are still pushing this “theory”.
The Minneapolis shooter was apparently a fan of several mass murderers who were motivated by the same "Great Replacement Theory" that has pretty much taken over the Republican Party.
After showing his guns emblazoned with racial slurs, far-right slogans, Minneapolis shooting suspect displayed a message "Hail Breivik. Hail Brenton."

Neo-Nazi Anders Breivik killed 77 in Norway in 2011. Brenton Tarrant killed 51 in shootings at 2 mosques in New Zealand in 2019.
August 27, 2025 at 9:00 PM
As we were discussing elsewhere, cuts to Catalyst and Marsden funding are a full on assault on knowledge and critical thinking (in addition to a complete misunderstanding of research and its value).
Here's the thing, we already were amongst the lowest levels of funding for research in the developed world. And these cuts & reprioritisations make this even worse.

You can't determine immediate economic implications from a lot, if not most, research. So, these decisions misunderstand science.
August 18, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
As we talk about the cheerful insanity of Australia's Social Media Ban again this morning, here's your periodical reminder that the book it's inspired by - The Anxious Generation - is hogwash.

Not just me saying it, but this little journal you might have heard of: Nature.
www.nature.com/artic...
The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?
Nature - The evidence is equivocal on whether screen time is to blame for rising levels of teen depression and anxiety — and rising hysteria could distract us from tackling the real causes.
www.nature.com
July 29, 2025 at 10:57 PM
If you're not tired of my hot takes on AI, I have another piece in @newsroom.co.nz, this time on the recently announced AI Strategy in NZ and its lack of a clear, er... strategy. newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/29/g....

Many thanks to @sarahhbickerton.bsky.social for her feedback and suggestions.
Govt's AI strategy is all hype and no vision
Opinion from the University of Otago: The long-awaited artificial intelligence plan proposes 'greater use of AI in business', but that’s basically where the goals begin and end, writes Dr Michael Daub...
newsroom.co.nz
July 29, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
Research has consistently shown that voting restrictions always have disproportionate impacts across the population. Those with less privilege, those at the margins, who are vulnerable, who are less embedded in societal institutions, are more likely to be impacted.
www.teaonews.co.nz/2025/07/24/e...
Electoral law changes spark fears of lower Māori voter turnout, Minister ignored advice
The Government’s proposed overhaul of New Zealand’s electoral laws is being criticised for potentially undermining Māori voter turnout, particularly among young & first-time voters
www.teaonews.co.nz
July 24, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
Andrew is literally NZ's pre-eminent expert on electoral law. His view on this should be taken incredibly seriously.

At absolute minimum, the BOR vet for the proposed change must be released immediately to see what official advice is & so that advice + govt's justification can be scrutinised.
July 24, 2025 at 3:22 AM
I’ve been told I’ve been negligent by not sharing that I wrote a thing in @newsroom.co.nz on big AI getting cozy with militaries and what that might mean for its users: newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/18/p...
Public-use AI helping in surveillance and warfare
Analysis from the University of Otago: Will ChatGPT users find themselves unwittingly contributing to increasing population surveillance, human rights violations, or warfare?
newsroom.co.nz
July 21, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
Falls ihr euch fragt, ob es cancel culture wirklich gibt. Ja, gibt es. Aber nicht die, die von rechts immer mit Schaum vor dem Mund behauptet wird.
Während Überreiche Fake Medien wie NIUS aufbauen und am Leben erhalten, zerstören Überreiche kritische mediale Formate aus Geldgier und machtpolitischen Erwägungen.

Wer über Medien spricht, muss immer - und in erster Linie - über Geld sprechen.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...
CBS Canceling ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ After Next Season
www.nytimes.com
July 18, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
Canada can see the costs of dependence on the US first hand. Trump is bullying us and Silicon Valley used his leverage to kill the digital services tax.

As the Canadian government looks for a new cloud provider, it shouldn’t just prioritize local companies; it should invest in a public cloud.
Why Canada needs to build a public cloud
Dependence on US tech giants must end if the country is serious about digital sovereignty
www.disconnect.blog
July 16, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Can’t emphasise this point enough. The comments are designed to evoke responses, which leads to the further spread of those comments.
Hipkins' take also ignores the fact that large amounts of this abuse is from extremists and organizations weaponizing inauthentic engagement. Telling them to "think about what they say" is pointless - they know what they're doing, often they've thought about it *strategically* before pressing enter.
Telling online abusers to think really hard about what they say online is very "dad" energy (don't confuse with "daddy" energy). There are measures we can take to stem the flood of online abuse, and it starts with regulating the companies that profit from the abuse. #nzpol
July 15, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
I know this is hyperbole, but seriously I am going to knock my head against a wall.

Unless you actually understand the technology you're making policy around, you will end up manifesting the negative externalities of such in profound ways with at best no mitigates nor even an assessment of benefit.
July 1, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
It’s so funny to me how bad the Free Speech Union is at their only job.

Academics being targeted by the literal embodiment of the State (acting Prime Minister)? That’s not a free speech issue, don’t be silly! Free speech is only for when you want to force a campus to host your crappy event!
June 24, 2025 at 5:37 AM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
A not-actually-a-dichotomy I wish people would stop talking about is "free speech vs hate speech". Despite both containing the word 'speech', these two are concepts are *entirely* different categories.

Hate speech is a type of speech.

Free speech is a right (or liberty) not a type of speech.
April 15, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Reposted by Michael S. Daubs, PhD
Oh hell. Spiegel reports that the Christmas market attacker in Magdeburg is an Islamophobic fan of Alex Jones and Elon Musk (with Saudi roots). This while Musk is posting pro-Nazi content in response. 🤬

www.tickaroo.com/e/F...
Tatverdächtiger schwärmte für Elon Musk und Alex Jones
Tatverdächtiger schwärmte für Elon Musk und Alex JonesTaleb A. teilte offenbar die Ressentiments von Verschwörungsideologen und Hetzern wie dem US-amerikanischen Podcaster Alex Jones oder dem britischen Rechts-Aktivisten Tommy Robinson. Auch der Unternehmer Elon Musk, der immer unverhohlener seine Sympathien für rechte Parteien äußert, zählte wohl zu seinen Vorbildern: »Wenn du jemandem zuhörst wie Tommy Robinson oder sogar Elon Musk, und auch wenn du ignorant bist gegenüber dem Prozess der Islamisierung, wirst du denken, die beiden wären Verschwörungstheoretiker«, sagte A. in einem Interview. »Aber ich kann aus Erfahrung sagen, alles was Robinson sagt, was Musk sagt, was Alex Jones sagt, oder jeder der von Mainstream-Medien als Radikaler oder Rechtsextremer bezeichnet wird – sie sagen die Wahrheit.«Taleb A.  sagte in dem Interview, er sei kein Rechter und bezeichnete sich selbst als Linken. Jones gilt als Amerikas oberster Verschwörungstheoretiker und behauptet etwa, dass sich angebliche globale Eliten gegen die USA verbündet haben und dass gleichgeschlechtliche Ehen eine Verschwörung eines globalen Geheimbundes sind. Im Jahr 2022 wurde Jones in mehreren Prozessen wegen Falschbehauptungen zum Blutbad an der Sandy-Hook-Grundschule zu Schadensersatz in Höhe von insgesamt knapp 1,5 Milliarden Dollar verurteilt. Jones hatte über Jahre behauptet, das Schulmassaker habe gar nicht stattgefunden. Es sei vielmehr vorgetäuscht worden, um eine Verschärfung des Waffenrechts durchzusetzen. Trauernde Eltern seien nur Schauspieler. Dagegen hatten die Angehörigen geklagt.Elon Musk forderte am Freitagabend als Reaktion auf den mutmaßlichen Anschlag in Magdeburg den Rücktritt des deutschen Bundeskanzlers. »Scholz sollte sofort zurücktreten«, schrieb der reichste Mensch der Welt auf seiner Plattform X und kritisierte den deutschen Regierungschef als »incompetent fool«, was so viel wie »unfähiger Idiot« bedeutet. In einem weiteren Post teilte Musk Videoaufnahmen, die offenbar Rettungsfahrzeuge auf dem Magdeburger Weihnachtsmarkt zeigten. »Schrecklich«, kommentierte er die Aufnahmen.
www.tickaroo.com
December 21, 2024 at 4:45 AM