Presented a poster for 'Digital Media Metaphors: A Critical Introduction' at our department seminar: Can you guess the metaphors?

And we're off: #Nordmedia25 Looking forward to great discussions with Nordic research colleagues.

Re-reading Marc Andreessen's Techno-Optimist Manifesto. Had forgotten the big brain argument that AI regulation is actually murder: "any deceleration of AI will cost lives. Deaths that were preventable by the AI that was prevented from existing is a form of murder" 🙃

Very excited to share that my book, The Discursive-Digital Link, is now available for pre-order on Routledge: tinyurl.com/the-ddl. The e-book is already available to order with a 30% discount! You can also read the synopsis and the Introduction chapter on my website: essideh.com/ddl/ (thread)

"Boston Consulting Group consultants modelled relocating Palestinians to Somalia and Somaliland during a project on postwar Gaza, according to people familiar with the work." www.ft.com/content/2206...

My first encyclopedia article is now out. It's in Danish and about content moderation ('indholdsmoderation') - in Medie- og Kommunikationsleksikon. medieogkommunikationsleksikon.dk/indholdsmode...

Back from holidays 😊 Did an interview with Danish radio (P1) yesterday on the gutting of public service in the US. Starts at 47.18: www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/k-liv...

It’s worse than “Gaza is being starved and destroyed and no one cares.” It’s that hundreds of millions *do* care and are powerless to stop it. We need a world where that can never happen, where the masses actually have political power.

Gaza’s “last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing,” according to the United Nations. Children are starving. In recent weeks, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians seeking food aid, per the UN. Learn more:

Are the masses being blamed for problems that are being created by a handful of people? We tackle this question, explore how news is distributed, flaws with the media, and more in Episode 2 with @jfarkas.bsky.social. Now available wherever you get your #podcasts! #democracy #fakenews

It is not good when DSA enforcement becomes a trade/ geopolitical bargaining chip … “The European Commission pauses the investigation into DSA violations by X to maintain peace with the United States” itdaily.com/news/busines...

Really enjoyed this conversation!

We are back with episode 2!🎙️ Jess‬ is joined by Johan Farkas (@jfarkas.bsky.social) of the University of Copenhagen, talking #democracy in a post-truth era. Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think! linktr.ee/democracydif... #politicspodcast #newepisode #democracydifferently

"My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people... I have been teaching classes on genocide for a quarter of a century. I can recognize one when I see one." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...

My NYT op-ed this morning I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...

“Det første skridt er derfor at erkende, at problemet ikke alene kan løses gennem faktatjek eller dannelse, men kræver et grundlæggende opgør med den politisk-økonomiske orden, der har gjort det muligt for tech-milliardærer at påvirke vores samfund uden demokratisk legitimitet.”

I've written a blog post in Danish for Copenhagen Review of Communication based on my recent work with Aurelien Mondon on 'The Roots of Reactionary Tech Oligarchy and the Need for Radical Democratic Alternatives' www.copenhagen-review-of-communication.com/de-reaktiona...

As part of this month's forum on Media & Fascism, @jfarkas.bsky.social and @aurelmondon.bsky.social explore the rise of reactionary tech oligarchy and why liberalism, journalism, and the Internet aren't the bulwarks they might seem. Check it out! doi.org/10.1093/ccc/...

An addled president is shredding the Constitution to usher in white nationalism and fascism while destroying the economy and our health care, so if you’re going to write an alarmist op-ed because a mayoral candidate might open five (5) city-run grocery stores, you can kindly get bent.

🙃

I will give a keynote lecture on Monday at the 1st Workshop on Misinformation Detection in the Era of LLMs (MisD) - in conjunction with ICWSM-2025. My talk is titled 'The Democratic Deficit of Misinformation Solutions'. Looking forward! sites.google.com/view/misd-20...

In Danish: Contributing to this article in Videnskab.dk on how Politiken published a demographic projection with clear echoes of scientific racism. Professor Peter Fallesen concludes: "It seems like a calculation scribbled on the back of a napkin." videnskab.dk/kultur-samfu...

"These are the nearly 2,500 N.I.H. grants that have been ended or delayed." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

From our new commentary: "To better describe our current context, we use the term reactionary tech oligarchy. We argue that it encompasses the current historical conjuncture, as it stresses how these movements are elite-driven and top-down" (Farkas & Mondon, 2025, p. 123)

If you ain’t doing propaganda, the NEH ain’t interested.

SCOOP: The first wave of DOGE staffers was supposed to be gone after 130 days. Instead, core members of the team have signed on for the long haul. www.wired.com/story/big-ba...

In Danish: Contributing to this article in Politiken about pro-Israeli ads placed in Danish media by Israel’s Government Advertising Agency via Google Ads. politiken.dk/kultur/medie...

'This moment urgently calls for bold, critical research and alliances across academia, journalism, and civil society and for those with privileged access to public discourse to take responsibility' @jfarkas.bsky.social and I on the rise of reactionary tech oligarchy academic.oup.com/ccc/article/...

Check out my latest, with @paulachak.bsky.social, in @ccc-journal.bsky.social! It introduces a forum we co-edited on "Media and Fascism," with a star-studded lineup! See the 🧵 below: doi.org/10.1093/ccc/...

@jfarkas.bsky.social and @aurelmondon.bsky.social write about the roots of reactionary tech oligarchy and the need for radical democratic alternatives. doi.org/10.1093/ccc/...

New commentary in Communication, Culture and Critique! @aurelmondon.bsky.social and I explore 'The Roots of Reactionary Tech Oligarchy', a critical reflection on how liberal institutions enabled the unprecedented concentration of infrastructural and monetary power in the hands of tech billionaires.

So…about AI’s energy use… “…to create a five-second video, a newer AI model uses ‘about 3.4 million joules, more than 700 times the energy required to generate a high-quality image’. That's the equivalent of running a microwave for over an hour.”

📢✨ New OA book out now with Amsterdam University Press: Governing the Digital Society: Platforms, Artificial Intelligence, and Public Values, edited by José van Dijck, @kfvanes.bsky.social, @silvertje.bsky.social, & @fvandervlist.bsky.social. Access: www.aup.nl/en/book/9789...

"The UN estimates that approximately 92 per cent of all residential buildings in Gaza – around 436,000 homes – have been damaged or destroyed since the start of the conflict." news.un.org/en/story/202....

Euphemisms won't save research from the far right. This is why we should stop calling the threat to democracy "populism" "polarization" or "post-truth" and instead the resurgence of fascism. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/b...

This week, the GOP slid an amendment into the budget reconciliation process that would ban US states from enacting laws that govern AI. This of course was not an aberration—it’s the direct result of Silicon Valley lobbying efforts, and big tech’s union with Trump and the Republican Party.

Less a belief in AGI, more about how much power can be concentrated into these systems. They know how to play that hand: Silicon Valley is an industry built on becoming essential by faking its own necessity while tearing down alternatives. www.techpolicy.press/anatomy-of-a...

New York University said it is withholding the diploma of a student who condemned "genocide" in Gaza while delivering a graduation speech – a move the university called a violation of the student's commitment to comply with school rules. Read more: cnn.it/4dlDWdr

I wrote this nearly 3 yrs ago & it's genuinely hard to believe that the "fascism debate" is still ongoing given all that has transpired since then. It's clear—both tactically & ideologically—what is unfolding before us. Nothing to gain at this point by continuing to give the benefit of the doubt.

The mask is coming off of the Network State cult. Here is Network State evangelist Balaji Srinivasan boosting Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong calling for the creation "10 or so" new tech cities on federal land. Of course, Trump has already announced plans for 10 new cities...

X was rife with talk of "white genocide" today, thanks to Grok responding to random queries with answers about "white genocide in South Africa" that it's "instructed to accept as real." www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

It’s not just Elon Musk that went to meet MBS and the government in Saudi Arabia. The CEOs of BlackRock, IBM, Amazon, Boeing, Google, Palantir, Halliburton, and more attended with Donald Trump. 🧵

"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging." Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council. I wrote about my decision in TIME. time.com/7285045/resi...

Gaza has brought genocide to the centre of world politics and the idea of genocide back to the centre of political and intellectual debate. In The New Age of Genocide, due October 7, I dissect the genocide, the denial, and their implications for understanding. A 🧵 www.agendapub.com/page/detail/...

After deploying AI tools in Israel and on the U.S. border, American tech companies are now powering domestic repression.

Can fossil fuel companies be held legally accountable for climate-related damages? Researchers have a new method they say links the emissions from specific companies to trillions of dollars in economic harm.

Ed Martin's latest target: Wikipedia. The interim U.S. attorney and pro-Trump bulldog has sent a letter seeming to threaten the Wikimedia Foundation's tax-exempt status over allegations that it is "spreading propaganda." Our story: www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Scientists must push back against the threat of rising white nationalism and the dangerous and pseudoscientific ideas of eugenics https://go.nature.com/4jGqiUc

If you are trying to figure out how to make sense of authoritarian turn, read this thoughtful review by @jfarkas.bsky.social and @bilgeyesil.bsky.social new book on Turkish mediated authoritarianism and how to contest its hold..