hi Michael, thanks for the comment. Do you know about the Council for Technology and Social Cohesion? It is a new network--launched last year in SFO-- and one of the central conversations is about the use of deliberative technologies in the governing process... I think almost everyone has the goal in mind to surface and respond to the most unheard or marginalized voices.
LK On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 10:28 PM Michael H. Goldhaber <[email protected]> wrote: > I just want to congratulate the re-founders of LT. > > Two points: 1. In the late ‘60’s I was among those who led delegations to > visit Congressional offices and campaign for peace in Vietnam. We did have > impact. I’m not quite sure why that simple process can’t t work for > important issues now. > > 2. I’m writing a book on the Internet and the human future. For all their > many flaws, social media allow huge numbers of people worldwide to seek > attention from anywhere at little cost. The problem is in paying them due > attention. It’s fundamentally a social problem: learning or figuring out > how to give some of our attention to the weakest voices, and then > committing to doing so. That will also involve teaching how. > > Comments? > > > > Michael Goldhaber via iPhone, so please ecuse misteaks. > > On Apr 22, 2024, at 8:04 PM, Daylon Soh <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi everyone, > > I joined the list out of sheer curiosity after watching Mr. Robot. Am an > ex-journalist and communications manager turned education entrepreneur. > > We run a business training digital skills based in Singapore and Malaysia. > > Happy to connect via https://www.linkedin.com/in/daylonsoh/ > > On Tue, Apr 23, 2024 at 4:43 AM Kate Krauss <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Dear Lorelei, >> >> Wow--I have never thought about the right to petition or the idea that >> Facebook is an ad-based grievance processing platform. I am fascinated by >> these civic tech tools, especially pol.is. >> >> Pol.is basically runs huge town meetings and helps people build consensus >> over political divides. The US desperately needs to try these tools, and >> it's great to hear that you are working on this for US Congress. >> >> Taiwan uses them; I'm hoping to drag Audrey Tang, the brilliant digital >> minister of Taiwan who is an open-source hacker, onto this list. I >> wrote the piece below about civic tech in Taiwan and Estonia a few years >> ago. The text might be a little rosy (Audrey should come on the list and >> say if it is!) but it talks about some civic tech tools that people might >> not be familiar with. And it is long; feel free to skip it. >> >> -Kate Krauss >> >> *Tl;dr: Long opinion piece walks through civic tech as enacted in two >> very clever countries* >> >> Taiwan withstands intense hacking and disinformation from the Chinese >> government (right next door), yet it has managed to build an ecosystem of >> inventive and useful tools that outmaneuver its more powerful neighbor. >> >> >> To counter disinformation, Taiwanese volunteers created CoFacts >> <https://cofacts.g0v.tw/> (Collaborative Facts), a chatbot that allows >> people to ask questions about internet rumors without leaving their >> messaging app. Users instantly receive an even-handed analysis of what is >> true and false about the rumor, researched by vetted fact checkers similar >> to Wikipedia editors. >> >> >> Pol.is <https://pol.is/home> is an online platform that builds >> understanding between people with opposing views.* Developed in Seattle >> [!]* but fine-tuned for Taiwan, the platform allows people to present >> their own solutions to political problems, adding to and editing them to >> improve the ideas and find consensus. (Pol.is also had a successful >> trial run in Bowling Green, Kentucky town meetings.) >> >> >> A Taiwanese tool called “Government Budget Maps” compares federal budget >> items to the price of lunch boxes, bubble tea, or space travel so that >> people can wrap their minds around the cost. Citizens are then invited to >> review and rate each item. >> >> >> These ideas, and many others, have emerged from Taiwan’s large and >> vibrant culture of civic hacking--a movement of volunteers, known as G0V >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G0v>, who work together to develop and >> adapt open source tools that advance democracy and keep the government >> accountable. G0V is building out *nonprofit* civic space. People can >> voice their opinions, but no one is trying to keep them on a platform at >> any cost, enrage them with false information, or introduce them to Nazis. >> >> >> Other countries are also innovating to evade trouble online. Estonia, the >> tiny democracy wedged between Russia and the Baltic Sea, has fought back >> <https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2020/0204/Cybersecurity-2020-What-Estonia-knows-about-thwarting-Russians> >> against Russia's hacking of its bank, government agencies, press, and power >> grid. Advocates formed the CyberDefense League, enlisting hundreds of >> volunteers--teachers, lawyers, software developers, even priests--to >> protect the country from Russian cyberattacks. The CyberDefense League >> organizes emergency drills--fake disasters--that teach the government and >> citizenry how to prepare for, and counter, cyberattacks. They also teach >> ordinary people to protect themselves online. >> >> >> Estonia convinced NATO to run joint cyberdefense exercises, drawing >> thousands of participants from more than two dozen countries. The country >> named >> an ambassador-at-large >> <https://govinsider.asia/cyber-futures/heli-tiirmaa-klaar-lessons-from-estonias-cyber-ambassador/> >> for cybersecurity in 2018 (Taiwan has a digital minister). Every highschool >> student in Estonia is required to enroll in a 35-hour class on media and >> disinformation. >> >> >> These strategies are working: When Russia hacked the Ukraine in a 2017 >> attack that spread to 64 other countries, Estonia was largely untouched. >> [I wrote this in 2020 so not sure how Estonia is doing now -Kate] >> >> >> In the US, open source civic hacking groups have made inroads in >> streamlining US government processes [go, Lorelei!], but for-profit >> companies still dominate the public square. >> >> >> [My obvious point] Americans lack nonprofit, large-scale, online civic >> space in which to discuss ideas, read articles, or watch videos without >> being manipulated by profit-making algorithms. Instead, Facebook and others >> send us content that provokes us, because research shows this keeps us >> online. The longer we scroll, the more information we reveal that the >> company can monetize for ads. Facebook alone made $134 billion this way in >> 2023. >> >> >> >> So what can the US do? We must move open source, nonprofit, >> democracy-oriented software projects from the sidelines to the center of >> American life and its public square. Congress, which already funds some >> software development—and private foundations—can scale up funding and >> promote projects that support everything from civic hackathons to >> publicly-minded discussion platforms. >> >> >> Facebook was never built to promote democracy. The company’s central >> value and operating principle has always been growth--to get as big as >> possible as fast as possible. Rather than speculating about Facebook’s >> latest content moderation disaster [although actually we have to do that] >> or analyze Mark Zuckerberg’s personality, let’s learn from other countries >> that prioritize nonprofit, online civic life. >> >> --- >> >> >> >> On Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 3:42 PM Lorelei Kelly <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> hi, seeing if this thread goes through this time! >>> >>> ---------- Forwarded message --------- >>> From: Lorelei Kelly <[email protected]> >>> Date: Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 3:00 PM >>> Subject: Re: [liberationtech] Liberation Tech would like a word. >>> To: Kate Krauss <[email protected]> >>> Cc: liberationtech <[email protected]> >>> >>> >>> deliberative technology could take many different forms pol.is remesh, >>> Zoom, Cortico Fora...online Town Hall Models, Citizen Assemblies, mini >>> publics... >>> what's interesting to me is how the Right to petition function of >>> Congress (First Amendment duty) was basically offshored in the 1940s to the >>> Executive Branch, thereby depriving Congress of its internal barometer of >>> the American people-- it gave the President power at the expense of the >>> legislature, and allowed the public grievance processing space to languish >>> or be privatized (Facebook). Now much access is purchased via >>> lobbying...and advocacy... the rest of us are left to vote occasionally or >>> protest or spiral into frustration and even apathy (very dangerous)... >>> Grievance processing on top of an advertising platform is one of the major >>> drivers of dysfunction IMHO. And that's not even mentioning the Putin ad >>> buys. It has been a disaster for democracy, but specifically for >>> institutions like Congress whose communications standards were literally >>> stuck in the Pony Express until 2020. Here's an article that explains >>> <https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/3985778-to-protect-democracy-from-machines-congress-must-modernize-our-constitutional-right-to-petition/>this >>> big picture framing. >>> >>> We have to actually change alot of laborious and byzantine rules, even >>> laws to allow Congress to function in the modern world. It has many >>> pockets of Civil War era technology like an 1860s document format. Fixing >>> this is an institutional long game--the Right Wing has been much more >>> successful at eliminating public infrastructure and then >>> occupying/capturing it, selling it off to friends and cronies or >>> corporations (or flooding the zone with shit aka Bannon's plan) The Left, >>> as far as I can tell has no competitive institutional plan. Centrists tend >>> to not be supported by outside or adjacent orgs. >>> >>> our dysfunction re: tech and institutions is partly because the first >>> generation of technologies on social media fit into campaigning needs, not >>> governing, which requires slow moving, slow thinking and deliberation. >>> Its one reason why governing looks like campaigning now. The whole >>> incentive system is streamlined for it. Citizens United in 2010 allowed >>> unlimited dark money into the blood stream of democracy. We have to change >>> this incentive. Americans need to fall in love with their governing >>> institutions again. They are so beleaguered and brittle. And this needs >>> to be paid for by taxpayer dollars,facilitated by philanthropy, not >>> privatized. Democracy is not a pro bono project or a side gig that you >>> think about while building a Mars rocket-- Scorn for institutions is one of >>> the reasons I left Silicon Valley (where I was born!) and have never >>> looked back. >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 1:10 PM Kate Krauss <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> This is so interesting. Thanks for sharing your fascinating insights >>>> into the dynamics right now in US Congress. I can't believe we've found an >>>> optimist! :) >>>> >>>> What sorts of things are you working on in this regard: "how to >>>> integrate new forms of deliberative technology into the workflow of members >>>> so there is a flow of authentic, productive, constituent driven feedback." >>>> What sorts of deliberative technology? >>>> >>>> In modernizing, what kinds of unmodern things go wrong, and what >>>> direction are you going in fixing them? Also very interested to hear about >>>> AI and LLMs in the House (seems like a Saturday Night Live skit, but also, >>>> the future!). >>>> >>>> Thanks again, >>>> >>>> -Kate >>>> >>>> On Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 12:33 PM Lorelei Kelly <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> hi, thanks for the note. >>>>> I'm glad to see this list momentum effort! We need it! >>>>> I lead the modernizing Congress portfolio at Georgetown and I'm still >>>>> working adjacent to the US Congress with the members and committees who >>>>> are >>>>> behind this effort-- The House has passed 202 reform and modernization >>>>> recommendations. It is truly an unprecedented and historic push forward. >>>>> I'm now helping implement the more difficult ones that include a social >>>>> cohesion aspect. (i.e. how to we integrate new forms of deliberative >>>>> technology into the workflow of members so there is a flow of authentic, >>>>> productive, constituent driven feedback) Also we have gotten ahead of the >>>>> curve on AI and LLMs in the House at least. I'm proud of this old >>>>> institution, even though its looking like a three ring circus in the news. >>>>> I think the Mike Johnson success on Ukraine funding is a very interesting >>>>> turning point for looking at democracy as transcendent critical >>>>> infrastructure (backed up by pandemic measures to go remote and then J6 >>>>> reactions to look at the information systems on Capitol Hill as national >>>>> security priorities) We have begun to marginalize deviant behavior >>>>> through >>>>> the process and this is a good, emergent, systems way to make sense of it. >>>>> Very interesting time for all of this. >>>>> LK >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 12:19 PM Kate Krauss <[email protected]> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Hi! >>>>>> >>>>>> We didn't move the list, or change its name (Liberation Tech) but we >>>>>> did supply a link which works (after fixing a technical glitch) that you >>>>>> can share with new people who might want to join. >>>>>> >>>>>> Cheers, >>>>>> >>>>>> Kate >>>>>> >>>>>> On Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 12:12 PM Undescribed Horrific Abuse, One >>>>>> Victim & Survivor of Many <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> > > Hi, I’m confused, what about the list this email was sent to ( >>>>>>> [email protected]) ? >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> > > What does the “subscribe” link in this email have to do with >>>>>>> that list? >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> > > Is it a different list? The same list? Is >>>>>>> [email protected] still alive or being moved? >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> > > Very confused, >>>>>>> > > Greg >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> > I'd like to relate that some communities have been both disrupted >>>>>>> and >>>>>>> > defended by influences skilled in social manipulation, and that one >>>>>>> > attribute of that is changing the environment. >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> > Changing an environment can help change, whether overt or covert, >>>>>>> be >>>>>>> > adopted more readily. It can separate both from harm and fear as >>>>>>> well >>>>>>> > as familiarity and community. >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> > It's pleasant that changing the list name could help people feel >>>>>>> safer >>>>>>> > from any trauma associated with the old list, and help anything >>>>>>> > targeting the old list have a little trouble finding the new >>>>>>> people. >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> > I hope that everybody who was affiliated with the old list >>>>>>> succeeds in >>>>>>> > finding the new one, but I know there will be people who don't. >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> > Some communities often have to move in order to survive well. This >>>>>>> > does sadly often mean leaving people behind. >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> > Crazy Karl (I think I have OSDD from technologically-facilitated >>>>>>> abuse!) >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Apologies, I did not realize it was the _same_ list the subscribe >>>>>>> link >>>>>>> was sent to. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I had assumed by context that this was a new list. >>>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major >>>>>> commercial search engine. Violations of list guidelines will get you >>>>>> moderated: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/lt. >>>>>> Unsubscribe, change to digest mode, or change password by emailing >>>>>> [email protected]. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> >>>>> *Lorelei KellyResearch Lead, Congressional Modernization >>>>> <https://beeckcenter.georgetown.edu/project/modernizing-congress/>* >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> *Founder, Georgetown Democracy, Education + Service (GeoDES)* >>>>> >>>>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> *Lorelei KellyResearch Lead, Congressional Modernization >>> <https://beeckcenter.georgetown.edu/project/modernizing-congress/>* >>> >>> >>> >>> *Founder, Georgetown Democracy, Education + Service (GeoDES)* >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> *Lorelei KellyResearch Lead, Congressional Modernization >>> <https://beeckcenter.georgetown.edu/project/modernizing-congress/>* >>> >>> >>> >>> *Founder, Georgetown Democracy, Education + Service (GeoDES)* >>> >>> -- >>> Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major >>> commercial search engine. Violations of list guidelines will get you >>> moderated: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/lt. Unsubscribe, >>> change to digest mode, or change password by emailing >>> [email protected]. >>> >> -- >> Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major >> commercial search engine. Violations of list guidelines will get you >> moderated: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/lt. Unsubscribe, >> change to digest mode, or change password by emailing >> [email protected]. >> > > > -- > > Warmest Regards > > > Daylon Soh > > Founder & General Manager > > <https://curiouscore.com/?utm_source=signature&utm_medium=email> > > Golden Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Rd, #15-09 > Singapore 199589 > > Tel: 6591 8672 > > * <http://curiouscore.com/>curiouscore.com* > > > 2022 Winner of Singapore SME 500 > <https://atc.sg/sme-500-business-promising-entrepreneur-singapore-emerging-brand-award.php> > & Spirit of Enterprise <https://soe.org.sg/soe-awards/> Awards > -- > Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major > commercial search engine. Violations of list guidelines will get you > moderated: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/lt. Unsubscribe, > change to digest mode, or change password by emailing > [email protected]. > > -- > Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major > commercial search engine. Violations of list guidelines will get you > moderated: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/lt. Unsubscribe, > change to digest mode, or change password by emailing > [email protected]. > -- *Lorelei KellyResearch Lead, Congressional Modernization <https://beeckcenter.georgetown.edu/project/modernizing-congress/>* *Founder, Georgetown Democracy, Education + Service (GeoDES)*
-- Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major commercial search engine. Violations of list guidelines will get you moderated: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/lt. Unsubscribe, change to digest mode, or change password by emailing [email protected].
