Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
"Action, like a sacrament, is the visible form of an invisible spirit" (bell hooks) || journalist || campaigner || @amnesty || Easily distracte

Apr 2, 2022, 8 tweets

1/. Tomorrow, voters in #Hungary will go to the polls

#Orban, who installed what he calls “illiberal democracy” is running for his fifth term

He controls public television

His allies dominate private media

Voters are inundated with pro-Orban coverage
google.co.uk/amp/s/www.nyti…

2/. Ahead of the European elections, virtually all Hungary's newspapers ran the same front page Orban interview

Research found that 77% of political & public affairs media is financed by sources decided by ruling Fidesz party

These tactics are part of the authoritarian playbook

3/. Fascism experts like @TimothyDSnyder, believe politicians around the world are reviving century-old fascist tactics

They use populist rhetoric to stir-up divisions & harness the power of tech, big data & social media to win power & reshape narratives.

4/. Many far-right nationalists are actually trans-nationalists

Here @PeterKGeoghegan explains how the far right are connected globally & how huge sums of dark money, advanced tech & a network of demagogues, are shaping the world in truly terrifying ways

5/. In 2015, Bannon asked #CambridgeAnalytica’s @chrisinsilico to build a “psychological warfare tool” to hollow out democracies & rive open divisions

We’re seeing this happening globally, with culture wars & hatreds stirred-up, sometimes by a hidden hand

6/. “It’s as if the Age of Reason - the era of evidential argument - is ending & knowledge is delegitimized & scientific consensus is dismissed.

Democracy, which depends on shared truths, is in retreat, & autocracy, which depends on shared lies, is on the march.”@SachaBaronCohen

7/. Fascists today don’t need jackboots

Fascism isn’t a form of govt

It’s a collection of tactics used to convince people to surrender their freedom by handing over power

Freedom is fascism’s victim

Freedom to question
Freedom to choose

8/. In 1996 Carl Sagan warned:

“We’ve arranged a society based on science & technology, in which nobody understands anything about science & technology. This combustible mixture of ignorance & power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces”

I’m afraid that time is now

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