Now that Trump has declared entire US cities "Anarchist Jurisdictions," maybe it's a good time to do a quick THREAD on anarchists and anarchism. Fascists throughout history have invoked these words to spread fear & seize power, but actually anarchy is about love & cooperation.
There are lots of different types of anarchists & strains of anarchism, but at a basic level anarchists believe that arbitrary forms of hierarchy are inherently oppressive, and that humans are better off organizing ourselves horizontally rather than thru laws enforced by violence
Anarchists believe in communities making decisions together through consensus & discussion rather than having those decisions be imposed by politicians or those with institutional power (say, bosses, religious leaders, or landlords.) They believe in mutual aid and solidarity.
Historically, anarchists were involved in the movement to abolish slavery in the US, resistance to fascism in Nazi Germany, & the opposition to Franco's dictatorship during the Spanish Civil War. Anarchists played a major role in many of the US labor movement's biggest victories.
Anarchists and activists influenced by anarchism also play a major role in many modern social movements from LGBTQ liberation to climate justice to prison abolition to reproductive justice. Many anarchists run mutual aid efforts to support incarcerated ppl, feed hungry ppl, etc.
As @grimkim so perfectly put it, anarchism is about "dreaming of a kinder, more equitable society." It's about believing that there are better ways for humans to solve our problems than through coercion, imprisonment, & the constant threat of going hungry. google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j…
Of course, the Trump admin doesn't care about any of that. They are using the word "anarchy" to stir fear in people who think it means violence and chaos. It's beyond absurd to call cities like Portland and NYC, with their militarized police forces "Anarchist Jurisdictions".
Trump wants to scare voters by saying anarchists are everywhere. The funny part is that he's right: anarchists are your neighbors, they're teaching in schools, treating patients in addiction programs, helping kids check books out of the library, and cooking food for the homeless.
You can agree or disagree with anarchy and anarchism, but you don't need to be scared of it. It's a movement and a philosophy that will always push to challenge arbitrary power and authority and urge critical thinking and co-operation. I'd say that's a pretty good thing.
Also there are tons of folks way more qualified than me to rattle off a great history of anarchism and anarchist involvement in important social movements and victories, but I wanted to get this off my chest. If folks have suggestions for good 101 level reading etc plz drop below

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More from @evan_greer

Jul 27, 2023
WATCH NOW: The Senate Commerce Committee is about to mark up #KOSA, the "Kids Online Safety Act"

You can watch the livestream AND take action at the same time here: badinternetbills.com/#livestream
Lol at @SenatorCantwell who apparently doesn't even know what bill they are voting on today. She called it the "Kids Online Privacy Act," which is extra ironic since this bill will take away kids privacy rather than enhancing it.
@SenatorCantwell .@SenTedCruz pushing for #KOSA to include pre-emption, because he loves corporations even more than he hates gay people, and wants to help kill off state privacy bills like the #CCPA. Ironically this would also break stupid state bills like the Utah bill.
Read 14 tweets
May 10, 2023
While politicians are racing ahead with proposals based on the premise that simply encountering content on social media is causing ... harms, the APA notes that the actual research is far less conclusive and far more nuanced than lawmakers’ rhetoric washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/…
In this new report, the APA also specifically note that there is a significant lack of research on how young people from marginalized communities (like Black and brown kids and LGBTQ kids) experience social media and associated benefits and harms.
That gap is dangerous, and we applaud the APA’s call for further research in this area. The reality is that many proposals for regulating social media will make some kids safer while making other kids less safe.
Read 12 tweets
Apr 25, 2023
URGENT: We've just heard that @SenBlumenthal and @MarshaBlackburn plan to reintroduce the controversial Kids Online Safety Act (#KOSA) tomorrow.

They will say that they've engaged with LGBTQ groups (true) and addressed all concerns with the bill (NOT TRUE!!!)

Here's what's up:
When #KOSA was first introduced more than 100 human rights and LGBTQ organizations signed on to a letter that we organized explaining how this bill would be a disaster for LGBTQ rights, free expression, and kids safety. cnbc.com/2022/11/28/kid…
Realizing they had a problem @SenBlumenthal staff basically went behind the backs of the folks who organized that letter (mostly trans people with significant expertise in content moderation, tech policy, algorithmic harm, etc) and met with several LGBTQ groups without us.
Read 14 tweets
Feb 2, 2023
Has anyone done a deep dive on the privacy and security implications of Netflix fingerprinting your home WiFi Network and essentially creating a record of when you are home or not … just to crack down on password sharing?
Oops, I was like genuinely asking not trying to do numbers but here we are. A reporter reached out to me about my thoughts on this and I'm still formulating but here's what I've got:
I mean in some ways there's nothing super unique about what Netflix is doing. Most websites you visit will know your IP address, rough location, what browser or OS you're using, etc.
Read 9 tweets
Jan 31, 2023
weird to me how many organizations that say they want to "rid the Internet of disinformation" never seem to say anything about the fact that police routinely lie as a matter of practice, and that crime rates and statistics in the US are essentially a giant disinfo campaign 🤔
it's just funny to me that an entire industry has formed around the idea that people lying on the Internet is the greatest threat that our society faces, but it willfully refuses to call out the biggest source of lies because it's looking to those same systems to stop the lies
been reading @prisonculture and thinking through what an abolitionist lens on disinformation looks like. it's so far from the current way most mainstream progressive organizations are thinking through this issue: looking to more censorship & surveillance and policing as solutions
Read 7 tweets
Dec 20, 2022
Oh. my. god.

Madison Square Garden used facial recognition to identify and stop a mom from attending a Christmas show with her kid because she's an attorney at a firm who is engaged in litigation with them.

Ban this shit yesterday.

nbcnewyork.com/news/msgs-faci…
This is exactly why it is NOT ENOUGH to just ban government and law enforcement use of facial recognition and biometric surveillance. There are so many ways private corporations and even individuals can abuse this tech. It should be banned for all commercial use & public use.
Facial recognition surveillance should be banned in all "places of public accommodation" as defined by the ADA. Portland, OR already passed a citywide ordinance that does this. We need to recreate that at the Federal level and then make this a global norm fightfortheftr.medium.com/why-we-absolut…
Read 6 tweets

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