A Vigil at Meta
Plus: Culture Change is in the Air
Dear Citizen,
Looking for a lesson in failing up? Ex-relevant UK politico Nick Clegg is back this week, showing up in the new, corporate-owned UK Observer after 6 years of reputation laundering for Mark Zuckerberg and Meta. Astoundingly, after helping to sew disinformation, deliver us #Brexit and strategize Meta’s lurch towards Trumpism, Clegg is lecturing the EU about admitting Ukraine as a member. Clegg might be immune to shame, but as for Meta … see below.
Here’s what else to watch, read and do this week.
#ONE CLICK: Tell Meta to Protect Young People #
Our Board member and former staffer Zamaan Qureshi is a busy guy, doing policy work at Accountable Tech and co-founding Design It For Us, a youth-led coalition advocating for safer social media and online platforms for kids, teens, and young adults. Last week, Zamaan spoke outside Meta's headquarters in New York City alongside survivor parents, young people, and advocates - some of whom had lost kids, siblings and friends to suicide and bullying fomented by Meta’s dangerous platforms.
They were there to deliver a petition with 10,000 signatures to Meta's offices demanding that they do more to protect young people online, and to send a message: honor the lives of the children whom these incredible parents have lost, bravely channelling their grief into advocacy to help protect the next generation.
Zamaan’s brief but urgent speech is a must-watch:
You can add your name to the petition here.
#ONE READ: The New Culture War #
What’s the key to stopping Trump? According to one ex-Biden and Harris staffer, it’s culture. In this essay for the New York Times, Rob Flaherty writes -
The conservative journalist Andrew Breitbart observed that politics is downstream from culture — that voters are more influenced by what they watch, listen to and like than by politicians. As a Democrat who works on presidential campaigns, I think Mr. Breitbart was spot-on, and I’d torture the metaphor further: Democrats today are rowing upstream against powerful new cultural currents, while Republicans are working relentlessly to dam the river itself. The G.O.P. is focused on achieving long-term cultural change. We’re focused on short-term political gain.
We couldn't agree more, especially when it comes to taking on Big Tech. Read Rob’s essential essay here.
# ONE WATCH: Our Flat World #
Speaking of culture, next Friday we’re hosting a conversation about our flattening world: how algorithms make everything the same. Featuring cultural critic and Filterworld author Kyle Chayka and former music critic and Kickstarter founder Yancey Strickler in conversation with Carole Cadwalladr, we’ll welcome your questions … and take our best shot at understanding how algorithms are dumbing down our culture.
Join us next Friday, May 9th, at 1 PM EST/10 AM PST and, for our British friends, 6 PM BST Happy Hour for a Substack live event on How Algorithms Make Everything the Same.
Join us and be part of the conversation! Subscribe to the newsletter to be notified about the event and access the link.
That’s it for this week.
The Citizens Team
And 7pm CET for some of us, your European continental friends …For the dinnertime “Happy Hour for a Substack live event on How Algorithms Make Everything the Same. “😉