Media reform to improve democracy

A number of seemingly credible sources are describing an increase in political polarization worldwide. Maria Ressa describes how Rodrigo Duterte, former President of the Philippines "started ... with five hundred volunteers^[1] (1) creating “sock puppets,” or fake accounts that attack or praise; (2) “mass reporting,” or organizing to negatively impact a targeted account; and (3) “astroturfing,” or fake posts or lies designed to look like grassroots support or interest.^[2] These actions tricked the algorithms of social media companies like Facebook and Twitter into amplifying fraudulent messages including incitements to violence and criminal prosecutions based on trumped up charges. The results easily overwhelmed honest media. Leila de Lima, a Senator and former Secretary of Justice of the Philippines, spent years in pretrial detention before the charges were dropped for lack of evidence.^[3] Ressa's news organization, Rappler.com, was ordered to close. Ressa herself was convicted on questionable charges. Both continued operating while the legal procedures against them were appealed.^[4] Ressa says similar procedures are making major contributions to the rise of fascism and far-right nationalist populists in the US, Europe, Turkey, India, Russia, and elsewhere.^[5] H. R. McMaster, former President Trump's second National Security advisor, said that "The internet and social media thus provided [Russia] with a low-cost, easy way to divide and weaken America from within."^[6] The 2021 Facebook leak documented how executives of Facebook and Meta knowingly prioritized profits over action to limit incitements to violence, even facilitating the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar, because doing otherwise would have reduced their revenue.

This "Category:Media reform to improve democracy" include videos of interviews with experts and activists working this issue along with 29:00 mm:ss audio files submitted to a Media & Democracy series syndicated on the Pacifica radio network^[7] plus text and space for a moderated discussion.

The 2024-09-11 episode of Sprouts:Radio from the Grassroots^[8] featured excerpts from the interviews in this series. The Wikiversity article on this episode includes the 29:00 mm:ss podcast inviting a discussion of issues discussed in that podcast.

• H. R. McMaster (2020). Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World (in en). HarperCollins. Wikidata Q104774898. ISBN 978-0-06-289948-4. 
• Maria Ressa (2022), How to Stand Up To a Dictator, Harper, Wikidata Q117559286