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Chris Roper

@chrisroper.bsky.social
1.4K followers 238 following 88 posts

Deputy CEO at @Code4Africa, Former Ed-in-Chief: Mail & Guardian and 24. com. Knight Fellow at ICFJ 2015-2019. He/him

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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Here's something I wrote about why the hunting for meaning in AI is like China Mieville's moldeywarpes. scribbleafrica.substack.com/p/ai-as-mold...
scribbleafrica.substack.com
AI as moldeywarpe: hunting for meaning
AI is reshaping how we experience truth, trust and meaning, and how we define them. We need a philosophy to help us survive as humans.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
“Do you ever wonder what it costs, metabolically, to wake at 4 a.m. for twenty years? What it does to the body, the dream life, the capacity for imagination when every day begins in darkness and ends in exhaustion?” open.substack.com/pub/nkhensan...
open.substack.com
The Queue as Cathedral: On Sam Nhlengethwa's Waiting and the Liturgy of Stolen Hours
After the exhibition. After the commute. Di energy drink le magwinya. After apartheid became a ghost that still eats at the table.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Changing place names is a complex issue in SA. "Renaming a place brings new meaning to it, but it also, inevitably, erases meaning. Ultimately, someone is going to have to make a sacrifice. Renaming can be violent, or it can be reparative. What it can’t be is exclusionary." t.co/FOFPVIw4nP
t.co
https://www.financialmail.businessday.co.za/features/2026-02-19-chris-roper-tis-but-thy-name-that-is-my-enemy/
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Not a wasted word in this piece. And a reminder of what lies at the core of good journalism - being in the world you write about. Which is something today’s resource strapped journalists longingly think of as a luxury, but should actually be an indispensable condition provided to them.
dailymaverick.co.za
Taking the long way around (for Notes from a Small Planet - use logo)
Climate journalist Leonie Joubert and the lonely work of creating agency among communities struggling to make sense of the effects of climate change.…
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Another good bit, in case you need a prod to read "AI and the aesthetics of fascism." [link below] "Despite all their absurdist posturing, [the right] struggle to come to terms with a contradictory world that does not conform to their pre-decided categories.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
"Sartre’s injunction to remember that antisemites are primarily “amusing themselves” is true of most right wing discourse, no matter... how terrible. As such, the right are strongly averse to any sort of reality-testing." @garethwatkins.bsky.social newsocialist.org.uk/transmission...
newsocialist.org.uk
AI: The New Aesthetics of Fascism
It's embarrassing, destructive, and looks like shit: AI-generated art is the perfect aesthetic form for the far right.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Hard to work out who the criminals are here. Right?
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Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
The spokesperson for South Africa's president said the govt was in talks with Russia over bringing home 17 men allegedly tricked into fighting for Russia. "They are facing grave, grave danger to their lives... the information that we have is that they were bungled into the Russian military forces."
theguardian.com
South Africa in talks with Russia over men ‘tricked’ into fighting in Ukraine
Government says it received distress calls, as daughter of ex-president Jacob Zuma accused of luring men to frontline
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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
the intensity of my anger at those who would criminalize the homeless — a population literally created by the greed and callousness of the ruling class — is very hard to contain. it was you who dismantled the safety net. if you don’t like the results, put it back
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
If you wondered why the hype machine shrieks. “Nearly 500 AI unicorn companies now exist worldwide with a combined value of $2.7 trillion, with 100 of these billion-dollar firms established after 2023 alone.”
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
“The posts and palaces and public places have been filled with buffoons, fools and clowns at various levels, offering a variety of services. Their function is to preach before the fetish the fiction of its perfection.” - Achille Mbembe, De la postcolonie (2000)
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ʾIsmāʿīl La خa’ddin @ilagardien.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
This is a must-read by @chrisroper.bsky.social ... Well pleased that that paywall has been removed. I am a columnist and essayist for @businesslivesa.bsky.social but don't have access to the stable of publications. Strange how that works. www.businesslive.co.za/fm/features/...
businesslive.co.za
CHRIS ROPER: The treasure behind a paywall
There is a chasm between an argument in a news publication and how it lands on social media
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
I’m probably the 500th South African to point this out to the superlative @andrewhickey.500songs.com podcast, but Ricky Fataar/Blondie Chaplin’s group was The Flames, not The Flame. (Hope I didn’t mishear) Is it weird to be so happy that he’s mentioning SAfricans? Hugh Masakela has featured, too.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
"People hardly ever make use of the freedom which they have, for example, freedom of thought; instead they demand freedom of speech as compensation." Søren Kierkegaard, who could have been writing about the shrill demagogues of today.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Excellent.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Source unknown. Except in the sense of the pit of despair from whence it came.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
This is terrible. “UNICEF said at least 221 children, including boys, were raped by armed men” in Sudan. aje.io/vswtia
aje.io
More than 200 children, some as young as one, raped in Sudan, UNICEF says
Report says rape is ‘being used as a tactic of war’ in violation of international law and and laws protecting children.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
It’s all just a circus. “President Trump on Friday directed government officials to prioritize the resettlement of South Africans of European descent through the U.S. refugee program, which he suspended during his first day in office.” www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-o...
cbsnews.com
Trump orders U.S. to prioritize refugee resettlement of South Africans of European descent
President Trump directed officials to prioritize the resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa through the U.S. refugee program, which he suspended on his first day in office.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Zapiro always draws it starkly.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
We’ve been there as South Africans. A thoughtful summation of US state capture. mg.co.za/thought-lead...
mg.co.za
The Trump-Musk regime: State capture on steroids – The Mail & Guardian
We have started out on a rocky road as the US president and his henchmen make Jacob Zuma look like an amateur
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
If you look for oppressed whites, you’ll conjure them up. The orange panopticon sees all, albeit through a glass, crazily. And has now noticed South Africa. www.politico.com/news/2025/02...
politico.com
Trump vows to cut off aid to South Africa
"South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY," Trump wrote.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Via LeoArt SZ on Facebook.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
While the US is burning, literally as well as figuratively, and it's tech-oligarchs are throwing truth onto the bonfire, we should probably remind ourselves of the threat posed by Russian disinformation in Africa. Here is a great overview by @klyszcz.bsky.social ridl.io/russia-s-glo...
ridl.io
Russia’s global war, north and south – Riddle Russia
Ivan U. Klyszcz maps out Russia’s use of international business ties, old Soviet links, covert operations, and disinformation to exert global pressure
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
All the false gods that promised to be journalism's saviours. And who knows - they might have prolonged the death spiral, in some cases. But now we're reaching the age of merciful deaths, for some news organisations.
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Alastair Otter @alastairotter.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
There is a perception that charity, donations and aid from the Global North is what is keeping African economies afloat. Yet the combined aid and development assistance to Africa in 2022 was $37-billion less than remittances from African diaspora. theoutlier.co.za/charts/chart/89546
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
The necessary redefinition of journalism, via @pboehler.net “This industry appears to have just for a moment forgotten that formats have no power beyond their habituated consumption, and platforms don't pursue long-term altruist goals. The skills persist.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Reading a Der Spiegel investigative piece about the 1000s of women whose faces are used to make fake porn. And it turns out that in Germany, there are no specific legal regulations against this. According to legal experts...
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Mike Drucker @mikedrucker.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
the rich people pushing AI on everything are going to be the same rich people who will brag they can afford to send their kids to a school with human teachers
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Talk about crazy. “The ATF is not legally permitted to keep a searchable digital database of gun sales, thanks to hysteria that ‘the government will come to take our guns,’ so they only have printouts.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Love these old school airports. And who doesn’t like a plane with propellers. You catch a boat taxi to this airport too, which is really quaint. Manda Island Airport.
Manda Island Airport, Kenya.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
This is actually a really nice restaurant. I’ve had fish or crab every day. The only thing I can’t figure out is the tuna larb. It’s probably obvious, as someone will point out.
A menu at Kijani Hotel, Lamu, Kenya.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
5:30am Lamu.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Setting up for the start of our symposium on “AI and the weaponisation of hate speech.” A venue as far removed from the cliches of AI as it’s possible to be.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Hello Mr Ginger Crab. Delicious. #peponihotel #lamu
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Land in Nairobi 10pm. Stuck on apron until 11pm because ‘no buses because it’s raining.’ Yes…. that makes sense. Raining. It’s midnight now and still we wait for luggage. I might start appreciating OR Tambo at this rate.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Off to Lamu Island for a symposium, so doing a bit of country research. Inflation at work. In Kenya, "the national average bribe increased from KES 6,865 [US $53] in 2022 to stand at KES 11,625 [$90] in 2023." (National Ethics and Corruption Survey)
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Pierre de Vos @pierredevos.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Lack of assets declared by MPs raises questions — Is parliamentary register fact or farce?Lack of assets declared by MPs raises questions — Is parliamentary register fact or farce? www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024...
dailymaverick.co.za
MPs’ assets — Is disclosure register fact or farce?
The annual Register of Members’ Interests forces MPs to disclose their assets — as a vital tool to ensure accountability to the public. But do they take it seriously?
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Paolo "lo spread" Craviolatti @paolocraviolatti.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
BBC News - South African anti-apartheid writer Breytenbach dies www.bbc.com/news/article... Solid, principled guy. Will be missed especially for his stand against discrimination . "Why shall we look the other way"... makes you think
bbc.com
South African writer and anti-apartheid activist Breyten Breytenbach dies aged 85
The anti-apartheid critic spent seven years in prison for opposing the white minority regime.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
The military number speaks volumes. “People think that 54 percent of the country owns guns (real number: 32 percent); that 40 percent of the country served in the military (real number: 6 percent); and that 30 percent of the country is vegetarian (real number: 5 percent).”
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Marylou @maryloub.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
It's distressing to read how China plans to destroy forest and #baobab trees in Limpopo, to do open cast mining. We shall protest hard, to try and stop this madness. Please help anyway you can.
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Alan White @aljwhite.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
New hero just dropped
The old man who went viral in China for making dry sandwiches
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Oh, my fellow South Africans. They’re all laughing at us. Xenophobia with a punchline. “Nigeria celebrates victory over South African rivals with Miss Universe runner-up” www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
theguardian.com
Nigeria celebrates victory over South African rivals with Miss Universe runner-up
Chidimma Adetshina crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania after she was stripped of South African identity documents
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Andrew Hickey @andrewhickey.500songs.com · 16/11/2024
I really wish so many people's livelihoods, including mine, weren't dependent on the whims of narcissist techbros
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대파탈출 @escapefromdaepa.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
And if you watch PSYCHO on streaming platforms, you get this:
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Non-elected, cripplingly uninformed tech billionaire Elon Musk met with Iran’s ambassador to discuss tension between the US and Iran, Iranian officials said. (NYT)
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Richard Hayes @rmhayes.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
Owner of the company that makes Rega turntables just gave (not sold — gave) the company to his employees www.whathifi.com/news/rega-ha...
whathifi.com
Rega's founder Roy Gandy hands over full ownership of the company to its employees
The aim is to ensure the hi-fi brand's core values are protected long into the future
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
This idiot. Always with the fake death notifications. The way of the X, I guess. But it’s so inhuman, I can’t even remember his justification for the fake news game.
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Sara Gibbs @sararoseg.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Without thinking, reskeet with the first Simpsons quote that comes into your head
media.tenor.com
a cartoon character from the simpsons is holding a book and says me fail english that 's un possible .
Alt: Ralph Wiggum from the simpsons is holding a book and says me fail english that 's un possible .
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Tal Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
as horrible as it is theres something darkly comic about the Department of Efficiency having 2 chairmen
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