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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
"They want to assert, simultaneously, that unambiguous laws govern all aspects of being, while acting as though ‘truth’ is whatever they want or need it to be at any given moment." newsocialist.org.uk/transmission...
newsocialist.org.uk
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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
On the post-colonial, but also perhaps about the post-democracy.
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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 · 01/04/2025
To be fair, you had a head start.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
That’s why the @andrewhickey.500songs.com is such a great podcast. It implicitly acknowledges, and explicitly demonstrates, how desire works. You can never satisfy it, and that’s what makes it so worthwhile, and so enlivening. If you love music - any music - it’s absolutely worth a listen.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Oh, I love the length. It’s like reading a book. He could go longer.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
It’s way longer than a section! I’d say a Beach Boys epoch.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
My weekly dose of humility. Thanks.
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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
I see Elon made the same Elongate joke. A rare plus for him.
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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
I understand the feeling, but I don’t actually agree. I don’t think we can ship our problems out. It’s all part of a larger South African challenge. I dream of fixing it. (I know, I know. Foolishness.)
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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
Ha ha! Someone has done that.
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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
Double ugh: *its tech bros. Clearly, the X edit function has affected my ability to copyedit my own posts. I forget there's no get-out-of-typo-jail edit card on Bluesky.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Ugh. *gets a shout out.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
And happy to see that @codeforafrica.bsky.social gest a shout out: "Europe should cooperate with those who have resisted Russian efforts at elite capture. For example, the activities of organisations such as Code for Africa... include exposing Russian disinformation campaigns in Africa".
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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
“It may require a shift from a primary definition of journalism by format (print, podcast, social-first) or by activities (reporting, editing) or by content or topic to one of service: Help people navigate their lives better with information. That simple.” www.pboehler.net/11-not-the-e...
pboehler.net
Re:filtered #11: When we leave the Club
The stories are outside.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
“This shift is particularly difficult because for decades, journ schools have been promising aspiring practitioners… a tantalizing combination of self-expression… and public service.”
pboehler.net
Re:filtered #11: When we leave the Club
The stories are outside.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
“The challenge lies in redirecting these well-honed skills toward genuine utility rather than getting stuck in institutionalized, performative practices.
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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
Der Spiegel article here, but paywalled spiegel.de/netzwelt/web...
spiegel.de
(S+) Deepfake-Pornos: Das perfide Geschäft mit gefälschten Sexvideos
Tausende Frauen werden Opfer von gefakten Pornos, in denen ihr Gesicht zu sehen ist. Betroffen sind minderjährige Mädchen, Prominente, Politikerinnen. Dahinter stecken skrupellose Geschäftsleute. Der ...
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
And as with deepfake porn, it turned out that cannibalism was not illegal in Germany. Here we have 2 examples of how the evil of humanity (or men, to be precise) outpaces legal restraints. I can’t even imagine how many AI-driven new crimes aren’t even conceived of by states and legal systems yet.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
A detail that will make patriotic South Africans proud is that he told detectives that he had eaten his victim with a bottle of South African red wine.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
This reminds me of the 2003 case in Germany, where a self-confessed cannibal admitted to chopping up and eating a man he met after advertising on the internet. He cut off the man’s penis, with his agreement, and fried it for both of them to eat.
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Chris Roper @chrisroper.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
... anyone who uses artificial intelligence to create intimate images of an adult victim may not even be violating any provisions in the criminal code. Only prosecution under data protection law would be possible, a construction that has apparently not yet been tested in any case.”
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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
“If a gun seller sends in information about sales on a thumb drive, the ATF is required to print out all the data, keep the paper records and destroy the drive.” (LRB Vol 46 Num 22 - I use the paper reference in parody)
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