iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/10/2026

A poster installed by the group 'Everyone Hates Elon' for the Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is displayed at a bus stop near the Houses of Parliament in London […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A large yellow poster at a bus stop near the Houses of Parliament in London reads “THE WORLD NEEDS LULA,” showing Brazilian politician Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva smiling and holding up a booklet with the Brazilian flag. Smaller text reads “LATIN AMERICA IS NOT TRUMP’S BACKYARD.” A cyclist passes in the foreground, with Big Ben visible in the background. The photograph carries a Reuters watermark.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/10/2026

@dw_innovation Interesting article, thanks for sharing! Has DW also investigated how Big Tech platforms amplify propaganda through their algorithms? And why is a German public broadcaster still encouraging readers to share articles primarily on X and […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Screenshot of a DW (Deutsche Welle) news article titled "Fact check: How do I spot propaganda?" by Thomas Sparrow and Kathrin Wesolowski, dated 08/18/2026. Facebook and X sharing icons are visible on the page. The article's illustration shows two hands controlling marionette strings attached to figures on a smartphone screen — one dressed in blue, the other in red — against a red background, symbolizing manipulation through propaganda.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

Now with English subtitles: @annaluehrmann asks Digital Minister Wildberger in the Bundestag how the government will support the Open Social Web. His answer: Europe's platforms are being examined, "among them, Mastodon", and scaling them will be "a focus of […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

The Trump administration is threatening Europe with economic retaliation for trying to reduce its dependence on Musk's Starlink. Europe wants technological sovereignty, and Washington responds with threats. From satellite communications to cloud services […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Screenshot of a Financial Times article headlined “US threatens Europe over Starlink restrictions”. The subheading reads: “Ambassador Andrew Puzder warns about ‘devastating’ retaliation if Brussels goes ahead with plans to limit spectrum access for non-EU companies.” Below the headline is a photograph of Elon Musk, holding a medal in an open presentation case, standing beside Donald Trump. American flags are visible in the background.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/10/2026

Democracy or Big Tech? Will the EU act now to defend its democracy and sovereignty, or wait until the tech billionaires undermine the very foundations of our Union? Via @davidchavalarias #LeaveX #Democracy #EU #FarRight #BigTech #SocialMedia

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

Fantastic! The Open Social Web is making its way into the German Bundestag (@bundestag)! MP **Anna Lührmann** (@annaluehrmann) speaks about the Open Social Web Alliance, Mastodon and Eurosky in the German parliament, and invites the federal government to […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

Our most-shared post today was about this alarming exchange. It captures one of the main reasons we created #LeaveX: to protect democracy from political manipulation and disinformation promoted by tech billionaires through platforms they control. This is […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Screenshot of an exchange on X. Elon Musk writes “Gut gemacht!” (“Well done!”). Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, thanks Musk for his support and political perspective on Germany. He says that if the AfD takes responsibility, he would welcome “strong and constructive cooperation” and that Germany would once again become a place worth investing in.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

“Freiheit und Demokratie sind nicht selbstverständlich. Wir müssen immer dafür kämpfen”, schreibt Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz auf X. “Freedom and democracy cannot be taken for granted. We must always fight for them”, Chancellor Friedrich Merz writes on X […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Photo of a Tagesspiegel article headlined “Politiker rufen am 65. Jahrestag des Mauerbaus zur Verteidigung der Demokratie auf.” ("Politicians call for the defence of democracy on the 65th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall.")

The article quotes Chancellor Friedrich Merz writing on X: “Freiheit und Demokratie sind nicht selbstverständlich. Wir müssen immer dafür kämpfen” (“Freedom and democracy cannot be taken for granted. We must always fight for them.”).

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 31/05/2026

This is why the Fediverse matters: it's a platform designed for human conversation, not algorithmic engagement. osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/6nue7_v1 #Facebook #Instagram #BigTech #SocialMedia #Fediverse

LinkedIn post by Jay Van Bavel, PhD, titled "Social media is increasingly anti-social". The post highlights that only 7% of Instagram time and 17% of Facebook time is spent on content from friends or followed accounts, with the rest being algorithmic videos from strangers. It notes that platforms like TikTok prioritize engagement over social connection, and over half of long posts on Meta are AI-generated. The post links to a study, "Towards a Post-Social Media Studies" by Petter Törnberg and Richard Rogers (University of Amsterdam), which explores the shift from social-graph-based to interest-based recommendation algorithms and the rise of distinct post-social media formations.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/04/2026

To be clear, we are not against EuroSky, and we want to avoid protocol wars. However, we just received an email from @eurosky.social asking for a donation on the same day that their decentralized feature seems to have encountered significant issues. How […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/04/2026

We prefer #Mastodon for several reasons, the main one being its ability to easily form independent, community-driven interoperable instances. Nevertheless, we have a #Bluesky account so as not to exclude people who prefer this alternative. Recently we […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Context: Bluesky app, error screen
Title: Not Found
Subtitle: Forbidden
Button: Try again

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/04/2026

Conspiracy theories are nothing new, but digital platforms have transformed their scale, speed and influence. They are now a major part of the disinformation ecosystem, shaping public debate and eroding trust. This latest paper explores what drives […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

"Illustration for a research paper titled 'Weaponised suspicion: How conspiracy theories fuel modern disinformation'. The image features a black crow in flight, with a flock of smaller bird silhouettes scattering from its wings, and a red flag emerging from its beak. The European Union flag is visible in the bottom left corner."

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/03/2026

Instagram drops end-to-end encrypted chats: What it means proton.me/blog/instagram-end-to-end… What does that mean? It means that millions of people are unaware of this danger and will passively accept the loss of their privacy. #Instagram #Meta #DigitalPrivacy #LeaveInstagram

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/03/2026

“The Girl in the Garden”, by Mary Cassatt, adapted to modern times. She scrolls through X, a feed full of child abuse and hate speech, while the bourgeoisie politely looks away. #Impressionism #MaryCassatt #MuseedOrsay #Paris #LeaveX #ChildAbuse #HateSpeech

An Impressionist-style painting in an ornate gold frame shows a young woman in a light gray dress sitting in a garden with red flowers and greenery. She looks down while holding and using a modern smartphone, which has been painted in the same soft, impressionistic brushstroke style as the rest of the artwork.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/03/2026

The more active users are on social media, the more polarized they are. Political attitudes differ but share a common low-dimensional structure across social media and survey data: arxiv.org/pdf/2603.02102 Inside the funhouse mirror factory: How […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

The more active users are on social media, the more polarized they are.

The opinions of the these extreme users are filling your newsfeed, but they are not representative of most citizens or even most social media users--which are far less polarized! https://lnkd.in/eZGKg54Z

This creates false perceptions of social norms and stereotypes, creating a funhouse mirror effect https://lnkd.in/e_aCGbg4

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/03/2026

It's really amazing how TikTok is trying hard to fight its non-stop disinformation campaigns. Is it some sort of competition with X? #LeaveTikTok #LeaveX #Disinformation

An LinkedIn post with some bullshit job for TikTok

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/03/2026

Big Tech and the Far Right: Musk’s growing political role illustrates how concentrated private power in the tech sector is fuelling fascism. Through control of a major social media platform, amplification of far-right narratives and direct engagement with […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Infographic titled "Big Tech and the Far Right" featuring a silhouette of Elon Musk with his arm raised, symbolizing influence and power.
Key Elements:

Main Headline: "Elon Musk’s platform and money is growing extremist parties and causes worldwide."
Supporting Text:

"Algorithmic manipulation"
"Meeting with far-right leaders"
"Public support for far-right causes"

Visuals:

A bar graph-like illustration at the bottom shows country flags (USA, France, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, UK, El Salvador, Germany, South Africa, Spain) with swastika symbols growing from the ground, indicating the rise of far-right movements in these countries.
A small inset graph from Sky News 2025 shows that new X (formerly Twitter) users received twice as much right-wing (60%) content as left-wing (32%).
Another inset graph from Sky News 2025 indicates that over 50% of political content shown to new X users included dehumanizing language, endorsement of violence, or conspiracy theories, with 51% classified as "Extreme" and 49% as "Not extreme."
News headlines embedded in the infographic:

"Elon Musk Receives Chainsaw Gift from Javier Milei at CPAC"
"Elon Musk dropped near $300M supporting Donald Trump in 2024"

The infographic visually communicates the alleged role of Elon Musk’s platform and financial influence in promoting far-right ideologies globally.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/02/2026

"When authoritarianism is on rise, you can count on the richest, least vulnerable men on the planet to be the biggest cowards." Bradley Whitford #BigTech #Oligarchy #Greed #FarRight #Authoritarianism #Cowardice #Meta #X #Amazon #Google

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/02/2026

Your inability to focus isn’t a failing. It’s a design problem, and the answer isn’t getting rid of our screen time aeon.co/essays/what-we-think-is-a-d… #BigTech #SocialMedia #Books #Reading #Attention #X #TikTok #Facebook

Gloria Mark, Chancellor’s Professor of Informatics at the University of California Irvine, has tracked attention spans on screens for two decades. In 2004, people averaged two and a half minutes on any screen before switching tasks. By 2016, that had fallen to 47 seconds. This is frequently cited as evidence that screens inherently fragment attention. But look closer at what Mark’s research actually shows. The fragmentation correlates not with screens in general but with specific design patterns: notification systems, variable reward schedules, infinite scroll. These are choices made by specific companies for specific economic reasons. They are not inherent properties of the medium.

Peer-reviewed research demonstrates that social media platforms exploit variable reward schedules, the same psychological mechanisms that make gambling addictive. Users don’t know what they’ll find when they open an app; they might see hundreds of likes or nothing at all. This unpredictability acts as a powerful reinforcement signal (often discussed via dopamine ‘reward prediction error’ mechanisms), keeping people checking habitually. This isn’t because screens are inherently attention-destroying. It’s because the dominant platforms have been deliberately engineered to fragment attention in service of advertising revenue.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/02/2026

New article in Nature describes a field experiment on X which shows that assigning users to an algorithmic feed increases engagement and shifts opinions to align more with conservative viewpoints and demotes mainstream news. Sounds obvious but important in […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Excerpt from the abstract: Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regarding policy priorities, perceptions of criminal investigations into Donald Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. In contrast, switching from the algorithmic to the chronological feed had no comparable effects. Neither switching the algorithm on nor switching it off significantly affected affective polarization or self-reported partisanship. To investigate the mechanism, we analysed users’ feed content and behaviour. We found that the algorithm promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media. Exposure to algorithmic content leads users to follow conservative political activist accounts, which they continue to follow even after switching off the algorithm, helping explain the asymmetry in effects. These results suggest that initial exposure to X’s algorithm has persistent effects on users’ current political attitudes and account-following behaviour, even in the absence of a detectable effect on partisanship.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/02/2026

A big win for online transparency and platform accountability! The Berlin Court of Appeals has ruled that X must give Democracy Reporting International access to the research data we need to study information manipulation during Hungary's April elections […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Court orders X to provide DRI with access to research data

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/02/2026

Le Monde ("sur X"), El País ("en X"), Tagesspiegel ("auf X"), The Guardian ("on X"), you name it. How much attention is generated simply because politicians use X as their main communication channel? How much journalism is dragged into following and […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Searching Le Monde for "sur X" and its results.

Searching El País for "en X" and its results.

Searching Tagesspiegel for "auf X" and its results.

Searching The Guardian for "on X" and its results.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/02/2026

"Last week, the Province of New Brunswick announced it would no longer use X (...), for any official government communications, citing concerns over harmful content and inadequate safeguards. The City of Fredericton also stopped using X after a city survey […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/02/2026

This analogy will become our motto: big tech social media is the new tobacco. We’re taking far too long to realize it’s a cancer for democracies. #Telegram #SocialMedia #democracy #FarRight #Spain #Sanchez

Martin Gak:

So telegram sent a political propaganda message attacking Pedro Sanchez to every single Spanish user. Think of that... a non national actor building a political campaign with unparalleled reach. Every Spanish user...

I have to give it to Pavel Durov. He managed to show in under 200 words what I’ve been trying to argue for years: digital infrastructure is critical infrastructure and unprotected it amounts to a massive security vulnerability that endangers the state, its citizens and its democratic rule.

By hijacking Spain’s national communication with a parallel national communication system to push a call for political subversion against efforts to protect children and uphold the law, he showed what happens when critical infrastructure is not protected or is allowed to fall into the wrong hands.

This episode also explains why far-right networks across the West are panicking over threats to their propaganda channels. The stakes are clear: control over digital infrastructure shapes public discourse, legal integrity, and the safety of the most vulnerable. Indeed, Telegram, Twitter, Insta and Tiktok are the main instrument of the new emerging FachoInter.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/02/2026

Thanks to @gethemudo, we found out that Portuguese MEPs Bruno Gonçalves and Paulo Cunha's accounts have been deleted. Only 420 more to go! (58% and counting) #LeaveX #EU #Portugal

Niagara fall meme saying: two fewer on X, and people celebrating: AEEEEE!

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/02/2026

The NY Times doesn't look the same. This kind of framing, which turns clear criminal enforcement into a culture war story, is exactly why campaigns like Leave X exist. #LeaveX #X #US #France #ChildAbuse #Grok #DeepFake #NYTimes

Daphne Keller: The The New York Times coverage of France's Grok investigation casts it as part of a conflict between U.S. & European speech rules. That's true only if you buy Elon's version. This is a case about CSAM (child sex abuse material) and NCII (non-consensual intimate images). Those are crimes in France, and crimes in the U.S. There is no real transatlantic divide here. U.S. laws may actually restrict *more* speech because of our terribly drafted Take It Down Act. There are plenty of areas where Europe and the U.S. disagree about speech. But framing the Grok story as a fight for U.S. values is laughable.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/02/2026

The Belgian MEP Sara Matthieu has just announced on X that she's leaving the platform. nitter.net/msaraswati/status/201868… Still 422 to go! Thanks @m4963 for the information! #LeaveX #EU #Belgium

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on X
59%
422 of 719 MPs are active on X

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/02/2026

@nopatience thanls for sharing. Although it's ironic that he has a post from November 2024 mentioning alternative social network platforms where we can meet him, but he continued posting. archive.is/eoC82 His X handle was not on his official EU page […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/02/2026

And a translation of the core arguments of our campaign was cited in the article. leavex.eu/posts/why-stay-on-social-… Kudo to @rysiek from @okopress for the great work! #LeaveX #Poland #Democracy

Instead of politicizing the violent materials on Grok, instead of threatening (as in the response of the Ministry of Digital Affairs) to block portal X, these people and these institutions could show a bit of decency and civil courage, and set an example with their own behavior – just as European examples set politicians who left Musk's website. . Such a decision does not, after all, require the president's signature. It can be taken here and now without waiting for a new law.

Regulatory action is, of course, important. „Temporary blocking may be justified if a social media platform refuses to comply with legal and democratic requirements until these issues are resolved” – I read in a response from the Leave X campaign, encouraging public figures to leave X/Twitter.

„However, joint and voluntary closure of accounts by politicians would send a much stronger signal. If democratically elected representatives leave X together, they will demonstrate political leadership and moral clarity, not just regulatory enforcement. Regulation and the decision for politicians to leave the platform are not mutually exclusive. However, mass abandonment of the platform by public figures would show that a democratic mandate does not depend on a single, private platform.” – Leave X notes.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/01/2026

Since @everton137 has been awarding Members of the European Parliament who successfully persuade their colleagues to leave X, this idea is being expanded. Now, this award goes to anyone who sends great emails or takes initiatives that help convince MPs from […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A Plushtodon holding the book and using a hat

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/01/2026

O-ow. That’s a lot. According to updated data by @reithose , now 87% instead of 63% of Dutch MPs are still on X. What will it take for politicians to move on? leavex.eu/politicians-nl #LeaveX #Netherlands #ByeByeElon

The percentage of Dutch politicians on X increased from 63% to 87%.

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Leave X - Protect Democracy @leavex.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/01/2026

📅 Next week – 5 Feb @ European Parliament Meet the people building Europe’s digital future at the EU Tech Stars Summit 🇪🇺 An open event spotlighting EU tech innovators, digital sovereignty, and values-driven alternatives to Big Tech. Keynote by […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

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