Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 06/08/2026New paper on 'ambient extremism' out now - it tries to chart the collapse of the distinction between online subcultures and mainstream politics, looking at how rhetorics of defiance suffuse political culture, with X and AI slop playing a key role 231
Reposted by Rob TopinkaSean Phelan @sean-phelan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026This new article by @robtoes.bsky.social looks really good: Ambient Extremism in Reactionary Digital Politics journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....journals.sagepub.comSage Journals: Discover world-class researchSubscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher. 153
Reposted by Rob TopinkaRoland Meyer @bildoperationen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Ideologically, generative AI is a 19th century technology: the flawed dream that once you have assembled a supposedly total archive of culture via technical media, you can use it to statistically derive new meaning from patterns of the past 24670185
Reposted by Rob TopinkaRoland Meyer @bildoperationen.bsky.social · 18/07/2026Since 1996, the business models of Silicon Valley are largely based on legally protected unaccountability, enforced world-wide through US dominance. Generative AI is both a product and an escalation of this model: It's unaccountability as a service 019866
Reposted by Rob TopinkaThe Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 16/07/2026"What the federal government has been doing to people assumed to be immigrants is different from normal police brutality. It is a targeted campaign. We are witnessing, for the first time since Jim Crow, American death squads."lnk.thebulwark.comAmerica’s Death Squads Are RealSometimes you can’t see the world clearly from the inside. 742494898
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 10/07/2026He who was based shall become cringe: “A lot of young people [are] looking at him and the legacy of his messaging and thinking that it’s really cringe,” [Leidig] said. “It’s not cool any more.” 001
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 10/07/2026Excellent episode on AI and universities. Well worth hearing from the student panel - they articulate the bind many students face: they hate AI but feel compelled to use it That's why I say in my interview that the worst response teachers can take is to become AI cops www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...bbc.co.ukBBC Radio 4 - Currently, The Artificial UniversityCan university education survive AI? 010
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Watch and learn about how the incoherence of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion makes it all the more adaptable to the anxieties of the day. Couldn't help but think of the productive incoherence of QAnon, and Hillis compares the 19th-century 'adventurers' behind the Protocols with 'influencers' 010
Reposted by Rob TopinkaBISA at Birkbeck @bisa-bkk.bsky.social · 08/07/2026In case you missed it, watch Faith Hillis on 'Forged in plain sight: a biography of 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' here: youtu.be/2WvWiQRmD0Ayoutu.beForged in plain sight: a biography of ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’YouTube video by Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism 011
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Farage defended his record saying he "worked extensively" from "2021-2024 as an influencer with over seven million followers on social media." Now he's doing the "I was cancelled because I revealed the truth about..." influencer move perfected during covid info wars. Let's watch MSM fall for it. 010
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 07/07/2026A useful primer on Doug Wilson, Christian Nationalism's star preacher, who wants to repeal women's right to vote, criminalize homosexuality, and turn public space in America into a space "for Christ" kansaspress.ku.edu/blog/2026/06...kansaspress.ku.eduThe New Right: Exclusionary Christian NationalismDoug Wilson is likely the Christian nationalist pastor most familiar to Americans, thanks to his elevation to the national stage by Pete Hegseth. In February, the secretary of war invited Wilson to sp... 000
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 07/07/2026 Masterclass rhetorical analysis from @profafinlayson.bsky.social. Rhetoric isn't just the poetry - it's explaining the world & enrolling people in action. Alan draws out the core contradiction of Burnhamism - he's got the explanation but not the action culturepowerpolitics.org/2026/07/03/e...culturepowerpolitics.orgEmergency Podcast: The Rhetoric of BurnhamismWe discuss Andy Burnham’s speech launching his formal bid for the Labour leadership. For info, errata and to give us support (Please give us support!): 162
Reposted by Rob TopinkaWill Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 15/06/2026“temporary alliance between elite and mob”, elite edition 1153
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 15/06/2026There is no evidence social media bans work. They do hurt vulnerable young people who rely on anonymous online spaces for community & they force a huge transfer of personal data to third-party companies that keep getting breached (Discord, the Tea app, and Au10tix). www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfmN...youtube.comSocial Media Ban Repository - Sonia Livingstone, Digital Futures for Children CentreYouTube video by information labs 020
Reposted by Rob TopinkaProfAFinlayson @profafinlayson.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Here, for channel 4, my colleague @robtoes.bsky.social gives the clearest most direct explication I’ve seen on ‘mainstream’ media: the link between social media, elite political projects (forged over time), money making and white nationalism. m.youtube.com/watch?v=nq-Y...m.youtube.comWhat’s REALLY fuelling Britain’s riots?YouTube video by Channel 4 News 097
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 20/05/2026“The goal is to take away the web and guide people into Google’s abstraction on top of it.” 000
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 29/04/2026I spoke at The Internet Left event at The European Parliament last week. You can watch the entire event here, including insights from strategists working with Zohran Mamdani and Die Linke and Heidi Reichinnek, plus my panel with Joshua Citeralla and Joanna Walsh left.eu/events/the-i...left.euThe Internet LeftThe Left in the European Parliament EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY GROUP 020
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 29/04/2026'By uploading instructional content onto Canvas, the learning management system that ASU uses, professors open their intellectual property to much wider distribution' www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-in...insidehighered.comFaculty Concerned About ASU’s New AI Course BuilderASU debuted the web app quietly this month and faculty—whose content the AI pulls from—are concerned about how it works and who can access it. 000
Reposted by Rob TopinkaGood Law Project @goodlawproject.org · 27/04/2026Sadiq Khan is considering blocking Palantir’s contract with the Met Police. Say no to Palantir in the NHS here 👇 notopalantir.goodlawproject.org/ema… 10461149
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 24/04/2026Come work at Birkbeck! We're hiring a full-time, permanent Lecturer in Digital Media and AI. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRH875/l...jobs.ac.ukLecturer in Digital Media and AI at Birkbeck, University of LondonDiscover Lecturer in Digital Media and AI jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board. 059
Reposted by Rob Topinkabadaude @badaude.bsky.social · 21/04/2026At the EU today talking about 'The Internet Left - Progressive politics in the digital age' for The Left in the European Parliament with Marc Botenga of @ptbbelgique.bsky.social and @robtoes.bsky.social (Birckbeck) 021
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 20/04/2026Excited to be speaking at 'The Internet Left' at European Parliament tomorrow morning. Very cool mixes of strategists, artists, meme makers and...me. Join the livestream Tuesday morning! left.eu/events/the-i...left.euThe Internet LeftThe Left in the European Parliament EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY GROUP 000
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 09/04/2026The right has a well-financed apparatus for amplifying social media momentum. Democrats just try to squash it www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... 000
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 30/03/2026Schwemmer said he would accept a world in which slavery was legal if abortion was criminalised, describes himself as “very much an anti universal suffrage guy” and accepts a supporter’s description of him as “our Mormon Nick Fuentes” 110
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 22/03/2026My latest in the Guardian: 'The defence from Farage is that he can’t be held responsible for what people do with the messages he sends them, which is perhaps why most politicians don’t send personal endorsements to random people over the internet for money' www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.com'Big Chungus' and racist meme coins: Nigel Farage’s cameos are rife with the language of the online far right | Robert TopinkaThe Reform UK leader uses the energy of memes to fuel his popularity, but this should not distract us from the seriousness of his purpose, says digital media academic Robert Topinka 0126
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 20/03/2026if Louis Theroux had really wanted to get inside the manosphere he would have sat alone in his bedroom watching Kick streams and spamming the chat 010
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 17/03/2026Happy to be quoted in this great piece on Farage's Cameo work, but this line got me: 'Analysis of the 4,366 videos reviewed by the Guardian suggests Farage has been recording the equivalent of almost three videos a day.' Truly we live in the age of the poster. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-i...theguardian.comNewly unearthed Nigel Farage videos reveal support for rioter, neo-Nazi event and far-right slogansExclusive: Analysis of more than 4,000 of Reform UK leader’s paid-for Cameo videos also shows they contain misogynistic remarks and antisemitic conspiracies 021
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 17/03/2026Survey of Silicon Valley coders finds 'feedback loop between beliefs and digital ecosystems': ~75% said CEO worldviews directly shape products -90% said bias was 'injected' into algorithms -74% would implement features even if they would restrict human freedom www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....tandfonline.com 000
Reposted by Rob TopinkaRoland Meyer @bildoperationen.bsky.social · 06/03/2026#BrainrotPropaganda: You take the patriotic imagery of the past and strip it of all content. There's no narrative left, no promise of meaning, only vibes. The total destruction of meaning is the content, no matter if it's AI generated or manually stitched together from YouTube clips #MemeFascism 49433
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 05/03/2026From LibsOfTikTok to Christopher Rufo and Jordan Peterson, reactionary watchdogs play a big role in digital politics. A great concept from @sean-phelan.bsky.social 131
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 05/03/2026Troops told Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon & mark his return to Earth." Non-evangelicals might not know the Left Behind series, but it sold like the Da Vinci Code. Maybe QAnon was just a rapture subplot jonathanlarsen.substack.com/p/us-troops-...jonathanlarsen.substack.comU.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for “Armageddon,” Return of JesusAdvocacy group reports commanders giving similar messages at more than 30 installations in every branch of the military 010
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 17/02/2026Really good piece on the stylelessness of liberals: 'There is no liberal Joe Rogan because his liberal equivalent would rather soliloquize and tweak a couple of ordinances than enter into an unscripted tête-à-tête for hours.' thepointmag.com/criticism/li...thepointmag.comListless Liberalism | The Point MagazineWhere is liberalism’s “Fascinating Fascism”? Who is its Riefenstahl? 022
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 13/02/2026'British centrism tries to defuse extremism by absorbing it, only to find that it hasn’t defused it but amplified it.' www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/fe...lrb.co.ukJude Wanga | The centre shrinksMuch of our politics now consists of performance rather than governance. The calculations are short-term by design: win... 030
Reposted by Rob TopinkaProfAFinlayson @profafinlayson.bsky.social · 05/02/2026Labour members & MPs need to understand, they aren’t just tarnished by this. They’re soaked through with it. The combination of wealth & sexual abuse is central to the anti-politics worldview (for good reasons). Only slight recovery is possible & it will take a significant purgation. 183
Reposted by Rob TopinkaSean Phelan @sean-phelan.bsky.social · 04/02/2026This is the last of the three Guardian articles by @robtoes.bsky.social on digital politics - well worth reading There is a lot to mull on in this line: "The demands of the attention economy exacerbate the age-old leftist tendency toward infighting" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comHow the left can win back the internet – and rise again | Robert TopinkaIn the final part of this series, we look at how infighting has ripped the left apart online while the right has flourished – and how some progressives are turning the tide, says digital media academi... 111
Reposted by Rob TopinkaWill Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 01/02/2026These pieces by @robtoes.bsky.social are well worth reading 064
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 31/01/2026Part 2, on the online right, out now: “The convergence of monetary incentives with ideologically charged engagement produces a kind of ambient extremism in contemporary politics…” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comHow the right won the internet | Robert TopinkaIn the second part of our series on digital politics, we look at how online provocateurs have advanced extreme political ideas – and watched them seep into the mainstream, says digital media academic ... 087
Reposted by Rob TopinkaProfAFinlayson @profafinlayson.bsky.social · 30/01/2026“The overwhelming liberal focus on disinformation misreads how digital platforms work…cutting-edge propagandists now focus less on policy messaging and more on massaging vibes”. Start of a new series by the excellent @robtoes.bsky.socialtheguardian.comHow liberals lost the internet | Robert TopinkaIn the first part of our series on digital politics, we look at how centrists have lost ground fighting disinformation – when the real battle is over emotion and attention, says digital media academic... 28225
Reposted by Rob TopinkaEviane Leidig @evianeleidig.com · 30/01/2026“The overwhelming liberal focus on disinformation misreads how digital platforms work: misleading content is everywhere, but the real battleground is over emotion and attention” A must read by @robtoes.bsky.social in @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comHow liberals lost the internet | Robert TopinkaIn the first part of our series on digital politics, we look at how centrists have lost ground fighting disinformation – when the real battle is over emotion and attention, says digital media academic... 03816
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 30/01/2026The 1st of my 3-part series on digital politics is out in the Guardian. Read, comment, tell me I'm wrong, attack me. As I argue: 'The real battleground is over emotion and attention, which is what determines whether information – good or bad – finds an audience. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comHow liberals lost the internet | Robert TopinkaIn the first part of our series on digital politics, we look at how centrists have lost ground fighting disinformation – when the real battle is over emotion and attention, says digital media academic... 5248
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 29/01/2026I got a quote in about how to think about penguin posting in this excellent primer on Trump’s AI slopaganda, its reactionary nostalgia, its clumsy white nationalism, its obvious mistakes - it’s all on purpose. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...theguardian.comThe slopaganda era: 10 AI images posted by the White House – and what they teach usUnder Donald Trump, the White House has filled its social media with memes, wishcasting, nostalgia and deepfakes. Here’s what you need to know to navigate the trolling 031
Reposted by Rob TopinkaBen Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 20/01/2026Interview by Aamna Mohdin of my @bisa-bkk.bsky.social colleague @dmf101.bsky.social in which he crisply articulates why we need a reset in our antisemitism debate www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j... @runnymedetrust.bsky.social @shabna.bsky.socialtheguardian.comTuesday briefing: Why efforts to tackle Britain’s long history of antisemitism have fallen shortIn today’s newsletter: A scholar of antisemitism on how we define it, how it has operated in Britain, and what can be done 022
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 20/01/2026Murray Rothbard wanted to repeal the 20th century. Curtis Yarvin thinks liberalism got out of hand when the Union won the US Civil War. The 'Donroe Doctrine' fits this line of thinking. Trump is more erratic now, but his 2nd term is actually more ideologically coherent. www.ft.com/content/4e0e... 000
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 20/01/2026Was great to be on the @overunderpod.bsky.social to talk about Grok and the future of AI porn and how Trump's comments about Civil Rights going too far shows MAGA is not just about being anti-woke - it's also a rejection of the basic idea of equality pod.link/1744973171/e...pod.link 011
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 14/01/2026nice materialist debunking of Jacob Savage's pseudo-materialist account of DEI hurting white Millennial males. www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2025/12/17/w... 010
Reposted by Rob TopinkaBen Gidley @bengidley.bsky.social · 08/01/2026In a bout of insomnia the night before last I wrote something about Trump’s regime capture in Caracas leftrenewal.org/articles-en/... #LeftRenewalleftrenewal.orgIn a Time of Helicopters, by Ben Gidley – 7 January 2026 – Left Renewal Blog 121
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 09/01/2026I usually go on r/PoliticalCompassMemes to get annoyed but sometimes you find some bangers 100
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 07/01/2026Trump’s lies always tell an ideological truth. The ICE agent obviously wasn’t hit, which is why Trump says he was nearly killed - ICE acts on Trump’s behalf, so anything bad ICE does must actually be the work of the enemy. The less popular Trump gets, the more detached he’ll become 010
Rob Topinka @robtoes.bsky.social · 07/01/2026so when Anthropic let Claude talk to itself, it started blissing out about spiritual unity. Nice piece from David Berry on how this is the result of LLMs encoding a kind of 'latent hegemony' - in this case, the hippie capitalism of the California Ideology stunlaw.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-... 010