A nation divided: The battle for renewal
The collapse of the social compact and deterioration of society into fragmented and polarised groups underpins the decline of democracy, writes Camaren Peter. Read full article
Working for democracy
Lay of the land report
This report summarises all current and former narratives within South Africa’s online democracy conversation between January and May 2022. Five main focus areas were tracked within the broader democracy conversation. These include the judiciary and democratic institutions; the constitution; the upcoming ANC elective conference in December 2022; the RET network and corruption. The content sources …
Social media’s altered influence
The Constitution protects fundamentals adequately, but no country can legislate human decency, writes Praveen Naidoo. Read full article
Monitoring and analyzing social media conversations
Monitoring and analyzing social media conversations. Yossabel Chetty of the Center of Analytics & Behavioral Change joins us on iAfrikan BYTES to talk about how they use brand monitoring technologies to track, monitor, and analyze online narratives in real-time to report on and prevent fake news. Listen Read full article here.
The dangers of social media in weakening democracy
Online narrative manipulation tactics under the banner of free speech and association are poisoning the minds of unsuspecting South Africans. Read full article here.
BIG READ: Fighting back against the global information disorder
The public sphere is being contaminated by rumour, hatred and deception, writes Herman Wasserman Read full article
Ukraine and Russia: The West vs the rest?
A key point to note, however, is that not everyone who uses #IStandWithRussia and #IStandWithPutin does so in support of Russia. Read full article
“Organizing for the smart African city: Leveraging the urban commons for exerting the right to the city” in Organization Studies co-authored from our Executive Director, Camaren Peter and Camille Meyer
To accommodate the need for community engagement and place-based approaches in smart city agendas in Africa, we build on the literature on smart cities, southern urbanism and the urban commons to develop a conceptual framework for urban commoning in Africa… Read full article
Battle lines drawn over Sisulu
Many social media users have taken up firm positions to attack or defend Sisulu’s views, with others remaining neutral. Read full article
Deep discontent: Fasten your seatbelts on the road to South Africa’s potential collapse
Just how far gone is South Africa? There isn’t one canary in the coal mine, but many, and they’re signalling to us in a cacophony of voices. That is perhaps the most telling indicator that the complexity of South Africa’s current woes may indeed lead down the road to collapse. Read full article
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