Michael S. Daubs, PhD

Can’t emphasise this enough. I once did a media interview where the interviewee said he was “tired” of hearing about the benefits of online communities and this post helps show why his exhaustion doesn’t matter.

In case people in the back didn’t hear her, @smittermeier.bsky.social has an important point here.

A ban isn't radical. A real radical approach would be to no longer accept the governance and economic model that social media platforms rely, which we can and should regulate instead.

Information on a CFP for a special issue of Interface on Transnational Repression and Social Movements. Access the full CFP at https://www.interfacejournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Interface-15-1-CFP-transnational-repression.pdf.

CFP for a special issue of Interface: a journal for and about social movements on "Transnational repression and
social movements" available at www.interfacejournal.net/wp-content/u.... Deadline for initial submissions to this issue, to be published in
October/November 2026, is 30 March 2026.

Cover of Interface Volume 15 issue 1, showing a burning cart on a dark street. Visit interfacejournal.net to access the full issue.

A new issue of Interface: a journal for and about social movements (Vol. 15, Issue 1), is available now at www.interfacejournal.net/interface-vo.... Open access, as always!

This isn't just a casual observation. Fascism scholars have long made this point. It's why calling them "weird" was a more effective strategy than talking about the prices of eggs. Fascism is an aesthetic political movement - you need to make people feel embarassed and horrified by it.

Meh.

The answer to this is always yes. The same is true if the animal is dog, otter, sea lion, seal, squirrel, pig, cow… any animal, really.

Wall Street Journal headlines that says Companies Are Desperately Seeking ‘Storytellers’

Are these the same companies that told us the robot could do it?

In the wake of the tragedy in Australia today, someone took the time to create a fake news website and made up a white “IT professional” named "Edward Crabtree" and claimed he stopped the Bondi shooting.

The real hero is a man named Ahmed Al Ahmed. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

A wrong Grok post making up a white guy who stopped the Australian mass shooting.

BBC 'Hero' who wrestled gun from Bondi shooter named as Ahmed al Ahmed Emily Atkinson Sun, December 14, 2025 at 1:06 p.m. CST 2 min read A "hero" bystander who was filmed wrestling a gun from one of the Bondi Beach attackers has been named as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed. Video verified by the BBC showed Mr Ahmed run at the gunman and seize his weapon, before turning the gun round on him, forcing his retreat. Mr Ahmed, a fruit shop owner and father of two, remains in hospital, where he has undergone surgery for bullet wounds to his arm and hand, his family told 7News Australia.

This is fucking grim. Somebody invented a white guy, an "IT professional" named Edward Crabtree, who stopped the Bondi shooting and spread it all over the internet, which was picked up by AI agents and slop aggregation sites.

The real hero is a fruit stand owner named Ahmed el Ahmed.

I‘m starting to suspect the expectation will be that teaching at a university level is less about a researcher’s field of research and more about prompt engineering sooner rather than later.

Apropos of nothing, anyone remember that Safer Online Systems and Media Platforms discussion document? Good times.

🎉 New publication 🎉 Why do #youngpeople vote for the #AfD? This question has kept our research project busy for quite some time, so I'm beyond excited that our first article - co-authored with @timonscheuer.bsky.social - is now out in #GermanPolitics! 🤩 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

For lots of reasons, I don’t like LLMs and I don’t use them, but I know there are serious people working on ways to meaningfully incorporate them into education and I don’t doubt there are ways to do that productively. It’s probably obvious that “Have the LLM tell you the answer” isn’t one of them.

Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.

Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq

Who Is Responsible for Digital Wellbeing? An Overview of Approaches, Threats, and Perspectives on Accountability | PYMNTS.com The widespread availability and use of digital tools such as smartphones and social media platforms have led to extensive discussions about their social

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to contribute some information on the definitional challenges and ethical questions about 'digital wellbeing' to the latest edition of CPI's TechREG Chronicle. Thanks to the editors there, who were very kind and patient.

www.pymnts.com/cpi-posts/wh...

🙌

They are saying 32% GST and 72 for retirement age so we will happily accept 20% GST and 68 for retirement age. Why don’t they say 5% wealth tax and 40% corporate tax on big conglomerates? No of course they won’t say that no siree.

Sadly, this is not surprising. And people in influential positions are still pushing this “theory”.

As we were discussing elsewhere, cuts to Catalyst and Marsden funding are a full on assault on knowledge and critical thinking (in addition to a complete misunderstanding of research and its value).

Amazing photo of a magnificent building. I’ll be there in a few short weeks and can’t wait to experience it in person.

The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness? Nature - The evidence is equivocal on whether screen time is to blame for rising levels of teen depression and anxiety — and rising hysteria could distract us from tackling the real causes.

As we talk about the cheerful insanity of Australia's Social Media Ban again this morning, here's your periodical reminder that the book it's inspired by - The Anxious Generation - is hogwash.

Not just me saying it, but this little journal you might have heard of: Nature.
www.nature.com/artic...

Govt's AI strategy is all hype and no vision Opinion from the University of Otago: The long-awaited artificial intelligence plan proposes 'greater use of AI in business', but that’s basically where the goals begin and end, writes Dr Michael Daub...

If you're not tired of my hot takes on AI, I have another piece in @newsroom.co.nz, this time on the recently announced AI Strategy in NZ and its lack of a clear, er... strategy. newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/29/g....

Many thanks to @sarahhbickerton.bsky.social for her feedback and suggestions.

Electoral law changes spark fears of lower Māori voter turnout, Minister ignored advice The Government’s proposed overhaul of New Zealand’s electoral laws is being criticised for potentially undermining Māori voter turnout, particularly among young & first-time voters

Research has consistently shown that voting restrictions always have disproportionate impacts across the population. Those with less privilege, those at the margins, who are vulnerable, who are less embedded in societal institutions, are more likely to be impacted.
www.teaonews.co.nz/2025/07/24/e...

I/s asks: One for the constitutional lawyers: given the demonstrated ability to manage same-day enrolment, is its removal a violation of the BORA s 12 right to vote? Andrew Geddis answers: Yes.

Andrew is literally NZ's pre-eminent expert on electoral law. His view on this should be taken incredibly seriously.

At absolute minimum, the BOR vet for the proposed change must be released immediately to see what official advice is & so that advice + govt's justification can be scrutinised.

I know how you feel. My partner said the other day, "Have you ever thought of saying 'no' to something?"

Funnily enough, the answer was, "No?"

Public-use AI helping in surveillance and warfare Analysis from the University of Otago: Will ChatGPT users find themselves unwittingly contributing to increasing population surveillance, human rights violations, or warfare?

I’ve been told I’ve been negligent by not sharing that I wrote a thing in @newsroom.co.nz on big AI getting cozy with militaries and what that might mean for its users: newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/18/p...

Falls ihr euch fragt, ob es cancel culture wirklich gibt. Ja, gibt es. Aber nicht die, die von rechts immer mit Schaum vor dem Mund behauptet wird.