Chris Roper
Deputy CEO at @Code4Africa, Former Ed-in-Chief: Mail & Guardian and 24. com. Knight Fellow at ICFJ 2015-2019. He/him
- Hard to work out who the criminals are here. Right?
- Reposted by Chris RoperThe 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."
- Reposted by Chris Roperthe 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
- 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.”
- “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)
- On the post-colonial, but also perhaps about the post-democracy.
- Reposted by Chris RoperThis 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/...
- 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.
- "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.
- Excellent.
- Source unknown. Except in the sense of the pit of despair from whence it came.
- This is terrible. “UNICEF said at least 221 children, including boys, were raped by armed men” in Sudan. aje.io/vswtia
- 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...
- Zapiro always draws it starkly.
- We’ve been there as South Africans. A thoughtful summation of US state capture. mg.co.za/thought-lead...
- 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...
- Via LeoArt SZ on Facebook.
- 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...
- 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".
- Ugh. *gets a shout out.
- 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.
- 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.
- Reposted by Chris RoperThere 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
- 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.
- “The challenge lies in redirecting these well-honed skills toward genuine utility rather than getting stuck in institutionalized, performative practices.
- “This shift is particularly difficult because for decades, journ schools have been promising aspiring practitioners… a tantalizing combination of self-expression… and public service.”
- “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...
- 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...
- ... 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.”
- 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.
-
View full threadDer Spiegel article here, but paywalled spiegel.de/netzwelt/web...
- Reposted by Chris Roperthe 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
- UCLA is creating an entirely AI-generated course. Except apparently the grading won't be AI-generated. 🤔 newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/comp...
- Talk about crazy. “The ATF is not legally permitted to keep a searchable digital database of gun sales, thanks to hysteria that ‘the government will come to take our guns,’ so they only have printouts.
- “When a crime is called in and the ATF is asked to trace a gun’s serial number, it can take a week of rifling through the paperwork to trace the gun.
- “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)
- Love these old school airports. And who doesn’t like a plane with propellers. You catch a boat taxi to this airport too, which is really quaint. Manda Island Airport.
- This is actually a really nice restaurant. I’ve had fish or crab every day. The only thing I can’t figure out is the tuna larb. It’s probably obvious, as someone will point out.
- 5:30am Lamu.
- Setting up for the start of our symposium on “AI and the weaponisation of hate speech.” A venue as far removed from the cliches of AI as it’s possible to be.
