Duncan Allen
@duncanallen.bsky.social
Research Associate at Democracy Reporting International
Berlin-Based
Berlin-Based
Reposted by Duncan Allen
Modern conspiracy theory acts primarily as a way for people to ignore uncomfortable evidence against their beliefs. Jan 6? False flag! Global warming? NWO plot to steal your freedom!
When the conspiracy *is* the uncomfortable fact, conspiracy theorists suddenly lose interest in conspiracies.
When the conspiracy *is* the uncomfortable fact, conspiracy theorists suddenly lose interest in conspiracies.
November 12, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Modern conspiracy theory acts primarily as a way for people to ignore uncomfortable evidence against their beliefs. Jan 6? False flag! Global warming? NWO plot to steal your freedom!
When the conspiracy *is* the uncomfortable fact, conspiracy theorists suddenly lose interest in conspiracies.
When the conspiracy *is* the uncomfortable fact, conspiracy theorists suddenly lose interest in conspiracies.
Reposted by Duncan Allen
Leave it to a a handful of Senate Democrats to cave in a moment where they held actual political power, leverage, had momentum, when the base finally felt something akin of hope and excitement again. Truly stunning.
November 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Leave it to a a handful of Senate Democrats to cave in a moment where they held actual political power, leverage, had momentum, when the base finally felt something akin of hope and excitement again. Truly stunning.
Reposted by Duncan Allen
They caved in March so they could get a better deal now. They’re caving now so they can get a better deal in some indeterminate future. The better deal is always just beyond their reach, but continuing to cave will get them there. And if you don’t agree with that, you don’t understand Politics,
November 10, 2025 at 2:44 AM
They caved in March so they could get a better deal now. They’re caving now so they can get a better deal in some indeterminate future. The better deal is always just beyond their reach, but continuing to cave will get them there. And if you don’t agree with that, you don’t understand Politics,
Reposted by Duncan Allen
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
Reposted by Duncan Allen
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
Reposted by Duncan Allen
Just for context, it was an international scandal when YouTube erased documentation of Syrian government war crimes. Now it's just the Intercept and tech outlets who care.
apnews.com/article/d9f1...
apnews.com/article/d9f1...
November 6, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Just for context, it was an international scandal when YouTube erased documentation of Syrian government war crimes. Now it's just the Intercept and tech outlets who care.
apnews.com/article/d9f1...
apnews.com/article/d9f1...
Reposted by Duncan Allen
In Grok we don’t trust: academics assess Elon Musk’s AI-powered encyclopedia www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
In Grok we don’t trust: academics assess Elon Musk’s AI-powered encyclopedia
From publishing falsehoods to pushing far-right ideology, Grokipedia gives chatroom comments equal status to research
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:18 AM
In Grok we don’t trust: academics assess Elon Musk’s AI-powered encyclopedia www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Duncan Allen
If you want to know more about ICE’s third-country removals, I keep what I believe is the only public tracker of all of them here: hardghistory.ghost.io/tracking-all...
There are more than you probably think.
There are more than you probably think.
Tracking All of Trump’s Third-Country Removals (That We Know Of)
Bookmark this post, it will be updated.
hardghistory.ghost.io
November 2, 2025 at 2:58 PM
If you want to know more about ICE’s third-country removals, I keep what I believe is the only public tracker of all of them here: hardghistory.ghost.io/tracking-all...
There are more than you probably think.
There are more than you probably think.
Reposted by Duncan Allen
«Silicon Valley isn’t building apps anymore.
It’s building empires.»
The Authoritarian Stack: A mapping of firms, funds, and political actors turning core state functions into private platforms, by @francescabria.bsky.social et. al. for @fesonline.bsky.social
www.authoritarian-stack.info
It’s building empires.»
The Authoritarian Stack: A mapping of firms, funds, and political actors turning core state functions into private platforms, by @francescabria.bsky.social et. al. for @fesonline.bsky.social
www.authoritarian-stack.info
The Authoritarian Stack
How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic America — And Why Europe Is Next
www.authoritarian-stack.info
November 2, 2025 at 10:00 AM
«Silicon Valley isn’t building apps anymore.
It’s building empires.»
The Authoritarian Stack: A mapping of firms, funds, and political actors turning core state functions into private platforms, by @francescabria.bsky.social et. al. for @fesonline.bsky.social
www.authoritarian-stack.info
It’s building empires.»
The Authoritarian Stack: A mapping of firms, funds, and political actors turning core state functions into private platforms, by @francescabria.bsky.social et. al. for @fesonline.bsky.social
www.authoritarian-stack.info
It will never not fascinate me how these people get a thrill from draping themselves in the aesthetics of evil. I don't believe they see themselves as the "good guys defending their country", I think they just fucking love the rush of being powerful and transgressive and putting boots on faces
“They have fun while doing it, which is deeply disturbing. We expect some level of decorum from government officials,” says Phoebe, a member of Harbor Area Peace Patrols.
The full story: lataco.com/federal-immi...
By Aisha Wallace-Palomares
The full story: lataco.com/federal-immi...
By Aisha Wallace-Palomares
October 31, 2025 at 10:51 AM
It will never not fascinate me how these people get a thrill from draping themselves in the aesthetics of evil. I don't believe they see themselves as the "good guys defending their country", I think they just fucking love the rush of being powerful and transgressive and putting boots on faces
Reposted by Duncan Allen
We're seeing a massive institutional deportation and state violence apparatus being built and it honestly feels like people dont grasp the sheer scale of it and what already is in place. For every horrific video of masked feds kidnapping people there are so many people pushing paper to help.
NEW: ICE is planning to build a shadow deportation network in Texas. A proposal outlines a 24/7 transport operation run by armed contractors—turning Texas into the logistical backbone of an industrialized deportation machine.
My latest @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/ice-is...
My latest @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/ice-is...
October 30, 2025 at 6:06 PM
We're seeing a massive institutional deportation and state violence apparatus being built and it honestly feels like people dont grasp the sheer scale of it and what already is in place. For every horrific video of masked feds kidnapping people there are so many people pushing paper to help.
Reposted by Duncan Allen
Our panellists will focus on a big ethical question: how can these tools be better aligned with democratic values?
🎙️Moderator:
@duncanallen.bsky.social
🎤Speakers:
Dr. Adriana Cuppuleri
Dr. @zhijingjin.bsky.social
Benjamin Shultz
Check-out the programme & join the waiting list▶️ bit.ly/3L8XMPa
🎙️Moderator:
@duncanallen.bsky.social
🎤Speakers:
Dr. Adriana Cuppuleri
Dr. @zhijingjin.bsky.social
Benjamin Shultz
Check-out the programme & join the waiting list▶️ bit.ly/3L8XMPa
October 30, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Our panellists will focus on a big ethical question: how can these tools be better aligned with democratic values?
🎙️Moderator:
@duncanallen.bsky.social
🎤Speakers:
Dr. Adriana Cuppuleri
Dr. @zhijingjin.bsky.social
Benjamin Shultz
Check-out the programme & join the waiting list▶️ bit.ly/3L8XMPa
🎙️Moderator:
@duncanallen.bsky.social
🎤Speakers:
Dr. Adriana Cuppuleri
Dr. @zhijingjin.bsky.social
Benjamin Shultz
Check-out the programme & join the waiting list▶️ bit.ly/3L8XMPa
Reposted by Duncan Allen
there are going to be a lot of stories in the next couple weeks about the generosity of ordinary people in helping their fellow Americans and all of them will be wonderful and none of them should be necessary
we don’t have to have a government this cruel and capricious
we don’t have to have a government this cruel and capricious
October 30, 2025 at 2:23 AM
there are going to be a lot of stories in the next couple weeks about the generosity of ordinary people in helping their fellow Americans and all of them will be wonderful and none of them should be necessary
we don’t have to have a government this cruel and capricious
we don’t have to have a government this cruel and capricious
Reposted by Duncan Allen
Sunday Reading: A Constant Torrent of Authoritarian Arrogance, Corruption, and Complicity
American politics is an exasperating, frenzied, and acutely dangerous mess. Let’s sort through the events of the past week to separate what matters from what does not.
Some thoughts from my new piece:
American politics is an exasperating, frenzied, and acutely dangerous mess. Let’s sort through the events of the past week to separate what matters from what does not.
Some thoughts from my new piece:
A Constant Torrent of Authoritarian Arrogance, Corruption, Complicity
American politics is an exasperating, frenzied, and acutely dangerous mess. Let’s sort through the events of the past week to separate what matters from what does not.
democracyamericana.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Sunday Reading: A Constant Torrent of Authoritarian Arrogance, Corruption, and Complicity
American politics is an exasperating, frenzied, and acutely dangerous mess. Let’s sort through the events of the past week to separate what matters from what does not.
Some thoughts from my new piece:
American politics is an exasperating, frenzied, and acutely dangerous mess. Let’s sort through the events of the past week to separate what matters from what does not.
Some thoughts from my new piece:
Reposted by Duncan Allen
I made an image of all the art posted by US DOL on X since approximately Labor Day
October 26, 2025 at 1:07 AM
I made an image of all the art posted by US DOL on X since approximately Labor Day
Reposted by Duncan Allen
This was an excellent read, and this bit stands out as what's made me most worried over the last few years. The whole information environment is geared to making people angry, afraid or depressed, and before we get to anything as advanced as politics, that's terrible for our brains.
October 23, 2025 at 9:37 PM
This was an excellent read, and this bit stands out as what's made me most worried over the last few years. The whole information environment is geared to making people angry, afraid or depressed, and before we get to anything as advanced as politics, that's terrible for our brains.
The song is super popular in online Nazi communities btw
October 24, 2025 at 9:12 AM
The song is super popular in online Nazi communities btw
Reposted by Duncan Allen
And it’s thus no coincidence that right-wing parties have used exactly this kind of images before in a similar manner: if your politics is all about offering imaginary solutions to mostly phantasmatic problems, generative AI is the perfect tool for propaganda. Every slogan can become an image
5/
5/
October 23, 2025 at 11:37 AM
And it’s thus no coincidence that right-wing parties have used exactly this kind of images before in a similar manner: if your politics is all about offering imaginary solutions to mostly phantasmatic problems, generative AI is the perfect tool for propaganda. Every slogan can become an image
5/
5/
We have to regulate gAI in campaigning jfc
Andrew Cuomo’s campaign just posted — and quickly deleted — this AI-generated ad depicting “criminals for Zohran Mamdani.”
Features a Black man in a keffiyeh shoplifting, an abuser, a trespasser, a trafficker, a drug dealer, and a drunk driver all declaring support for Mamdani.
Features a Black man in a keffiyeh shoplifting, an abuser, a trespasser, a trafficker, a drug dealer, and a drunk driver all declaring support for Mamdani.
October 23, 2025 at 7:09 AM
We have to regulate gAI in campaigning jfc
Reposted by Duncan Allen
I've been working with Demos to turn the Verification, Deliberation, and Accountability (VDA) Framework into a report that lays out how it can be used to diagnose the state of democracy and build solutions around building the capacity for those functions in institutional and public spaces.
🧵 Across the world, democracy isn’t just under pressure, it’s facing epistemic collapse: a breakdown in the shared ability to know what’s true, to reason together and to hold power to account.
A new guest paper by @eliothiggins.bsky.social and @drnataliemartin.bsky.social explores how to fix it.
A new guest paper by @eliothiggins.bsky.social and @drnataliemartin.bsky.social explores how to fix it.
Verification, Deliberation, Accountability: A new framework for tackling epistemic collapse and renewing democracy
Demos is Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank. We produce original research, publish innovative thinkers and host thought-provoking events.
demos.co.uk
October 22, 2025 at 12:53 PM
I've been working with Demos to turn the Verification, Deliberation, and Accountability (VDA) Framework into a report that lays out how it can be used to diagnose the state of democracy and build solutions around building the capacity for those functions in institutional and public spaces.
Reposted by Duncan Allen
Hi. I wrote an essay about AI slop: How it feels like an invasive species for the internet. How its boosters describe building a future that’s devoid of craft. How frictionlessness can be nihilistic & how this stuff seems to leach part of our shared humanity out of the world. I hope you'll read it.
AI’s Invasive Species
The slop is winning.
www.theatlantic.com
October 20, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Hi. I wrote an essay about AI slop: How it feels like an invasive species for the internet. How its boosters describe building a future that’s devoid of craft. How frictionlessness can be nihilistic & how this stuff seems to leach part of our shared humanity out of the world. I hope you'll read it.
Reposted by Duncan Allen
People have a hard time accepting what's happening right in front of their eyes.
The Young Republicans’ Leaked Chat Isn't the Future—It's Now
It's our racist, fascist reality. And it's not going away anytime soon.
gizmodo.com
October 17, 2025 at 7:28 PM
People have a hard time accepting what's happening right in front of their eyes.
Reposted by Duncan Allen
There is no conceivable argument that these ships, even if we assume they were carrying narcotics, could not be dealt with in some other way. I think we can just drop the caveats and say: This is mass murder.
Unless and until some kind of compelling legal and moral argument is presented as to why this is a legitimate use of deadly force, this is just…mass murder.
The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...
October 15, 2025 at 12:10 AM
There is no conceivable argument that these ships, even if we assume they were carrying narcotics, could not be dealt with in some other way. I think we can just drop the caveats and say: This is mass murder.
Reposted by Duncan Allen
Can someone tell Fukuyama to read this stancilculture.substack.com/p/the-intern...
October 15, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Can someone tell Fukuyama to read this stancilculture.substack.com/p/the-intern...
Reposted by Duncan Allen
New story here:
ai is a fascist tool. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
October 13, 2025 at 1:37 AM
New story here: