Nick Anstead
@nickanstead.bsky.social
Associate Professor at LSE, researching political communications and the role of ideas in politics. More on me and my research: https://linktr.ee/NickAnstead
Pinned
Nick Anstead
@nickanstead.bsky.social
· Apr 24
🚨New article alert! 🚨
"Facebook election advertising: dangerous for democracy or politics as usual? The case of the 2017 UK general election" in the Journal of Information Technology & Politics.
Available open access: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
"Facebook election advertising: dangerous for democracy or politics as usual? The case of the 2017 UK general election" in the Journal of Information Technology & Politics.
Available open access: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Nick Anstead
Who's gonna tell him?
January 20, 2026 at 5:55 AM
Who's gonna tell him?
The fact that a Shadow Foreign Office Minister chose today to defect suggests he might not be a very serious person.
After all, it is not as if the geopolitical order is collapsing round our ears this weekend.
After all, it is not as if the geopolitical order is collapsing round our ears this weekend.
January 18, 2026 at 11:09 PM
The fact that a Shadow Foreign Office Minister chose today to defect suggests he might not be a very serious person.
After all, it is not as if the geopolitical order is collapsing round our ears this weekend.
After all, it is not as if the geopolitical order is collapsing round our ears this weekend.
NASA looking good to keep its 💯 record of only visiting the Moon under the very worst US Presidents.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Artemis II: Nasa's mega Moon rocket arrives at launch pad
Final preparations now get underway for the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 18, 2026 at 11:31 AM
NASA looking good to keep its 💯 record of only visiting the Moon under the very worst US Presidents.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
They weren’t 💯 wrong… the story of US-Euro relations since the end of the Cold War has been about gradual US reorientation to the Pacific (one of the reasons why Brexit was & is a strategic disaster).
Even post-Trump, Europe needs to think seriously about higher levels of strategic independence.
Even post-Trump, Europe needs to think seriously about higher levels of strategic independence.
I’m old enough to remember when many of the voices saying very little tonight told us very loudly that Obama and Biden were anti-British.
January 18, 2026 at 10:32 AM
They weren’t 💯 wrong… the story of US-Euro relations since the end of the Cold War has been about gradual US reorientation to the Pacific (one of the reasons why Brexit was & is a strategic disaster).
Even post-Trump, Europe needs to think seriously about higher levels of strategic independence.
Even post-Trump, Europe needs to think seriously about higher levels of strategic independence.
Reposted by Nick Anstead
I’m old enough to remember when many of the voices saying very little tonight told us very loudly that Obama and Biden were anti-British.
January 18, 2026 at 12:27 AM
I’m old enough to remember when many of the voices saying very little tonight told us very loudly that Obama and Biden were anti-British.
“New sheriff in town” latest…
January 18, 2026 at 9:09 AM
“New sheriff in town” latest…
The plan is presumably to squeeze Farage as a Trump apologist.
January 17, 2026 at 5:44 PM
The plan is presumably to squeeze Farage as a Trump apologist.
Reposted by Nick Anstead
“As deepfakes proliferate online, Finland adds AI literacy to its school curriculum to help children as young as 3 to recognise AI-generated fake news.”
www.euronews.com/next/2026/01...
www.euronews.com/next/2026/01...
How Finland is teaching schoolchildren AI literacy
As deepfakes proliferate online, Finland adds AI literacy to its school curriculum to help children as young as 3 to recognise AI-generated fake news.
www.euronews.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:47 AM
“As deepfakes proliferate online, Finland adds AI literacy to its school curriculum to help children as young as 3 to recognise AI-generated fake news.”
www.euronews.com/next/2026/01...
www.euronews.com/next/2026/01...
Reposted by Nick Anstead
This is why there's a whole chapter in my book about the damage the grid has done to policy making.
January 16, 2026 at 10:04 PM
This is why there's a whole chapter in my book about the damage the grid has done to policy making.
That is an absolutely remarkable object. It looks so modern, like something you could buy in Oliver Bonas.
WOW! This late Roman blue glass cup made an epic 12,000 km journey!
Made in the eastern Mediterranean, it was excavated from the Cheonmachong Tomb, a royal tomb of the ancient Silla Kingdom in Korea! 🤯
Early AD 500s. Gyeongju National Museum, South Korea. 📷 by me
#FindsFriday
#Archaeology
Made in the eastern Mediterranean, it was excavated from the Cheonmachong Tomb, a royal tomb of the ancient Silla Kingdom in Korea! 🤯
Early AD 500s. Gyeongju National Museum, South Korea. 📷 by me
#FindsFriday
#Archaeology
January 16, 2026 at 2:58 PM
That is an absolutely remarkable object. It looks so modern, like something you could buy in Oliver Bonas.
It is supremely ironic that, maybe 20 years ago, people were very worried about Wikipedia and its impact on knowledge, but wildly optimistic about social media as a positive force for debate, politics etc.
Now, Wikipedia stands apart as a genuine online positive.
Now, Wikipedia stands apart as a genuine online positive.
With all its flaws, Wikipedia is still one of the truly great places of the Internet.
Today, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of @wikipedia.org, which for a quarter of a century has been collaboratively built by unpaid strangers on the internet.
January 16, 2026 at 2:56 PM
It is supremely ironic that, maybe 20 years ago, people were very worried about Wikipedia and its impact on knowledge, but wildly optimistic about social media as a positive force for debate, politics etc.
Now, Wikipedia stands apart as a genuine online positive.
Now, Wikipedia stands apart as a genuine online positive.
💯 agree with this thread from @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social, particularly the last post.
‘War for Greenland is boring, let’s talk about the Tories’ is genuinely the weirdest thing for a former ambassador *to Denmark* to say, apart from anything else
This intro to David Frost's Telegraph column sums up so much that is wrong with British politics.
January 16, 2026 at 10:19 AM
💯 agree with this thread from @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social, particularly the last post.
Well, this seems like a strange thing to say...
Obviously, I get the idea is to force people out early, but ultimately it looks like a sign of weakness - you have to generate political leverage when your political project should have enough momentum to encourage people to jump ship.
Obviously, I get the idea is to force people out early, but ultimately it looks like a sign of weakness - you have to generate political leverage when your political project should have enough momentum to encourage people to jump ship.
January 15, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Well, this seems like a strange thing to say...
Obviously, I get the idea is to force people out early, but ultimately it looks like a sign of weakness - you have to generate political leverage when your political project should have enough momentum to encourage people to jump ship.
Obviously, I get the idea is to force people out early, but ultimately it looks like a sign of weakness - you have to generate political leverage when your political project should have enough momentum to encourage people to jump ship.
Reposted by Nick Anstead
Robert Jenrick's speech, now entering its 53rd hour
January 15, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Robert Jenrick's speech, now entering its 53rd hour
Reposted by Nick Anstead
"And what would YOU bring to Reform, Mr Jenrick?"
"Glad you asked, Nigel. My special skill is being outmanoevred by Kemi Badenoch. Twice."
"Glad you asked, Nigel. My special skill is being outmanoevred by Kemi Badenoch. Twice."
January 15, 2026 at 4:30 PM
"And what would YOU bring to Reform, Mr Jenrick?"
"Glad you asked, Nigel. My special skill is being outmanoevred by Kemi Badenoch. Twice."
"Glad you asked, Nigel. My special skill is being outmanoevred by Kemi Badenoch. Twice."
Given Amazon's record on innovation, this would be a terrible situation. The e-ink screen on a Kindle is a genuinely genius innovation, but the software backend has barely improved in a decade (in fact, you can make the case it has got worse as they have locked it down more).
Ah, so the billionaires are driving up the prices of hardware not only for the moronic AI bubble, but also to create a new market where nobody can afford PCs and must rent them in the cloud... Restricting communication and information is also a plus I'm sure.
www.windowscentral.com/artificial-i...
www.windowscentral.com/artificial-i...
Jeff Bezos said the quiet part out loud — hopes that you'll give up your PC to rent one from the cloud
Amazon's Jeff Bezos once revealed how he thinks of local PC hardware as antiquated, ready to be replaced by cloud options. Will DRAM prices make it come true?
www.windowscentral.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Given Amazon's record on innovation, this would be a terrible situation. The e-ink screen on a Kindle is a genuinely genius innovation, but the software backend has barely improved in a decade (in fact, you can make the case it has got worse as they have locked it down more).
OK prediction time: Jenrick defecting is now a damp squib... unless he's taking people with him. So either the announcement, when it comes, needs to involve more than him, or possibly rolling defections over next few days. If that happens, Badenoch loses the slither initiative she has won thus far.
January 15, 2026 at 4:39 PM
OK prediction time: Jenrick defecting is now a damp squib... unless he's taking people with him. So either the announcement, when it comes, needs to involve more than him, or possibly rolling defections over next few days. If that happens, Badenoch loses the slither initiative she has won thus far.
The truth is out there...
January 15, 2026 at 4:33 PM
The truth is out there...
What is also brilliant about the whole Tory / Reform situation is that this might genuinely be the longest period of silence we have had from Robert Jenrick in about 18 months.
January 15, 2026 at 4:28 PM
What is also brilliant about the whole Tory / Reform situation is that this might genuinely be the longest period of silence we have had from Robert Jenrick in about 18 months.
Reposted by Nick Anstead
Reposted by Nick Anstead
We'll see how this plays out but the one thing that is incontrovertible is that Jenrick's negotiating hand with Farage is, ahem, not what it was.
January 15, 2026 at 12:01 PM
We'll see how this plays out but the one thing that is incontrovertible is that Jenrick's negotiating hand with Farage is, ahem, not what it was.
Reposted by Nick Anstead
Rapid response from the Lib Dems
January 15, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Rapid response from the Lib Dems
The most interesting part of this is mention of his "team". This would be very unusual, defectors normally don't tell anyone because risk of leak is too high (hence the stories about researchers etc suddenly discovering they work for an MP in a different party when the defection is announced).
January 15, 2026 at 11:53 AM
The most interesting part of this is mention of his "team". This would be very unusual, defectors normally don't tell anyone because risk of leak is too high (hence the stories about researchers etc suddenly discovering they work for an MP in a different party when the defection is announced).
Well I think we all now know who the secret traitor was…
January 15, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Well I think we all now know who the secret traitor was…