The 189th Block: Historical revisionism shapes global headlines this year (and next)
Scroll to the end for Bluesky invite codes
This week…
Your reading time is about 6 minutes. Let’s start.
It’s still that time of the year when most publications write about the year in review (even PornHub did one—and it is very thorough), and you’re probably already sick of it, but I’ll still bring your attention to one thing:
Nature’s editors publish an annual list of the people behind key developments in science. This year, the list includes one non-human entry. Can you guess who it is? No points if you get it right, but the answer is in the footnote.1
Secondly, I’d also like to share some of the biggest headlines related to historical revisionism, particularly because these “memory wars” shaped a lot of major stories this year, so we don’t get struck by collective amnesia. (Yes, you can argue that all history is revisionist.)
In India, the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), under the education ministry, revised school textbooks to remove or minimise references to the presence and role of Islamic reign in the nation.2
In several European countries, such as Poland and Hungary, the role of local Nazi collaborators has long been downplayed.3 It will continue to be the case as nostalgia for fascism increases with far-right populism.
In Argentina, the new government is headed by the eccentric libertarian Javier Milei and his vice president, the ultra-conservative Victoria Villarruel, who has been dismissive about the abuses that occurred under the military dictatorship that ruled the country between 1976 and 1983.4
You can read more examples not mentioned above in the Coda story below.
Lastly, I’d like to belated welcome the EU to Threads. I have been spending more time on Threads than XTwitter for the past three months. I use it as a public bookmark to post articles I’ve read, which I would revisit at the end of the week as I curate the stories and find themes or trends that could be nicely packaged into the newsletter. I rarely interact with other posts but sometimes I shitpost.
If Threads is not your thing, I have Bluesky invitation codes (see below).
And now, a selection of top stories on my radar, a few personal recommendations, and the chart of the week.
ICYMI: The Previous Block touched on Spotify Wrapped and other year-in-review trends. CORRECTION NOTICE: None notified. How memory wars have shaped global headlines in 2023
Katia Patin for Coda:
Over the past year, Coda journalists have reported from over 13 countries on how history, identity and memory are being instrumentalized by politicians, tech companies and even angry parents. The resulting stories explored the ways in which the past is being used to serve present-day political agendas, influencing voters and drumming up popularity.
No doubt these trends will continue in 2024, a year that is slated to see major elections held in India, Russia and the U.S. Narratives around historic victimhood and belonging are already at the center of national campaigns…
Speaking of…
Taiwan faces a flood of disinformation from China ahead of crucial election. Here’s how it’s fighting back
Eric Cheung for CNN:
Like many places in the world, Taiwan often sees an uptick in disinformation during elections. But it is also uniquely targeted outside of voting season because of the precarious geopolitical space it lives in.
According to a report by Stockholm University’s Varieties of Democracy Project, published in March this year, Taiwan for the 10th consecutive year received the greatest amount of disinformation from outside its borders, highlighting the need for effective fact-checking mechanisms on the island.
How AI is disrupting Bangladesh’s election ($)
Benjamin Parkin for FT:
AKM Wahiduzzaman, a BNP official, said that his party asked Meta to remove such content but “most of the time they don’t bother to reply”. Meta removed the video after being contacted by the Financial Times for comment.
A primary challenge in identifying such disinformation was the lack of reliable AI-detection tools, said Sabhanaz Rashid Diya, a Tech Global Institute founder and former Meta executive, with off-the-shelf products particularly ineffective at identifying non-English language content.
She added that the solutions proposed by large tech platforms, which have focused on regulating AI in political adverts, will have limited effect in countries such as Bangladesh where ads are a smaller part of political communication.
“The solutions that are coming out to address this onslaught of AI misinformation are very western-centric.” Tech platforms “are not taking this as seriously in other parts of the world”.
What I read, listen, and watch…
I’m reading Doppelganger (2023) by Naomi Klein. Klein, often confused for conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf, takes us on a journey to the mirror world, where “far-right movements playact solidarity with the working class, AI-generated content blurs the line between genuine and spurious, New Age wellness entrepreneurs turned anti-vaxxers further scramble our familiar political allegiances, and so many of us project our own carefully curated digital doubles out into the social media sphere.” Chapters 13 and 14, on Israel, Palestine, and the doppelganger effect, are available for free here.
I’m listening to Citations Needed with Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson on the ways the US media helped put a ‘humanitarian’ spin on what’s going on in Gaza.
I’m watching Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post episode on the Holocaust and the politics of memory.
Other curious links, including en español et français:
“How journalists can win people back” by Ivor Shapiro for The Walrus.
“TikTok car confessionals are the new YouTube bedroom vlogs” by Amanda Silberling for TechCrunch.
“How the Internet became the modern purveyor of ancient magic” by Tara Isabella Burton for Aeon.
“How ‘benevolent sexism’ undermines Asian women with foreign accents in the workplace” by Ivona Hideg (York University), Samantha Hancock (Western University), and Winny Shen (York University) for The Conversation.
“Racism produces subtle brain changes that lead to increased disease risk in Black populations” by Negar Fani (Emory University) and Nathaniel Harnett (Harvard Medical School) for The Conversation.
“Global gig worker slang, explained” by Zuha Siddiqui, Laís Martins, Lam Le, and Kimberly Mutandiro for Rest of World.
“El furor de OnlyFans: el hedonismo en el fin del mundo” por Rafael Cabrera en Gatopardo.
« Une dizaine de médias québécois ont fait la promotion de casinos en ligne illégaux » par Jeff Yates et Nicholas De Rosa dans Radio-Canada.
Chart of the week
Per Axios’ Alison Snyder in this piece, new patterns of partnership are emerging among scientific powerhouses, with publications on artificial intelligence centring on the US and China.
And one more thing
The most effortless gifts (and probably the worst, if you’re not into it—sorry) I could offer this gift-giving season are three Bluesky invitation codes:
bsky-social-zwob4-dtfjhbsky-social-qydm6-qmuudbsky-social-wwewt-tkdcbI’m barely on that app, though. I tried it like I tried Mastodon, but I think the generic, uninspiring blue clouds for an icon turned me off. It feels very half-hearted. Nonetheless, enjoy.
Van Noorden, Richard, and Richard Webb. “ChatGPT and Science: The AI System Was a Force in 2023 - for Good and Bad.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 13 Dec. 2023, www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03930-6. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.
Ellis-Petersen, Hannah. “Indian Government Accused of Rewriting History after Edits to Schoolbooks.” The Guardian, 6 Apr. 2023, www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/06/indian-government-accused-of-rewriting-history-after-edits-to-schoolbooks. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.
Schatz, Daniel. “How Poland Distorts Its Holocaust History.” Foreign Policy, 21 Mar. 2023, foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/21/poland-distorts-holocaust-history-gross-jedwabne/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.
Swezey, Victor. “Victims of Argentina’s Dictatorship See Step Backward in Milei’s Presidency.” Al Jazeera, 11 Dec. 2023, www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/10/victims-of-argentinas-dictatorship-see-step-backward-in-mileis-presidency. Accessed 17 Dec. 2023.