We need to stop the fiction that the social media platforms are the phone company and start holding them, the platforms, legally liable for any post they promote on their site (so of you see a post from someone you follow or that is shared by someone you follow, then the current legal regime applies) but if a post is pushed into your feed by the algorithm then the platform is liable in the same way a newspaper or TV station are held liable for what print/broadcast
This immediately will at least lessen the incentive for the platforms to feed the radicalisation spiral and will massively reduce the influence of the Russian bot farms and boiler rooms
Great article full of analysis and practical steps that all concerned citizens can initiate, and take part in. As a 70yr old who spent formative years in the UK, we were blessed by the power of the trades unions groups like Rock against Racism and civil society organisations that helped to mobilise again the NF and the BNP.
Democratic institutions are under threat and the pandering to the Far Right both with its anti immigration and anti democracy agenda is a far greater threat than the Cold War. And hollowed centrist parties pandering to them in a hope of taming them, is a fantasy with plenty of historical evidence in the last 100 years.
We need to make the connection thatGaza and Kyiv and both victims of imperialistic and genocidal adventures by tyrants and dictators - the aims and behaviours are the time - subjugation, repression and annialihation. That would be a start.
Good article. One thing you might add is that defence is best done jointly as part of a European Military Alliance (something a bit like NATO/EU but more able to act quickly in a crisis, without the need for unanimity/consensus):
An excellent article Paul. I saw you at the Centre for Public Understanding of Defence and Security event last Friday. This is an important if not existential effort. We have a small window of opportunity to bring public focus onto the threat and the action required across Europe to deter the enemy. As with other conflicts it could be the catalyst to a brighter future. As Einstein is reputed to have said - we cannot solve today’s problems with the thinking that created them - the public discourse needs to be shocked onto a new curve that addresses the real threat, rather than the variety of illusionary issues offered by all media. Thank you. Paul.
I agree this is a vital conversationl. Although our government should be leading this I fear due to the current febrile environment and low incumbent popularity it will struggle to gain traction. Look at what happened to the popularity of ID cards when Keir started pushing the idea.
I think an educational and awareness raising campaign will help and possibly a civil defence style leaflet as suggested below. We could also do with some sort of aligned campaigning civic group to help spread the concerns more broadly through the conversations you have suggested.
All good points. Fighting disinformation is especially important given the increasing influence of social media and decline of the beseiged mainstream. Commercial and authoritarian interests have too much sway, which could be reduced with focussed electoral and journalistic law reform.
A really good analysis. And I agree, from a centre-left pragmatist perspective. Many of the arguments about security and Russian imperialism, I made in pre Brexit referendum debates. Unity and shared values need to be strengthened not just within, but beyond our borders. The power of technology magnates overtaking and overwhelming the interests of sovereign states has also been foretold ( e.g by Tom Fletcher ) but there is little sign of a cohesive UK government strategy to deal with it. The threat from Russia , both militarily and less directly has continued to grow, but I fear we will remain less than fully committed to adequate (and adequately funded) defence until we are forced into it by more immediate military or severe economic threat.
Shifting public knowledge and awareness is key. Thank you for trying to help that along.
With you 200% but I just hope people are listening to you! I fear they are not. Keep up the good work though! We need voices like yours in these troubled times.
Very interesting. Thank you for opening up comments. As a 70y old retired hospital consultant with five masters degrees in the humanities I feel I deserve a voice. I have maintained a keen interest in politics throughout my life and would count myself as left of centre.
I find your groupings curious - my children are definitely all equally concerned about Gaza and Ukraine, as am I. I am also deeply concerned about Sudan. You do not mention overseas aid, but I think that Trump's withdrawal of USAid, and the UK (and other European nations) cutting of international aid budgets are a significant threat to world safety. Viruses do not respect country borders nor traditional military defences.
Equally, the idea of safety through traditional military might, whilst beloved of the Chinese and Russians, will surely become outdated in the era of massive cybersecurity breaches. Who needs an army when you can take down a country's infrastructure with a cyberhack?
Ideologically I support nuclear disarmament but am realistic enough to know that won't happen. Nevertheless I see no reason to actively support proliferation. One more wild move from the increasingly erratic Trump could easily finish us all off, no matter what we spend on defence.
Finally I find it slightly insulting to be called facile! This is an important discussion but should start from a position of neutrality.
I am glad there are voices on the Left who are concerned about Putin and the new world order. However, if you are genuinely concerned and want to deter Russia and China, then you - and Labour more broadly - need to get real about domestic energy policy. Hard power is downstream from heavy industry. Paul Kennedy's work from the 1980s shows us that all peer-to-peer conflicts since the 15th century have ultimately been determined by productive force. Post-Cold War we have completely forgotten this insight. Naivety and complacency is worse now than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. So whilst you say you are concerned about Putin, we cannot take this seriously until sensible voices on the Left start to embrace energy realism. Yes, renewables have a role, but they will always be limited. Wars are won by having access to abundant supplies of fossil fuels to power industry. Everything from steel through to ammonia and cement rely on oil, gas and coal.
Thank you. The best analysis and clearest wake-up call I have read recently. I am fair and square in your centre-left pragmatist group and despair how many of my well-educated friends are blind to the real threats facing us.
I have followed you loosely since your heady days as occasional BBC Newsnight presenter and have been in your audience panel at the FT HQ ! Look fwd to staying in touch now as paid subscriber. You’ve earned it.
Concur. For me, at the heart of this is the reality of military and civic service that is required to defend us all. Somehow we need to make sure everyone understands that there is no individual 'opt out' when aggression is directed at us. Today, the idea that 'someone else' will sort it out seems prevalent, that someone else's children will serve and face the dangers and discomforts, not our own. I'm sure the inherent social strengths are still there, but dormant and/or distracted. To rebuild resilience and 'resistance' skills in the population as a whole will need a long term sustained effort.
Maybe a good old fashioned analogue public defence awareness leaflet like the Swedish one (https://rib.msb.se/filer/pdf/30874.pdf) to every home would catch attention and spark debate. Maybe not soldiers on the cover tho…
Speaking of Sweden I came across an interesting video showing 10 year old Swedish school children having a lesson in how to spot fake news online. Developing the ability to analyse and carefully weigh up online sources seems to be an increasingly necessary skill. Has many applications in wider education too. (plenty of adults would benefit from acquiring these skills too of course !)
Really interesting article Paul. I just wondered what we must do to strengthen our digital awareness, skills, near total reliance on gas and electricity etc. I usually think that all a malign power needs to do is infect our money/utilities processes and the chaos caused would cause societal breakdown within hours. I think this can be why people feel there's less point in investing in war hardware....
We need to stop the fiction that the social media platforms are the phone company and start holding them, the platforms, legally liable for any post they promote on their site (so of you see a post from someone you follow or that is shared by someone you follow, then the current legal regime applies) but if a post is pushed into your feed by the algorithm then the platform is liable in the same way a newspaper or TV station are held liable for what print/broadcast
This immediately will at least lessen the incentive for the platforms to feed the radicalisation spiral and will massively reduce the influence of the Russian bot farms and boiler rooms
Hi Paul
Great article full of analysis and practical steps that all concerned citizens can initiate, and take part in. As a 70yr old who spent formative years in the UK, we were blessed by the power of the trades unions groups like Rock against Racism and civil society organisations that helped to mobilise again the NF and the BNP.
Democratic institutions are under threat and the pandering to the Far Right both with its anti immigration and anti democracy agenda is a far greater threat than the Cold War. And hollowed centrist parties pandering to them in a hope of taming them, is a fantasy with plenty of historical evidence in the last 100 years.
We need to make the connection thatGaza and Kyiv and both victims of imperialistic and genocidal adventures by tyrants and dictators - the aims and behaviours are the time - subjugation, repression and annialihation. That would be a start.
Good article. One thing you might add is that defence is best done jointly as part of a European Military Alliance (something a bit like NATO/EU but more able to act quickly in a crisis, without the need for unanimity/consensus):
https://pontifex.substack.com/p/european-defence-policy-how-europe
An excellent article Paul. I saw you at the Centre for Public Understanding of Defence and Security event last Friday. This is an important if not existential effort. We have a small window of opportunity to bring public focus onto the threat and the action required across Europe to deter the enemy. As with other conflicts it could be the catalyst to a brighter future. As Einstein is reputed to have said - we cannot solve today’s problems with the thinking that created them - the public discourse needs to be shocked onto a new curve that addresses the real threat, rather than the variety of illusionary issues offered by all media. Thank you. Paul.
Paul FYA
https://substack.com/@pdjukes/note/p-177179846?r=c8qsi&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
I agree this is a vital conversationl. Although our government should be leading this I fear due to the current febrile environment and low incumbent popularity it will struggle to gain traction. Look at what happened to the popularity of ID cards when Keir started pushing the idea.
I think an educational and awareness raising campaign will help and possibly a civil defence style leaflet as suggested below. We could also do with some sort of aligned campaigning civic group to help spread the concerns more broadly through the conversations you have suggested.
All good points. Fighting disinformation is especially important given the increasing influence of social media and decline of the beseiged mainstream. Commercial and authoritarian interests have too much sway, which could be reduced with focussed electoral and journalistic law reform.
A really good analysis. And I agree, from a centre-left pragmatist perspective. Many of the arguments about security and Russian imperialism, I made in pre Brexit referendum debates. Unity and shared values need to be strengthened not just within, but beyond our borders. The power of technology magnates overtaking and overwhelming the interests of sovereign states has also been foretold ( e.g by Tom Fletcher ) but there is little sign of a cohesive UK government strategy to deal with it. The threat from Russia , both militarily and less directly has continued to grow, but I fear we will remain less than fully committed to adequate (and adequately funded) defence until we are forced into it by more immediate military or severe economic threat.
Shifting public knowledge and awareness is key. Thank you for trying to help that along.
With you 200% but I just hope people are listening to you! I fear they are not. Keep up the good work though! We need voices like yours in these troubled times.
Careless talk * FarageTM costs lives....
Very interesting. Thank you for opening up comments. As a 70y old retired hospital consultant with five masters degrees in the humanities I feel I deserve a voice. I have maintained a keen interest in politics throughout my life and would count myself as left of centre.
I find your groupings curious - my children are definitely all equally concerned about Gaza and Ukraine, as am I. I am also deeply concerned about Sudan. You do not mention overseas aid, but I think that Trump's withdrawal of USAid, and the UK (and other European nations) cutting of international aid budgets are a significant threat to world safety. Viruses do not respect country borders nor traditional military defences.
Equally, the idea of safety through traditional military might, whilst beloved of the Chinese and Russians, will surely become outdated in the era of massive cybersecurity breaches. Who needs an army when you can take down a country's infrastructure with a cyberhack?
Ideologically I support nuclear disarmament but am realistic enough to know that won't happen. Nevertheless I see no reason to actively support proliferation. One more wild move from the increasingly erratic Trump could easily finish us all off, no matter what we spend on defence.
Finally I find it slightly insulting to be called facile! This is an important discussion but should start from a position of neutrality.
I am glad there are voices on the Left who are concerned about Putin and the new world order. However, if you are genuinely concerned and want to deter Russia and China, then you - and Labour more broadly - need to get real about domestic energy policy. Hard power is downstream from heavy industry. Paul Kennedy's work from the 1980s shows us that all peer-to-peer conflicts since the 15th century have ultimately been determined by productive force. Post-Cold War we have completely forgotten this insight. Naivety and complacency is worse now than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. So whilst you say you are concerned about Putin, we cannot take this seriously until sensible voices on the Left start to embrace energy realism. Yes, renewables have a role, but they will always be limited. Wars are won by having access to abundant supplies of fossil fuels to power industry. Everything from steel through to ammonia and cement rely on oil, gas and coal.
Thank you. The best analysis and clearest wake-up call I have read recently. I am fair and square in your centre-left pragmatist group and despair how many of my well-educated friends are blind to the real threats facing us.
I have followed you loosely since your heady days as occasional BBC Newsnight presenter and have been in your audience panel at the FT HQ ! Look fwd to staying in touch now as paid subscriber. You’ve earned it.
Seconded!
Concur. For me, at the heart of this is the reality of military and civic service that is required to defend us all. Somehow we need to make sure everyone understands that there is no individual 'opt out' when aggression is directed at us. Today, the idea that 'someone else' will sort it out seems prevalent, that someone else's children will serve and face the dangers and discomforts, not our own. I'm sure the inherent social strengths are still there, but dormant and/or distracted. To rebuild resilience and 'resistance' skills in the population as a whole will need a long term sustained effort.
Maybe a good old fashioned analogue public defence awareness leaflet like the Swedish one (https://rib.msb.se/filer/pdf/30874.pdf) to every home would catch attention and spark debate. Maybe not soldiers on the cover tho…
Speaking of Sweden I came across an interesting video showing 10 year old Swedish school children having a lesson in how to spot fake news online. Developing the ability to analyse and carefully weigh up online sources seems to be an increasingly necessary skill. Has many applications in wider education too. (plenty of adults would benefit from acquiring these skills too of course !)
Really interesting article Paul. I just wondered what we must do to strengthen our digital awareness, skills, near total reliance on gas and electricity etc. I usually think that all a malign power needs to do is infect our money/utilities processes and the chaos caused would cause societal breakdown within hours. I think this can be why people feel there's less point in investing in war hardware....