Annalee Newitz writes science fiction and nonfiction. Their latest book of science journalism is Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind. Image by Sarah Deragon, Copyright: Portraits To The People

"If disinformation thrives in an environment of coordinated inauthentic behavior, how do we create a dramatically different kind of media environment? In other words, what does uncoordinated authentic behavior look like?... 

"...Before we can take action and resist authoritarianism, we need models of a public sphere that isn’t rife with coercion and lies. And why shouldn’t a backyard party be one possible model? It’s a group chat that isn’t shaped by algorithms, polluted by AI mirages, or surveilled by a corporation. 

"This should be the horizon we stretch toward as we imagine new ways to communicate, online and off. The resistance starts in spaces where we can tell the truth about what is happening to us, without fear that our words will be stolen, mutated into someone else’s property or propaganda." - Annalee Newitz

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