some members of the Action Alliance (AB) recently had a conversation with representatives of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) about the appeal we sent to the HRK, and we would like to report on what came of it.
The discussion took place online rather than in person and lasted a little over an hour. The HRK was represented by Prof. Tippe, Vice President and Chair of the Standing Commission on Digitization, Dr. Gaul, Secretary General, Dr. Hilgert, Press Officer, and Dr. Schultz, Head of the Department for New Media. Our Action Alliance was represented by Mario Birkholz, Leonhard Dobusch, Lambert Heller and David Lohnert. Here are the most important results in short:
Firstly, the HRK agreed with AB's diagnosis that negative excesses on platform X (formerly Twitter) have reached such an extent that it is hardly suitable for universities anymore. However, the HRK does not consider the current time to be appropriate to leave X, as many journalists and university politicians are still active on X and a significant exchange takes place there. When Mastodon was tested two years ago, the medium made a rather uninspiring impression. However, our AB and our input were appreciated by the HRK and we were seen as a kind of "sounding board" that they would like to consult with again at the next opportunity.
Overall, this conversation has not yet led to a breakthrough. We were confronted with hesitation and procrastination, even though the current situation of disinformation and attacks on democracy on the major platforms demands decisive action. After the conversation, we sent the HRK a draft of a joint declaration, to which we have not yet received a response.
Last but not least, we feel encouraged by the fact that AlgorithmWatch and the Open Knowledge Foundation have joined our group of supporting organizations. It's great that they're on board! We will therefore keep the appeal active on OpenPetition for another three months. And we would like to ask you to actively participate in the implementation on the ground, i.e. to directly call on universities to use Mastodon channels and to consider setting up their own Fediverse servers. In this sense, it would be helpful if local contacts could get in touch with us so that we can make them known to other supporters in order to prepare joint activities.
We will send further information as soon as new developments arise.
Best regards
the current situation, in which politically active people are increasingly exposed to attacks, unfortunately shows all too clearly how correct our warning is, which we formulated in our appeal to the German Rectors' Conference:
“The signatories of this letter are convinced that the way in which the major social media platforms are operated poses a serious threat to our democratic community.”
As the New Social Media Action Alliance, we have proposed the use of alternative media such as Mastodon and other services from the Fediverse that are moderated, ad-free and privacy-protecting.
Please continue to support our appeal, e.g. by collecting signatures, so that the universities shut down their accounts on X as soon as possible and initiate a serious review of the platforms used for electronic communication. It would also be a great help if our petition with the hashtag #UnisInsFediverse could be made better known on other channels such as LinkedIn etc., e.g. by sharing existing posts or by sharing our “pictures in support of our appeal”, as found on www.openpetition.de/petition/blog/open-letter-to-the-german-rectors-conference-hrk-on-the-use-of-social-media#petition-main
In any case: thank you very much for your commitment and
We've created another image for our campaign.
Share it where you can to help #universities make more use of the #Fediverse 🌻 and say goodbye to #X / #Twitter - just like many others already did.
wir haben damit begonnen, erstes Bildmaterial für die Ausweitung der Kampagne #UnisInsFediverse auf anderen Kommunikationsplattformen zu erstellen. Denn obwohl wir viel Zuspruch aus den Hochschulen und von vielen Bürgerinnen und Bürgern erfahren, haben sich die Hochschulen noch nicht zur konsequenten Nutzung des Fediverse und zum Rückzug von X/Twitter entschlossen. Wir haben deshalb den Sammlungszeitraum für unsere Petition um drei Monate bis zum 5.7.24 verlängert.
Wer sich an der Ausweitung der Kampagne beteiligen möchte, findet erste Bilder unter „Neuigkeiten“ auf www.openpetition.de/UnisInsFediverse (weitere folgen).
Es wäre toll, wenn Ihr die Bilder eifrig verbreiten könntet. Manche tragen bereits einen QR-Code und Ihr könnt Euren Freund:innen das Bild auf dem Smartphone zeigen, um sich gleich auf die Seite zu verlinken. Bei anderen bitte die URL/Internetadresse angeben wie oben genannt.
Feel free to share the picture on other channels of the major platforms that are accessible to you and point out our collection of signatures on OpenPetition (easy to reach via the QR code).
Thank you very much!
Action alliance new social media
Feel free to share this picture on other channels of the large platforms that are accessible to you and point to our collection of signatures on OpenPetition.
Thank you very much! New Social Media Action Alliance
Unfortunately, there is no way to customize the interface here at OpenPetition, the platform on which we publish our appeal. Therefore, unfortunately, the share button for X (Twiter) is displayed in our petition - also here next to this news...
We understand if a supporter does not sign the appeal because the OpenPetition platform only provides the function for sharing comments on X and Meta platforms (facbook/WhatsApp). At the same time, we regret this very much, because every signature shows that we demand different, better social media, for universities, for other educational institutions, but also for all other institutions, organizations and companies.
We will work to ensure that the petition platform is further developed to this end and at least expanded to include a button for sharing on Fediverse.
Follow our channel @neuSoM@bewegung.social ( profile: bewegung.social/@neuSoM ) and you will find plenty of content to share in the Fediverse!
Wikimedia Deutschland @wikimediaDE@social.wikimedia.de is committed to free access to knowledge and education at all levels of society.
Regarding their value orientation, they say: "#participation, #diversity, free and open access, #justice, #sustainability and respectful collaboration - these #values are at the core of Wikimedia Deutschland."
A logical and responsible decision @wikimediaDE@social.wikimedia.de !
But not only that: since last week we also welcome @wikimediaDE to the group of supporting organizations of our action alliance.
Welcome @wikimediaDE@social.wikimedia.de !
We look forward to working with you to encourage the #universities for a better internet.
A number of universities have started to use Mastodon for their electronic communication. And the number of followers is steadily increasing. More and more Internet users want to use media that do not promote anti-democratic agitation and destruction. Because democracy thrives on the exchange of good arguments and not on knowingly disseminated false reports. Who should know this better than the universities?
The compilation shows their logos, which are linked directly to their accounts.
Feel free to share the image via LinkedIn, Insta etc. so that even more people know about Mastodon as the truly social medium.
