tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/university-of-alabama-1654/articlesThe University of Alabama2024-03-22T12:32:51Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2255262024-03-22T12:32:51Z2024-03-22T12:32:51ZTikTok’s duet, green screen and stitch turn political point-scoring into an art form<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583248/original/file-20240320-26-kf77aa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C844%2C748&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">TikTok's features for combining users' videos lend themselves to political disputes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/13360/11589">Quick et al</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since its <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/09/14/massive-tiktok-growth-up-75-this-year-now-33x-more-users-than-nearest-competitor/">astronomical rise in popularity</a> during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, TikTok has played an increasing role in all aspects of American life, including politics, from the White House <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/03/11/tik-tok-ukraine-white-house/">briefing key TikTok creators</a> on the war in Ukraine to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/joe-biden-tiktok-campaign-comments/">launching a TikTok account</a>. </p>
<p>The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on March 13, 2024, seeking to force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the app <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-governments-ban-tiktok-can-they-a-cybersecurity-expert-explains-the-risks-the-app-poses-and-the-challenges-to-blocking-it-202300">or face a ban</a> in the U.S. Even if this legislation passes the Senate and Biden signs it into law, it’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-ban-bill-explained-politics-tech-platform-2024-3">unlikely TikTok will go away</a> before the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Any law banning TikTok is likely to be challenged in court, and the app won’t simply disappear from people’s phones overnight.</p>
<p>Given that TikTok is almost certain to play a role in the 2024 election, it’s important to examine how TikTok helps shape political expression and discussion. With communications scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=nionUr8AAAAJ&hl=en">Mackenzie Quick</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=0LbmlocAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">I</a> recently published a journal article exploring how American TikTok users use the app’s stitch, duet and green screen features to stoke partisan conflict.</p>
<h2>Getting together</h2>
<p>TikTok says its mission is to “<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/about?lang=en">inspire creativity and bring joy</a>.” In 2019, it introduced several features to help bolster that mission: duet, green screen and stitch. Duet allows you to post your video side by side with a video from another TikTok user. Green screen allows you to superimpose your video on a video from another TikTok user. Stitch allows you to append your video to the end of a short clip from a video from another TikTok user. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NmkwMnsyXTU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">TikTok offers several ways to add your video commentary to other people’s tiktoks.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>TikTok describes these features as giving users “<a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-gb/green-screen-effect-on-tik-tok/">the most creative tools available</a>” and providing a way for users “<a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/new-on-tiktok-introducing-stitch">to engage with the world of content that’s made</a> … by the ever-creative TikTok community.” Given these descriptions, it appears that these tools were designed to increase creativity, interaction and connections.</p>
<p>They can be used in playful ways or used by subject matter experts to convey information. For example, some veterinarians use TikTok to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2109980">convey pet health information</a>. </p>
<p>However, a platform’s statements about how it intends its features to be used and how people actually use them can be quite different. While these features are often used in TikTok’s preferred ways, <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.5210/fm.v29i3.13360">our research found</a> that in political tiktoks, people often used the tools to double down on their political positions and attack those who don’t agree with them. In a time of volatile political divisiveness, these features can function as outlets for people to express their strongly held political views. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583245/original/file-20240320-24-9wz7ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="blurred photo of a woman's face superimposed ove a text list" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583245/original/file-20240320-24-9wz7ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583245/original/file-20240320-24-9wz7ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1087&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583245/original/file-20240320-24-9wz7ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1087&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583245/original/file-20240320-24-9wz7ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1087&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583245/original/file-20240320-24-9wz7ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1366&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583245/original/file-20240320-24-9wz7ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583245/original/file-20240320-24-9wz7ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1366&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A TikTok user makes a political statement using the app’s green screen feature.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/13360/11589">Quick et al</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Scoring points</h2>
<p>Reinforcement and insults were recurring themes in our study. For instance, the green screen feature was often used to incorporate “evidence” in the background to support the creator’s claims. With this feature, “evidence” was often presented in the form of news articles or posts from other social media platforms. </p>
<p>One post from a conservative-leaning creator features a screenshot of the Apple iTunes music store charts to show the popularity of a song called “Let’s Go Brandon,” a conservative rallying cry and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lets-go-brandon-what-does-it-mean-republicans-joe-biden-ab13db212067928455a3dba07756a160">coded insult</a> against Biden. This creator presents the song’s position at No. 1 in the music store as proof that the conservative viewpoint is popular. “Evidence” is a loose term and could be anything that supported the creator’s viewpoint. </p>
<p>We found the duet feature was often used to communicate nonverbally, often to poke fun at someone with opposing political views. Eye rolling, smirking and head shaking were common gestures. In one video, a conservative creator starts a chain – an extended succession of duets – of women who support former President Donald Trump. A liberal-leaning creator uses the duet feature to join the chain with video of themselves holding a clothes iron out to the side to make it appear as though the iron is burning the original creator’s hand. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583481/original/file-20240321-16-wz1mwc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Side-by-side photos of people with faces blurred" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583481/original/file-20240321-16-wz1mwc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583481/original/file-20240321-16-wz1mwc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583481/original/file-20240321-16-wz1mwc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583481/original/file-20240321-16-wz1mwc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583481/original/file-20240321-16-wz1mwc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1289&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583481/original/file-20240321-16-wz1mwc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1289&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583481/original/file-20240321-16-wz1mwc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1289&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">TikTok’s duet feature is often used to show support or opposition to a political statement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/13360/11589">Quick et al</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Stitches functioned similarly to duets, but people tended to use the feature as a chance to verbally respond and refute the previous creator’s point. These uses show that on political TikTok, personal feelings and proving others wrong matter more than constructive debate.</p>
<h2>The who and why of political TikTok</h2>
<p>While regulation of the app is a political issue, understanding how political conversations occur across TikTok remains important for understanding an increasingly polarized American electorate. When considering political discussions on TikTok, however, it’s important to remember that the app’s features don’t force users to do anything. Users actively shape their experiences in digital spaces.</p>
<p>Also, as political communication scholars <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=w36ZS44AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">Daniel Kreiss</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=eyKkCV4AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">Shannon McGregor</a> note, it’s important to proceed with caution when discussing the effects of technology on polarization because <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231161880">not all groups experience polarization the same way</a>. For instance, the Black Lives Matter movement may be seen as polarizing for disrupting existing power structures, but its goal is to fight for equality, and it’s important to consider that context when looking at the group’s use of technology. </p>
<p>The lesson is to consider who is engaging in polarizing content and why they are doing so. While some users expressing themselves via these TikTok features aim to simply prove others wrong, akin to petty arguments, others may be critiquing and challenging the powerful.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225526/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Maddox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>TikTok’s features for combining different users’ videos have sparked a wave of creativity. They’ve also formed an arena for political arguments and insults.Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Creative Media, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2130282023-09-20T12:26:10Z2023-09-20T12:26:10ZHow local police could help prevent another January 6th-style insurrection<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547578/original/file-20230911-17-mbivt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=847%2C469%2C2074%2C1374&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, at left, and group member Joe Biggs were sentenced to many years in federal prison.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/enrique-tarrio-leader-of-the-proud-boys-and-joe-biggs-news-photo/1230086703">Stephanie Keith/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some of the most prominent members of the Proud Boys, a far-right militant group that functions more like a street gang than a militia, have been <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/proud-boys-leader-sentenced-22-years-prison-seditious-conspiracy-and-other-charges-related">sentenced to long terms</a> in federal prison for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/5/5/23712755/proud-boys-sedition-trial-verdict-conviction-january-6-attack-trump">Experts</a> declare that these successful prosecutions by the U.S. Justice Department will not only discourage far-right groups but also deter people from joining them and engaging in future criminal activity.</p>
<p>Group chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1197824591/former-proud-boys-leader-enrique-tarrio-sentenced-to-22-years-for-jan-6-riot-rol">sentenced to 22 years</a> in federal prison after being found guilty of <a href="https://theconversation.com/regardless-of-seditious-conspiracy-charges-outcome-right-wing-groups-like-proud-boys-seek-to-build-a-white-nation-184592">seditious conspiracy</a>. Group leaders Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs and Zachary Rehl were also found guilty of <a href="https://www.justice.gov/news/press-releases?search_api_fulltext=+proud+boys&start_date=&end_date=&sort_by=field_date">seditious conspiracy</a> and sentenced to 18, 17 and 15 years, respectively. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/01/1197186891/proud-boys-member-dominic-pezzola-sentenced-to-10-years-in-jan-6-riot-case">Dominic Pezzola</a>, a Proud Boys member who breached the Capitol building with a stolen police riot shield, was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy but was convicted of a variety of felonies, including assaulting a police officer, robbing government property and obstructing an official proceeding – and sentenced to 10 years in prison.</p>
<p>But despite the lengths of those sentences, prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly to impose even harsher ones, claiming the offenses were related to terrorism. Kelly, however, ruled that claims of terrorism <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/09/01/proud-boys-pezzola-nordean-sentencing-jan6/">overstate the conduct</a> of the Proud Boys sentenced.</p>
<p>That fits with our analysis of the Proud Boys. As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fjys1XAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholars</a> who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cLpO6QwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">study</a> street gangs and far-right groups, we see that the larger law enforcement community <a href="https://contexts.org/articles/classifying-far-right-groups-as-gangs/">continues to focus</a> – we believe mistakenly – on the belief that, like terrorist groups, white supremacists are coordinated in ideology and intent. Evidence shows that perception actually diverts local police agencies’ attention from <a href="https://theconversation.com/white-nationalist-groups-are-really-street-gangs-and-law-enforcement-needs-to-treat-them-that-way-107691">identifying and managing these groups</a>. </p>
<p>Gangs are generally defined as <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003159797-4/demystifying-alt-right-gangs-matthew-valasik-shannon-reid">durable, street-oriented groups whose own identity includes involvement in illegal activity</a>. We believe that if police had treated Proud Boys as <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520300453/alt-right-gangs">members of a street gang</a> from the group’s inception in 2016, the events of Jan. 6, 2021, might have been avoided, or at least reduced in severity.</p>
<h2>The trouble with fighting domestic terrorism</h2>
<p>The United States lacks explicit laws banning domestic terrorism, in part because they are <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-so-difficult-to-fight-domestic-terrorism-6-experts-share-their-thoughts-165054">constitutionally controversial</a> and may target unintended groups. </p>
<p>That problem has arisen with other criminal laws, such as the <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/mjrl17&div=13&id=&page=">Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act</a>, which was designed to specifically target organized crime groups, like the Italian Mafia. The application of RICO, however, has been adapted and used aggressively against <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/05/15/1099004661/young-thug-is-the-latest-rapper-to-be-charged-under-historically-problematic-ric">Black, Latino and Indigenous groups</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1197987659/georgia-has-charged-61-stop-cop-city-protesters-with-racketeering">political protestors</a>.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, some <a href="https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-136/responding-to-domestic-terrorism-a-crisis-of-legitimacy/">have suggested</a> that passing laws defining and outlawing domestic terrorism would be the best way to deal with the threats posed by the Proud Boys and other far-right extremists.</p>
<p>But when <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1854516291659">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/470065/new-zealand-designates-american-proud-boys-and-the-base-terrorist-organisations">New Zealand</a> designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization, that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99804-2_3">did not eliminate white supremacists</a> from those countries. It merely forced them to <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/re-branding-white-supremacy">rebrand</a> themselves with a new name and logo. Treating Proud Boys solely as members of a terrorist organization does not actually stamp out white supremacy groups. </p>
<p>Instead, this perception hurts local law enforcement’s ability to recognize local, disorganized, far-right groups as street gangs and not terrorist groups. Police discretion is immense. Time and again, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/14/us/proud-boys-law-enforcement.html">police have been documented</a> ignoring Proud Boys <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/07/15/george-floyd-protests-police-far-right-antifa/">violence and intimidation</a>. Failing to arrest members <a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2018/10/14/why-dont-portland-police-stop-the-proud-boys-from-brawling/">explicitly observed in criminal infractions</a> has only encouraged future acts of violence. Furthermore, local law enforcement’s <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/hidden-plain-sight-racism-white-supremacy-and-far-right-militancy-law">history of failing</a> to investigate and arrest members of far-right groups forces the federal government to be solely responsible for prosecuting them.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547586/original/file-20230911-8058-5e3iib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men stand in an open space inside a building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547586/original/file-20230911-8058-5e3iib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547586/original/file-20230911-8058-5e3iib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547586/original/file-20230911-8058-5e3iib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547586/original/file-20230911-8058-5e3iib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547586/original/file-20230911-8058-5e3iib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547586/original/file-20230911-8058-5e3iib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547586/original/file-20230911-8058-5e3iib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola, center with police shield, was among those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreachExtremistPlots/5abfd5183c2e41319090fd7fc31ad807/photo?Query=proud%20boys&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=429&currentItemNo=193">AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Once a gang, always a gang</h2>
<p>From the very start, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes explicitly declared the group a “<a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3v54k/joe-rogan-spotify-proud-boys">gang</a>.” Local police across the U.S. actively investigate and prosecute gangs, especially those whose members are <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/files/reports/Trapped%20in%20the%20Matrix%20Amnesty%20report.pdf">Black</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/attorneys-and-activists-question-accuracy-of-police-gang-database/2517076/">Latino</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/opinions/systemic-racism-police-evidence-criminal-justice-system/">other people of color</a>.</p>
<p>Proud Boys are predominantly white men who also intimidate and threaten communities around the U.S. with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/19/proud-boys-document-jan-6-violence">disorderly conduct, public harassment</a> and <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/andy-b-campbell/we-are-proud-boys/9781668611159/?lens=hachette-books">more serious violence, including battery, assault, murder, rioting and hate crimes</a>. This <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118726822.ch22">“cafeteria-style”</a> offending is quite common among gang members participating in a range of criminal activities. </p>
<p>But, perhaps because of the Proud Boys’ claims to be just a “<a href="https://www.start.umd.edu/publication/proud-boys-crimes-and-characteristics">western chauvinist</a>” men’s club, local law enforcement agencies <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/14/us/proud-boys-law-enforcement.html">have tended not</a> to treat the Proud Boys and other far-right groups as street gangs. Such increased scrutiny by police of their criminal activities would have produced a much greater deterrent effect. Instead, the lack of acknowledging the Proud Boys’ violent criminal behavior only emboldened them further.</p>
<p>In fact, police have either remained idle or even consorted with Proud Boys members at recent protests, even <a href="https://www.wkbn.com/news/ohio/columbus-police-chief-responds-after-officer-seen-high-fiving-proud-boy/">giving them high-fives</a>, as observed in Columbus, Ohio, at a demonstration against the “Holi-drag” story time event. This type of police engagement is just one element of how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742058X18000139">police ignore the threat of white supremacy</a> and its followers.</p>
<h2>Broadening the concept of gangs</h2>
<p>Many Proud Boys fail to exhibit remorse for their actions. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/01/1197186891/proud-boys-member-dominic-pezzola-sentenced-to-10-years-in-jan-6-riot-case">Pezzola declared “Trump won!” as he exited the federal courtroom</a> after his sentencing. <a href="https://twitter.com/misstessowen/status/1699823971674227184/photo/1">Tarrio</a> is now positioning himself as a <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3mqva/january-6-trump-apologists-blame-biden-proud-boys">political prisoner</a> to rally support from the GOP.</p>
<p>This raises our concerns that Proud Boys members will continue to be active and violent. Research finds it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427811419368">effective for police to systematically monitor and target groups</a> that exhibit violent behavior and that doing so deters future acts of violence.</p>
<p>Sometimes, new laws can help. In Alabama, for instance, a law enacted in June <a href="https://legiscan.com/AL/bill/SB143/2023">expands the legal definition</a> of groups police might be concerned about. Instead of using a specific term like “street gang,” as most states do, the Alabama law defines a “<a href="https://www.al.com/news/2023/05/alabama-legislation-removes-gangs-in-favor-of-criminal-enterprises.html">criminal enterprise</a>” as any group of three or more people who engage in a pattern of criminal activity. Such an approach aids in removing the bias in law enforcement that street gangs are composed only of urban youth.</p>
<p>We hope that police will collect and share information about far-right groups’ criminal acts with other agencies to help identify people who are active in various areas of a state or even around the country. But in the end, the evidence shows that the Proud Boys, like any street gang, remain primarily <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/white-supremacist-links-law-enforcement-are-urgent-concern">localized groups</a> that are best dealt with by local police, not federal agents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213028/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Proud Boys are more of a loosely affiliated street gang than they are a unified right-wing militia, researchers say. But police ignore the threats from these groups, and their threats grow.Matthew Valasik, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of AlabamaShannon Reid, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of North Carolina – CharlotteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2109342023-08-09T12:30:53Z2023-08-09T12:30:53ZDonald Trump is right − he is getting special treatment, far better than most other criminal defendants<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541557/original/file-20230807-27-gfyv3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The former president boards his plane at Reagan National Airport following his Aug. 3, 2023, arraignment in Washington. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-u-s-president-donald-trump-boards-his-plane-at-news-photo/1590575964?adppopup=true">Win McNamee/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Former President Donald Trump often <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-retribution-indictment-documents-biden-american-democracy-5a8ec37b359fee85d0f0956139d79f51">complains that he is being treated unfairly</a> by the prosecutors charging him with crimes.</p>
<p>Trump is now <a href="https://www.politico.com/interactives/2023/trump-criminal-investigations-cases-tracker-list/">the subject of three federal and state criminal cases</a> – and it is true that he is being treated unlike other criminal defendants. </p>
<p>The prosecutors are treating Trump a lot better than the average criminal defendant. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XiBXb6cAAAAJ&hl=en">are law scholars</a> who have defended clients in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9GZnzpQAAAAJ&hl=en">criminal and civil cases,</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9GZnzpQAAAAJ&hl=en">we wish that</a> our clients received the advantages that prosecutors are giving Trump. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541563/original/file-20230807-34729-7hx701.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Donald Trump is seen pumping his fist in the air, benefath a Trump Tower sign in gold, and standing among other men in suits," src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541563/original/file-20230807-34729-7hx701.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541563/original/file-20230807-34729-7hx701.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541563/original/file-20230807-34729-7hx701.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541563/original/file-20230807-34729-7hx701.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541563/original/file-20230807-34729-7hx701.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541563/original/file-20230807-34729-7hx701.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541563/original/file-20230807-34729-7hx701.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower ahead of his arraignment in New York in April 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-u-s-president-donald-trump-pumps-his-fist-as-he-news-photo/1479780014?adppopup=true">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Early warnings</h2>
<p>Trump’s unique treatment began before he was even charged with any crime.
First, he had ample warning of the investigations because he got <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-target-letter-3-things-to-know-about-how-the-justice-department-notifies-suspects-like-donald-trump-ahead-of-possible-charges-210032">letters from the Justice Department</a> saying he was a target of each investigation. These letters were sent to Trump a few weeks before his two federal indictments in June and July 2023.</p>
<p>Especially in <a href="https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-9-11000-grand-jury#9-11.152">white-collar cases</a>, criminal defendants sometimes receive <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-jan-6-investigation-2020-election-7caa4d45b9dc287af868aa12f87fe254">target letters</a> that warn them of an impending indictment and sometimes give them the chance to testify.</p>
<p>But target letters generally lack detail and are far from the norm across all criminal cases. Target letters are not legally required. The Justice Department spells out various reasons why its prosecutors <a href="https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-9-11000-grand-jury#9-11.153">do not need to send them</a>, including risks of a defendant destroying evidence or endangering witnesses.</p>
<h2>The difference freedom makes</h2>
<p>After Trump was charged with crimes in each of his three pending cases, his lawyers negotiated dates when he could submit to authorities for processing. </p>
<p>And after Trump’s brief arraignments in court, judges found he was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/donald-trump-indictment-court-appearance-06-13-23/h_a1a9eac55c1638585e314ea458d23729">not a flight risk</a> and released him. </p>
<p>Most criminal defendants are just arrested and taken to jail, where they may sit for months or even years while they await trial, unless they plead guilty. <a href="https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/nulr/vol115/iss5/1/">Three-quarters</a> of federal criminal defendants are locked up to await trial. </p>
<p>It is hard for detained defendants to <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/conviction-imprisonment-and-lost-earnings-how-involvement-criminal">recover lost wages and from the humiliation</a> they experience while in jail, even if they defy the odds and later win their case. </p>
<p>Pretrial detention has also been shown to result in a higher <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20161503">chance of being convicted</a> and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jleo/article/34/4/511/5100740">receiving longer sentences</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, defendants in courts across the country plead guilty to crimes <a href="https://clearinghouse.net/doc/91291/">even if they are innocent</a>, in part because pleading guilty gets them home sooner. For some defendants, the pretrial detention is longer than their actual punishment will be, so pleading guilty resolves the case with credit for time served. But the stain of a conviction stays on their record forever.</p>
<h2>Benefits of time and freedom</h2>
<p>Because Trump is not sitting in jail, he is well positioned to ask that his trials be postponed far longer than would an ordinary criminal case. Federal law generally requires <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/speedy-trial-act-1974-defining-sixth-amendment-right">“speedy” trials</a>, which are considered a right to protect defendants.</p>
<p>Trump got a lengthy delay, though it’s not as long as his legal team requested. Trump asked that his classified documents trial be held after the November 2024 election, but his trial is scheduled to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/us/politics/trump-classified-documents-trial-date-cannon.html">begin in May 2024</a>. Federal prosecutors pushed for a December 2023 start date. These kinds of compromise decisions are common in legal decisions like deciding court dates.</p>
<p>This timing gives Trump’s lawyers nearly a year to prepare arguments in his favor. They can easily meet with their client to do so, something that would be difficult if Trump were incarcerated.</p>
<p>Most criminal defendants face a very different experience. </p>
<p>For example, after federal prosecutors charged Air Force reservist Jack Teixeira in June 2023 for <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/air-national-guardsman-indicted-unlawful-disclosure-classified-national-defense-information">revealing classified information</a>, he asked for provisions similar to those that judges made <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/17/politics/jack-teixeira-out-of-jail-classified-trump/index.html">for Trump</a>. </p>
<p>He argued that he, too, should be released to await trial. Teixeira did not have Trump’s wealth and easy ability to flee. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, the court determined that Teixeira poses a national security threat and must remain in jail. The case is still pending. </p>
<p>Other <a href="https://greaterjusticeny.vera.org/nycjail/">criminal defendants spend years in jail</a> before pleading guilty or perhaps going to trial.</p>
<h2>A treasure-trove of information</h2>
<p>The differences do not stop there. </p>
<p>Prosecutors in all three of Trump’s cases have explained, in great detail, the allegations against him. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/01/indictment-document-trump-jan-6-pdf/">classified documents indictment</a> recounted several text message conversations between Trump aides and transcribed a conversation in which Trump disclosed the contents of classified documents and acknowledged their classified status. </p>
<p>The indictment regarding Trump’s alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election results was <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23893878-trump-dc-indictment">45 pages long</a> and included a play-by-play description of his plan. </p>
<p>Early in the documents case, federal prosecutors publicly disclosed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/us/politics/trump-classified-documents-trial-date-cannon.html">key information about their investigation</a> that could have helped Trump’s legal defense.</p>
<p>In contrast, criminal defendants typically do not know the precise allegations facing them this early in a case. </p>
<p>Prosecutors often withhold documents until the eve of trial or <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3500">wait until after key witnesses have testified</a>, all of which is legal. <a href="https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/Government_Misconduct_and_Convicting_the_Innocent.pdf">In some cases, they fail to disclose</a> the information. </p>
<h2>The other side of the coin</h2>
<p>Prosecutors’ decision to treat Trump differently from other criminal defendants could serve a few purposes.</p>
<p>The Justice Department is prosecuting a former president. That puts the department in a delicate, high-profile position, where it has the “Herculean task of putting an ethical rope through a needle,” as one former <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/12/trump-lawsuits-doj-dissonance-00105919">federal prosecutor has said.</a> </p>
<p>So, prosecutors’ detailed indictments help inform the public about the breadth and depth of the allegations made against Trump.</p>
<p>Their approach could add legitimacy to the prosecution’s and the Justice Department’s goal of maintaining <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/justice-department-faces-biggest-test-history-election-conspiracy-102038277">accountability and independence</a> while countering Trump’s perception that the cases are “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/former-president-donald-trump-federal-probe-handling-sensitive-documents-witch-hunt/">a witch hunt</a>” and rooted only in politics.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541559/original/file-20230807-2559-1tn9ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People wear neon green signs and hold up large letters spelling out the word 'justice' on a city street, in front of a building that looks similar to the U.S. Capitol." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541559/original/file-20230807-2559-1tn9ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541559/original/file-20230807-2559-1tn9ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541559/original/file-20230807-2559-1tn9ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541559/original/file-20230807-2559-1tn9ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541559/original/file-20230807-2559-1tn9ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541559/original/file-20230807-2559-1tn9ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541559/original/file-20230807-2559-1tn9ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Demonstrators hold a sign outside of the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., where former President Donald Trump was arraigned in August 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/demonstrators-holding-a-justice-sign-stand-outside-of-the-news-photo/1575084924?adppopup=true">Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What would fairness look like?</h2>
<p>Those looking for fairness in the criminal justice system may wish to see Trump treated like an ordinary criminal defendant. But instead, what if everyone else accused of a crime were treated more like Trump?</p>
<p>In that world, perhaps most importantly, pretrial detention would be used quite sparingly and would not provide leverage to coerce guilty pleas. People who are charged with a crime have not been proven guilty, and pretrial detention inflicts serious harm on defendants, their cases and their loved ones.</p>
<p>Prosecutors would tell defendants from the earliest stage of the case the detailed allegations against them so that defendants can prepare a meaningful defense. </p>
<p>The U.S. legal system aims at the truth, and robust procedures serve that goal.</p>
<p>In our view, the more thorough the judicial process is, the more confident people can be that it reaches the right outcome – whether the case regards Trump or not. Looking at Trump’s special treatment offers a good place to start in thinking about how the criminal legal system should treat all people accused of a crime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210934/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While Trump has received early warnings ahead of indictments and detailed explanations behind the charges, criminal defendants typically get a bare-bones explanation.Christopher Robertson, Professor of Law, Boston UniversityRussell M. Gold, Associate Professor of Law, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2064822023-05-25T19:49:48Z2023-05-25T19:49:48ZOath Keepers founder sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy in lead-up to Jan. 6 insurrection – 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528401/original/file-20230525-27-h41cy9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=100%2C50%2C6609%2C4416&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers, is just one member of a group that seeks to engage in violence against the U.S. government.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-oath-keeper-brought-on-to-provide-security-stands-guard-news-photo/674249800">Philip Pacheco/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/25/politics/oath-keepers-sentencing-stewart-rhodes-kelly-meggs/index.html">sentenced to 18 years in prison</a> on May 25, 2023, in the wake of his November 2022 conviction for seditious conspiracy. Rhodes led an effort to keep former President Donald Trump in office after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, including planning violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</p>
<p>Several scholars of right-wing movements, white nationalism and extremism have written articles explaining what the Oath Keepers and groups like them want, and how they work – as well as the limits on their free-speech rights to talk about violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Here we spotlight four examples of those scholars’ work.</p>
<h2>1. Oath Keepers are violently anti-government</h2>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/regardless-of-seditious-conspiracy-charges-outcome-right-wing-groups-like-proud-boys-seek-to-build-a-white-nation-184592">Oath Keepers have participated</a> in several armed standoffs against the government,” wrote criminologists <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fjys1XAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Matthew Valasik</a> of the University of Alabama and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=cLpO6QwAAAAJ">Shannon Reid</a> of the University of North Carolina – Charlotte.</p>
<p>For instance, “In 2014, the Oath Keepers joined an armed standoff between far-right patriot groups in Nevada on behalf of Cliven Bundy. In 2015, Oath Keepers showed up heavily armed in Ferguson, Missouri, during protests over the killing of Michael Brown. And in 2016, Oath Keepers were present at the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/regardless-of-seditious-conspiracy-charges-outcome-right-wing-groups-like-proud-boys-seek-to-build-a-white-nation-184592">Regardless of seditious conspiracy charges' outcome, right-wing groups like Proud Boys seek to build a white nation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Oath Keepers are looking for a fight</h2>
<p>At the Jan. 6 insurrection, the Oath Keepers contingent was looking to overthrow the government, wrote <a href="https://www.sarakamali.com/">Sara Kamali</a>, a scholar of systemic racism at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of “<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520389687/homegrown-hate">Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Militant Islamists Are Waging War against the United States</a>.”</p>
<p>Testifying before the congressional committee investigating the insurrection, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/former-oath-keeper-reveals-racist-antisemitic-beliefs-of-white-nationalist-group-and-their-plans-to-start-a-civil-war-185006">former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove</a> left little doubt about the intentions of the white nationalist militia group when its members stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” Kamali wrote. </p>
<p>“Tatenhove explained that Jan. 6 ‘could have been a spark that started a new civil war,’” she continued.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/former-oath-keeper-reveals-racist-antisemitic-beliefs-of-white-nationalist-group-and-their-plans-to-start-a-civil-war-185006">Former Oath Keeper reveals racist, antisemitic beliefs of white nationalist group – and their plans to start a civil war</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People in hats, masks and protective gear stand in front of a portico" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C0%2C5083%2C3378&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Oath Keepers stand at the east front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreachJan6Lawsuit/dc35ae1cd6ba47e0a48ac92ba8017205/photo">AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Many Oath Keepers are former military personnel</h2>
<p>The Oath Keepers – who “<a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-11-oath-keepers-charged-with-sedition-are-many-more-who-have-been-trained-by-the-us-military-175322">may number in the thousands</a>” – are a threat in part “because the Oath Keepers actively recruit current and retired members of the armed forces,” wrote <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=pdQoqX4AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">Mia Bloom</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UlDYlEoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Sophia Moskalenko</a>, Georgia State University scholars of violent extremism.</p>
<p>They reported that “[a]bout 10% of the Oath Keepers are active-duty military, and around two-thirds are retired military or law enforcement,” and that “[s]everal Oath Keepers present at the Jan. 6 attack were veterans,” some of whom used a military formation to breach the Capitol.</p>
<p>In addition, a growing number of military personnel are involved in domestic terrorism, and an increasing number of extremists have military ties, Bloom and Moskalenko reported.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-11-oath-keepers-charged-with-sedition-are-many-more-who-have-been-trained-by-the-us-military-175322">Behind the 11 Oath Keepers charged with sedition are many more who have been trained by the US military</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. The First Amendment does not protect sedition</h2>
<p>Those former military members may have taken an oath to protect the U.S. and its Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, but they are finding that constitutional protections go only so far.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/oath-keepers-convictions-shed-light-on-the-limits-of-free-speech-and-the-threat-posed-by-militias-195616">Far-right extremists or other hate groups</a> can claim they are just venting or even fantasizing – both of which would be protected under the First Amendment,” wrote <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5nxIh9YAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Amy Cooter</a>, a scholar of extremism and militias at <a href="https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/people/amy-cooter">Middlebury’s Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism</a>. “For this reason, seditious conspiracy charges have historically been hard to prosecute.”</p>
<p>Cooter noted that Rhodes did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but his conviction “suggests that the jury believed that Rhodes’ texts and other communications incited others to violent, undemocratic action in a way that requires accountability.”</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/oath-keepers-convictions-shed-light-on-the-limits-of-free-speech-and-the-threat-posed-by-militias-195616">Oath Keepers convictions shed light on the limits of free speech – and the threat posed by militias</a>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206482/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The founder of a violent anti-government group has been sent to prison for seditious conspiracy. Experts explain what that means.Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2050942023-05-04T18:00:46Z2023-05-04T18:00:46ZProud Boys members convicted of seditious conspiracy – 3 essential reads on the group and right-wing extremist white nationalism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524475/original/file-20230504-17-j87prr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C16%2C3657%2C2418&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Enrique Tarrio, center, stands with other Proud Boys at a 2019 rally in Portland, Oregon.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotProudBoys/eae15d0d6212495398e5144cf097db4c/photo">AP Photo/Noah Berger</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Four members of the right-wing extremist group called the Proud Boys were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/04/us/politics/jan-6-proud-boys-sedition.html">convicted on May 4, 2023, on charges of seditious conspiracy</a> and other charges in connection with their efforts to lead an attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Those convicted include the group’s former leader, Enrique Tarrio.</p>
<p>Several scholars have written for The Conversation U.S. about the group, its ideologies and other elements of the right-wing extremist push for white nationalism. Here we spotlight three examples from our archives.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd, including a person carrying a megaphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Members of the Proud Boys, along with others, march toward the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreachProudBoys/9e3a1ebb87a34cc394b34446e00ab3f0/photo">AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster</a></span>
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<h2>1. Who are the Proud Boys and what do they want?</h2>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/regardless-of-seditious-conspiracy-charges-outcome-right-wing-groups-like-proud-boys-seek-to-build-a-white-nation-184592">Proud Boys have identified themselves</a> as ‘Western chauvinists’ who focus on opposing political correctness and white guilt. But these claims have generally been seen as cover for deeper racist and antisemitic sentiments,” wrote criminology scholars <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fjys1XAAAAAJ&hl=en">Matthew Valasik</a> at the University of Alabama and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cLpO6QwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Shannon Reid</a> at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.</p>
<p>“[T]he more committed members of these and other extreme right-wing groups believe that the U.S. government, as currently constituted, is illegitimate and should be overthrown and replaced with one that is based on white supremacy,” they wrote.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/regardless-of-seditious-conspiracy-charges-outcome-right-wing-groups-like-proud-boys-seek-to-build-a-white-nation-184592">Regardless of seditious conspiracy charges' outcome, right-wing groups like Proud Boys seek to build a white nation</a>
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<img alt="Woman wearing a mask holds a sign likening COVID-19 to racism – 'assume you have it'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378861/original/file-20210114-15-rc98jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378861/original/file-20210114-15-rc98jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378861/original/file-20210114-15-rc98jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378861/original/file-20210114-15-rc98jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378861/original/file-20210114-15-rc98jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378861/original/file-20210114-15-rc98jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378861/original/file-20210114-15-rc98jl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Decrying the insidiousness of white supremacy at a protest march.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-wearing-a-mask-holds-a-sign-likening-covid-19-to-news-photo/1229553338?adppopup=true">Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>2. Proud Boys are just one example of systemic racism</h2>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/white-supremacists-who-stormed-us-capitol-are-only-the-most-visible-product-of-racism-152295">Many Proud Boys reject</a> the label ‘white supremacist,’ arguing their aim is to ‘save America’ and to defend ‘Western values,’” wrote <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=CVwqBSwAAAAJ">Ursula Moffitt</a>, who was a postdoctoral fellow in psychology at Northwestern University but is now on the faculty of Wheaton College. </p>
<p>But, she explained, “[w]hite supremacy was itself a longstanding Western value. And white people don’t have to be white supremacists to benefit from the ways it still shapes American society.”</p>
<p>In fact, Moffitt wrote, “the privileges afforded to whiteness are so much a part of the structure of U.S. society that many white people don’t even notice them. … [A]lthough racism is often seen only as prejudiced beliefs and behaviors – as embodied by the Proud Boys and other such groups – it is better defined as a system of advantage based on race.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/white-supremacists-who-stormed-us-capitol-are-only-the-most-visible-product-of-racism-152295">White supremacists who stormed US Capitol are only the most visible product of racism</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>3. The challenge of reintegrating extremists into society</h2>
<p>It’s not clear what will happen if the four Proud Boys members convicted on May 4, or others facing their own charges in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, go to jail – or what society will do with them when they’re eventually released.</p>
<p>“[N]either the national security agencies nor the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons has seriously considered <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-so-difficult-to-fight-domestic-terrorism-6-experts-share-their-thoughts-165054">how to handle extremist inmates while they serve their sentences</a>, nor how to offer them a road to reintegration with the country they attacked, or planned to,” wrote <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=e_JYQCkAAAAJ">John Horgan</a>, a psychologist at Georgia State University.</p>
<p>Horgan recommended creating “deradicalization efforts to address the increasingly diverse population of homegrown terrorists, [which] could include psychological counseling and restorative justice.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-so-difficult-to-fight-domestic-terrorism-6-experts-share-their-thoughts-165054">Why is it so difficult to fight domestic terrorism? 6 experts share their thoughts</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205094/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Who are the Proud Boys, what do they want and is there a path back into society for these extremists?Jeff Inglis, Politics + Society Editor, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1964632023-01-18T13:37:11Z2023-01-18T13:37:11ZWhy aren’t there any legal protections for the children of influencers?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503463/original/file-20230106-12037-jq01er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C562%2C6862%2C4754&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children cannot consent to being the star of their parent's show.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/joyful-young-asian-mother-taking-selfie-with-cute-royalty-free-image/1151941387?phrase=mom taking selfie with kid&adppopup=true">d3sign/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to sharing content of children on social media – particularly via sponsored posts and brand deals – what’s legal isn’t always what’s ethical.</p>
<p>Influencer Brittany Dawn, who initially gained a following for her fitness workouts <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kelseyweekman/brittany-dawn-davis-influencer-lawsuit-fitness">before pivoting to religious content</a>, recently came under fire for <a href="https://www.insider.com/christian-influencer-brittany-dawn-criticism-foster-parent-journey-2022-12">monetizing her foster child on social media</a>. </p>
<p>While Dawn has blurred out her child’s image in photos shared – a stipulation decreed by the <a href="https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/smtips_parent.pdf">U.S. Children’s Bureau</a> for foster parents in their social media rules – she has found a different way to capitalize on being an influencer with a foster child. She includes affiliate links on her posts to promote products like baby monitors. If viewers follow the link and purchase the product, Dawn gets a commission.</p>
<p>Similarly, YouTube family vlogger <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2020/08/youtube-myka-james-stauffer-huxley-adoption.html">Myka Stauffer</a> has shared a number of details about her children, and has also relayed her experience of adopting a baby boy from China – who frequently appeared in her videos. (The Conversation reached out to Dawn and Stauffer about these criticisms, but did not receive a response.)</p>
<p>None of this is currently illegal. But this practice exists at the intersection of two social media trends: sponsored content and “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/instagram-facebook-and-the-perils-of-sharenting">sharenting</a>” – when parents post sensitive information about their children online.</p>
<p>There are very few safeguards in place to protect the interests of children – both personal and financial – from their influencer parents. But the questionable practice of leveraging children for followers, fans and sponsorships is currently experiencing a groundswell of attention. <a href="https://www.insider.com/maia-knight-parent-oversharing-child-abuse-tiktok-youtube-family-vlogging-2023-1">Critiques</a> of famous creators like Dawn and Stauffer are becoming <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mom.uncharted/video/7187113683401657606?_t=8Ywq2HEEMri&_r=1">more pointed</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@casjerome/video/7183384087263005995?_t=8Ywq7giv2NS&_r=1">persistent</a>, while some of the now-adult children of influencers are pushing back.</p>
<h2>When kids become a prop</h2>
<p><a href="https://cis.ua.edu/cis-theme-staff/dr-jessica-maddox/">As a scholar of social media</a>, I’ve spent nearly a decade studying <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2109980">influencers</a> and <a href="https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/10804">content creators</a> and how they blur the lines between entertainment, business and freelance work. Influencers constantly search for a niche, or something to make them stand out amid the immense amount of content online. My own research has examined <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/the-internet-is-for-cats/9781978827912/">pet influencers</a>, <a href="https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/10804">ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) influencers</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2109980">veterinarians who are influencers</a>.</p>
<p>Showcasing your children is also a niche. And as internet scholar Sophie Bishop has shown, influencers who feature their children sometimes <a href="https://www.papermag.com/top-beauty-influencers-2639784604.html?rebelltitem=9#rebelltitem9">use their kids to pivot the focus of their social media niche</a>. They can move from being a fashion or travel influencer in their 20s to becoming a wedding influencer once they’re engaged and to a parenting influencer merely by hitting some of life’s big milestones, taking their built-in audience on the journey with them.</p>
<p>Children, however, cannot consent to being the star of their parents’ show. </p>
<p>While a child could feasibly find it “fun to be in mommy’s video,” it is unlikely they understand the long-term ramifications of being broadcast to thousands – even millions – of followers. The oversharing of images of children is even a <a href="https://www.moms.com/how-parental-oversharing-on-social-media-harms-kids/">concern for many parents</a>, not just influencers.</p>
<p>But the business aspect of sponsored content adds another layer to this complicated issue. Who is protecting children’s financial interests for the money their influencer parents earn off this content? How much money do children earn for their parents by appearing in their content?</p>
<p>In addition to the financial ethics, the personal, emotional and mental toll cannot be overlooked. TikTok user <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@softscorpio/video/7181607593302052142?_r=1&_t=8YhPTt39R3y&is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=7181607593302052142">@softscorpio</a> has talked about her lingering trauma from being a child featured in a parent’s account. Sarah Adams, who goes by <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mom.uncharted/video/7180102716969028869?_t=8YhPYYOfBbH&_r=1">@Mom.UnCharted</a>, also tackles the issues of child social media exploitation and oversharing, talking about the ethical issues surrounding parent influencers and family YouTube channels. </p>
<p>Videos making fun of parent influencers also frequently circulate on TikTok, whether it’s through <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@britthardt/video/7083538878166011142?_t=8YhPUMqnAvz&_r=1">mocking the aesthetics of these influencers</a> or <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thatmomshai/video/6992248902929992965?_t=8YhPWW8q7uV&_r=1">humorously critiquing the ways in which parents force their children to work</a> to build their brand and appease their following. </p>
<h2>Updating the Coogan Act for the digital age</h2>
<p>In 1939, California passed the <a href="https://www.sagaftra.org/membership-benefits/young-performers/coogan-law">Coogan Act</a>. The law, also known as the <a href="https://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1284&context=jatip">California Child Actor’s Bill</a>, was named for former child actor Jackie Coogan, whom many <a href="https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/10/29/coogan-act-stopped-parents-of-famous-child-actors-seizing-all-the-childs-money/?chrome=1">hail as America’s first child actor</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Black and white portrait of a boy wearing a knit hat and overalls." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The parents of child actor Jackie Coogan squandered most of the fortune he earned.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-child-actor-jackie-coogan-wearing-a-ragged-cap-news-photo/3241464?phrase=jackie%20coogan&adppopup=true">Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>He became famous after appearing as Charlie Chaplin’s adopted son in the 1921 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0012349/">The Kid</a>.” But when Coogan reached adulthood, he learned that his mother and stepfather <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/child-influencers-exploitation-legal-protection/">had squandered</a> the US$4 million he had earned – what would amount to tens of millions of dollars today. </p>
<p>After Coogan sued his parents and was able to reclaim only a fraction of what was left of his earnings, the California Legislature passed the Coogan Act. <a href="https://www.sagaftra.org/membership-benefits/young-performers/coogan-law/coogan-law-full-text">The law</a> protects children who have been hired as “an actor, actress, dancer, musician, comedian, singer, or other performer or entertainer” and stipulates that their earnings must be safeguarded for them until they reach adulthood. Nine other states <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/articles/trust-account-for-child-performer#:%7E:text=Who%20Needs%20a%20Coogan%20Account,Carolina%2C%20Pennsylvania%2C%20and%20Tennessee.">have since enacted similar legislation</a>. </p>
<p>While some <a href="https://www.culawreview.org/journal/is-kidfluencing-child-labor-how-the-youngest-influencers-remain-legally-unprotected">lobbyists and activists</a> have called for the Coogan Act to be applied to the children of parent influencers at the federal level, regulations have not yet been adopted. </p>
<p>The Coogan Act was written to protect children in “<a href="https://onlabor.org/new-child-labor-laws-needed-to-protect-child-influencers/">traditional” entertainment</a>. However, the lines between “traditional” entertainment and social media entertainment <a href="https://www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/product-placement-hollywood-social-media">continue to blur</a>, making this distinction less and less sound.</p>
<p>Additionally, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which protects children from “excessive labor,” <a href="https://www.today.com/parents/celebrity/child-reality-tv-social-media-stars-legal-protection-rcna54602">has not been updated to apply to child influencers</a>, or the children who regularly appear in the feeds of their parents. There’s a notable distinction between child influencers, <a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/a-force-of-influence-children-as-youtube-stars">who may run their own feeds and businesses</a>, and children who are featured by their parents. But the Fair Labor Standards Act protects neither, and even children who run their own social media careers may still have their finances regulated by their parents.</p>
<p>Some parent influencers could easily set aside money earned either by or off their kids in trusts or college funds. But there’s nothing in place that specifically requires this.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2020-10-30/france-parliament-adopts-law-to-protect-child-influencers-on-social-media/">France</a> has already passed legislation protecting the commercial use of children under 16 on social media.</p>
<p>It’s hard not to see at least some precedent in the Coogan Act, particularly the part that refers to “other performers and entertainers.” With debates about the ethics and exploitation of children by parent influencers gaining steam in the U.S., it will be interesting to see whether there will be legislative updates to the definition of child labor in the digital age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196463/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Maddox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some of the now-adult children of influencers are pushing back.Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Creative Media, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1947272022-12-14T13:13:33Z2022-12-14T13:13:33ZSocial media always remembers – which makes moving on from a breakup that much harder<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500465/original/file-20221212-112102-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=460%2C360%2C4498%2C3334&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's no playbook for how to navigate breakups in the digital age.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/broken-heart-on-screen-royalty-free-image/1307271698?phrase=digital heart break&adppopup=true">Sean Gladwell/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Before the internet, people <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98REWkLwnQM&ab_channel=manbehindthescreen">commonly burned</a> Polaroids and love letters in a fire as an act of closure following a breakup. </p>
<p>Nowadays, it isn’t so simple. People produce and consume massive amounts of digital stuff – <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-data-explained-how-much-were-producing-and-where-its-all-stored-159964">33 trillion gigabytes</a> of online data in 2018 alone, a number that has surely grown.</p>
<p>Even as more and more of daily life is experienced and documented online, there’s no playbook for how to navigate breakups in the digital age. In the past, if bonfires weren’t your thing, you could simply throw out love letters, gifts and photographs, or put them in a box and store them in the attic – out of sight and out of mind. </p>
<p>Now, as you scroll through your accounts, you might find yourself returning to your own memories – including reminders of your former partners, which live on long after the dissolution of a relationship.</p>
<p>As communication researchers, we’ve conducted a series of studies investigating how people decide whether to keep or delete something following the end of a romantic relationship – and how these decisions affect their ability to move on.</p>
<h2>Relationship ‘cleansing’</h2>
<p>In some of our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407514524848">earlier research</a> – all the way back in 2013 – we studied how people used social media after a breakup.</p>
<p>We found that they often carried out what we call “relational cleansing” by hiding their relational status, deleting photos or scrubbing old social media posts. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116680004">another study</a>, we found that people who spent a good deal of time looking at old digital photos of their relationships and those who monitored their previous partners on social media following a breakup had a harder time moving on.</p>
<p>To explore these findings in more depth, we conducted a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407520921460">follow-up study</a> that looked at whether keeping or deleting virtual objects following a breakup helped people move on and emotionally recover following the end of their relationship.</p>
<p>We found that <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-psychological-benefits-and-trappings-of-nostalgia-77766">people who were more nostalgic</a> – that is, those who tended to have a sentimental longing for the past – were more likely to keep digital objects from their previous relationship, and that preserving those objects tended to make it harder to adjust to the relationship’s end.</p>
<p>In the analysis of the results, we speculated that when people continually revisit these digital memories, they’re unable to fully detach from the relationship. </p>
<p>Based on this research we came up with a model called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtac018">Virtual Relational Memory</a>. Specifically, we suggest that individuals going through a breakup consider three components of their digital lives: objects, stories and networks.</p>
<h2>To purge or not to purge?</h2>
<p>In relationships, people produce a trove of digital objects, such as messages and photos, that represent and document their relationships.</p>
<p>Those happy and joyous photos of past anniversaries and trips linger in online photo albums long after the relationship ends. </p>
<p>Because many of these digital objects are distributed across platforms and accounts – many of which people don’t have access to – they’re more likely to persist. Old photos memories can algorithmically appear at inopportune times, too, spurring unanticipated thoughts about your partner. </p>
<p>Still, you can exert some control over whether to <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2470654.2466241">delete or keep</a> the memories you have access to.</p>
<p>By keeping the objects, maybe you can continue to reflect on the relationship, prompting personal growth. By deleting them, perhaps you can more quickly move on from your previous partner and prepare for your next relationship. </p>
<h2>Losing control of the narrative</h2>
<p>Beyond considering how to manage things like photos and old messages, people going through a breakup should also think about the narrative, or story, of the breakup. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X13516865">stories people tell about their breakups</a> are powerful reminders of their relationships. But they also help people reconcile and move on to new ones. </p>
<p>When a relationship ends, people often construct a story, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2019.1627647">that story varies for different audiences</a>. When your parents ask why you broke up, you might tell a story about your differing life goals. When your friends ask why you broke up, you might tell a story about your inability to manage conflict. </p>
<p>Social media complicates the story-creation process, because it is more difficult to construct distinct stories for different audiences. For instance, some people have both a main Instagram account and a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-teens-use-fake-instagram-accounts-to-relieve-the-pressure-of-perfection-92105">Finsta</a>” that presents their more authentic identity. Someone who shares the gritty details of their breakup on their finsta would have a difficult time reconciling that version of the narrative with the one they present on their more curated main profile. </p>
<p>Also, people tend to change the story they tell about breakups over time as they move on from a relationship. Their story might evolve to be less hostile to their partner, or more accepting of the need for the end of the relationship. When people are exposed to virtual objects such as old photos or texts, their narratives can quickly revert back to the stories they created shortly after the relationship ended.</p>
<h2>Adapting your network</h2>
<p>Next, it’s important to think about your network, which refers to the connections in which our relationships are embedded. </p>
<p>When you’re in a relationship, you often connect with your partner’s family members and friends on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Those networks often linger following the end of the relationship unless you make an active effort to disconnect. </p>
<p>You may ask yourself whether you really care what your previous boyfriend’s childhood best friend is doing on vacation. Even worse, your previous partner could appear in those very vacation photos.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Blocks with silhouettes of people connected by strings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500470/original/file-20221212-108656-ltinl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500470/original/file-20221212-108656-ltinl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500470/original/file-20221212-108656-ltinl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500470/original/file-20221212-108656-ltinl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500470/original/file-20221212-108656-ltinl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500470/original/file-20221212-108656-ltinl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500470/original/file-20221212-108656-ltinl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unfollowing your ex on social media is straightforward enough. But what about their friends?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teamwork-and-network-concept-male-icons-on-wooden-royalty-free-image/1314937779">aydinynr/iStock via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The persistence of these networks makes ending relationships harder. In a sense, these networks act as a brain, archiving virtual memories through social connections that can be reactivated by the social network. </p>
<p>Although research into the effects of these factors is ongoing, especially as technology continues to evolve, we suggest that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2020.1796617">people think carefully</a> about which objects, stories and networks they want to retain, and which they want to jettison. Though tentative, the findings across our studies suggest that people who selectively keep some objects and delete others fare better following a breakup than those who obsessively keep or delete. In other words, everything in moderation.</p>
<p>Perhaps, as country singer Sam Hunt put it, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvnY6qn80u0&ab_channel=SamHuntVEVO">breaking up was easier in the 1990s</a>. But that doesn’t mean you can’t reassert control over how you want to move on – and decide which digital relics of your relationships to preserve and which to purge for good.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194727/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There was once a time when you could simply put old photos and love letters out of sight and out of mind. Editing your ex out of your digital life is a lot trickier.Kate G. Blackburn, Post Doctoral Researcher, The University of Texas at AustinLeah E. LeFebvre, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of AlabamaNick Brody, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of Puget SoundLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1913662022-10-11T14:02:01Z2022-10-11T14:02:01ZWhat drives Al-Shabaab in Somalia: foreign forces out, Sharia law in and overthrow the government<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486829/original/file-20220927-24-32z7kt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu where a 30-hour Al-Shabaab siege left 21 people dead in August 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hassan Elmi/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In response to external – and at times internal – pressure, Al-Shabaab’s insurgency in Somalia has evolved over time. </p>
<p>Before 2008, Al-Shabaab was a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21520844.2019.1658986">small player</a> within the larger Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The Union was an umbrella entity that emerged around 2003 to provide justice and security in Mogadishu in the absence of a formal state.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17531050701452382">Ethiopia</a> – in support of the transitional Somali government – militarily defeated the Islamic Courts Union in 2006. Over the next two years, Al-Shabaab broke away from the Union and rose to prominence in Somalia.</p>
<p>It transformed from a terrorist organisation, fighting Ethiopian occupation, to something of a de-facto state. It gained territory, eventually controlling most of southern Somalia. </p>
<p>Between 2010 and 2013, the group survived <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21520844.2019.1658986">military and territorial losses</a>, as well as a significant <a href="https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/140221_Bryden_ReinventionOfAlShabaab_Web.pdf">leadership crisis</a>. </p>
<p>Al-Shabaab adapted and honed its ability to conduct attacks. It also established systems to tax businesses and the public, both inside and outside of the territory it controlled. The group began to provide an alternative justice structure based on a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/35091/chapter-abstract/299149628?redirectedFrom=fulltext">strict and harsh interpretation</a> of <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/understanding-sharia-intersection-islam-and-law">Sharia</a> (Islamic law) – though its understanding of Sharia was highly debatable even among <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2016/07/15/islamism-salafism-and-jihadism-a-primer/">Salafi circles</a>. </p>
<p>Today, Al-Shabaab remains the most <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/expanding-us-counterterrorism-somalia-necessary-insufficient">formidable challenge</a> to the Somali government, and its regional and international partners. </p>
<p>Despite the shifts it has experienced over 15 years, some things have remained crucial to Al-Shabaab’s mission in Somalia. Scholars have noted <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/35091/chapter/299149628">three goals</a> that have been continually reasserted:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>ridding the country of foreign troops</p></li>
<li><p>implementing Sharia </p></li>
<li><p>defeating the Somali federal government </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Fully understanding these motivations, however, can be a challenge. This is because the organisation’s goals can change with time and the views of the leadership can be different from those of recruits. </p>
<p>Yet, examining these motivations offers important and actionable insights into the factors that perpetuate the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-55795025">conflict in Somalia</a> or block efforts to resolve it.</p>
<h2>Hostility to foreign troops</h2>
<p>Al-Shabaab’s nationalist stance against foreign troops in Somalia has been a theme throughout its evolution.</p>
<p>Following the US backing of a warlord coalition during the Islamic Courts Union era and Ethiopia’s military intervention, Al-Shabaab began to <a href="https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/islamic-courts-union#text_block_19602">spread a message</a> in opposition to the presence of foreign forces in Somalia. </p>
<p>There were <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17531055.2020.1863099">“maximalist and violent pan-Islamist members”</a> within the group’s leadership ranks at the time. However, Al-Shabaab’s outspokenness against foreign forces resonated with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17531055.2020.1863099">deep-rooted Somali hostility</a> against Ethiopia and broader nationalist narratives that existed, separate from Salafi and extremist trends. Ultimately, this served as an incredible recruitment tool.</p>
<p>After Ethiopia withdrew forces in 2009, Al-Shabaab shifted its focus to the expulsion of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The mission’s role included <a href="https://amisom-au.org/mission-profile/military-component/">protecting federal institutions</a>. AMISOM has since been replaced by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/somalia-is-still-fragile-what-the-new-african-union-mission-can-do-to-help-stabilise-it-180430">African Union Transition Mission in Somalia</a>, which Al-Shaaab continues to oppose. </p>
<p>The group also wants to <a href="https://extremism.gwu.edu/inside-minds-somalia%E2%80%99s-ascendant-insurgents">get rid of the US</a>. This is due to the country’s airstrikes and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61631439">special operations forces in Somalia</a>. </p>
<p>Turkey is another <a href="https://jamestown.org/program/al-shabaabs-expanding-anti-turkish-campaign-in-somalia/">unwelcome foreign power</a> because it supports the Somali federal government. It also advises and trains the military. </p>
<p>Al-Shabaab additionally opposes the <a href="https://extremism.gwu.edu/inside-minds-somalia%E2%80%99s-ascendant-insurgents">United Arab Emirates’ economic interests</a> in Somali ports and military bases.</p>
<h2>Implementing Sharia</h2>
<p>Implementing its own version of Sharia (Islamic law) has remained a pillar of Al-Shabaab’s agenda throughout its existence. </p>
<p>The group embraces a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2016/07/15/islamism-salafism-and-jihadism-a-primer/">Salafist interpretation</a> of Sharia. This includes the imposition of harsh punishments for infractions and the rejection of Sufi traditions that many Somalis follow. However, this goal has, as researchers have pointed out, taken “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/35091/chapter-abstract/299149628?redirectedFrom=fulltext">different forms according to the situation and the strength of the organisation</a>”. </p>
<p>For instance, in 2006, Al-Shabaab didn’t antagonise Sufi orders in the way it did between 2008 and 2009 because it wasn’t as powerful. As the group began to experience military pressure and territorial losses in the period after 2011-2012, the implementation of Sharia varied across Somalia, with some Al-Shabaab provincial (<em>wilayat</em>) governors operating more reasonably than others.</p>
<p>More recently, in 2019, Ahmed Diriye – Al-Shabaab’s current leader – expressed a tougher stance. He declared that Sharia ought to be implemented without “<a href="https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Al-Shabaab-IMEP_Bacon_March-2022.pdf">concession or compromise</a>”. </p>
<h2>Desire to govern</h2>
<p>Defeating the Somali federal government and federal member states is another important agenda item for Al-Shabaab. </p>
<p>The group sees itself as an alternative to the Somali government. This is evident in its efforts to govern territory. It also provides security, justice and other services that the government <a href="https://extremism.gwu.edu/inside-minds-somalia%E2%80%99s-ascendant-insurgents">has failed</a> to effectively provide. </p>
<p>The organisation’s influence in the sphere of governance is notable in three areas: justice, taxation and dispute mediation. </p>
<p>First, Al-Shabaab’s shadow court system has offered pathways to justice for Somalis. It addresses the problems of the population it controls, including divorce, inheritance and land disputes. It then provides rulings it can actually enforce. </p>
<p>The government’s court and justice system are <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-gov-t-seeks-to-crack-down-on-al-shabab-shadow-courts-/6705224.html">reportedly</a> less consistent. Its rulings aren’t always enforced and it faces issues of corruption.</p>
<p>Al-Shabaab’s courts <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-gov-t-seeks-to-crack-down-on-al-shabab-shadow-courts-/6705224.html">attract residents</a> from areas outside the organisation’s immediate territorial control. This is because the courts help solve practical problems. </p>
<p>Second, the group maintains a taxation system that has spread beyond government-controlled territories. This <a href="https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Al-Shabaab-IMEP_Bacon_March-2022.pdf">likely surpasses</a> the Somali government’s own taxation abilities. </p>
<p>Through its taxation of businesses, transportation, ports and other sectors, Al-Shabaab provides <a href="https://hiraalinstitute.org/a-losing-game-countering-al-shababs-financial-system/">some services</a>, such as regulating the production of certain export products. However, the main benefit of “taxation” is protection from the group. </p>
<p>The organisation also collects <em>zakat</em>, a charitable contribution required for Muslims. However, it uses much of this collection to bolster its own coffers rather than redistributing it to the community. </p>
<p>Third, Al-Shabaab has presented itself as capable of successfully intervening in clan disputes. In an <a href="https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-News/in-hearts-and-minds-effort-shabaab-boasts-of-settling-dispute-between-conflicting-tribes-in-southern-somalia.html">October 2020 press release</a>, the organisation claimed it’s “keen to solve the problems and differences that arise between the tribes, and it has shown remarkable success in settling decades-long disputes among them”. </p>
<p>Mediating clan disputes is central to Al-Shabaab’s ambitions to establish a unified Islamic state. </p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>After 15 years of conflict, Al-Shabaab remains a significant threat to stability in Somalia and its neighbours, <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-reasons-why-militants-are-targeting-kenyas-lamu-county-176519">like Kenya</a>. </p>
<p>Understanding its motives to expel foreign troops, implement its version of Sharia and defeat the government raises questions on how to end their insurgency. </p>
<p>With the <a href="https://theconversation.com/somalias-election-raises-more-questions-than-answers-183833">recent election</a> of Somali president Hassan Mohamud, there appears to be renewed government focus on not just weakening Al-Shabaab, but eliminating it. As part of this effort, the government has “<a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/ma-awisley-militias-in-central-somalia-mobilizing-against-al-shabab-/6776048.html">hailed</a>” mobilisation efforts by local militia (called Ma'awisley) against the group. </p>
<p>The new administration has called for the expansion of these resistance efforts. It has <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/ma-awisley-militias-in-central-somalia-mobilizing-against-al-shabab-/6776048.html">sent government troops</a> to join local militia in an offensive against Al-Shabaab. Time will tell if this new strategy will strategically alter the course in the fight against the group. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/somalia/309-considering-political-engagement-al-shabaab-somalia">Political engagement</a> with Al-Shabaab is another potential avenue that could complement military operations. </p>
<p>However, prospects for negotiation are poor. This is because of Al-Shabaab’s reluctance to engage in negotiations, its uncompromising position on foreign troop withdrawal and the government’s commitment to eliminating the group.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191366/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daisy Muibu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Al-Shabaab’s evolution over nearly two decades has been centred around three major goals.Daisy Muibu, Assistant Professor, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1880962022-08-12T12:16:46Z2022-08-12T12:16:46ZIndia turns 75: Fast facts about the unusual constitution guiding the world’s most populous democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478360/original/file-20220809-26-5rv221.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C20%2C4500%2C2993&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Indian independence in Bangalore, Aug. 8 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/employees-of-the-postal-department-wave-the-indian-flag-as-news-photo/1242379427?adppopup=true">Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>India will celebrate its 75th birthday on Aug. 15, 2022.</p>
<p>Its independence from British colonial rule followed a complex process, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/06/75-years-india-partition-britain-generations-india-pakistan">Partition</a>: the division of India into Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India. Partition displaced tens of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple">millions of people</a> and caused loss of life and property that remains in living memory for many.</p>
<p>India’s future remained unresolved for over two years after Partition. While the country attained its independence on Aug. 15, 1947, it only became a fully sovereign republic with its own head of state on Jan. 26, 1950. </p>
<p>Between those dates, the <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_making_process/constituent_assembly">299 men and women</a> of India’s Constituent Assembly worked to imagine their emerging country and to inscribe their vision and foundational legal principles in a national constitution. The outcome of their efforts is a remarkable document that remains a source of both inspiration and contention today. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black-and-white photo of a city street with police running and tear gas explosions in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police respond to unrest over Partition in Kolkata in 1946.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/calcutta-policemen-use-tear-gas-bombs-during-the-communal-news-photo/2628264?adppopup=true">Keystone/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Here are a few things to know about the Indian Constitution. </p>
<h2>#1: High word count</h2>
<p>Perhaps fittingly, the world’s most-populous democracy has the world’s longest national constitution. </p>
<p>At the <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india">time it was adopted</a> in 1949, the Indian Constitution contained 395 Articles and had approximately <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india">145,000 words</a>. The only longer written constitution belongs to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/opinion/alabama-fines-fees.html?searchResultPosition=1">state of Alabama</a>, where I currently <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=46JY5CIAAAAJ&authuser=1">live and teach law</a>.</p>
<p>By comparison, the U.S. Constitution – generally considered the world’s oldest national charter – <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/constitution#section_5">originally contained</a> just seven articles and around 4,200 words. The <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-country-has-the-shortest-written-constitution-in-the-world.html">world’s shortest</a> constitution belongs to its second-smallest country, Monaco. It has just around 3,800 words.</p>
<h2>#2: Early exemplar</h2>
<p>When the Indian Constitution was ratified, constitutions were not as common as they are today. India’s was just the world’s <a href="https://humansofdata.atlan.com/2016/01/data-behind-indian-constitution/">23rd national constitution</a>. In comparison, Pakistan didn’t ratify its constitution until 1956.</p>
<p>Consequently, ratification was itself a major achievement. In societies like India with many <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Comparative_Constitutional_Law/x5AETTkgsyQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover">deep cultural, religious and socioeconomic divides</a>, the process of drafting and ratifying a shared founding document can serve a valuable symbolic function. </p>
<p>Some countries, faced with the challenges of drafting a constitution for a deeply heterogeneous population, never <a href="https://m.knesset.gov.il/en/about/pages/declaration.aspx">agree on a single, unifying document</a>. Israel is one example. </p>
<h2>#3: Crowdsourced inspiration</h2>
<p>Because constitutions were still relatively rare in the 1940s, India’s Constituent Assembly’s Drafting Committee sought inspiration wherever it could. </p>
<p>The committee chairman, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhimrao-Ramji-Ambedkar">B.R. Ambedkar</a>, drew on his education in the U.S. and United Kingdom. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32217">Advisor B.N. Rau traveled</a> in the fall of 1947 to Canada, the U.S., Ireland and the U.K. to learn from their experiences. </p>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120220030736/http:/arunshourie.voiceofdharma.com/articles/ambedkar.htm">Rau even indicated</a> which country had inspired each element of the draft constitution he prepared for the Assembly. For example, India’s 1947 constitution did not contain a “due process” clause like its American counterpart: <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/a-tale-of-two-judgments/article8586369.ece">U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter had warned</a> Rau <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/blogs/b_n__rau_s_draft_constitution_and_world_tour">that due process would give Indian courts</a> too much power to overrule legislation, while simultaneously imposing a heavy burden on the judiciary. </p>
<p>India’s constitution does, however, contain non-justiciable “Directive Principles.” The term non-justiciable means these constitutional provisions cannot be enforced by courts. This <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/blogs/contrasting_the_directive_principles_in_the_indian_and_irish_constitutions">feature was borrowed</a> from the Irish Constitution of 1937 to give lawmakers and judges a set of values to keep in mind. </p>
<h2>4: Easy adjustments</h2>
<p>Today, India’s Constitution is among the most amended in the world. It has <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_of_the_Constitution_of_India">105 amendments</a> with the last one passed in August 2021. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Five men in bottom of frame look up at an Indian tricolor flag flying high, while saluting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4809%2C3201&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Saluting the Indian flag in Hyderabad before a rally to mark the 75th anniversary of the country’s independence on Aug. 8, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/employees-of-department-of-posts-india-salute-to-the-indian-news-photo/1242378413?adppopup=true">Noah Seelam/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Easy change was intentionally encoded into the Indian Constitution. “[T]here is no permanence in Constitutions,” <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Endurance_of_National_Constitutions/mpgs_tqfuwUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Nehru">declared</a> India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. “There should be a certain flexibility.” </p>
<p>Consequently, <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/amendment_of_the_constitution/articles/Article%20368">Article 368</a> only requires that a sole member of parliament propose a bill to change the constitution and that parliament approve proposed changes by a simple majority to pass them. </p>
<p>By contrast, <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/article/article-v">the U.S. requires</a> two-thirds of Congress to propose a constitutional amendment or two-thirds of the states to propose a constitutional convention to consider amendments. Ratification requires two-thirds of the states. Consequently, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/12/a-look-at-proposed-constitutional-amendments-and-how-seldom-they-go-anywhere/">only 27 of roughly 12,000 amendments</a> to the Constitution proposed since 1787 have been adopted.</p>
<p>Easy change is credited with being one contributor to the Indian Constitution’s longevity, which at 75 years old far exceeds the <a href="https://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/lifespan-written-constitutions">global average lifespan of 17 years</a>. In Asia, <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/the-indian-constitution-in-numbers-11579444816636.html">only two other</a> countries that gained independence soon after World War II still have their original constitutions: <a href="https://english.president.gov.tw/page/93">Taiwan</a> and <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Republic_of_Korea_1987.pdf?lang=en">South Korea</a>. <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/countries/Asia/Thailand?lang=en">Thailand</a>, by contrast, has had around 20 constitutions since 1932.</p>
<h2>5: Striking features</h2>
<p>The Indian Constitution has several other elements that are remarkable – for better and for worse.</p>
<p>Two provisions have received widespread acclaim. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/fundamental_rights/articles/Article%2017">Article 17</a> responded to widespread and debilitating caste discrimination by abolishing untouchability – the practice of segregating and persecuting certain groups because they are considered “impure” – “in any form.” </p>
<p>And <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/fundamental_rights/articles/Article%2021">Article 21</a>, protecting life and personal liberty, has directly contributed to Indians’ right to a free, public elementary education and was cited in the Indian Supreme Court’s 2018 decision to <a href="https://www.scobserver.in/reports/navtej-singh-johar-section-377-judgment-of-the-court-in-plain-english/">decriminalize consensual same-sex conduct</a>. </p>
<p>Other parts of the Indian Constitution, such as a <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/fundamental_rights/articles/Article%2022">provision on preventative detention</a> that allows the government to <a href="https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-751-preventive-detention.html">imprison people before they commit a crime</a>, have prompted considerable criticism from scholars, activists and lawyers. </p>
<p>Finally, some features of the Indian Constitution are unusual, but not necessarily good or bad. </p>
<p>The constitution has two provisions on religious freedom. <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/fundamental_rights/articles/Article%2025">Article 25</a> establishes “the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion” to all persons. That is, the article grants individuals religious freedom. More unusually, <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/fundamental_rights/articles/Article%2026">Article 26</a> recognizes “religious denomination[s]” as also having specific rights regarding property, institutional management and “matters of religion.”</p>
<p>Those two rights – the individual and the collective – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcl/avw002">often conflict</a>, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/lsi.2020.1">my research</a> on the high-profile dispute over <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/28/asia/india-temple-women-banned-intl/index.html">women’s access to the Hindu temple at Sabarimala</a> shows. What matters, when these two rights collide, is which limitations apply to Article 25 and which communities count as religious denominations for Article 26.</p>
<p>In 1991, after analyzing both Articles 25 and 26, a <a href="https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/fac_working_papers/407/">high court decided</a> that Sabarimala could ban women at all times, despite good reasons to believe women had historically been granted entry under some conditions. Then, in 2018, the <a href="https://www.scobserver.in/cases/indian-young-lawyers-association-v-state-of-kerala-sabarimala-temple-entry-background/">Indian Supreme Court invalidated that decision</a>, declaring that because some women had likely always visited Sabarimala, all women should be allowed to enter. The Supreme Court’s ruling was also based on an interpretation of Articles 25 and 26.</p>
<h2>Future of Indian democracy</h2>
<p>Despite its long and generally promising history, Indian constitutional democracy faces turbulent times. </p>
<p>Several recent scandals, including a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/als.2021.20">chief justice accused of sexual harassment</a> and another chief justice accused of <a href="https://scroll.in/article/909825/ranjan-gogoi-objected-to-how-dipak-misra-ran-supreme-court-as-cji-now-he-is-acting-similarly">abuse of power</a> by his own colleagues, have compromised the Supreme Court’s reputation as a steward of the constitution.</p>
<p>And certain political developments, such as <a href="https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/global-studies/2020/12/10/citizenship-amendment-act-caa-and-national-register-of-citizens-nrc/">a controversial 2019 law</a> that made religion a criterion for citizenship for the first time, threaten India’s status as a non-theocratic state.</p>
<p>When they began drafting India’s constitution 75 years ago, the 299 framers intended to create a charter that would serve all Indians, no matter their faith, caste or gender. Whether that democratic tradition continues for another 75 years will depend on whether lawmakers and judges stay true to that vision.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to accurately reflect the status of India’s constitution as among the most amended in the world.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deepa Das Acevedo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Adopted in 1949, India’s original constitution has withstood the test of time to help shape the world’s largest democracy. But as India hits turbulent time, so does its landmark constitution.Deepa Das Acevedo, Assistant Professor of Law, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1868552022-07-24T08:19:44Z2022-07-24T08:19:44ZKenya’s young voters have a dilemma: they dislike ethnic politics but feel trapped in it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474136/original/file-20220714-32310-6hi4s9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A protestor faces off with Kenyan police in Nairobi after the 2017 general election. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In elections and beyond, young Kenyans are an important political cohort. People between the ages of 18 and 35 make up about <a href="https://www.citizen.digital/news/out-of-47-6-million-kenyans-35-7-million-are-under-the-age-of-35-323822">30% of the population</a> and nearly <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/216515/kenya-2022-elections-how-will-the-low-number-of-young-registered-voters-play-out/">40% of registered voters</a> in the 2022 election. </p>
<p>According to World Bank estimates, almost <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.NEET.ZS?locations=KE">20% of young Kenyans</a> were not employed or engaged in education as of 2019, a frustration that may <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/02/africa/kenya-election-youth-vote/index.html">drive</a> their political views. The COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/covid-19-is-likely-to-increase-youth-unemployment-in-africa-this-is-how-business-can-mitigate-the-damage/">likely worsened</a> the situation given lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. </p>
<p>None of the major political parties and alliances in the current election has put forward a clear vision for young people. Instead, the electorate has been treated to the traditional election campaign menu of implicit ethnic hostilities and the <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/kenya/b182-kenyas-2022-election-high-stakes">attendant fears of politically motivated violence</a>.</p>
<p>In the country’s last election in 2017, then 23-year-old university student Shikoh Kihika started a hashtag, #TribelessYouth, in response to hateful, discriminatory messages she saw on social media. In 2017, over a quarter of Kenya’s population was on social media. It’s likely that <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/social-media-a-concern-on-eve-of-kenyan-election/a-39972894">fake news</a> and other online messages designed to stoke fear and ethnic resentment <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2017/08/15/social-media-fuels-tribal-hate-after-electionske/">contributed to the violence</a> witnessed in that election. </p>
<p>Kihika’s call for unity among Kenyan youth was <a href="https://nation.africa/lifestyle/mynetwork/This-is-your-country-Speak-out/3141096-3951704-luojrez/index.html">shared widely</a>. However, a lasting change in behaviour is harder to detect.</p>
<p>Social media is again <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/kenya-tech-election/feature-online-disinformation-stokes-tensions-as-kenya-elections-near-idUKL4N2Y22HF">being used</a> to spread divisive content in the run-up to the August 2022 election. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/social-media-is-being-misused-in-kenyas-political-arena-why-its-hard-to-stop-it-177586">Social media is being misused in Kenya's political arena. Why it's hard to stop it</a>
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<p>Some messages are designed to stoke fear and disrespect, creating a narrative that Kenyans need to defend their ethnic communities.</p>
<p>Do these tactics resonate with young Kenyans, or is there hope for a more “tribeless” political generation? </p>
<p>We decided to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00083968.2021.2008998">study</a> the political attitudes of Kenyan students, particularly their views on the use of ethnicity in politics.</p>
<p>We found that most Kenyan students dislike ethnic-based politics in principle. However, the pressures of tribalism are difficult to ignore. </p>
<p>This suggests that the pattern of ethnic voting and violence in Kenya will be difficult to break, particularly while concerns about ethnic discrimination and exclusion persist. </p>
<p>The students we surveyed widely supported institutional reform aimed at increasing power sharing and inclusion in Kenya’s government, but these changes may be <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenyas-top-court-issue-final-ruling-presidents-constitutional-changes-2022-03-31/">hard to achieve</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/latest-approach-to-kenya-election-hate-speech-raises-more-questions-than-answers-181082">Latest approach to Kenya election hate speech raises more questions than answers</a>
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<h2>What the youth say</h2>
<p>Our survey of University of Nairobi students to gauge their views on democracy and ethnicity was done in August 2018. </p>
<p>We surveyed 497 students between the ages of 18 and 35 less than a year after the 2017 general elections. It’s important to note that our results may have been coloured by the 2017 elections, and youth views may have changed since our survey. Also, the views of university students may differ from those of the youth as a whole. </p>
<p>Of the students we surveyed, 97% identified primarily as Kenyan, choosing their national identity over their ethnic one. One-third stated that ethnicity remained an important part of their daily life; 47% said it played a minor or no role. </p>
<p>Most (84%) agreed with a statement that tribal identities hurt Kenyan politics more than they helped. More than one student said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Tribalism is killing us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many students felt, though, that ethnic discrimination negatively affected their lives and politics. Over a third (38%) stated that members of their group faced disadvantages because of their ethnicity. </p>
<p>That number rose to nearly half among students from the Luo ethnic group, who have been repeatedly denied access to the presidency. They are the base of support for presidential candidate <a href="https://theconversation.com/odinga-is-running-his-fifth-presidential-race-why-the-outcome-means-so-much-for-kenya-180605">Raila Odinga</a>. </p>
<p>The number was greater than half for students from ethnic groups with historically even less political power, such as the Luhya, Kamba and Kisii. </p>
<p>Students’ perceptions of discrimination <a href="https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/maihassan/wp-content/uploads/sites/412/2016/10/resourcedistribution.pdf">reflected</a> the common belief in Kenya that members of the president’s ethnic group reap social and economic benefits. Many students stated that the Kikuyu and Kalenjin had advantages in society since, as one student put it, “the president and deputy come from there.” </p>
<p>As a result, Kenyan youth feel pressured to participate in ethnic politics despite their stated dislike of tribalism. </p>
<p>One student stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The big fear is that if we do not look out for ourselves, no one will look after us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Accordingly, 40% of surveyed students agreed that having a co-ethnic in government was important to them. </p>
<p>Only 29%, however, admitted to listening to the political opinions of their ethnic or tribal leaders. This suggests that the youth accept that having a co-ethnic in power has important material benefits, while also acknowledging the dangerous effects of ethnic politics. </p>
<p>Thus, we have a mixed picture: Kenyan youth continue to engage in ethnic politics out of pragmatism. In their actions, they appear to be far from “tribeless”, despite widespread resentment of this system. </p>
<h2>Moving beyond ethnic politics</h2>
<p>How a country like Kenya can move past ethnic politics is something scholars and policy practitioners have long tried to understand. We don’t have many new answers from our research. However, Kenyan students echo many of the solutions proposed by scholars. </p>
<p>For example, students in our survey cited problems with Kenya’s electoral system, in which the “winner takes all”. </p>
<p>They suggested ways to increase power-sharing and inclusion, such as rotating positions between ethnic groups. </p>
<p>Kenyan university students have a sophisticated understanding of liberal democracy and the reforms necessary for it to overcome ethnic divisions. They also tend to support further constitutional reforms to create a less polarised system. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/young-kenyans-have-their-say-about-politics-corruption-and-their-sense-of-belonging-149368">Young Kenyans have their say about politics, corruption and their sense of belonging</a>
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<p>This explains why #TribelessYouth founder Kihika remains hopeful. She told us:</p>
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<p>There is a huge number of youth candidates both on political party tickets and as independents. Additionally, young people in the civic space are on the frontline. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, as shown by the recently failed and polarising move to change the Kenyan constitution – under the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/world/africa/kenya-supreme-court-constitution.html">Building Bridges Initiative</a> – agreeing on the details of reform is difficult. This is a result of conflict and distrust between self-interested political elites.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186855/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda B. Edgell is affiliated with the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Narrelle Gilchrist and Sebastian Elischer do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Our research found that Kenyan students dislike ethnic-based politics in principle, but feel the pressures of tribalism.Narrelle Gilchrist, PhD Student, Princeton UniversityAmanda B. Edgell, Assistant professor, University of AlabamaSebastian Elischer, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1850042022-06-17T12:35:08Z2022-06-17T12:35:08ZThe Jan. 6 hearings are tailor-made for social media – that doesn’t mean they’re reaching a wide audience<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469360/original/file-20220616-14-kc6y6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C0%2C5381%2C3568&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Greg Jacob, who was counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence, and Michael Luttig, a retired federal judge, testified about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolRiotInvestigation/bb96c027abd54abb8096b60c39f79aae/photo">Michael Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On June 16, 2022, the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol used its two-hour hearing to paint a picture of a relentless campaign by former President Donald Trump and his allies to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence into throwing the election to Trump.</p>
<p>The committee’s palette included video excerpts from witness interviews, live testimony from associates of both Pence and Trump, and clips showing crucial notes or excerpts from emails. The hearings, of which this was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnf4w6rocm8">the third</a>, run for approximately two-hour chunks of time. That’s a long time in today’s era of quick scrolling, one-minute TikToks and 240-character hot-take tweets. </p>
<p>But what the Jan. 6 committee hearings have shown so far is not the antithesis of social media. On the contrary, these hearings appear to be made for social media, given the elements of the presentation. The quick video cutaways, pithy sound bites and short interview clips, such as former Attorney General William Barr saying “bullshit” on repeat, are all easily broken off from the larger hearings to be repackaged as social media content. </p>
<p>So was the Jan. 6 insurrection.</p>
<p>In the days following the Jan. 6 attack, many pundits seemed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/capitol-building-officers-posed-for-selfies-helped-protesters-2021-1">baffled</a> that the insurrectionists had stormed the Capitol with phones in hand, taking videos and selfies. This seemed self-incriminating, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/opinion/capitol-attack-cellphone-data.html">it turned out to be</a>. Yet <a href="https://datasociety.net/library/media-manipulation-and-disinfo-online/">scholars of the far-right</a> have long discussed how social media has been essential to that community. </p>
<p>Those who stormed the Capitol had a history of using platforms like Reddit, Twitter and YouTube and internet messaging types like memes to spread their views. Storming the Capitol included a simultaneous internet component because the internet was part of the plan from the beginning. It was <a href="https://medium.com/the-shadow/1-6-and-popular-culture-some-reflections-ed6b99c3a0db">no surprise that the insurrectionists documented their actions</a>.</p>
<p>It makes sense that the Jan. 6 committee hearings are equally tuned for social media. The goal of the Jan. 6 committee hearings is to impart information and tell the whole story of what really happened that day, and ideally, to reach as many in the American electorate as possible. Doing so also means understanding today’s media landscape, where clips shared on social media are just as important as the primary broadcast.</p>
<p>Being on social media doesn’t always guarantee that your message will go viral, however.</p>
<h2>Attention by the numbers</h2>
<p>With the frequent use of video interviews from the highest-ranking people in Trump’s circle, including Barr, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the Jan. 6 committee has turned Trump surrogates’ words into clips that can be easily separated from the broader hearings and shared online. </p>
<p>For instance, a Democratic SuperPAC has posted a TikTok video of a clip from <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@meidastouch/video/7107412459752803626?_t=8T9uuUFUSpa&_r=1">a committee interview with Jason Miller</a>, a member of President Trump’s inner circle, with the word “admission” stamped across it. Similar TikToks boast in all caps <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@davidpakmanshow/video/7107685555193875754?_t=8TDUHycIxe2&_r=1">SHOCKING REVELATION FROM J6 HEARING</a> over a clip of Republican Congresswoman and Select Committee Co-Chair Liz Cheney discussing Trump.</p>
<p>The Jan. 6 committee hearings have rightfully drawn historical comparisons to Congress’ Watergate hearings. According to the Nielsen ratings, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-brief-history-of-televised-congressional-hearings-180980240/">an estimated three out of four American households tuned in to those hearings</a> at one point or another. But on Thursday, June 9, only <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/06/10/nearly-19-million-watched-first-jan-6-hearing-prime-time/">18.8 million people tuned in</a> to the prime-time Jan. 6 committee hearings. Of those, just over <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/13/1104529512/analyzing-the-television-ratings-for-the-first-hearing-on-the-jan-6-insurrection">15 million were aged 55 or older</a>. </p>
<p>Social media may be playing a role in how the Jan. 6 committee structures its hearings, but the creation of content doesn’t always translate into consumption. Younger generations don’t seem to be flocking to social media platforms to catch up on the hearings. At the time of writing, videos on TikTok with the hashtags #january6hearing, #january6thhearing and #j6hearings had less than a million views combined, and the hashtag #january6thcommission has 15.5 million views. </p>
<p>Even the hashtag #january6, which includes videos of all aspects of the insurrection dating back to when the attack happened, has just 90.3 million views. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KXZF7HOKs-8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Jan. 6 committee’s use of short video clips has provided fodder for social media.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Compare this to how the recent defamation trial between actors <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61649522">Johnny Depp and Amber Heard played out on TikTok</a>, where the hashtag for those supporting Depp had over 18 billion views. Though TikTok <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-get-more-views-on-tiktok/#:%7E:text=Different%20social%20media%20platforms%20measure,all%20count%20as%20new%20views.">counts a view</a> as the video merely starting, not finishing, this is still a staggering number.</p>
<h2>Breaking through the noise</h2>
<p>The internet has been described as <a href="https://www.humanetech.com/youth/the-attention-economy#:%7E:text=2-,How%20does%20competing%20in%20the%20attention%20economy%20shape%20the%20social,competition%20within%20the%20attention%20economy.">an attention economy</a> in which there is more possible content than any one person could ever consume. The supply massively outpaces the demand. </p>
<p>So what do people, and politicians, do to break through the barrage of content online? Politicians have always chased soundbites, but on social media, grabbing attention is a practice and a mindset. People tend to perform in certain ways to produce content that is likely to stand out online. The Jan. 6 committee is no exception.</p>
<p>While viral moments can stand out from big, televised events <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-the-ratings-nbcs-olympics-telecast-showed-videos-future-165856">like the Olympics</a>, fewer and fewer people are tuning in to these in real time. </p>
<p>Crafting the Jan. 6 committee hearings to stand out on social media may not be having the committee’s desired effect. There could be numerous explanations for the lack of viral moments from the Jan. 6 committee hearings, from so-called <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Trump-fatigue%20Syndrome">Trump Fatigue Syndrome</a> to being so inundated by large media events – war, mass shootings, Supreme Court rulings – that it becomes harder and harder to stand out. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-brief-history-of-televised-congressional-hearings-180980240/">As the Washington Post reported on the Watergate hearings</a>, one woman said, “I’ve got to hurry home and watch the Senate investigation on TV. It’s more fun than an X-rated movie.” </p>
<p>But that’s not today’s media landscape. And as hyperpartisanship abounds, with Fox News refusing to air the hearings in prime time, trying to make noise on other media becomes crucial as a strategy to get a message out there. </p>
<p>While there is an argument that the hearings shouldn’t be about chasing internet fame, getting through to the public is important. And bits of information from the Jan. 6 committee are better than nothing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Maddox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Today’s media landscape is a far cry from the days of Watergate. A media scholar looks at the challenge the Jan. 6 committee faces in getting the hearings to break through in the age of TikTok.Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Creative Media, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1845922022-06-09T17:46:01Z2022-06-09T17:46:01ZRegardless of seditious conspiracy charges’ outcome, right-wing groups like Proud Boys seek to build a white nation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467831/original/file-20220608-25-wb8uxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C0%2C5083%2C3378&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Oath Keepers stand at the east front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreachJan6Lawsuit/dc35ae1cd6ba47e0a48ac92ba8017205/photo">AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the House Select Committee held its first public hearing on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, far-right groups including the <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520300453/alt-right-gangs">Proud Boys</a> and the <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/oath-keepers/9780231193450">Oath Keepers</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/us/politics/jan-6-hearings-tv-democrats.html">were a prominent topic of discussion</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time, both of those groups’ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/us/politics/proud-boys-charged-sedition-capitol-attack.html">leaders</a> are facing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/06/06/tarrio-proud-boys-seditious-conpiracy/">criminal charges</a> of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/us/politics/oath-keepers-stewart-rhodes.html">seditious conspiracy</a>. They are alleged to have worked together “<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22053617-tarrio-et-al-superseding-indictment">to oppose by force the authority</a> of the Government of the United States.”</p>
<p>Those charges can be difficult to prove in court. But regardless of the outcome of any prosecution that alleges these groups worked to overthrow the government, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fjys1XAAAAAJ&hl=en">our</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cLpO6QwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">research</a> has shown that the more committed members of these and other <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Far+Right+Today-p-9781509536856">extreme right-wing groups</a> believe that the U.S. government, as currently constituted, is illegitimate and should be overthrown and replaced with one that is based on white supremacy.</p>
<h2>Violent racism</h2>
<p>Proud Boys have identified themselves as “<a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/proud-boys-leader-from-wa-faces-sedition-charge-in-u-s-capitol-insurrection/">Western chauvinists</a>” who focus on opposing political correctness and white guilt. But these claims have generally been seen as <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys">cover for deeper racist and antisemitic sentiments</a>. For some Proud Boys members, this group was a steppingstone to more <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/proud-boys-far-right-group-1183966/">extreme groups, such as The Base</a>.</p>
<p>Like any <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2018.1467003">street gang</a>, the Proud Boys as a national group is made up of semi-autonomous chapters of varying numbers and abilities. They are in different degrees of contact and coordination with other chapters. It’s not clear the level of interest – or capability – that most members have in actually following through with overthrowing the government.</p>
<p>Oath Keepers is an anti-government group that calls itself a “<a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/oath-keepers/9780231193450">militia</a>” focused on <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/oath-keepers">defending the Constitution and fighting tyranny</a>. Former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove stated that the group is actually “<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/oath-keepers-spokesperson-warns-wing-propaganda-dangerous-bullets/story?id=82094999">selling the revolution</a>,” meaning that the group is pushing conspiracy theories and propaganda to facilitate confrontations with federal law enforcement.</p>
<p>While members of the <a href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/pride-prejudice-the-violent-evolution-of-the-proud-boys/">Proud Boys</a> have concentrated their confrontations on <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-or-who-is-antifa-140147">anti-fascists</a> or other protesters, Oath Keepers have participated in several armed standoffs against the government. </p>
<p>In 2014, the <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/standoff-nevada-years-ago-set-militia-movement-crash/story?id=82051940">Oath Keepers joined an armed standoff</a> between far-right patriot groups in Nevada on behalf of <a href="https://www.npr.org/podcasts/606441988/bundyville">Cliven Bundy</a>. In 2015, Oath Keepers showed up heavily armed in Ferguson, Missouri, during protests over the killing of <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-oath-keeper-who-wants-to-arm-black-lives-matter-59109/">Michael Brown</a>. And in 2016, Oath Keepers were present at the armed takeover of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/7/13489640/oath-keepers-donald-trump-voter-fraud-intimidation-rigged">Malheur National Wildlife Refuge</a> in Oregon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd, including a person carrying a megaphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467833/original/file-20220608-25-2k5nof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Proud Boys, along with others, march toward the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CapitolBreachProudBoys/9e3a1ebb87a34cc394b34446e00ab3f0/photo">AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A challenging road</h2>
<p>Historically, prosecutions of seditious conspiracy charges succeeded against <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/10/02/sheik-9-others-convicted-in-ny-bomb/5bd7099a-f960-4d32-b02d-8165302dd594/">militant Islamist</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/12/us/after-9-months-of-delays-us-tries-3-for-sedition.html">Marxist groups</a>.</p>
<p>But prosecuting far-right groups has tended to be much more difficult. In 1988, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674286078">Louis Beam, a figurehead in the white power movement</a>, and 13 white supremacists from groups such as the Aryan Brotherhood and the Ku Klux Klan were <a href="https://apnews.com/article/604c50e36bd020ac70be35445b12d059">acquitted</a> of conspiring to kill a federal judge and an FBI agent and plotting to overthrow the federal government to establish an all-white nation in the Pacific Northwest.</p>
<p>In 2012, charges of seditious conspiracy against members of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2010/04/12/125856761/how-the-fbi-got-inside-the-hutaree-militia">Hutaree</a>, a militant far-right <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-capitol-siege-recalls-past-acts-of-christian-nationalist-violence-153059">Christian nationalist</a> group, were <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-hutaree/three-hutaree-militia-members-sentenced-in-detroit-to-time-served-idUSBRE8770ZQ20120808">dismissed</a> after the judge concluded the government had not proved there was an actual conspiracy.</p>
<p>But it is clear from the charges stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection – involving <a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-merrick-garland-government-and-politics-conspiracy-crime-c2e427dc0fa16077d7fb98c06e61149f">hundreds of alleged participants</a> – that police and prosecutors are <a href="https://contexts.org/articles/why-law-enforcement-needs-to-classify-far-right-groups-as-gangs/">taking seriously the threat of violent action</a> by <a href="https://www.start.umd.edu/publication/extremist-groupmovement-affiliations-january-6-capitol-rioters">Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other far-right groups</a> against individuals, organizations and local and national governments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184592/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>White supremacist groups seek to solidify their control over the US by changing the government, sometimes by violence.Matthew Valasik, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of AlabamaShannon Reid, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of North Carolina – CharlotteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1820232022-05-03T13:10:55Z2022-05-03T13:10:55ZElon Musk’s comments about Twitter don’t square with the social media platform’s reality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460128/original/file-20220427-24-jhfroy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C4768%2C3162&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Elon Musk has called Twitter the world's "digital town square."</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SpaceXCapsuleTest/22a2230808c34b38856b7f4afa01642b/photo">AP Photo/John Raoux</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On April 25, 2022, Twitter’s board of directors accepted Elon Musk’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/25/tech/elon-musk-twitter-sale-agreement/index.html">US$44 billion hostile takeover bid</a>. Twitter’s <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elon-musk-to-acquire-twitter-301532245.html">statement announcing the deal</a> included comments from the Tesla and SpaceX CEO:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The problem with Musk’s statement is that it fundamentally misunderstands speech, algorithms and bots and human authentication. As a researcher who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0LbmlocAAAAJ&hl=en">studies social media</a>, I believe that if anything is cause for concern about this transaction, it is this misunderstanding.</p>
<h2>Digital town square?</h2>
<p>Despite Musk’s comments, Twitter was not designed or intended to be a digital town square. While many platforms tout community-building, Twitter has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2056305120926622">not to date made such a claim</a>. Instead, Twitter has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2014.902984">prioritized information-sharing</a> over community, making it a space for millions of town criers, but not a town square for people to come together and debate.</p>
<p>Twitter has been a notable epicenter of online vitriol in the past, so much so that when the company was up for sale previously, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-17/disney-said-to-have-dropped-twitter-pursuit-partly-over-image">potential buyers, including Disney, were scared off</a> by the harassment and hate on the platform. A 2017 study found that <a href="https://mashable.com/article/amnesty-study-twitter-abuse-women">women were harassed every 30 seconds</a> on Twitter, with Black women being the <a href="https://www.colorlines.com/articles/new-study-confirms-black-women-are-most-abused-group-twitter">most frequently abused</a>. </p>
<p>Additionally, the ease with which people can create and tweet images of <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/snickers-dick-vein-dont-let-this-flop-podcast-1343163/">doctored news articles</a> and generate <a href="https://www.tweetgen.com/">fake tweets</a> helps spread misinformation – essentially, tools that help amplify the voices of malicious town criers. These are examples of how Twitter is about information-sharing first, community-building second. Someone can shout harassment, hate or misinformation, and then others pile on.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460849/original/file-20220502-16-n4y3bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a woman speaks into a microphone and foreground as a man and a woman behind her holdup a poster displaying a message about a Twitter account suspension" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460849/original/file-20220502-16-n4y3bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460849/original/file-20220502-16-n4y3bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460849/original/file-20220502-16-n4y3bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460849/original/file-20220502-16-n4y3bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460849/original/file-20220502-16-n4y3bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460849/original/file-20220502-16-n4y3bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460849/original/file-20220502-16-n4y3bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Twitter has taken steps to counter misinformation on the social media platform, including suspending the accounts of serial offenders like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/HouseGreene/4037a7acfd9b404b99c982197c1ca22b/photo">AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin</a></span>
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<p>Also, arguments for free speech raise the question: Free speech for whom? Law and lived experience do not always align – ask any person of color, woman, LGBTQ person or disabled person who has experienced harassment online, <a href="https://www.essence.com/news/black-women-twitter-harassment/">particularly on Twitter</a>. Long-standing conceptions of the public sphere, or town square, feature a <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/long-life-nancy-frasers-rethinking-public-sphere">romanticized conception of white men</a> debating issues, while others are relegated to the margins.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Musk, who has <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk">over 90 million Twitter followers</a>, has himself engaged in harmful behavior on Twitter. In 2018, in now-deleted tweets, Musk referred to a diver who was helping rescue children from a flooded cave in Thailand as “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200803133851/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/15/elon-musk-british-diver-thai-cave-rescue-pedo-twitter">a pedo guy</a>.” At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Musk tweeted <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51975377">erroneous claims</a> that children “are essentially immune” to the coronavirus and <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1239776019856461824?s=20&t=M8rGAs8UommS5FxQ2lUAoA">promoted chloroquine</a>, which is <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-hydroxychloroquine">not recommended</a> as a COVID-19 treatment.</p>
<h2>Open algorithms</h2>
<p>Musk’s pledge to open Twitter’s algorithms to public scrutiny sounds good. </p>
<p>Twitter’s algorithms have been a source of controversy. For example, many conservative politicians claim the algorithms silence them. Research from <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/engineering/en_us/topics/insights/2021/learnings-from-the-first-algorithmic-bias-bounty-challenge">inside</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/10/22/twitter-algorithm-right-leaning/">outside</a> Twitter has routinely shown this is not the case, and Twitter algorithms actually <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25738-6">amplify conservative tweets</a> over left-leaning ones. Transparency, in theory, could address these concerns.</p>
<p>But transparency doesn’t get at the root of the problem. Algorithms are popular targets in debates about social media platforms, political bias and misinformation because it’s easy to blame opaque technological systems. It’s harder to offer solutions for the political and personal motivations some people have to manipulate algorithms. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ajl.org/">While algorithmic harm is a real problem</a>, algorithms are always programmed by people. Understanding the human decision-making processes that go into algorithms is a more worthwhile inquiry than simply revealing code. </p>
<h2>Bots and humans</h2>
<p>Like algorithms, bots are often blamed for many of Twitter’s ills. And like algorithms, bots are always programmed by humans. They do not act of their own accord, which means a productive line of inquiry is why people program bots to spam in the first place. </p>
<p>Musk has pledged to eliminate spambots by requiring all Twitter users to be authenticated as real people, but this would eliminate all bots – even the good ones. </p>
<p>Bots can serve important organizational purposes, given the immense amount of information on the internet. They also provide humor and whimsy when programmed for fun – such as <a href="https://twitter.com/ReutersPitchbot">journalism pitch bots</a>, which make up fake headlines for news outlets. There are also amusing bots such as <a href="https://twitter.com/EmojiMashupPlus">Emoji Mashup</a>, which tweets out novel emojis remixed from existing ones.</p>
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<p>While conversations about bots and human authentication often go hand in hand, the latter often involves considerations of multiple accounts and anonymity. Facebook has been a proponent of the Real Name Web, or the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-apologizes-for-real-name-policy-2014-10">push to have one singular identity online</a> that can be tied to one’s offline identity. But platforms like Twitter and Instagram have allowed users to assume multiple identities and mask their identity by having multiple accounts, often referred to as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/30/style/finsta-instagram-accounts-senate.html">Finstas</a> or <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/7xgpw9/finsta-twitter-alts-why-secret-social-media-accounts-feature">alts</a>.</p>
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<p>On these accounts, the identity of the person behind the screen is not always straightforward. And while some argue <a href="https://www.andrewgriffithmp.com/campaigns/ending-online-anonymity">removing anonymity would help solve online problems</a>, research has shown time and time again that removing anonymity <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/the-explainer/2021/10/would-ending-online-anonymity-reduce-abuse-against-mps">does not stop hate speech, vitriol or racism</a>. </p>
<h2>Fixing Twitter</h2>
<p>At the end of the day, Twitter’s problems are first and foremost human problems. The technological issues are only buttressed by the people who design or misuse them. </p>
<p>In Musk’s statement, he proposes that essentially more Twitter – Twitter as a digital square, transparent Twitter algorithms and Twitter solutions to bots and authentication – is the solution to all the platform’s problems. History shows that simply would not be the case.</p>
<p>If Musk is serious about making Twitter a healthy, vibrant component of the digital public sphere, he’ll need to engage with all users to understand the myriad experiences on the platform – especially those who have faced the most harm. </p>
<p>And I believe he should understand Twitter not as an online microcosm but a symptom representative of larger social and political ills.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182023/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Maddox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Elon Musk has an idea of what ails Twitter and what needs to be done to fix it. The problem is his assumptions are wrong.Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Creative Media, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1791972022-03-18T12:30:58Z2022-03-18T12:30:58ZHow poetry can help people get through hard times – 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452578/original/file-20220316-7879-d9br05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C0%2C4492%2C3006&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Poetry can be a way for people to come together. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/poet-amanda-gorman-recites-one-of-her-poems-during-the-59th-news-photo/1230698197?adppopup=true">Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian American writer Ilya Kaminsky’s poem “<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/91413/we-lived-happily-during-the-war">We Lived Happily During the War</a>” went <a href="https://headtopics.com/us/ukrainian-american-poet-ilya-kaminsky-on-his-viral-poem-and-watching-a-war-from-afar-24515047">viral across social media</a>. </p>
<p>Poetry can often help people make sense of the world in difficult times. For <a href="https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldpoetryday">World Poetry Day</a>, The Conversation U.S. has gathered four articles on the power of poetry.</p>
<h2>1. Poetry gives people a voice</h2>
<p>In 1991, Kentucky poet Frank X. Walker coined the term “Affrilachian” after attending a poetry reading that featured several Black Appalachian poets. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Oyx-_UIAAAAJ&hl=en">Amy M. Alvarez</a>, assistant teaching professor of English at West Virginia University, and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sikWDEQAAAAJ&hl=en">Jameka Hartley</a>, an instructor of gender and race studies at University of Alabama, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-black-poets-and-writers-gave-a-voice-to-affrilachia-155706">wrote</a> on the history of how Black people in Appalachia found their voice in poetry.</p>
<p>“By coining the terms ‘Affrilachia’ and ‘Affrilachian,’ Walker sought to upend assumptions about who is part of Appalachia,” they write. “Rather than accepting the single story of Appalachia as white and poor, Walker wrote a new one, forging a path for Black Appalachian artists.” </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-black-poets-and-writers-gave-a-voice-to-affrilachia-155706">How Black poets and writers gave a voice to 'Affrilachia'</a>
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<h2>2. Comforting us in grief</h2>
<p>After many of her loved ones died, Emily Dickinson fell into a deep depression. She secluded herself in her home and wrote nearly 2,000 poems – many of which were about grief and death. One of her most famous poems, “<a href="https://www.clarabartonmuseum.org/dickinson/">It Feels A Shame To Be Alive</a>,” was written in the midst of the Civil War.</p>
<p>Dickinson’s poems resonate well during a pandemic that’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/14/world/europe/youth-mental-health-covid.html">left many people in despair</a>, wrote <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-redmond-1141608">Matthew Redmond</a>, a doctoral candidate in English at Stanford University. </p>
<p>“Dickinson’s imagery shows how keenly she would have understood what we might feel, dwarfed by a mountain of mortality that will not stop growing,” Redmond <a href="https://theconversation.com/emily-dickinson-is-the-unlikely-hero-of-our-time-144262">wrote</a>. “The same anger, exhaustion and sense of futility were her constant companions in later life.” </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/emily-dickinson-is-the-unlikely-hero-of-our-time-144262">Emily Dickinson is the unlikely hero of our time</a>
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<h2>3. Poetry can help students learn</h2>
<p>Amanda Gorman <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/meet-amanda-gorman-the-youngest-inaugural-poet-in-us-history.html">made headlines in 2021</a> when, at 22, she became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. Her success was an opportunity for educators to use spoken-word poetry to teach students. </p>
<p>Three educators – <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kathleen-m-alley-1200226">Kathleen M. Alley</a>, associate professor of literacy at Mississippi State University; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mukoma-wa-ngugi-1205002">Mukoma Wa Ngugi</a>, associate professor of literatures in English at Cornell University; and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wendy-r-williams-1200173">Wendy R. Williams</a>, assistant professor of English at Arizona State University – <a href="https://theconversation.com/amanda-gormans-poetry-shows-why-spoken-word-belongs-in-school-153838">wrote</a> on how teaching spoken-word poetry can benefit students. </p>
<p>Spoken-word poetry “holds the promise of helping young people to connect with ideas as well as providing a means to deepen comprehension and develop understanding and empathy, which can then be applied to real-world situations,” wrote Alley. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/amanda-gormans-poetry-shows-why-spoken-word-belongs-in-school-153838">Amanda Gorman's poetry shows why spoken word belongs in school</a>
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<h2>4. Poetry can helps us laugh in dark times</h2>
<p>James Bond is known for delivering classic one-liners, especially in the face of danger.</p>
<p>In “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059800/">Thunderball</a>”, Bond harpoons a villain and then jokes, “I think he got the point.”</p>
<p>[<em>Over 150,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>But killer zingers like his can also be found in ancient poems. In Homer’s “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22382">The Iliad</a>,” Polydamas spears Prothoenor in the shoulder. As Prothoenor dies, Polydamas jokingly suggests that his spear will be good tool for Prothoenor to lean on like “a staff when he descends to the underworld.”</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-m-mcclellan-1196263">Andrew M. McClellan</a>, a lecturer in classics and humanities at San Diego State University, wrote about why ancient poets literally loved to add insult to injury. </p>
<p>“The jokes are for the audience, and it’s as close as the genre gets to breaking the fourth wall,” he <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ancient-history-of-adding-insult-to-injury-170612">wrote</a>. “Viewers are attuned to these witticisms not simply because they are funny, but because they’re self-consciously ridiculous. They help distance the audience from the often horrific levels of violence on display.” </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ancient-history-of-adding-insult-to-injury-170612">The ancient history of adding insult to injury</a>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Poetry can unite people when all seems lost. The Conversation US has pulled together four articles from its archives that speak on the power of poetry.Alvin Buyinza, Editorial and Outreach Assistant, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1782782022-03-10T13:26:42Z2022-03-10T13:26:42ZUkraine’s Twitter account is a national version of real-time trauma processing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451048/original/file-20220309-17-13avo6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C507%2C383&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A meme showing Adolf Hitler caressing Russian President Vladimir Putin's face, tweeted by the official Ukraine state account on Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russia invaded.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1496716168920547331?s=20&t=kS8gglXdK0_ckSqFGR9qIQ">Official Ukraine Twitter account</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>TikToks of cats in <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@magnus_the_orange/video/7067916700422851846">cardboard tanks</a>. <a href="https://happymag.tv/gen-z-vladimir-putin/">Flirty comments</a> on Instagram accounts dedicated to Vladmir Putin, begging him to stop Russia’s attacks on Ukraine. Memes <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/t1nlfl/lately_covid_has_been_forgotten/">bemoaning</a> what it’s like to live during a pandemic and war. </p>
<p><a href="https://inews.co.uk/opinion/memes-decade-unite-masses-377384">Memes, cats and TikToks are central features</a> of contemporary internet culture. And sometimes, internet culture is all three at the same time, using commonly understood templates in conjunction with cute and silly themes and materials that don’t automatically seem to mesh with the catastrophic consequences of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0LbmlocAAAAJ&hl=en">As a scholar of social media platforms and internet popular culture</a>, I know that cute animal images, including cat images, are a defining communication practice online. While cats, memes and TikToks – and sometimes cat memes and cat TikToks – are ways to process and respond to current events, they are also emerging, most recently in the Ukraine war, as a way to cope with toxic, harmful and tragic situations. </p>
<p>Much of the public’s way of thinking about the internet has been through dichotomies: There’s online, and then there’s offline. There are cute cat videos, and then there are misinformation and harassment. There’s TikTok, and then there’s world politics.</p>
<p>But if <a href="https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report_Volume1.pdf">Russia’s attacks on the 2016 United States election</a> taught anything , it’s that internet culture is now world politics, not some separate and distinct realm. There are recent examples of this, such as the TikTok <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@diplomacyoffrance/video/6996785527521283334">livestreaming</a> of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, and TikTok users’ organizing to buy tickets for a rally for then-U.S. President Donald Trump, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-tulsa.html">only to not show up</a>. </p>
<p>Famed media theorist <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/understanding-media">Marshall McLuhan once said that the medium is the message</a>, meaning that the mode of communication carries meaning as well as the communication itself. And if that’s the case, then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reveals that memes and cute cat content aren’t just for fun and entertainment any longer. Now, the cultural practices underscoring internet culture have become a frame through which to process catastrophe.</p>
<h2>The memes of official Ukraine</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2200/RR2237/RAND_RR2237.pdf">Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to understand</a> how to manipulate the cultural practices and tactics of the internet. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/18/how-russia-weaponized-social-media-got-caught-escaped-consequences/">Putin’s Russia knew how to use</a> memes, Facebook groups and other social media platforms to sow discord in 2016 and beyond. In the lead-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Russia’s Internet Research Agency planted <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/russia-ira-propaganda-senate-report/">polarizing memes and tweets</a> on police brutality, Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ issues on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.</p>
<p>But memes, TikToks and tweets aren’t just used for polarizing ends. The <a href="https://twitter.com/Ukraine">official Ukraine Twitter account</a>, run by the Ukrainian government, has used internet culture to communicate about Russia’s aggression.</p>
<p>As tensions escalated between Russia and Ukraine in the latter half of 2021, the official Ukraine Twitter account began tweeting about the aggression. This often came through using memes, two of which are good examples:</p>
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<p>In one meme, Ukraine communicates the overall message that living next to Russia is a constant source of stress and pain. The meme shows in red the specific location on the head of three types of common headaches: migraines, hypertension and stress. But there’s a fourth headache depicted, called “Living next to Russia.” Its location covers not just one spot on the head, but the entire head and neck.</p>
<p>The second meme has a dog sitting calmly next to a life-size werewolf statue. At the top, the meme says, “Putin’s real fears.” Lower in the picture, the dog has the words “Ukraine in NATO” superimposed on top of it. Next to the dog, the vicious-looking werewolf has text over it saying, “Human rights, free press, fair elections.” The juxtaposition of the harmless-looking dog and threatening werewolf communicates that Putin is actually afraid of freedoms for the Russian people, because such freedoms are a threat to his power - while Ukraine joining NATO is not, the meme suggests.</p>
<h2>Large-scale trauma processing</h2>
<p>After <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/24/world/russia-ukraine-putin">Russia began its large-scale invasion of Ukraine</a> on Feb. 24, 2022, many on social media noticed Ukraine’s tweets for the first time and <a href="https://www.protocol.com/policy/ukraine-twitter-memes">seemed baffled</a> by why a nation’s official Twitter account would tweet such things. </p>
<p>But again, if memes, cats and TikToks are ways to process catastrophe in real time, then Ukraine’s Twitter account is a national version of real-time trauma processing, using formats people are familiar with.</p>
<p>The communal nature of memes, cats, TikToks and social media in general cannot be ignored. Memes are digital communication devices that grow and expand the more people share and create them. Cats invite sharing a cute image with another person. TikTok’s mission is to “inspire creativity and bring joy,” and platform features invite interaction with others. And social media are fundamentally social, based almost entirely on communication with others. </p>
<p>With this in mind, Ukraine’s memes and tweets tell something else – that this is their nation’s invitation for more people to enter the conversation. I believe this tells of their need for the rest of the world to stand in communal solidarity with them.</p>
<p>If the medium is the message, then internet cultural practices have become intertwined with geopolitical and military conflicts. Meming war and conflict isn’t always silly – it can be an invitation to communicate, witness, communally process and share.</p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=politics&source=inline-politics-need-to-know">Sign up for Politics Weekly</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178278/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Maddox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How do a country and its citizens deal with the trauma of a deadly invasion by an enemy? Memes, cats and TikToks are emerging – most recently in the Ukraine war – as a way to cope with tragedy.Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor and Co-Director, Office of Politics, Communication and Media, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1679572021-10-11T12:17:14Z2021-10-11T12:17:14ZHow your emotional response to the COVID-19 pandemic changed your behavior and your sense of time<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425567/original/file-20211008-27-1lb0pbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=471%2C179%2C1158%2C900&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If you had faith in the development of effective treatments, time tended to pass quickly.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/deformed-clock-royalty-free-image/839931890?adppopup=true">tolgart/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic, now in its 19th month, has meant different things to different people. For some, it’s meant stress over new school and work regimes, or anxiety over the prospect of catching COVID-19 and dealing with the aftereffects of an infection. But for others, it’s created space and freedom to pursue new passions or make decisions that had been put off. </p>
<p>Our upended lives – for better or for worse – also likely influenced our perception of time.</p>
<p>In June 2020, we were part of a team of researchers <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-stay-at-home-slowdown-how-the-pandemic-upended-our-perception-of-time-139258">who presented initial evidence</a> that an individual’s sense of time during the pandemic was closely related to their emotions.</p>
<p>People who reported feeling high levels of stress and nervousness in March and April 2020 also tended to feel that time was passing more slowly, but people who reported feeling high levels of happiness felt that time was passing more quickly. (Yes, believe it or not, there was a good chunk of people <a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/lifestyle/article/enjoying-lockdown">who enjoyed their time spent in lockdown</a>.) </p>
<p>It turns out that even during a pandemic, time flies when you’re having fun. </p>
<p>With a year’s worth of data, we were able to see how people’s views on the progress of the pandemic were related to their sense of time, their emotional states and whether they behaved in ways intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.</p>
<h2>Where does the time go?</h2>
<p>Time is a funny thing. On the one hand, it’s incredibly precise and consistent – an objective measure. Each day on Earth <a href="https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/days/en/">lasts exactly 23.934 hours</a>, the length of time it takes the Earth to rotate once along its axis. </p>
<p>On the other hand, how we feel or perceive time passing is neither consistent nor precise. Many people will probably agree that 23.934 hours seem to pass much faster on a Saturday than on a Monday. </p>
<p>Dr. Gable has spent the past decade exploring how two highly related concepts – emotion and motivation – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/mot0000044">play</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611435817">a large role</a>.</p>
<p>Motivation is a part of emotion and can either be described as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.03.030">approach motivation</a>” or “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1754073913477990">avoidance motivation</a>.” The former is characterized by the tendency to engage with others or pursue goals when we experience positive emotions, such as excitement and joy. The latter refers to the tendency to pull away from others when we experience negative emotions, such as sadness or fear.</p>
<p>Approach motivation is associated with time passing more rapidly, which ultimately results in spending more time engaged with something that makes us feel good. </p>
<p>Avoidance motivation is associated with time passing more slowly, which motivates us to escape from potentially harmful situations.</p>
<p>Under normal circumstances, these relationships help us effectively pursue our goals and maintain our safety. Consider how long you’ll spend absorbed in a good book and how quickly you try to escape from a threatening situation. </p>
<p>But what happens in extreme circumstances? Thanks to a grant from the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a>, we were able to investigate for the first year of the pandemic how people’s motivations and emotions altered their sense of time. </p>
<h2>Initial results</h2>
<p>In April 2020, Dr. Gable and his team asked 1,000 Americans about their sense of time and emotional experiences over the previous month.</p>
<p>Almost 50% of these individuals reported that time seemed to be dragging by, which was strongly related to higher levels of stress and nervousness. These respondents also reported practicing social distancing more often. Roughly 25% of participants said time seemed to be flying by, which was associated with feeling happy and glad. The remaining 25% of participants felt no change in their sense of time. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman looks at hourglass with map of world dripping through the opening." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425568/original/file-20211008-25658-l57f8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425568/original/file-20211008-25658-l57f8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425568/original/file-20211008-25658-l57f8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425568/original/file-20211008-25658-l57f8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425568/original/file-20211008-25658-l57f8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425568/original/file-20211008-25658-l57f8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425568/original/file-20211008-25658-l57f8j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The COVID-19 pandemic was an event that touched just about everyone – making it an ideal period to study the relationship between emotion and time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-shielding-eyes-by-blue-hourglass-with-world-royalty-free-image/1341637440?adppopup=true">Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A month later, we contacted the same people and asked the same questions. About 10% of those who had previously reported time passing slowly said it was moving more quickly. And more of them said they felt relaxed and calm.</p>
<h2>The rest of the year</h2>
<p>With a full year’s worth of data, we were able to analyze the results across 12 months of the pandemic. (The analysis is still under peer review.) We found that individuals who reported being relaxed, happy and confident felt that time was passing more quickly. </p>
<p>In contrast, participants who reported strong feelings of fear, anxiety or anger – or who felt that their lives were out of control – perceived time passing slowly. This sensation of time moving sluggishly was also associated with greater worry about personally getting COVID-19, anxiety about whether a family member would become infected and concern about how the virus would affect personal finances.</p>
<p>We also found an interesting pattern of results related to participants’ beliefs about the dangers of COVID-19 and the ability to address the spread of the virus. Specifically, participants who felt the government could effectively control the pandemic and that there were effective treatments for COVID-19 felt time was passing more quickly. Participants who felt there was an insufficient amount of medical equipment to treat COVID-19 and felt the virus was highly lethal reported time passing more slowly.</p>
<p>Then there’s the way time perception was connected to behavior.</p>
<p>Over the course of the pandemic, we found that when people were feeling time was moving by more quickly, they were more likely to wear a mask. Meanwhile, when people perceived time passing more slowly, they tended to avoid large gatherings. </p>
<p>[<em>You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=coronavirus-help">Read The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Both limit the spread of the virus. So what might explain the likelihood of one behavior over the other?</p>
<p>Individuals wearing a mask are engaging in more approach-motivated behavior, as wearing a mask doesn’t protect the wearer as much as it <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html">protects those in their vicinity</a>. The more positive people felt, the more likely they were to wear a mask to protect others around them. </p>
<p>Those who avoid large gatherings are engaging in more self-protective, or avoidance-motivated behavior. It prevents you from getting the virus from other people, with fear and avoidance influencing the behavior.</p>
<p>In other words, if you see a light at the end of the tunnel – through treatments and faith in the government’s responses – you’re more likely to have an upbeat attitude and be more motivated to engage in behaviors that help others. If you feel utterly hopeless or sense foreboding doom, time creeps by. This seems to motivate the impulse to hunker down and protect yourself. </p>
<p>As our understanding and awareness of COVID-19 variants increases, so does our understanding of ourselves and how we behave. These findings may highlight the importance of maintaining good habits and finding hobbies that foster positive emotions. That way you won’t be trapped in a cycle of despair, which is only compounded by the sense that time is creeping by.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167957/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Gable receives funding from the National Science Foundation Award #2049706. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Wendel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For the first 12 months of the pandemic, a team of researchers tracked the relationship between emotions, time perception and health-related behaviors like wearing a mask.Philip Gable, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of DelawareChris Wendel, PhD Student in Psychology, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1654422021-10-05T12:25:36Z2021-10-05T12:25:36ZThe brutal trade in enslaved people within the US has been largely whitewashed out of history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424260/original/file-20211001-23-1qfgihp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=109%2C59%2C6389%2C4660&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A trade card with printed black type for the domestic slave traders Hill, Ware and Chrisp.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.si.edu/object/trade-card-great-negro-mart-memphis-tennessee:nmaahc_2014.63.17">Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For my <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/joshua-d-rothman/the-ledger-and-the-chain/9781541616615/">book, “The Ledger and the Chain</a>,” I visited more than 30 archives in over a dozen states, from Louisiana to Connecticut. Along the way, I uncovered mountains of material that exposed the depravity of the men who ran the largest domestic slave trading operation in American history and revealed the fortitude of the enslaved people they trafficked as merchandise. </p>
<p>But I also learned that many Americans do not realize that a domestic slave trade existed in the U.S. at all. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423887/original/file-20210929-28-apix4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A domestic slave trader's newspaper ad from 1844 says 'CASH FOR NEGROES.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423887/original/file-20210929-28-apix4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423887/original/file-20210929-28-apix4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423887/original/file-20210929-28-apix4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423887/original/file-20210929-28-apix4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423887/original/file-20210929-28-apix4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423887/original/file-20210929-28-apix4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423887/original/file-20210929-28-apix4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Slave trader Joseph Bruin placed this advertisement in the Alexandria Gazette on March 20, 1844.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/historic/info/archaeology/1315DukeStBuildingHistorySkolnik2021.pdf">City of Alexandria, Virginia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mentioning my research to others repeatedly provoked questions about Africa, not America. They obviously assumed that a scholar working on the slave trade must be working on the trade that brought millions of Africans to the Western Hemisphere via <a href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/slave-ships-and-the-middle-passage/">the terrifying Atlantic Ocean crossing known as the Middle Passage</a>. </p>
<p>They did not appear to know that by the time slavery ended in 1865, <a href="https://eji.org/news/history-racial-injustice-domestic-slave-trade/">more than 1 million enslaved people</a> had been forcibly moved across state lines in their own country, or that hundreds of thousands more had been bought and sold within individual states.</p>
<p>Americans continue to misunderstand how slavery worked and how vast was its reach – even as the histories of race and slavery are <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/08/17/how-should-we-address-the-uss-history-of-slavery-and-racism-heres-what-americans-think/">central to ongoing public conversations</a>.</p>
<h2>Indifference to suffering</h2>
<p>Enslaved people were bought and sold within the boundaries of what is now the United States dating back to the Colonial era. But the domestic slave trade accelerated dramatically in the decades after 1808. </p>
<p>That year, <a href="https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/act-prohibit-importation-slaves">Congress outlawed the importation of enslaved people from overseas</a>, and it did so at a moment when demand for enslaved laborers was booming in expanding cotton and sugar plantation regions of the lower South. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423690/original/file-20210928-19-71frqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two vintage posters from the 1840s advertising slave trader services in Kentucky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423690/original/file-20210928-19-71frqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423690/original/file-20210928-19-71frqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423690/original/file-20210928-19-71frqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423690/original/file-20210928-19-71frqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423690/original/file-20210928-19-71frqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423690/original/file-20210928-19-71frqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423690/original/file-20210928-19-71frqn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two posters advertising the services of slave traders L.C. Robards, top, and Silas Marshall and Bro, bottom, Lexington, Ky.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/two-posters-advertising-the-services-of-slave-traders-the-news-photo/532452166?adppopup=true">Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Growing numbers of professional slave traders stepped forward to satisfy that demand. They purchased enslaved people primarily in upper South states like Maryland and Virginia, where <a href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/tobacco-in-colonial-virginia/">a declining tobacco economy</a> left many slaveholders with a surplus of laborers. Traders then <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/slavery-trail-of-tears-180956968/">forced those enslaved people to migrate hundreds of miles</a> over land and by ship, selling them in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and other states where traders hoped to turn a profit.</p>
<p>The domestic slave trade was a brutal and violent business. Enslaved people lived in constant fear that they or their loved ones would be sold. </p>
<p><a href="https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/andersonw/andersonw.html">William Anderson, who was enslaved in Virginia</a>, remembered seeing “hundreds of slaves pass by for the Southern market, chained and handcuffed together.” Years after he fled the South, Anderson wrote of “wives taken from husbands and husbands from wives, never to see each other again – small and large children separated from their parents,” and he never forgot the sounds of their sorrow. “O, I have seen them and heard them howl like dogs or wolves,” he recalled, “when being under the painful obligation of parting to meet no more.” </p>
<p>Slave traders were largely indifferent to the suffering they caused. Asked in the 1830s whether he broke up slave families in the course of his operations, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Slavery_and_the_Internal_Slave_Trade_in/ou4xAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22his+business+is+to+purchase,+and+he+must+take+such+as+are+in+the+market.%22&pg=PA46&printsec=frontcover">one trader admitted that he did so “very often,”</a> because “his business is to purchase, and he must take such as are in the market.” </p>
<h2>‘So wicked’</h2>
<p>Domestic slave traders initially worked mostly out of taverns and hotels. Over time, an increasing number of them established offices, showrooms and prisons where they held enslaved people whom they intended to sell. </p>
<p>By the 1830s, the domestic slave trade was ubiquitous in the slave states. Newspaper advertisements blared “<a href="https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/historic/info/archaeology/1315DukeStBuildingHistorySkolnik2021.pdf">Cash for Negroes.</a>” Storefront signs announced that “dealers in slaves” were inside. At ports and along roads, travelers <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/slavery-trail-of-tears-180956968/">reported seeing scores of enslaved people in chains</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423691/original/file-20210928-32-1trp50t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A handwritten letter announcing the opening of a slave trading company at a hotel in Richmond, Virginia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423691/original/file-20210928-32-1trp50t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423691/original/file-20210928-32-1trp50t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423691/original/file-20210928-32-1trp50t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423691/original/file-20210928-32-1trp50t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423691/original/file-20210928-32-1trp50t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423691/original/file-20210928-32-1trp50t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423691/original/file-20210928-32-1trp50t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An 1852 letter from James B. Hargrove quotes the market prices for enslaved men, women and children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/12137hpr-ceedfabb1958e9a/">Library of Virginia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="http://commonplace.online/article/toxic-debt-liar-loans/">the money the trade generated</a> and the credit that financed it circulated throughout the country and across the Atlantic, as even European banks and merchants looked to share in the gains.</p>
<p>The more visible the trade became, the more antislavery activists made it a core of their appeals. When abolitionist editor Benjamin Lundy, for example, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44392735?seq=8#metadata_info_tab_contents">asked white Americans in the 1820s</a> how long they could look at the slave trade and “permit so disgraceful, so inhuman, and so wicked a practice to continue in our country, which has been emphatically termed THE HOME OF THE FREE,” he was one among a rising chorus. </p>
<p>But abolitionists made little headway. The domestic slave trade ended only when slavery ended in 1865.</p>
<h2>Propaganda obscures history</h2>
<p>Vital to the American economy, important to American politics and central to the experience of enslaved people, the domestic slave trade was an atrocity carried out on a massive scale. As British traveler Joseph Sturge noted, by the 1840s, the entire slaveholding portion of the United States could be characterized by division “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11454/11454-h/11454-h.htm">into the ‘slave-breeding’ and ‘slave-consuming’ States</a>.” </p>
<p>Yet popular historical knowledge of the domestic trade remains hazy, thanks largely to purposeful forgetting and to a propaganda campaign that began before the Civil War and continued long past its conclusion. </p>
<p>White Southerners made denial about the slave trade an important tenet in their defense of slavery. They claimed that slave sales were rare, that they detested the slave trade and that traders were outcasts disdained by respectable people.</p>
<p>Kentucky minister Nathan Lewis Rice’s assertion in 1845 that “<a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000055471916&view=1up&seq=34&q1=disgust">the slave-trader is looked upon by decent men in the slave-holding States with disgust</a>” was such a common sentiment that even white Northerners sometimes parroted it. Nehemiah Adams, for example, a Massachusetts resident who visited the South in 1854, came away from his time in the region believing that “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/South_Side_View_of_Slavery/tuj9nuJGwM0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22negro+traders+are+the+abhorrence+of+all+flesh%22&pg=PA78&printsec=frontcover">Negro traders are the abhorrence of all flesh</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423684/original/file-20210928-20-4wasky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four slave traders with guns guarding enslaved people they were transporting south from Virginia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423684/original/file-20210928-20-4wasky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423684/original/file-20210928-20-4wasky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423684/original/file-20210928-20-4wasky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423684/original/file-20210928-20-4wasky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423684/original/file-20210928-20-4wasky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423684/original/file-20210928-20-4wasky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423684/original/file-20210928-20-4wasky.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Franklin and Armfield slave trading company partner John Armfield watching over enslaved men and women chained together who he and several employees were moving south from Virginia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.virginiamemory.com/online-exhibitions/exhibits/show/to-be-sold/item/387">John Murray/Library of Virginia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Such claims were almost entirely lies. But downplaying the slave trade became a standard element of the racist mythology embedded in <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/lost-cause-definition-and-origins">the defense of the Confederacy known as the Lost Cause</a>, whose purveyors minimized slavery’s significance as they discounted its role in bringing about the Civil War.</p>
<p>And while the Confederacy may have lost on the battlefield, its supporters arguably triumphed in the cultural struggle to define the war and its meaning. Well into the 20th century, significant numbers of white Americans throughout the country accepted and embraced the notion that slavery had been relatively benign.</p>
<p>As they did so, the devastations of the domestic slave trade became buried beneath <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/06/12/gone-with-wind-is-also-confederate-monument-film-instead-stone/">comforting fantasies of moonlight and magnolias evoked by movies like “Gone With the Wind.</a>”</p>
<p>Recent years have seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-confederate-statue-debate-3-essential-reads-82729">monuments to the Confederacy coming down</a> in cities and towns across the country. But the struggle over how Americans remember and talk about slavery, now perhaps more heated and controversial than ever, arguably remains stuck in terms that are legacies of the Lost Cause. </p>
<p>Slavery still conjures images of Southern farms and plantations. But the institution was grounded in the sales of nearly 2 million human beings in the domestic slave trade, the profits from which nurtured the economy of the entire country.</p>
<p>Until that history makes its way more deeply into our popular memory, it will be impossible to come to terms with slavery and its significance for the American past and present.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165442/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I do not currently receive any external funding, but fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, Virginia Humanities, and numerous other institutions did help fund the research that produced the scholarship reflected in this piece.</span></em></p>By the time slavery ended, over 1 million enslaved people had been forcibly moved in the domestic slave trade across state lines. Hundreds of thousands more were bought and sold within states.Joshua D. Rothman, Professor of History, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1648502021-08-18T12:11:01Z2021-08-18T12:11:01ZAn elite Virginia high school overhauled admissions for gifted students – here’s how to tell if the changes are working<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415887/original/file-20210812-15-bincdj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C23%2C5143%2C3344&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax, Va., is the top-ranked public high school in the country.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/thomas-jefferson-high-school-admitted-less-than-10-black-news-photo/1233624493">Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For decades, gifted education and talent development services in public schools have been <a href="https://www.nagc.org/about-nagc/media/press-releases/nagc-denounces-racism-and-stands-social-justice">accused of creating inequities</a> for students of color, students from low-income communities and nonnative English speakers. This year, there seems to be remarkable momentum to change some systems. </p>
<p>Some changes defy common sense. In Virginia, the city of Charlottesville sought to address the equity issue by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2021/06/22/the-town-where-almost-all-the-children-are-gifted/?sh=776102977101">identifying virtually all students</a> as gifted. However, the “gifted” label is no longer connected to any changes to instruction. California is seeking to improve equity in math education by <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-05-20/california-controversial-math-overhaul-focuses-on-equity">blocking students</a> from taking advanced courses like calculus or statistics before their junior year, ostensibly to focus resources on ensuring all students reach those courses. And New York City <a href="https://theconversation.com/ending-testing-for-new-york-citys-gifted-program-may-be-another-blow-to-black-and-latino-students-157381">dropped its exam</a> for 4-year-olds in favor of teachers’ nominating students they believe are gifted, <a href="https://www.aera.net/Newsroom/Research-Finds-Teachers-Just-as-Likely-to-Have-Racial-Bias-as-Non-Teachers">a practice known to be affected by bias</a>.</p>
<p>Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology – a magnet school in Fairfax, Virginia, that <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools/thomas-jefferson-high-school-for-science-and-technology-20461#:%7E:text=Technology%202021%20Rankings-,Thomas%20Jefferson%20High%20School%20for%20Science%20and%20Technology%20is%20ranked,rank%20the%20Best%20High%20Schools">U.S. News & World Report ranks</a> as the <a href="https://patch.com/virginia/greateralexandria/thomas-jefferson-named-top-high-school-u-s-again-u-s-news">top public high school</a> in the country – is one school making changes that are supported by educational research. The school faced <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/thomas-jefferson-admissions-reform/2020/12/07/c0b870de-38b2-11eb-bc68-96af0daae728_story.html">criticism from parents, the community and activists</a> for having a student body that is about 70% Asian while the Fairfax district student population as a whole is about <a href="https://ocrdata.ed.gov/">20% Asian</a>. In response, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/thomas-jefferson-admissions-reform/2020/12/07/c0b870de-38b2-11eb-bc68-96af0daae728_story.html">after extensive debate</a>, the school overhauled its admissions process this year.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Dl_lT8IAAAAJ&hl=en">education researcher</a> who studies how testing can be used to identify academic potential in students from all backgrounds, I can say that some of the changes the Fairfax high school made are backed by evidence. As such, they will likely lead to more students from underrepresented groups completing challenging courses that prepare them for elite colleges. </p>
<p>But whatever the results are, I believe this experiment is an important opportunity for the entire field of gifted education. It will help those interested in creating equitable educational opportunities learn what changes can support greater academic success for more students. </p>
<h2>What was changed</h2>
<p>First, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology increased its freshman class by about 15% – allowing 70 additional students to enroll. Gifted elementary and high school programs, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/09/ivy-league-acceptance-rates-so-low/571678/">just like elite universities</a> in the U.S., are more selective than they need to be. Elite colleges routinely <a href="https://ncglobaledu.com/a-word-about-ivy-league-acceptance-and-rejection/">reject students with near-perfect test scores</a> who clearly have demonstrated the ability to succeed in academics.</p>
<p>The second important change is that the school district <a href="https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2021/06/in-aim-to-boost-diversity-thomas-jefferson-high-offers-550-spots-under-revised-admissions-process/">increased its outreach</a>. This allowed more families to know about the opportunities provided by the school program and how to apply. Researchers have shown that, in highly competitive gifted admissions, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986220941587">insider knowledge</a> is an advantage wealthier parents often have. It helps them optimize their children’s chances of selection.</p>
<p>Third, the high school reduced obstacles to applying, including the $100 application fee and teacher nomination requirements. Other districts may create obstacles by scheduling admissions tests outside of school hours or requiring parents to opt in for consideration rather than having students automatically considered. Not all caregivers are equally able to arrange transportation or understand the information sent home from schools. </p>
<p>And finally, the school <a href="https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/thomas-jefferson-sees-increased-diversity-after-admissions-changes/article_0e5a24fa-d696-11eb-a4a8-af989d5a3338.html">dedicated seats</a> to students who had GPAs in the top 1.5% of each middle school in the district. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2332858419848446">Gifted education research</a> has demonstrated the importance of recognizing that students who perform far above their same-school peers require a more rigorous curriculum. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="President Barack Obama shakes hands with students with large US flag in backdrop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415888/original/file-20210812-14-dx79a9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415888/original/file-20210812-14-dx79a9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415888/original/file-20210812-14-dx79a9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415888/original/file-20210812-14-dx79a9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415888/original/file-20210812-14-dx79a9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415888/original/file-20210812-14-dx79a9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415888/original/file-20210812-14-dx79a9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Obama shakes hands with students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in September 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-barack-obama-shakes-hands-with-students-at-thomas-news-photo/125292212">Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Lessons for other schools</h2>
<p>Some parents at Thomas Jefferson <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/10/thomas-jefferson-high-school-students-parents-are-fighting-changes-admissions-standards-heres-why/?outputType=amp">argued</a> that these changes will lower achievement scores or leave fewer graduates prepared for elite STEM college programs. They are also concerned that teachers will need to water down the curriculum to allow students to succeed. </p>
<p>I suspect the new freshman class will have equivalent or greater success without substantial changes to the curriculum. However, even if the curriculum is adjusted substantially, these changes will help those engaged in education learn more about nurturing academic talent in all students. </p>
<p>One possible outcome is that teachers stick with the standard curriculum and students perform just as well or even better. In other words, no unusual changes are needed for the new cohort of students to maintain similar GPAs, degree completion and admission to selective colleges. This outcome would suggest that the school had been more selective than it needed to be. It should encourage other <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/build-more-thomas-jefferson-high-schools/2021/06/02/72522e04-c178-11eb-89a4-b7ae22aa193e_story.html?outputType=amp">school systems to expand gifted programs</a> and decrease the pressure on families to compete for scarce seats. </p>
<p>A second possible outcome is that students are less successful with the standard curriculum. If that happens, I would not conclude that the experiment was a failure, but rather that this particular curriculum didn’t work for students who come from communities that have been historically marginalized in schools. The admissions process at Thomas Jefferson and similar schools may need to reinstate some of the selection measures that effectively identified successful students in the past. </p>
<p>Equitable access does not require that every school reduce its rigor if some students don’t succeed. The solution may be to expand other kinds of programs to increase student preparation. One potential solution would be creating <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ798201">bridge programs</a> similar to those designed to prepare students for college. Bridge programs can provide accelerated instruction or remediation of skills before a student starts an advanced program.</p>
<p>And finally, the new cohort of students may be successful only with substantial adjustments to the curriculum. This outcome would demonstrate that educators have found effective adaptations to help students from marginalized communities succeed. Again, this suggests adding new programs that serve different levels of academic readiness. </p>
<p>[<em>3 media outlets, 1 religion newsletter.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-3-in-1">Get stories from The Conversation, AP and RNS.</a>]</p>
<h2>Documenting successes</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://pacificlegal.org/case/coalition_for_tj/">2021 lawsuit</a> brought by a coalition of “concerned parents” contends that the changes at Thomas Jefferson are illegal and are intended to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/02/purge-asian-american-students-thomas-jefferson-has-begun/">reduce the number of Asian students</a>. The percentage of Asian students dropped <a href="https://www.fcps.edu/news/tjhsst-offers-admission-550-students-broadens-access-students-who-have-aptitude-stem">from 73% to 54%</a> under the new system. This decrease in access for Asian students is another consequence of keeping programs needlessly scarce.</p>
<p>No change to the selection process for gifted programs will resolve what I feel is the underlying issue – systemic racism that prevents students from marginalized communities from receiving the same <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.26300/eysv-1984">quality of education provided to better-resourced communities</a>. And changes to admission policies won’t necessarily create a <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ874024.pdf">culturally responsive curriculum</a> or inclusive school environment that can <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/001440290807400402">improve student success</a>. </p>
<p>As schools engage in these experiments with gifted education and talent development programs, documenting students’ successes and obstacles will help gifted education educators, parents and others learn how to improve education for all students.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joni Lakin receives research funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research. She is affiliated with Riverside Insights as a test author. </span></em></p>Gifted education has long faced accusations of being elitist and excluding students of color. Will new changes prepare more students for elite colleges, or will they water down current curriculums?Joni Lakin, Associate Professor of Educational Studies, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1634172021-07-22T12:11:04Z2021-07-22T12:11:04ZOur analysis of 7 months of polling data shows friendships, the economy and firsthand experience shaped and reshaped views on COVID-19 risks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412158/original/file-20210720-23-pkmeor.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C6735%2C3952&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Political leanings and community features predicted support of COVID-19 mitigation measures.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mask-war-royalty-free-image/1257147451">wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Even though Americans shared the experience of living through a global pandemic, their individual attitudes towards it differed and evolved – sometimes dramatically. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Hw_l57UAAAAJ">We</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UP31kb4AAAAJ&hl=en">study</a> risk perception. Using public opinion polls and state-level data, we conducted an in-depth analysis of how American attitudes and behaviors changed over the course of the pandemic.</p>
<p>Since the first confirmed COVID-19 case in the U.S., over 33 million Americans have been diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 and <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/united-states">more than 600,000 have died</a>. We set out to see how attitudes and beliefs correlated with Americans’ risk perceptions, mask wearing and support for other COVID-19 mitigation measures. </p>
<p>Here’s what we discovered.</p>
<h2>Public health and politics are intertwined</h2>
<p>Using statistical modeling, we dug into data from public opinion polls conducted by Pew Research Center, National Opinion Research Center, Democracy Fund and UCLA – as well as our own survey combined with state-level data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Moody’s Analytics and National Conference of State Legislatures. </p>
<p>In a presidential election year <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/2021/03/05/a-year-of-u-s-public-opinion-on-the-coronavirus-pandemic/">characterized by intensifying polarization</a>, public health got caught up in politics. </p>
<p>In March 2020, with uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, contrasting cues from political leaders undoubtedly played a crucial role in shaping risk perception of the virus.</p>
<p>Conservatives who had more confidence in President Trump and his team’s handling of COVID-19, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113235">perceived less risk from the virus</a> compared to conservatives with less confidence in Trump. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410197/original/file-20210707-15-vew72g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three middle-aged women at a rally wearing Trump hats." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410197/original/file-20210707-15-vew72g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410197/original/file-20210707-15-vew72g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410197/original/file-20210707-15-vew72g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410197/original/file-20210707-15-vew72g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410197/original/file-20210707-15-vew72g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410197/original/file-20210707-15-vew72g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410197/original/file-20210707-15-vew72g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Political leaders shaped risk perception.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/with-few-face-masks-and-no-social-distancing-to-reduce-the-news-photo/1282732670">Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images News</a></span>
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<p>The powerful influence of political cues persisted. Based on our <a href="https://www.voterstudygroup.org/publication/nationscape-data-set">analysis of a poll conducted in June 2020</a>, Republicans who were in favor of Trump were less supportive of mitigation measures – like canceling gatherings, closing businesses and schools, restricting non-essential travel and fever testing before entering public buildings – <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2021.1604037">compared to Republicans who were less supportive of Trump</a>. </p>
<p>Symmetrically, Democrats who were in favor of then candidate Joe Biden were more supportive of mitigation measures, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2021.1604037">compared to Democrats who were less supportive of Biden</a>. </p>
<p>By May 2020, national political influence began to be mirrored at the state level. Americans who lived in states with both Democratic governors and legislatures were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171211017286">more likely to perceive COVID-19 as a threat</a> and adjust their behaviors and support policy measures to mitigate transmission of the virus. </p>
<h2>Connected communities more likely to slow the spread</h2>
<p>When the pandemic was rapidly spreading in early summer of 2020, the CDC <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/mask-evaluation.html">recommended wearing masks</a>. Americans with more extensive social connections and stronger trust in others were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102537">more likely to engage in mitigation behaviors</a> such as mask wearing. </p>
<p>Individual behavior is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102537">influenced by one’s community</a> – such as family, friends and neighbors. As information on the pandemic spread, counties where residents had stronger and closer connections with others started to show a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245135">slower increase in COVID-19 cases</a>, as people adopted more infection mitigation measures. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410198/original/file-20210707-19-vyzcxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Masked riders on the subway" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410198/original/file-20210707-19-vyzcxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410198/original/file-20210707-19-vyzcxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410198/original/file-20210707-19-vyzcxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410198/original/file-20210707-19-vyzcxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410198/original/file-20210707-19-vyzcxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410198/original/file-20210707-19-vyzcxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410198/original/file-20210707-19-vyzcxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People in areas with greater social connection were more likely to change their behaviors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/passengers-wear-face-masks-while-traveling-through-the-news-photo/1267735676">Robert Nickelsberg via Getty Images News</a></span>
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<p>Also, people with stronger and closer connections with others were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102537">more likely to act for the common good</a> with the expectation that others would do the same. Trust promoted social coordination, which provided incentive for people to take similar actions such as wearing masks in response to COVID–19. </p>
<h2>COVID-19 survivors less likely to support distancing</h2>
<p>In summer 2020, when COVID-19 continued to infect thousands of Americans a day, the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/mask-evaluation.html">CDC recommended mitigation measures</a> such as canceling gatherings, closing schools and restricting non-essential travel.</p>
<p>Americans who contracted COVID-19 – or whose family members had been sick with the coronavirus – <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2021.1604037">didn’t necessarily support mitigation measures</a> after their illness. Perhaps acquiring some measure of immunity by surviving COVID-19 lessened their perceived threat. As philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_does_not_kill_me_makes_me_stronger">What does not kill me makes me stronger</a>.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, Americans who had coworkers and others in their social circle get COVID-19 were <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2021.1604037">more likely than others to support mitigation measures</a>. It may be those with indirect experience became more anxious about contracting the virus themselves by hearing “horror stories” from others.</p>
<h2>Economic recovery falsely signaled safety</h2>
<p>In late August to early September 2020, Americans from states whose economies had recovered close to pre-pandemic levels <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171211017286">became less concerned about the pandemic</a> and were more likely to forgo mitigation behaviors. We suspect economic recovery provided people with the impression that a return to normal was around the corner, which helped form a false sense of safety. </p>
<h2>Risk mitigation closely linked to cases and deaths</h2>
<p>COVID-19 case numbers and death rates influenced whether or not people adopted risk mitigation behaviors. Generally speaking, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171211017286">more cases</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102537">deaths</a> influenced people to see the virus as a more urgent threat, which resulted in active mitigation behaviors. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, in places with a low number of confirmed cases or deaths, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171211017286">residents were likely to perceive the risk as abstract and distant</a>. Consequently, their motivation to control the transmission of the virus was weak.</p>
<p>Overall, our research shows the combination of timely information with trusting, well-connected communities, is most likely to result in collective risk mitigation behavior. Perhaps these insights can help the U.S. prepare better for the next pandemic.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Multiple factors determined whether or not individual Americans adopted COVID-19 safety measures, according to statistical analysis of public opinion data.Wanyun Shao, Assistant Professor of Geography, University of AlabamaFeng Hao, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of South FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1631692021-07-07T12:36:46Z2021-07-07T12:36:46ZUS Black and Latino communities often have low vaccination rates – but blaming vaccine hesitancy misses the mark<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409523/original/file-20210702-15-1k69t74.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">With many vaccine-eligible people in the U.S. staying away, some vaccine sites have no lines.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sign-displays-the-types-of-covid-19-vaccination-doses-news-photo/1325495649?adppopup=true">Mario Tama/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>By early July 2021, <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations">nearly two-thirds</a> of all U.S. residents 12 years and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine; 55% were fully vaccinated. But uptake varies drastically by region – and it is <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-demographic">lower on average among non-white people</a>.</p>
<p>Many blame the <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-demographic">relatively lower vaccination rates in communities of color</a> on “vaccine hesitancy.” But this label overlooks persistent barriers to access and lumps together the varied reasons people have for refraining from vaccination. It also places all the responsibility for getting vaccinated on individuals. Ultimately, homogenizing peoples’ reasons for not getting vaccinated diverts attention away from <a href="https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/implications-of-covid-19-for-social-determinants-of-health/">social factors</a> that research shows play a critical role in health status and outcomes. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.isu.edu/mph/faculty-and-staff/">As medical</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3lNCB0IAAAAJ&hl=en">anthropologists</a>, <a href="https://anthropology.ua.edu/people/stephanie-mcclure/">we take</a> a more nuanced view. Working together as lead site investigators for <a href="https://www.communivax.org/local-teams">CommuniVax</a>, a <a href="https://www.communivax.org">national initiative to improve vaccine equity</a>, we and our teams in Alabama, California and Idaho, along with CommuniVax teams elsewhere in the nation, have documented a variety of stances toward vaccination that simply can’t be cast as “hesitant.” </p>
<h2>Limited access hampers vaccination rates</h2>
<p>People of color have long suffered an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/upshot/bad-medicine-the-harm-that-comes-from-racism.html">array of health inequities</a>. Accordingly, due to a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/racial-ethnic-disparities/index.html">combination of factors</a>, these communities have experienced higher hospitalization due to COVID-19, higher <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/racial-ethnic-disparities/disparities-illness.html#ref17">disease severity</a> upon admission, higher chances for being placed on breathing support and progression to the intensive care unit, and higher rates of death. </p>
<p>CommuniVax data, including some 200 in-depth interviews within such communities, confirm that overall, those who have directly experienced this kind of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-californias-covid-19-surge-widens-health-inequalities-for-black-latino-and-low-income-residents-143243">COVID-19-related trauma</a>, are not hesitant. They dearly want vaccinations. For example, in San Diego’s heavily Latino and very hard-hit “South Region,” COVID-19 vaccine uptake is remarkably high – about <a href="https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/dam/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/Epidemiology/COVID-19%20Vaccinations%20Demographics.pdf">84% as of July 6, 2021</a>. </p>
<p>However, vaccine uptake is far from universal in these communities. This is in part due to access issues that go beyond the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.1205">well documented challenges</a> of transportation, internet access and skills gaps, and a lack of information on how to get vaccinated. For example, some CommuniVax participants had heard of non-resident white people usurping doses that were meant for communities of color. African American participants, in particular, reported feeling that the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/10/jj-covid-vaccine-distribution-in-poor-black-communities-raises-race-questions.html">Johnson & Johnson vaccines promoted in their communities</a> were the least safe and effective. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409527/original/file-20210702-21-1oq8we1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="U.S. First Lady Jill Biden gives comfort to a patient at a vaccination clinic" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409527/original/file-20210702-21-1oq8we1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409527/original/file-20210702-21-1oq8we1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409527/original/file-20210702-21-1oq8we1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409527/original/file-20210702-21-1oq8we1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409527/original/file-20210702-21-1oq8we1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409527/original/file-20210702-21-1oq8we1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409527/original/file-20210702-21-1oq8we1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Biden Administration fell short of its Fourth of July target to have at least one shot to 70% of adults.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/first-lady-jill-biden-comforts-a-nervous-patient-at-the-news-photo/1233600284?adppopup=true">Tom Brenner/Pool/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our participant testimony shows that many unvaccinated people are not “vaccine hesitant” but rather “vaccine impeded.” And exclusion can happen not just in a physical sense; <a href="https://www.aafp.org/journals/fpm/blogs/inpractice/entry/countering_vaccine_hesitancy.html">providers’ attitudes towards vaccines matter too</a>. </p>
<p>For instance, Donna, a health care worker in Idaho, said, “I chose not to get it because if I were to get sick, I think I would recover mostly or more rapidly.” This kind of attitude by health care providers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.10.042">can have downstream effects</a>. For example, Donna may not encourage vaccination when on duty or to people she knows; some, just observing her choices, may follow suit. Here, what appears as a community’s hesitancy to vaccinate is instead a reflection of vaccine hesitancy within its health care system.</p>
<p>More directly impeded are community members who, like Angela in Idaho, skipped vaccination because she couldn’t risk having a negative reaction that might require intervention. Although a trip to the doctor is a highly unlikely outcome after a vaccine, it remains a concern for some. “My insurance doesn’t cover as much as it possibly, you know, should,” she noted. And we have encountered many reports of undocumented individuals who fear deportation although, according to <a href="https://www.boundless.com/blog/can-immigrants-get-the-covid-19-vaccine/">current laws</a>, immigration status should not be questioned in relation to the vaccine. </p>
<p>Christina, in San Diego, illustrates another type of practical barrier. She cannot get vaccinated, she said, because she has no one to care for her babies should she fall ill with side effects. Her husband, similarly, can’t take time off from his job – “It doesn’t work that way.” Likewise, Carlos – who made sure that his centenarian father got vaccinated – says he can’t take the vaccine himself due to his dad’s deep dementia: “If I took my vaccine and I got sick, he’d be screwed.” </p>
<h2>Indifference, resilience and ambivalence</h2>
<p>Another segment of unvaccinated people obscured by the “hesitant” label are the “vaccine indifferent.” For various reasons, they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.7707">remain relatively untouched</a> by the pandemic: COVID-19 just isn’t on their radar. This might include people who are self-employed or working under the table, people living in rural and remote places, and those whose children are not in the public school system.</p>
<p>Such people thus are not consistently connected to COVID-19-related information. This is particularly true if they forego social or news media and socialize with others who do the same, and if there are significant language barriers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409528/original/file-20210702-25-1f0nmfn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="vaccine recruitment effort by CommuniVax in June" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409528/original/file-20210702-25-1f0nmfn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409528/original/file-20210702-25-1f0nmfn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409528/original/file-20210702-25-1f0nmfn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409528/original/file-20210702-25-1f0nmfn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409528/original/file-20210702-25-1f0nmfn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409528/original/file-20210702-25-1f0nmfn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409528/original/file-20210702-25-1f0nmfn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CommuniVax researchers Sarah Song and Grecia Guerrero talk with potential participants outside a grocery store in June.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Diego Ceballos/CommuniVax</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also learned that, among some of our participants, the initial messaging about <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/06/21/young-adults-covid-vaccine/">prioritizing high-risk groups backfired</a>, leaving some under 65 and in relatively good health with the impression it wasn’t necessary for them to get the vaccine. Without incentives – travel plans, being accepted to a college or having an employer that mandates vaccination – inertia carries the day.</p>
<p>The indifferent are not against vaccination. Rather, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and “you do you” tend to typify their views. As Jose from Idaho reported, “I’m not worried because I’ve always taken care of myself.”</p>
<p>We also saw a modified form of indifference in those who believed that the protective steps they already were taking would be enough to keep them COVID-19-free. A janitor said, “I am an essential worker… So from the beginning we took … all the precautions … face masks, taking [social] distance [and using] natural medicines and vitamins for the immune system.” He had, indeed, so far avoided contracting COVID-19.</p>
<p>The view of vaccines as not immediately necessary is magnified among some Latino people by the cultural value placed on the need to endure – “aguantar” in Spanish — to bear up, push through and avoid complaining about daily struggles. This perspective can be seen in many immigrant or impoverished populations, where getting sick or injured <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/26/904045354/our-communities-are-in-crisis-latinos-and-covid-19">can be a precursor</a> to household ruin through job loss and exorbitant, unpayable medical bills. </p>
<p>Yet another dynamic we learned of is what we term “vaccine ambivalence.” Some participants who view COVID-19 as a significant health threat believe the vaccine poses an equivalent risk. We saw this particularly among African Americans in Alabama – not necessarily surprising given that the health care system has not always had <a href="https://doi.org/10.17226/10260">these communities’</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2017.0045">best interests</a> at heart. The perceived conundrum leaves people stuck on the fence. Given the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00928-y">legacy of unequal treatment</a> in communities of color, when balancing the “known” of COVID-19 against the unknown of vaccination, their inaction may seem reasonable – especially when coupled with mask-wearing and social distancing.</p>
<h2>Attending to blind spots</h2>
<p>At this point in the pandemic, those with the means and will to get vaccinated have done so. Providing viable <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14797585.2021.1886425">counternarratives to misinformation</a> can help bring more people on board. But continuing to focus solely on individual mistrustfulness toward vaccines or so-called hesitancy obscures the other complex reasons people have for being wary of the system and bypassing vaccination. </p>
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<p>Moreover, an overly narrow focus on the vaccine leaves a lot outside the frame. A wider view reveals that the problems leading to inequitable vaccination coverage are the same structural problems that have, historically, prevented people of color from <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html">having a fair shot</a> at good health and economic outcomes to begin with – problems that even a 100% vaccination rate cannot resolve.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People who haven’t gotten vaccinated for COVID-19 often have complex reasons for their relunctance or may face other barriers. Lumping them all together undercuts the vaccination campaign.Elisa J. Sobo, Professor and Chair of Anthropology, San Diego State UniversityDiana Schow, Visiting Assistant Professor of Community and Public Health; Executive Director, Southeast Idaho Area Health Education Center, Institute of Rural Health, Idaho State University, Idaho State UniversityStephanie McClure, Assistant Professor of Biocultural Medical Anthropology, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.