In light of this discussion of AI, weaponized algorithms, the rise of misinformation online, and how both these technologies are wielded by states to spread propaganda and influence, I realize that there are actually older internet technologies that people can introduce in their lives to push back.

Whether you’re new to RSS/Atom feeds, or you’re coming back to them, I think this is a great way to drive traffic back towards an open internet, and away from walled gardens. And, while legacy media may have their own challenges, it’s a serious sign that the public at large has been manipulated to rely entirely on centralized social media platforms for news.

At this time, Canada is preparing for a CUSMA review, and the Online News Act is deemed by the US to be a “trade irritant”. Since Canadians continue to boycott US products, consider introducing a new way to consume your news: enter RSS/Atom. There are plenty of news outlets, blogs, and websites that offer their RSS/Atom feeds. For example, The Walrus, Rabble, Le Monde, DW, and many more outlets offer feeds from which you can gather your news.

Your feed reader can compile, categorize, and tag these headlines just the way you like with some tweaking.

https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9.7064933

As a relatively heavy consumer of news, mostly by reading, I’m probably not going to be much help for those who mainly consume their news through social media, videos, shorts, or otherwise.

But for my follow readers out there, I was recently re-introduced to RSS/Atom when I came across a post about Tuvix, and I must say that the present offerings out there for Readers/Aggregators are solid.

For those on iPhone, you can get started easily with NewsNetWire.

For the tech savvy folks, there are self-hostable solutions out there - Tuvix included - that are just as useful. I came across Commafeed, and FreshRSS, and have seen mentions of Tiny Tiny RSS as well.

https://kopitalk.net/c/selfhosted/p/212382/tuvix-tricorder-an-rss-button-for-the-web