Monika Balcova

🗳️ The parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic are just around the corner, and Czechs abroad can vote by mail for the first time.

🔍 However, 68% of people do not know the rules of postal voting, and 48% are worried about fraud and manipulation 👇

⚠️ As many as 46% of Czechs, 34% of Slovaks, and 48% of Poles believe that out of the eight members of the Politburo who, on August 21, 1968, decided to send Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia, as many as five were Ukrainians. This was revealed by the #CEDMOTrends📈 survey from October last year 🧵

🔦 At @cedmohub.bsky.social, we took a closer look at how people in the Czech Republic and Slovakia view a potential Trump–Putin deal that would take place without the participation of the president of Ukraine ⬇️

🇺🇦 In Kamyanka, Ukraine, Larisa & Viktor Sysenko started demining their farm with rakes. With countless unexploded mines left, waiting wasn’t an option. And they’re not alone...

Read the @en.afp.com & @bellingcat.com investigation on Ukrainian farmers reclaiming Ukraine’s mined fields 🧵

Welcome to CEDMO Observer 05/2025! The information landscape is evolving at lightning speed—and we’re here to help you stay ahead. Every month, we deliver essential updates that cut through the noise and bring clarity to today’s comple...

🚨 New newsletter edition alert!

We've just published a new edition of our CEDMO Observer newsletter - including interesting insights from @globsec.bsky.social, @demagog.org.pl or @edmo-eu.bsky.social!

👉 Read the newsletter on LinkedIn bit.ly/readcedmoobs... and subscribe at bit.ly/cedmoobserver

8/ Want to dig deeper? Full results here 👉 bsky.app/profile/cedm...

#SocialMedia #TikTok #ElonMusk #CEDMO #CzechRepublic #Slovakia

7/ But: 1 in 5 Czechs and 1 in 4 Slovaks think TikTok is American 🇺🇸.

6/ On TikTok:
🇨🇿 72%
🇸🇰 60%
correctly associate it with China.

5/ Why? Musk’s behavior was the top reason:
🇨🇿 52%
🇸🇰 33%
of those who left or cut back said so.

4/ Even more drastic—
🇨🇿 25% of users
🇸🇰 20% of users
stopped using X altogether.

3/ After Musk’s takeover:
🇨🇿 45% of Czech users
🇸🇰 55% of Slovak users
say they reduced usage.

2/ Only 14% in the Czech Republic and 11% in Slovakia have used X at least once.

🧵1/ At @cedmohub.bsky.social, we asked Czechs & Slovaks about their online habits—especially their views on Elon Musk’s X and TikTok. Some surprising findings 👇

Keby sme boli ako Nemecko, za nenávistné prejavy by čelila stíhaniu polovica koalície. Ale problém by možno malo aj Zomri Keď generátori nenávisti chcú bojovať proti nenávistným prejavom podľa vzoru Nemecka, mali by nám blikať kontrolky.

Hrozí nám, že z nemeckého prístupu k nenávistným prejavom si vyberú hrozienka a priblížia nás k najhoršiemu z možných svetov, pokiaľ ide o slobodu slova:

voľná jazda pre extrémistov, ale zároveň tvrdá ruka proti vybraným kritikom vlády od stránok typu Zomri po kritických novinárov.

Meta faces Ghana lawsuits over impact of extreme content on moderators Workers at contractor in Accra say they have suffered from depression and anxiety as a result of their work Meta is facing a second set of lawsuits in Africa over the psychological distress experienced by content moderators employed to take down disturbing social media content including depictions of murders, extreme violence and child sexual abuse. Lawyers are gearing up for court action against a company contracted by Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, after meeting moderators at a facility in Ghana that is understood to employ about 150 people. Moderators working for Majorel in Accra claim they have suffered from depression, anxiety, insomnia and substance abuse as a direct consequence of the work they do checking extreme content. Continue reading...

Meta faces Ghana lawsuits over impact of extreme content on moderators

Russian Propaganda Campaign Targets France with AI-Fabricated Scandals, Drawing 55 Million Views on Social Media As Paris emerges as one of the West’s top supporters of Ukraine, the infamous John Mark Dougan-powered Storm-1516 Russian disinformation operation is now targeting France

Russian Propaganda Campaign Targets France with AI-Fabricated Scandals, Drawing 55 Million Views on Social Media www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/russian-pr...

They Criticized Musk on X. Then Their Reach Collapsed. (Gift Article) Three users who disagreed with the site’s owner saw views for their posts plummet.

The free speech website where the owner (who believes in free speech) will throttle your access if you criticize him - even if you support all the far-right conspiracy theories and bigotry he supports. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Graphic showing a smartphone surrounded by icons of a chat bubble, shield, keyboard, and padlock, encircled by white stars on a purple-to-pink gradient background with binary code. Bold yellow text reads: 'Apple and Meta fined for breaching the Digital Markets Act'. European Commission logos are at the bottom right.

Today, we've fined Apple and Meta for breaching the #DMA.

Apple restricts developers from informing customers about offers outside the App Store, while Meta doesn’t give consumers the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data.

More info: europa.eu/!9RDQmk

The best way to improve your writing is not always to write more. It's often to reread more.

Instead of just enjoying the content, study the form. Pay attention to how your favorite authors set up ideas, structure paragraphs, and shape sentences.

Role models elevate art.

For the second month now, Putin has been ignoring the U.S. proposal for a ceasefire. Russia is confident it can continue killing Ukrainians without any punishment in return

Russia wants war.Its rapidly growing military machine can only be stopped by force — or by cutting off the money that fuels it

In Slovakia, our grassroots movement helped oust a neo-Nazi. We can do it again | Alexandra Bitušíková Professor Alexandra Bitušíková explains how face-to-face local activism was crucial in bringing down the neo-Nazi People’s Party Our Slovakia

In Slovakia, our grassroots movement helped oust a neo-Nazi. We can do it again | Alexandra Bitušíková

A line graph titled "Reported polio cases in the United States" displays the number of reported polio cases from 1910 to 2022. The vertical axis represents the number of cases, ranging from 0 to 60,000, while the horizontal axis indicates the years. The graph shows a dramatic peak in polio cases around 1952, with over 58,000 cases reported. Following this peak, there is a noticeable decline in cases, reaching nearly zero by the early 1960s, reflecting the impact of vaccination efforts. The graph includes a note stating it accounts for both wild and vaccine-derived poliovirus infections, whether indigenous or imported. In the footer are the data sources: Public Health Reports (1942), United States Census Bureau (1945), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023). The graph is attributed to "Our World in Data" and is licensed under CC BY.

Vaccination eliminated polio from the United States

At @cedmohub.bsky.social, we asked Slovaks about PM Fico’s claim of an “attempted coup.” 54% of them believe these accusations are a distraction from the government’s internal challenges 👇

Just the fact that an article with this title had to be written, even could be written!, tells you a lot. Sad! (as the US president would say)

They did one of those WW2 game chat videos for real.

Zuckerberg knows his platforms' algorithms amplify hate, lies & controversies. Yet, he is scrapping Meta's content moderation program.

"It's clearly a decision taken for political reasons rather than any principle." - Our CEO @imranahmed.bsky.social on ABC News👇
https://buff.ly/3C2sJQS

Commission steps up support for Member States to strengthen EU security and counter the weaponisation of migration Today, the Commission is adopting a Communication to support Member States to counter hybrid threats from the weaponisation of migration by Russia and Belarus and to strengthen security at the EU's ex...

🚨 @ec.europa.eu is adopting a Communication to support Member States to counter hybrid threats from the weaponisation of migration by #Russia and #Belarus and to strengthen security at the EU's external borders.

👉 ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

It's now 13 months since our friend, colleague and award-winning #journalist Minnie Chan went missing while on assignment in Beijing. Her children, current and former colleagues and a global community of journalists care only for her welfare and hope she is OK. We will never give up hope.

1️⃣ Media literacy,
2️⃣ Regulation of social media platforms,
3️⃣ Psychological defence.

🔗 The results come from the report of the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (#PIAAC), available in Slovak at: nivam.sk/wp-content/u...