#indymedia — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #indymedia, aggregated by home.social.
-
#IndymediaBack is a reboot of the original #Indymedia: decentralized, grassroots media built around open publishing and activist participation.
The point isn't nostalgia, it's learning from the old #fashernistas/#geekproblem split and avoiding another round of tribalism and control politics.
The reboot is about rebuilding the path toward decentralized structures and an #OMN that supports direct democracy, open publishing and anti-authoritarian organising.
This time we also have hashtags, metadata and the semantic #openweb to connect the media commons.
The challenge is simple: don't repeat the old mistakes. Build trust, keep it open, and don't let control become the culture.
-
Living through twenty years of #dotcons addiction
For those of us who've spent the last twenty years working around alternative technology, grassroots media and activism, the hardest thing to watch has been how deeply the #dotcons have become embedded in the culture. We know the problems, we've been talking about surveillance, extraction, algorithmic manipulation, platform lock-in and the destruction of community for years. And yet we keep going back, not because people are stupid, but because addiction is powerful - especially when the […]https://hamishcampbell.com/living-through-twenty-years-of-dotcons-addiction/
-
One of the problems in grassroots organising is trying to make a far-away place the focus of a community. It rarely works.
Community grows from shared experience, shared work and shared responsibility. These things are local, even when the network is global. If people are expected to invest their energy into an abstract centre somewhere else, they usually become passive consumers rather than active participants. This is the opposite of #DIY.
The #DIY path is that people build where they are. They create local groups, local media, local archives and local trust. They solve real problems together, then connect these local commons through the #openweb.
When a distant organisation, conference, website or institution becomes the centre of attention, people stop making things themselves. They wait for the centre to provide leadership, resources or permission. The result is predictable: the distant place becomes overloaded, bureaucratic and disconnected, while everywhere else becomes quiet and dependent.
The irony is that the centre itself often stays dull. It cannot generate the diversity, creativity and resilience that comes from many autonomous communities creating their own culture. It becomes a bottleneck rather than a catalyst.
This is one of the lessons from the history of #Indymedia and the wider #openweb. The strength was never in one global website. It came from hundreds of local collectives publishing their own stories, solving their own problems and sharing them across open networks. The network mattered because the local nodes were alive.
The same applies to #OMN.
The goal is not to build one place that everyone depends on. The goal is to help thousands of places become active, then connect them through open standards like #RSS and #ActivityPub. Federation is valuable because it allows communities to remain rooted where they are while participating in something much larger.
A healthy network is not built by pulling everyone towards a single centre. It is built by helping every node become a centre of its own.
That is the difference between a platform and a commons. The #dotcons centralise attention. The #openweb distributes it.
-
How liberal media tries to “fix” liberal media
The current mess in media isn't that journalism has become biased, its always been, the problem is that the "progressive" #mainstreaming institutions trying to solve the crisis are still inside the assumptions that created it. Take the current liberal darling project Ground News, their promise is attractive: escape your filter bubble, compare left and right, become a more informed citizen. But notice the framing, the solution to broken media is… another layer of liberal media […]https://hamishcampbell.com/lets-look-at-how-liberal-media-tries-to-fix-liberal-media/
-
We need to revive and maintain simple, reliable tools for metadata, feeds, trust and moderation - think old-school #Indymedia with modern plumbing.
One project is #MakingHistory: collaborative, living archives of communities. Not just news, but versioned storyboards.
-
Testimony in the Düsseldorf #Antifa trial regarding the #BudapestComplex
"All the defendants emphasize the networks of far-right extremists in #Budapest and the contempt for human life that prevails there. However, they claim they never intended to kill anyone. That, they say, is 'an inviolable fundamental principle.' And this is also the consensus among anti-fascists*"
(taz)On #indymedia important commentary on the #refusal_to_testify
"The Broken Silence—What Now?"
https://de.indymedia.org/node/775839 -
RE: https://mastodon.social/@tazgetroete/116919633373687205
Aussagen im Düsseldorfer #Antifa- Prozess um den #BudapestKomplex
"alle Angeklagten betonen die Vernetzung der Rechtsextremen in #budapest die dort gepflegte Menschenverachtung. Niemals aber habe man jemanden töten wollen. Das sei „ein unantastbares Grundprinzip“. Und das sei auch unter Antifaschist*innen Konsens"
(taz)Und auf #indymedia erschien eine wichtige Kommentierung zur Diskussion um #Aussageverweigerung
"Das gebrochene Schweigen- und jetzt?"
https://de.indymedia.org/node/775839 -
#Indymedia-Schreiben zum Brandanschlag auf zwei Elektroautos: Polizeigesetz und Polizeiposten als Gründe genannt
https://www.l-iz.de/leben/gesellschaft/2026/07/indymedia-schreiben-zum-brandanschlag-664247
#Leipzig #Brandanschlag -
Die Tagesschau meldet, dass ein Anschlag auf einen Kabelschacht der Bahn von einer technikfeindlichen Gruppe namens „Kommando Angry Birds“ verübt wurde.
Karl Marx war sicher alles, aber kein Technikfeind. So etwas machen keine Linken, sondern in der Regel sind das religiöse Fundamentalisten, also Rechtsextreme. Hier ein Fahndungsfoto.
-
The #4opens is a simple, practical tool to evaluate and guide grassroots, alternative tech projects. It judges how "open" and trustworthy a project is, helping to distinguish native #openweb efforts from #closedweb or captured ones (e.g., #dotcons like corporate social media).
The Four Opens
* Open Data - The basic truth of the project. Data (content, metadata, etc.) should be openly accessible and exportable/portable. This prevents lock-in and enables sharing, archiving, and reuse by communities.
* Open Source - The code (or equivalent for non-software projects) is publicly available under a free/open license. This allows inspection, modification, and forking, embodying #FOSS principles but integrated into a wider social context.
* Open Standards - The project uses (and contributes to) interoperable, non-proprietary standards. This supports federation, compatibility across tools/instances, and avoids silos (e.g., #ActivityPub in the #Fediverse).
Open Process (the critical addition) - Transparent, participatory decision-making and governance. This is not just technical openness but social openness: how the project is run, how power is handled, how feedback shapes direction, and how it avoids hidden hierarchies or #NGO-style capture. It emphasizes trust-building, commons-oriented culture, and composting conflicts through visible, inclusive processes.
How this works in practice
Badging system (simple and motivational):
* 2 opens: Bronze badge (basic alt/grassroots alignment).
* 3 opens: Silver badge.
* 4 opens: Gold badge (full native #openweb project).Projects self-assess and are evaluated by the community using these criteria. It's designed to be #KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) - easy to apply without bureaucracy.
It acts as a compass for #openweb vs. #closedweb. Use it to judge value, compost #techcrap/#techchurn, resist enclosure, and build trust-based digital commons. It's explicitly a social restating/extension of #FOSS paths, adding the missing social layer (#openprocess) that pure technical openness often lacks.
Only technical openness (e.g., open source + data) still leads to #geekproblem outcomes, meritocracy, fragmentation ("just fork it"), or capture by careerists/#fashionistas if process and culture are closed.
The #4opens prioritizes human-centred, trust-based infrastructure over scale, funding, or individual exit. This supports horizontal activism, mutual aid, and decentralized organizing (e.g., in #Indymedia history or current #Fediverse efforts).
Examples: Mastodon (when aligned) can score high; corporate platforms like Facebook score low across the board. It helps grow networks where communities own their storytelling, governance, and tools.
The framework is not rigid dogma but a living tool for "composting the mess" - turning failed and captured projects into fertile ground for better ones. It's central to #OMN projects, which are working on building federated, grassroots media and social infrastructure.
To sum up, it’s a powerful, low-overhead way to keep tech aligned with grassroots values rather than drifting into #mainstreaming or #deathcult logics of extraction and control.
-
Die Innenminister*innenKonferenz fordert das Verbot von #indymedia:
Sie stecken voller Tatendrang. Schnell, schnell werden Gesetze, Verordnungen und Weisungen angeschoben und durchgesetzt, das einem schwindelig wird. Wir werden bedingungslos und besinnungslos reformiert. Mensch soll nicht zwischendurch zur Besinnung kommen und schon gar nicht das eine mit dem anderen verbinden. International Aufträge für die Exportindustrie einholen, das Gesundheitswesen kriegstauglich umbauen, Frauen an den Arbeitsplatz schieben, damit sie krankenversichert bleiben und nebenbei kritischen Journalismus abschalten. #Indymedia ist eine Quelle für aktivistischen Journalismus und alternative Berichterstattung, ein Angriff auf die #Pressefreiheit.
-
Looking back: 15 years of working on the #openweb
Looking back through #dotcons notes and blog posts, it's striking how little the underlying issues have changed. The language has evolved, the technology has moved, but the same struggle keeps resurfacing.
Back in December 2010 - "The battle for the internet is switching from a cold war to a hot war." At the time this sounded dramatic. Today it feels almost understated. The enclosure of the web has accelerated. A handful of corporations dominate communication, control public discourse and increasingly shape #mainstreaming politics. The battle is no longer hidden, it is happening in plain sight.
Around the same time - "There is NO GOOD FUTURE in corporate social networks. FULL STOP." Fifteen years later, this feels less like a prediction than an observation. The #dotcons built business models around surveillance, advertising and behavioural manipulation. Those incentives inevitably produced outrage, misinformation, polarisation and dependency. These outcomes weren't bugs - they were features of the economic path.
In 2011, I was reflecting on experiences with #climatecamp, #indymedia and horizontal organising, I described people as: "Mannequins dancing to barely visible strings." That image has stayed with me. Much of our activism became reactive, pulled by hidden incentives, #NGO funding priorities, social media algorithms and media cycles. We believed we were acting freely while following paths laid out for us by systems we barely noticed.
By 2017, frustration with this pattern had become sharper "The #fashionistas are making lame excuses not to embrace the #reboot of the #openweb." Too many people who talked endlessly about change continued investing their time, energy and communities into the very #dotcons corporate platforms causing the problem. The excuses changed, but the outcome stayed the same: further enclosure and further dependence.
Then in 2019, the thinking behind the #OMN had become clearer *"The #OMN is a social technology held together by the #4opens that pushes into being a digital commons. What we then do with this liberated space is up to us." This remains the heart of the project.
#OMN has never been about building yet another platform. It is about creating social infrastructure. The technology matters, but only because it enables communities to organise, publish, collaborate and govern themselves.
The #4opens are not simply a development methodology; they are a way of building trust. They create the conditions for commons to grow.
Looking back, I'm pleased that the core direction hasn't really changed. The problem was never simply Facebook, Twitter or Google.The problem was always centralisation. The answer was never another app.The answer was always rebuilding the commons.
The task now is much the same as it was fifteen years ago to stop feeding the #dotcons, compost the failures, nurture the green shoots and continue the long reboot of the #openweb.
Some ideas age badly. Others simply become more urgent.
-
"If you do a lot of reading between the lines, even the anarcho hippy tripy capitalism sucking liberals wont us to reboot #indymedia" (Dec 2019)
-
"Some jumbled thoughts - Mannequins dancing to barely visible strings" (Dec 2011, reflecting on #climatecamp, #indymedia, #horizontal)
-
Depression auf #Indymedia Nummer eins:
-
„Akute Bedrohung“: Innenminister fordern vollständiges Verbot von #Indymedia | heise online https://www.heise.de/news/Akute-Bedrohung-Innenminister-fordern-vollstaendiges-Verbot-von-Indymedia-11350925.html #Zensur #censorship
-
RE: https://mastodon.trueten.de/@aafafb/116847471858268447
Nur ein Thema fand sich nicht unter den 80 Tagesordnungspunkten der Innenminister und -senatoren der Länder: Rechtsextremismus.
-
@uwesinha #Indymedia in die Regierungsverantwortung! Dort fällt sie ganz schnell der Entzauberung anheim.
-
Habe ich das nur überlesen, oder hat wirklich bisher noch niemand gefordert, #Indymedia inhaltlich zu stellen?
-
„Akute Bedrohung“: Innenminister fordern vollständiges Verbot von Indymedia
Auf Initiative Hessens fordert die Innenministerkonferenz ein hartes Vorgehen gegen das linksextreme Portal. Doch rechtlich bleibt das Vorhaben sehr umstritten.
Nanu, nicht lieber "inhaltlich stellen"?
-
Wichtig ist auch, dass #Indymedia konzeptionell nie eine "linksextremistische Plattform" war, wofür es von verschiedenen Linksradikalen auch kritisiert wurde. Indymedia hat sich im Gegenteil lange dagegen gewehrt, einfach Flugblattständer zu sein und stattdessen versucht, zu Basisjournalismus zu animieren.
Vor diesem Hintergrund ist die Verbotsdrohung um so krasser! Wir müssen was dagegen tun!
-
RE: https://mastodon.trueten.de/@indymedia_de/116843738353989387
Dazu ist auch wichtig zu wissen, dass #indymedia ein mit Preisen überhäuftes innovatives und partizipatives Medienkonzept war. Ein Vorreiter sozialer Medien, das dann von deren kommerziellen Varianten an den Rand geschoben wurde. Mit der Begründung, dass "Extremisten" da posten, könnte man by the way auch Insta, X und FB verbieten.
-
Die Faschisierung des Staates schreitet voran!
Die Innenministerkonferenz fordert vom Bund ein »Indymedia«-Verbot und ein europaweit schärferes Vorgehen gegen »gewaltbereite Linksextremisten«.Edit: Spannend ist auch die Frage wer entscheidet wer „gewaltbereite Linksextremist*innen“ sind?
-
:vz250: Indymedia-Verbot und Reiseverbot für 'Linksextreme' :vz250:
Die Innenministerkonferenz vor zwei Wochen hat beschlossen, wie sich nun aus den veröffentlichten Beschlüssen ergibt, sich für ein Verbot von Indymedia, einer linken und unabhängigen Medienplattform ebenso einzusetzen, wie für ein Reiseverbot für 'Linksextreme'.
Das dürfte der Auftakt von weiteren Kriminalisierungen der linken Szene sein, hier orientieren sich dir Innenminister:innen an ihrem Vorbild Donald Trump und dessen Krieg gegen 'die' Antifa.
Antifaschismus ist kein Verbrechen!
Beschlüsse der IMK als PDF
https://www.innenministerkonferenz.de/IMK/DE/termine/to-beschluesse/2026-06-19_DOK/Freie_Beschl%C3%BCsse.pdf?__blob=publicationFile#imk #antifa #antifascism #anrifaschismus #dresden #Dresdenneustadt #indy #indymedia #reiseverbot #links #linksextrem #antifaost #deutschland #dienstag
-
@vfrmedia @philcowans @mttaggart @ireneista Yeah there's UK #indymedia folks who remember the time the police seized their server.
-
@johan I had forgotten about this guy making grassroots - #indymedia - into mainstreaming media - native, but the beginning of liberal selling out. The #dotcons picked up this outreach and used it for building social control soon after this.
-
The Rainbow Lesson: Building Commons Beyond the Market
One of the things missing from conversations about rebuilding radical networks is that we defult to looking first at the technology. The #OMN question is different - What are the social systems that allow alternatives to survive? A useful example comes from the history of the Rainbow Gatherings. To an outsider, the strangest thing about a Rainbow Gathering is likely the hippies, the second is the absence of money. Thousands of people gather in forests, share food, organise care, create […]https://hamishcampbell.com/the-rainbow-lesson-building-commons-beyond-the-market/
-
There is some talk about recreating radical media networks.
Before we reboot #indymedia or build new altmedia networks, we need some simple, clear understandings of why they failed before.
And I use “simple” and “understandings” deliberately - not “the answer” or one single explanation.
Because the different views of why #indymedia and altmedia failed are not a side issue. They are part of why they failed.
Different groups saw different problems:
Was it technology?
Was it governance?
Was it burnout?
Was it funding?
Was it culture?
Was it the wider shift to the #dotcons?A reboot cannot ignore tensions. It has to create a bridge between the different lessons, otherwise we rebuild the same problems.
The goal is not to recreate the past.
The goal is to take the useful seeds, compost the failures, and grow something that fits the next phase of the #openweb.