Belgian elections are today. Mailbox flyers for political candidates often show profiles in exclusive walled gardens (Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram). And they often have email addresses at hotmail, gmail, or outlook. They are betting on #digitalExclusion. I am cancelling all of them regardless of party.

nuances

All policians likely have a Facebook acct. That’s a sad state of affairs, but merely having an account does not get them cancelled. A cancellable offense is public displays that flaunt their digital exclusion. It’s despicable when their flyer pushes people into US walled gardens with no way to reach them in the free world.

I am also cancelling five whole parties for undermining democracy via digital exclusion by using Cloudflare for the party’s own website. Digital rights are important in 2024, particularly for democracy, as we are increasingly being disempowered by power abuses through forced use of oppressive technology. Direct Tor blocking? Also cancelled.

I am also cancelling all extreme right parties on general principle. And even slightly right if “immigratie stoppen” is something they are misfocused on.

Who’s left? I think I’ll be voting none of the above on a lot of positions because they don’t clear my basic bare minimum bar of digital decency.

(edit) maybe ecolo has a chance

No one represents me, apart possibibly from Ecolo. But superficially, it seems contradictory that a “green” party proposes making energy cheaper for a broader demographic of people. That obviously removes pressure to conserve energy.

(update) ecolo looks like a winner