Techbros and Big Daddies

While Afriforum, Solidarity, and any number of other rightwing organisations make their way to Washington to seek an audience with Trump, social media has provided an equally - or perhaps more - powerful platform from which South Africans are appealing for US intervention into national affairs. Not only can those claiming white genocide tag Elon Musk or alert MAGA supporters to the X accounts of their critics, but social media has allowed for the development of more nebulous networks of influence across the Atlantic Ocean, and even further beyond. Building on our previous discussion about the South African origins of the Paypal mafia, in this conversation our panelists consider how the tools of the internet, and social media in particular, are shaping the peculiar unfolding of the South Africa-United States’ relationship.  While Afriforum, Solidarity, and any number of other rightwing organisations make their way to Washington to seek an audience with Trump, social media has provided an equally - or perhaps more - powerful platform from which South Africans are appealing for US intervention into national affairs. Not only can those claiming white genocide tag Elon Musk or alert MAGA supporters to the X accounts of their critics, but social media has allowed for the development of more nebulous networks of influence across the Atlantic Ocean, and even further beyond. Building on our previous discussion about the South African origins of the Paypal mafia, in this conversation our panelists consider how the tools of the internet, and social media in particular, are shaping the peculiar unfolding of the South Africa-United States’ relationship.  

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Speakers: Nicky Falkof, Nkululeko Sibiya, Hlonipha Mokoena, Kyle Findlay

Chair: Iginio Gagliardone