I don’t like to be that guy, however if we play with your idea, there are some issues you will need to consider.
Centralization
If we ban centralization then IRC, Signal, Xenforo, vBulletin, you name it will be forbidden as well. There is a reason why we always see some degree of centralization. Federation is tricky to get right from a technical point of view. Even when you have federation, each unit in that “web” will usually have a centralized moderation team and administration.
Proprietary
Sometimes, spam/abuse is fought with the help of obscurity. In other words, service providers will hide exactly how they detect spam to prevent spammers from adapting and bypass their technique. Even Signal does this. They have a small proprietary piece of code, specifically designed to fight spam/abuse. The rest of their code is open source as far as I know.
Can you suggest a comparable alternative?
Commercial
Do you mean that they at most should be non-profit? And if so, why?
If we ban centralization then IRC, Signal, Xenforo, vBulletin
Signal is not social media, IRC is an open protocol, isn’t it? I do not know about the rest.
Even when you have federation, each unit in that “web” will usually have a centralized moderation team and administration.
I do not have a problem with that. The problem with centralized social media is that users are locked in to using some specific app because all their friends are there, which makes it harder to switch. This gives monopolies like Facebook an unfair advantage.
Can you suggest a comparable alternative?
I dunno, how Lemmy does this?
Do you mean that they at most should be non-profit? And if so, why?
Yes I mean that. For-profit social media profits from increasing user engagement, even if that means through getting people addicted, intentionally not dealing with misinformation (because misinformation is usually more outrageous and gets people more engaged), data collection and other unethical practices, all because shareholders need the line to go up.
Apparently, Meta has just taken part in a huge destabilizing propaganda campaign here in Brazil. The kind that criminal law has punishment for.
It will certainly take a while to gather all evidence and verify it, so I’m saving the popcorn for later. But I just ensured I have enough kernel for a US-sized portion…
Another one: Elon Musk is pushing the whole Grooming Gang propaganda on X to cause tensions in the UK. As if nobody cares about victims when the perpetrator happens to be brown. It’s absolute populist BS.
You were right the first time. Not to defend Musk’s populist tirade, but I was talking about how he and others in power are using these platforms to inorganically amplify propaganda.
I’m not a free speech absolutist and I do not believe libel should be allowed. But this is about more than that just one person defaming others.
On the case of Brazil, I think it has economical reasons. Meta sells stuff that compete with the social infrastructure it was trying to destabilize.
I would really like to see some laws against media concentration. It’s not even important who the media is. Instead, we have some laws that are the opposite of that, so if we solve the Meta problem, something else is due to break shortly after.
I support blocking Facebook and X from the EU for the same reason.
I support blocking commercial, proprietary and centralized social media everywhere.
I don’t like to be that guy, however if we play with your idea, there are some issues you will need to consider.
Centralization If we ban centralization then IRC, Signal, Xenforo, vBulletin, you name it will be forbidden as well. There is a reason why we always see some degree of centralization. Federation is tricky to get right from a technical point of view. Even when you have federation, each unit in that “web” will usually have a centralized moderation team and administration.
Proprietary Sometimes, spam/abuse is fought with the help of obscurity. In other words, service providers will hide exactly how they detect spam to prevent spammers from adapting and bypass their technique. Even Signal does this. They have a small proprietary piece of code, specifically designed to fight spam/abuse. The rest of their code is open source as far as I know. Can you suggest a comparable alternative?
Commercial Do you mean that they at most should be non-profit? And if so, why?
Signal is not social media, IRC is an open protocol, isn’t it? I do not know about the rest.
I do not have a problem with that. The problem with centralized social media is that users are locked in to using some specific app because all their friends are there, which makes it harder to switch. This gives monopolies like Facebook an unfair advantage.
I dunno, how Lemmy does this?
Yes I mean that. For-profit social media profits from increasing user engagement, even if that means through getting people addicted, intentionally not dealing with misinformation (because misinformation is usually more outrageous and gets people more engaged), data collection and other unethical practices, all because shareholders need the line to go up.
Apparently, Meta has just taken part in a huge destabilizing propaganda campaign here in Brazil. The kind that criminal law has punishment for.
It will certainly take a while to gather all evidence and verify it, so I’m saving the popcorn for later. But I just ensured I have enough kernel for a US-sized portion…
So … if the evidence hasn’t been gathered yet what makes you think it’s happening?
They suddenly showing select videos more times than they have users on the country.
The evidence needed is to determine who exactly and why. The what is very clear.
Another one: Elon Musk is pushing the whole Grooming Gang propaganda on X to cause tensions in the UK. As if nobody cares about victims when the perpetrator happens to be brown. It’s absolute populist BS.
He is also saying that the parliament should be dissolved, and is throwing around more outrageous accusations: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/01/04/elon-musk-pushes-for-britains-king-charles-to-dissolve-parliament-as-lawmakers-say-tesla-ceo-is-misinformed/
We have people with obvious political agendas controlling the world’s largest social media platforms, and it’s not just the CCP.
When you said “pushing the … propaganda” I assumed you meant using algorithms to artificially amplify these messages.
But the whole article is just about Musk posting his opinions on X.
You were right the first time. Not to defend Musk’s populist tirade, but I was talking about how he and others in power are using these platforms to inorganically amplify propaganda.
I’m not a free speech absolutist and I do not believe libel should be allowed. But this is about more than that just one person defaming others.
On the case of Brazil, I think it has economical reasons. Meta sells stuff that compete with the social infrastructure it was trying to destabilize.
I would really like to see some laws against media concentration. It’s not even important who the media is. Instead, we have some laws that are the opposite of that, so if we solve the Meta problem, something else is due to break shortly after.
But hey, it’s entertaining anyway.
They absolutely should. In fact I’d be surprised if they didn’t do something about it eventually.