ML2 @mathlover@social.cleverlibre.org

A must-read from @ntnsndr and @amyadele on a sustainable future for small #SocialMedia: https://www.noemamag.com/mastodon-isnt-just-a-replacement-for-twitter/

Core idea: VC-focused scaling prioritizes maximum reach with minimum work: The Borg. A sustainable fediverse is more like a democracy: each city runs itself while still collaborating on state, federal law, etc.

Some of my favorite paragraphs in thread...

Remember when we used to build open source software that pretty much anyone could run on shared hosting? In fact, that’s how lots of us got into software development—we needed to make a change to some forum or blog software running on a shared host for ourselves or friends or family, so we learned just enough to get by, and then we learned some more, and then some more, until one day, we realized we were software engineers.

Telling moment at this panel discussion about antitrust, where the Republican guy admits that GOP interest in antitrust is probably limited *just* to punishing big tech, and likely does not apply to any other industry.

That's not a principled stance. It's not about actual antitrust complaints. It's about using antitrust to punish companies for speech choices they dislike

Same sex #MarriageProtectionAct secures enough votes on the floor of the US Senate to pass.

The enemy of your enemy is NOT your friend. #Apple  is the largest natural monopoly in the tech industry. They have far too much power with their App Store lock-in.

Apple caves to the demands of repressive regimes in the US, Israel, and China. Apple actively deplatforms sex workers. Apple exploits poor workers in China and the global south.

We can praise some of Apple's privacy decisions (e.g. standing up to governments pushing for crypto backdoors) while also recognizing that no corporation will EVER have your best interests in mind.

We must bring all tech companies to heel with regulation. We also need to build alternative digital ecosystems that don't rely on monopolistic private companies.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-apple-twitter-app-store/

Raw Story has been chasing around officials on Capitol Hill to ask about Trump's meeting with Nazis and white supremacists.

Day 2: John Cornyn STILL won't denounce Trump's meeting. We have no idea why, but we'll keep asking.

Yesterday, Cornyn refused to answer, saying he had better things to do than respond to questions about whether he's cool with extremists coming to dinner.

Meanwhile, Lindsey Graham had a total WTF moment about the dinner: "It was a bad day for him"

https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/republicans-trump-kanye-fuentes/

You can't make this stuff up

'I live in Texas': Herschel Walker repeatedly revealed he doesn't actually reside in Georgia https://www.rawstory.com/herschel-walker-texas/

Some people around the world are surprised at the unprecedented #ChinaProtests, having bought into an idea – one echoed by Chinese government policy – of a “social contract” in which people in China have somehow agreed to have their rights suppressed in exchange for economic growth.

But what if this idea is wrong?

"Nobody ever agreed to this contract... The government imposed it on us."

Read more in my newsletter today: https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2022/11/29?story=paragraph-4635

Sure, let's just go ahead and delete all the data about beneficial owners of companies in the EU. What could go wrong? Seriously, WTAF, Europe?

https://www.ft.com/content/e4b31a4e-a79d-40f7-8a19-c1e451a95c4b

European countries have begun taking down public registers of who owns their companies in the wake of a shock court ruling that campaigners have condemned as a major step backwards in the fight for corporate transparency and against economic crime.

Luxembourg and the Netherlands on Wednesday closed their public beneficial ownership registers, which show the ultimate owners of their companies, following the ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union, which invalidated public access.

Its judgment found that “the general public’s access to information on beneficial ownership constitutes a serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data”, according to a press release from the court.

I completely understand why academic researchers want access to social media company data. Hell *I* would love to have access to that data myself. But I'm perplexed at how they don't even seem to consider the practical difficulties (privacy, gov't threats, the impact on free speech) from government *mandating* data access.

@atomicpoet IRC is also the backbone of Twitch’s chat since it… works. XMPP is the backbone for stuff from Grindr to Cisco’s messaging solutions. Just because they fell out popularity with end users doesn’t mean that they aren’t still valid solutions for lots of problems that lots of people use every day.

Long after the dust settles, and the VC money has run dry these are the protocols that will still be around for us to use.

That's the ballgame..

Twitter no longer enforcing COVID misinformation policy

https://www.axios.com/2022/11/29/twitter-covid-misinformation-policy-enforcement

I know some people say "just keep tweeting away, don't let him win."

But the fact is: Twitter's a shop, Elon's the shopkeeper. If you go in there, you're buying from him.

And if you actively try to build engagement, you're encouraging others to shop with him.

There's no workaround. You just have to shop elsewhere.

🆕: In the past few elections, youth voters have consistently turned out and had major impacts on election results. But rather than celebrate this civic achievement, Republicans are passing laws restricting young voters’ ability to cast their ballots.
https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/how-republicans-target-young-voters/

I've been exploring Otherweb (https://otherweb.com/), a fascinating project from Alex Fink, a serial tech entrepreneur, who got frustrated with clickbait and other "junk news". His project sorts existing news feeds, allowing you to read news that's not misrepresenting itself. In the process, he and his team are also building a search engine that steers you away from ad-laden and affiliate sites. No business model - he's working to get people using it first, then considering how to monetize it. I interviewed him last week for Reimagining the Internet and will share the episode when it comes out.

With the thousands of Ukrainian children kidnapped to Russia and the Bardak of Russian record-keeping, we will see such stories for decades and decades.

But sure, end the European visa ban,give Russia a Marshall Plan and call anyone who objects a nazi.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/28/melissa-highsmith-kidnapped-baby-alive/

lmao, i didn't realize that Twitter's blog ties into its account display names.

cc @ruchowdh