I think the trend is clear: don't criticise the powerful or else...

Good reaction and opinion piece about the latest policy changes at Meta. This is really going to be toxic, but they just don't care at the top.

Interesting little study of engagement on various platforms. Clearly the Fediverse could do better in terms of avoiding "friendly fire", I suspect it's the top reason limiting its growth.

A good petition to push forward. Political leaders shouldn't keep interacting in this cesspool.

I wish other platforms would go through so much scrutiny. Still it gives a good idea about the mental health issue they collectively represent.

Very good background information on the latest attempt at discrediting Wikipedia.

This is not all bad news, there are a few things to rejoice about.

Bluesky is already hitting growth pains regarding moderation and its guidelines. By being centralized it is also more at risk within the current US political climate.

Very good piece explaining why the Ferdiverse is currently our only option for a decentralized social media platform. Maybe Bluesky will become another option... maybe... but so far it's only empty promises with a real risk of capture.

Technology isn't neutral. It's impossible to ignore the ideologies of the moguls funding or leading big tech companies. We can't afford to trust their promises.

Definitely this. Sure we should seek for decentralization, but this is not going to happen or be effective without regulation. Ensuring privacy is a legislative and political problem as much as a technical one.

Excellent post showing reasons to be skeptical about Bluesky's future. Despite all their likely sincere claims I don't see how they'll escape enclosure and enshittification when their sketchy VCs will want to see money back.

This is what we get for refusing to regulate social media and for not auditing their algorithms. Their owners can game and bias the platforms as they see fit for their own gains. They became massive forces of manipulation in the process.

Sad to see people predominantly jumping from Twitter to other tech moguls walled gardens. This feels more and more like a missed opportunity for the fediverse. That said I'm amazed at how efficient Musk has been at killing the network effect of his platform. This proves it's actually doable.

A very precious philosopher from the 20th century. Her texts are still very precious and resonate today. In this piece it's focusing about tech relevant excerpts, she had plenty to say about today's politics as well.

This is just insane, claiming two opposite things to different demographic groups for political gains. And if you try to stop this kind of manipulative stunts they'd probably cry wolf about free speech...

It's actually unsurprising, all those tech and crypto bros have assets in jeopardy if some regulation is applied to their industry. No wonder they'd support the one with the most libertarian agenda after the current administration which did look into antitrust cases and increased regulation (even though marginally).

A good reminder that this is not the Google Chrome alternative you're looking for. It's the same privacy invading mindset with some bigotry on top.

People have to realize that tycoons like the ones from big tech companies can both be rich and mediocre. They were smart enough to seize opportunities at the right time but they are not exceptional. In fact, they're even boring and spineless.

The best quote in this paper I think is: "There is nothing special about Elon Musk, Sam Altman, or Mark Zuckerberg. Accepting that requires you to also accept that the world itself is not one that rewards the remarkable, or the brilliant, or the truly incredible, but those who are able to take advantage of opportunities, which in turn leads to the horrible truth that those who often have the most opportunities are some of the most boring and privileged people alive."

The real problem is that lots of journalists can't come to term with the fairy tale and so fall prey to all their publicity stunts as if it had any hidden meaning. This is dangerous because of all the political power they try to seize for their own gains.

Meanwhile, "the most powerful companies enjoy a level of impunity, with their founders asked only the most superficial, softball of questions — and deflecting anything tougher by throwing out dead cats when the situation demands."

Now you can go and read this long piece.

This is definitely a good idea, I wish we had the same in France. This is too bad that they plan to raise the price, it's going to limit the impact of the measure.