- cross-posted to:
- canada@lemmy.ca
The fact is, banning X is free political points. The moment a country does it, it will domino into other countries doing it as well, and they will be seen as having been the leader and first of the movement. They should make sure users know of the federated alternatives before they do so, though.
I have asked the Beaverton to do it, if that counts! I have asked reporters at publications to do it, maybe I will write up a better letter and explain to the media about it.
I have demanded that the Saskatchewan MLA’s do it, and tell me how they are doing it.
Further, I need to hear from each MLA on how they plan to remove themselves from U.S.-based social networks and transition to Canadian-hosted, decentralized platforms.
I do not expect to hear from any MLA, maybe I will get a letter from Moe saying why he is not doing so. It would be nice to hear from the NDP saying they are doing something.
I Just did a Thing
I just started a whole thing, issuing official complaints with the RCMP, CSIS, CSE, The Inspector General, and few other agencies that I cannot think of right now I sent an email to every MP, and several news outlets.
The letter is get off of X because we are at war with the US, trade war but war non the less. The lettered agencies are because one of them uses X and the other two should be looking at espionage and foreign interference.
The Media is included, to try and push it a bit further faster. If Canadian media and officials can leave X, that is a big F you to Musk and a retaliatory measure protecting Canadian interests. I really hope something can be done to protect us, and that other countries will follow suit
I’m against banning things. It’s better to teach users how not to use these platforms.
It’s more effective, because it has a long term effect.
I like the Danish idea to label EU products in supermarkets. Information is a good first step.
“Education” doesn’t really feel like a solution to things that people often lean into cognitive dissonance on.
Everybody has the opportunity to know how reprehensible the conditions the meat that ends up in supermarkets (and probably your local market too) is but very few people are willing to change their diets. Many people talk about caring about ‘loving animals’ but when it comes down to making changes, the head just usually goes into the sand.
Kurzgesagt did a good video recently on what the cost to improve animal welfare for things that end up on peoples plates would be but the truth is the only reason why we know what those numbers are is because some places have banned certain practices. The only way to realize those benefits is through legal changes, not 3% of people paying 3 times as much for fancy free range eggs.
That said, I’m also generally against banning things, I just don’t know how you make that sort of thing less attractive- a Twitter Tax?
That idea is beautiful in theory, but useless in practice.
+1.
This just suggests to censor us. I’m all for an open and free internet. If you censor it, you look ight as well join the book burning club.
Education is key. Just look at what they doing in the United St… Oh wait, nevermind.
maybe instead, pass a law. one with substantial penalties for failure to comply, that requires ‘social media companies’ of a ‘certain size’ to do (reasonable) ‘things’ in order to operate or make themselves available in canada. things that spaceman fireball would never do
He’s the richest man in the world. You couldn’t set a fine he wouldn’t just pay as the cost of doing business.
America is the best example that you just can’t teach some people. Doesn’t matter if it is scientists and doctors doing the teaching. If anything in the eyes of idiots that makes them even less credible. Don’t underestimate stupidity.
I honestly know what you mean. But I have my principles. It’s not good to use censorship to fight disinformation. It’s a social problem and it’s better to fight the root cause, not the symptoms.
That nice in theory but hasn’t worked in practice.
I get updates on X from my local news and police stations about traffic, weather, etc. We’d need to get this type of stuff into another single platform before many people would switch.
If you have to use Twitter I recommend using squawker if you have android. Unfollow everyone from Twitter just use squawker to subscribe to accounts which provides a subscription feed that is local without adding the account followers.
Not a good idea to use the official Twitter app anyways with all the data collecting it can do and adding to follower counts adds added pressure to keep a presence there. Just turn into a ghost when it comes to Twitter usage.
Write your MPs and MLAs!
They’re almost all still using twitter/X
Imagine what xAI is doing at twitter behind closed doors, and imagine what they can do in this current conflict.
It’s too dangerous to let them have power.
In my letter to the Saskatchewan legislature today, I said this:
Publishing such an idea on X, a platform known to harbor extremist views, is not only irresponsible but also potentially dangerous. It sends the wrong message and could be interpreted in the worst possible way.
I am not accusing Moe or the Saskatchewan Party of anything malicious, but this carelessness demonstrates yet again how unfit Moe is to lead.
Moe had posted something on X that could be taken the wrong way by smart people or people of Eastern religious faiths so I called him out. I have also asked for all the MLA’s plans to get off of X and US social networks to move to decentralized social networks on Canadian servers. I may get a letter from the DUI hire, because he is the premier but it will say he will say he is doing nothing. I would hope I get some letters from the NDP in Saskatchewan with a plan but I am really not holding my breath.
We need tech regulation.
Here’s a great interview that explains why:
In short, in order for democracy to work, we need shared trust. To have shared trust, we need a common basis of reality.
Our current unregulated informational landscape fragments reality and polarizes people because it is the most profitable thing to do, but it is death to a functioning society.
100%. X is a hate-filled propaganda machine owned by an asshole in the Trump inner circle and hostile to Canada. Fuck it. Fuck Insta too. And Facebook, though we need alternatives to marketplace since it killed many of those (Kijiji isn’t a good alternative either). Fuck Fox News big-time, and PostMedia
I wonder if we could built a Marketplace alternative tied to the Fediverse
I wonder if we could built a Marketplace alternative tied to the Fediverse
It already exists it’s called flohmarkt and the code is hosted on Codeberg. Please join the community !flohmarkt@lemmy.ca to discuss it.
I’m being that annoying guy telling all my close friends and family how I feel so much better on Masto and Pixelfed than the FB and IG accounts I deleted. Can’t hope for much but I do enjoy not seeing ads and I’m generally less annoyed in my day.
Canada should not ban individual social media services one at a time. It can’t be justified, constitutionally or morally. Canada should instead pass a privacy law that prohibits the surveillance capitalist dirty tricks that make them profitable, and design regulations that require interoperability.
Of course that would require a government capable of designing good tech regulation, which we don’t seem to have much chance of seeing around here any time soon.
We are currently at war with the owner of the website. We have justification for banning something that can be used against us in that war.
It would be like continuing to use American Air defense systems against the Americans in a full scale war.
While I agree we just need better legislation overall, I also think banning specific American social media is a smart move for everyone involved considering they are all in Trumps pocket.
We shouldn’t be using products and services of hostile foreign nations. This isn’t a freedumb or mahrights thing.
Would you ban the broadcast of CBS News as well?
We shouldn’t be using products and services of hostile foreign nations. This isn’t a freedumb or mahrights thing.
Don’t ask questions already answered. It makes you look bad.
We banned RT from cable. A bit different mind.
I agree though, just tighten up privacy and reduce the ability to manipulate.
Yeah I haven’t watched much TV since twenty years ago, forgot for a moment how tightly regulated broadcasting is. By contrast, nobody has even talked about banning the RT web site. For the most part, banning the use of foreign websites is something only autocratic censorship-heavy states are in the business of doing. Canada’s one attempt to block some random for-profit pirate streaming site that almost nobody had heard of was dangerous enough.
Prohibiting surveillance and stopping manipulation of a population are not the same thing.
The copypasta I’ve been tweaking since this topic keeps coming up. Yeah I know, it mentions Lemmy, and we’re already here, but it’s the prepared Copypasta and talking about it now instead of scrolling through and editing is easier.
Consider making an account on a Canadian Mastodon instance. Mastodon is a decentralized open-source social media platform similar to X/Twitter. There are several Canadian based general interest “instances” where you can make an account: Mstdn.ca, TheCanadian.Social, CoSocial.ca or SocialBC.ca.
There is no one company fine-tuning an algorithm to entertain you, sell you crypto, and radicalise you, so you’ll need to do some work on setting up your feed. Check out Fedi.Directory, Interesting Accounts to Follow on Mastodon and the Fediverse and Fedi.Tips- An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse.
For some Canadian themed news sources, I recommend the following Mastodon follows:
- CBC News
- Global News
- The Tyee
- PressProgress
- Meanwhile In Canada
- Winnipeg Free Press
- The Narwhal
- Cory Doctorow
- Michael Geist
- Senator Paula Simmons
- Canadian History Ehx
- Saskatoon Star Phoenix
Following #Hashtags is also a good way to stay in the loop on a topic. For now, I’d suggest #Canada and #CdnPoli .
There are also Canadian instances and other Federated services, but Mastodon is probably a good gateway. If you would like to explore the Canadian Fediverse further, join the discussion over at Lemmy.ca or Sh.itJust.Works (kind of like Reddit) or check out the scenery at Pixelfed.ca (kind of like Instagram).
Even if it isn’t your primary social media, at least you’ll have a backstop of news and a way to connect without the algorithms manipulating what to show you. Hope to see you out there.
Screw global news, corporatist propaganda IMO
Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t agree with such a move, but X is an exception. We’ve seen the platform owner directly interfere with politics in multiple countries and we know what crowd of terrorists he’s been running with both on his platform and elsewhere. The platform owner is definitively a traitor to Canada, aiding a malicious enemy who has threatened our country and set out to harm us. But I do wonder what reaction the average Canadian (who just uses the most popular social media because everybody else is on it and hasn’t participated at all in alternatives like the Fediverse) would have. If we manage to elect a non-CPC gov’t though, maybe they can use that mandate.
Ban all social media honestly. There isn’t really even one platform that isn’t used to manipulate us in some way.
Like, I think we understood that TV was bad for us. That’s why we tried to restrict advertisements and had these types of controls on shows and stuff because we knew it could be dangerous.
No reason it shouldn’t be on the Internet too. I know the “free” Internet people will hate me, but the ones with the biggest pockets are eroding the foundations of our democracy. Let’s not sit back and just take things as they are.
My friends, you need to know Facebook is a threat, too
Peter Thiel was the first outside investor in FB. Zuck is close to the tech bros like Musk behind the scenes. You cannot trust either platform
I obv can’t tell you to ban them, but you need to figure out how to deal with the vast amount of lies and propaganda on them. If they coup-de-grace the US, they will destabilize every democracy. It’s Thiel’s (and Putin’s, for dif reasons) wet dream