By "social media" we mean any large computer network that allows people to interact in shared communities. The big ones of course are Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram, but we can't forget newer platforms like Discord and Slack.
Dedicated video sites are off-topic here and YouTube has its own separate thread
.
What we should discuss in this OTC topic are news items, business operations, and activities by the networks themselves, not specific things posted by users. Those should go into threads appropriate to the subjects of those posts. For example, if an actor tweets about a film, we'd discuss that in the Media forum topic for the film, not here. If Facebook changes its policies, that could be discussed here.
The politics, motives, competency and wider business activities of the owners and leaders of social media companies (e.g. Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg) are also off-topic — except in situations where they are directly making specific policy for the platform.
Talking about a particular Instagram policy change (or a high-profile ban on a specific user) directly announced by Mark Zuckerberg would be acceptable in this thread, speculating about Zuckerberg's wider motivations wouldn't be.
The thread's also not about "dumb thing [public figure] said on [social media platform]". If there isn't a specific thread related to the subject of the statement (e.g. US Politics), then it's probably gossip and not worth talking about.
created back in 2020 that we never opened. Unfortunately, it's a little stale, so bumping it isn't going to work very well, but I would like to restart it. The reason I'm doing so is that the Computer Thread seems to have become the de facto place for this sort of talk, and it's a big tonal clash with talking about computer tech.
The hot topic of the day is Elon Musk's bid to acquire Twitter. We first discussed it in the Computer Thread, starting roughly here, and I am not going to rehash the entire discussion. Instead, I am going to resume from the last post:
CNBC: Twitter is reportedly taking another look at Musk takeover bid
Twitter's board is reportedly meeting with Elon Musk and may seek to negotiate on his buyout offer. Musk claims to have secured $46 billion in funding to buy the company at a valuation of $43 billion and is preparing to make a tender offer to its shareholders.
While the board has passed a poison pill, it could be facing resistance to that from groups of shareholders and will want to talk things out rather than face a hostile takeover. It's also possible that Twitter's stock could crash if the offer fails to go through.
Another possible topic was originally posted here.
Ars Technica: EU to unveil landmark law to force Big Tech to police illegal content
Following on from the recently passed Digital Markets Act, which requires large tech companies to unbundle first-party software from hardware platforms, the proposed Digital Services Act will require medium and large social media platforms and search engines to police hate speech and disinformation while adding additional protections for children against targeted marketing.
It also bans "dark patterns", which manipulate or trick people into clicking on ads or other content. The article doesn't explicitly say what that means, but I assume it includes things like disguising ads to look like parts of a site's user interface, hiding "close" buttons, and such.
For large companies, the requirements would go into effect immediately. For medium companies, they would have a grace period to implement the changes.
Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, has warned that Big Tech has become “too big to care.”
This phrase, "too big to care", intrigues me. It's an indictment of the idea that these companies have decided that growth and engagement metrics overwhelm any sense of social responsibility.
In my opinion, a law like this would be impossible in the United States, since it would be challenged (likely successfully) on First Amendment grounds.
Edited by Mrph1 on Dec 12th 2023 at 11:24:56 AM
My Head Is On Fire
Can Twitter just die already?
I mean, not that it will solve the problem at large, but it’d at least be one less platform for these heinously evil assholes to use.
Edited by MagmaTeaMerry on Mar 16th 2024 at 2:49:36 PM
My AO3 profile. Let sleeping cats lie and be cute and calming.
Disasturbator
Twitter died long ago and rose from its grave as X,it came back wrong!
New theme music also a box
Oh, bother.
It was never right in the first place. But it's definitely worse now.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Is Tik-Tok specifically getting banned or all computer things like Tik-Tok?
Never trust anyone who uses "degenerate" as an insult.
Just Tiktok. The issue is that it is owned by a Chinese corporation, not any sort of moral judgment.
Visiting from the Hoag Galaxy
Well…the bill in question is very broadly worded and would give the government the authority to ban any website they deem a “risk to national security” without, of course, defining what exactly that means.
So it basically gives leeway to ban anything.
Not Three Laws compliant.
Lost in Space
The bill allegedly targets social media platforms owned by "foreign adversaries". That basically means China, although it would presumably include any hypothetical Iranian or North Korean social media platforms that became weirdly popular.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Oh, bother.
It is technically possible for Tik Tok to be spared if Bytedance was willing to divest.
But it is effectively a ban since Bytedance had already rejected that option.
Edited by M84 on Mar 17th 2024 at 9:35:36 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Surrounded by weirdoes
Let's see if they don't change their tune as the deadline approaches.
Wake me up at your own risk.
I feel like that wording would also include the ability to hit telegram.
Jupiterian Local
"Foreign adversary" is an official government designation assigned according to specific rules. Currently the list is China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and the Maduro regime (of Venezuela, though specifically only the Maduro regime and not Venezuela as a whole). This list can be changed, but not arbitrarily, and it's ultimately the decision of the Secretary of Commerce (since it's meant to be used for the purposes of things like economic sanctions).
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Considering that it only affects the app and not the Web version, probably not even an upticknof VP Ns.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Huh, leave it to the US Congress to be quarter baked when it comes to handling tech stuff.
Wake me up at your own risk.
Oh, bother.
Though affecting the app version is still a significant blow, considering how many users exclusively use the app version to do Tiktok shit.
Forcing them to use the web version only is an extra hurdle. And you'd be surprised how many people are turned off of something just with an extra hurdle added.
It's one of the tried-and-true ways to "soft-ban" something — make it increasingly more inconvenient to use.
Edited by M84 on Mar 17th 2024 at 11:12:54 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
Jupiterian Local
Phone apps are also generally more of a security concern than a web browser is. An app can do basically whatever the developer wants it to, while someone trying to do something nefarious through a browser has to get around the browser's security controls first. It's not impossible, but it does make things more difficult and reduces the quality of information they can gather — which is generally a worthwhile goal when we're talking about security.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Oh, bother.
Oh, and Tiktok is not going to be sold. Bytedance has made it very clear they aren't going to sell. So if / when this bill passes through the Senate and is signed by Biden, Tiktok will be effectively gone in the USA. People who already have it will still have it, but the app won't be available to anyone else in the USA in the future.
Disgusted, but not surprised
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I've seen this mentioned before, yeah. On a computer, websites basically have to suck up the presence of things like adblockers and other workarounds (at least, for now). On a smartphone, using the company's own app, fiddling with basically any aspect of how it runs or what it can take from your data is a felony.
Unless they cross the border into Canada or Mexico, download the app there and then come back into the country.
Oh, bother.
Unless there's some region-locked crap that makes the version of an app in one country unusable in another country.
And even if there isn't, most people who don't already have Tiktok aren't going to waste time and money on a trip to Canada or Mexico just to download the app.
Disgusted, but not surprised
To be clear I'm talking about things like cracking apps, not downloading them in other countries.
It's been fun.
I just wanted to know if someone could make a local Tik-Tok knockoff or would Congress have a problem with it too.
Never trust anyone who uses "degenerate" as an insult.
Oh, bother.
If it's home-grown in the USA, it's not a foreign adversary. So it wouldn't be covered by the ban.
Disgusted, but not surprised
I actually wanted to be Resileaf
It's highly likely that Youtube will pounce on this to make their own Tik Tok-like app the moment the ban comes into effect.
What do you mean by "now"? He's always been cosying up to random fascists on Twitter like the Catturd guy or Ian Miles Chiang.
And it's not about what they provide for Twitter, but what they provide for Elon Musk - which is an adoring audience that praises him constantly and won't call him out for being a terrible person.
Basically, it's not a business thing, it's a Musk thing.
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Mar 16th 2024 at 2:38:34 PM
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.