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The threats of social networks


sunrat

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Sorry for cross-posting this from BATL but it's a prime concern of mine and important to everyone, not just those interested in open source and Linux.

 

Facebook, Not Microsoft, Is the Main Threat to Open Source

 

Facebook scares the h3ll out of me. The title of this article is only part of what it discusses. The more frightening part is how FB enables influencing the whole fabric of society with disinformation, and now they are proposing more privacy through encryption which not only makes it easier for bad actors to communicate but abrogates FB's responsibility of governing evil content on the platform (such as terrorist groups) as FB themselves won't be able to access it.

Be sure to read that article's comments as they are pertinent and insightful, particularly Doc Searls' one.

 

A prime example of the threat is how Avaaz mounted a massive campaign to take down thousands of "fake news" FB groups who were attempting to influence the recent EU elections similar to what happened in the last US elections.

 

This article at Avaaz is essential reading:

We did it - Europe resists!

 

 

We’ve never been more proud of our movement.

 

After Trump, Brexit, and Bolsonaro, Europe was supposed to be next in last weekend’s elections. The last reliably democratic global power, drowned in the fake news and hate of the far right.

 

To meet this historic threat, Avaaz exposed and forced the takedown of likely the largest disinformation networks EVER. Networks that were racking up 3 BILLION views a year of their poison in just six countries. Enough to reach every voter an average of twenty times!!

 

And because hateful extremists also count on low voter turnout, we launched inspirational calls to defend democracy and go vote that were seen over 100 million times across Europe just in the last few days before the election!

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securitybreach

Well you probably should of just posted it here as "open source" doesn't always just mean Linux. There are tons of open source window's applications out there.

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securitybreach

Plus then, you end up with multiple discussions or people just reply to one or the other. Just my thoughts on it.

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Well you probably should of just posted it here as "open source" doesn't always just mean Linux.

Agreed. I posted it in BATL and then thought "this applies to more than just Linux users". ;)

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