Bonum Certa Men Certa

Feeling Vindicated About the Harms of Social Control Media Being Widely Recognised



Social Control Media is like smoking. It only gives an impression of (temporary) calm.

Smoking boy



Summary: The cleansing of social control media sites reinforces our long-held views about social control media in general

MIXER is dead (much like Microsoft's morale) while LinkedIn 'cancels' people/businesses and there's plenty of press coverage right now about a number of social control media sites -- notably Twitch and Google's YouTube -- banning people/channels for hate speech (not sure whether to use quotes, scare quotes or none at all). There's also a corporate boycott against Facebook; companies that themselves deserve a boycott refuse to pay for Facebook ads. In some cases that extends to Twitter. Even Microsoft, which is very close to Facebook, joined the boycott. It'll be in our next batch of Daily Links.



Notice the trend.

"In our case, the block/ban was simply due to the fact that we expose corruption. No rudeness, no falsehoods, just embarrassing leaks and accurate information, which EPO workers were happy to supply us with."As readers are aware, Techrights is blocked from inside the European Patent Office (EPO). This is the only block we're aware of (we're accessible everywhere in China; we rechecked this very recently just to verify). António Campinos, who tomorrow celebrates 2 years at the Office, kept this ban initially imposed by Benoît Battistelli. In our case, the block/ban was simply due to the fact that we expose corruption. No rudeness, no falsehoods, just embarrassing leaks and accurate information, which EPO workers were happy to supply us with.

Third parties like social control media/networks that are centralised (federation means that applies to some degree to decentralised ones too) are censorship enablers. There are many problems associated with them. For instance, people can have thrown at them disgusting speech that they wouldn't otherwise stumble upon (they would not access tasteless sites); conversely, some of that speech will be choked without reason or recourse. So we think that a proper way to handle society is to let disgusting sites have their own tasteless audience and keep people apart, rather than constantly fighting (divisive and misleading social control media is what I left behind three weeks ago). No need for censorship; merit can do its thing. The World Wide Web has long had Nazi sites around (even literally Nazi); that did not jump at people's face (unless they actually bothered visiting such sites). The supposed 'utopia' of social control media/networks presumed "one happy family" mindset; instead, they use divisiveness (which they contribute further to) to increase user engagement and push ads (brainwash), manipulate election/referendum outcomes etc.

"The supposed 'utopia' of social control media/networks presumed "one happy family" mindset; instead, they use divisiveness (which they contribute further to) to increase user engagement and push ads (brainwash), manipulate election/referendum outcomes etc."As we said before, if you are not in social control media/networks, do not get started! You're not missing anything of value. Get a decent RSS reader, subscribe to sites you trust and off you go. Nobody but the ISP can censor you (and there are workarounds in case that happens too; de-platforming doesn't work at DNS level).

Recent Techrights' Posts

China Says Goodbye to Microsoft
It is hardly surprising that Windows is shedding off userbase all around the world
Evri (HermesUK) is Now Run by Bots and Hallucinating Scammers
Years ago they virtually removed support and tried chatbots instead
 
Laos Leaving GAFAM Behind, Gradually
Yesterday evening it was measured at 10% for GNU/Linux at one point
They Were Wrong All Along
Two women combined won't deliver a healthy baby in just 4.5 months
A "Tech Journalist" Would Not Cover Vote on LLMs as a Sex Issue
For a moment there you have to pause and wonder, is this a "Tech Journalist" or the Daily Stormer?
20,000 by Year's End
The "New Techrights" will have 20,000 pages by year's end
Last Night GNU/Linux Measured at 9% in Africa
Nighttimes in Africa are times when GNU/Linux usage on desktop/laptop devices typically surges, based on Clownflare [...] It changes in favour of GNU/Linux
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Google Bait and Switch (Getting College People 'Hooked' on 'Cheap' Storage, Then Backups Gone), a "Question of E-mail"
Links for the day
Bluesky is in Trouble
Bluesky is a private company (unlike Bluesky Digital Assets Corp. in Toronto, that one runs a pyramid scheme!), so it's hard to know for sure just how much money it is losing
Links 18/08/2026: US Abandons South Korea, New Legal Disputes Over Slop Plagiarism in the Music Scene
Links for the day
Linux Losing Interest in Users' Freedom, Pursues DRM Instead
"Linux" is (or was, as GNU/Linux) meant to empower - not artificially restrict - the users
GNU/Linux in Ecuador and Colombia: Growing, Still Below International Average
locals turn away from Windows and try GNU/Linux instead
IBM is Dead or Dying. Now It Asks Workers to 'Resign' Voluntarily.
To save face, to pretend no layoffs are happening (as it might alarm shareholders) [...] We keep hearing more and more stories like that
Links 18/08/2026: Sergey Brin Controlling State Policies, "Dario Amodei's (Anthropic) Wife Is Closely Linked to Jeffrey Epstein"
Links for the day
SBS News Interviews Daniel Pocock
The locals say this PR stunt (by the bigot, Farage) was a waste of money
Clownflare Sees One in 7 Web Requests in Libya Originating From GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has taken a (foot)hold there
Openwashing and Manifestos Composed in Private by Dictators With Deliberately Addictive (and Subsidised, Bundled) 'Tech'
It's long, so make a cuppa first
SLAPP Censorship - Part 153 Out of 200: Decades of Debt, Weaponising Borrowed Money to Try to Put Their Critics in Debt
they've always had a financial report by now
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 17, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, August 17, 2026
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Solar Power, Kipple and Impermanence, Catastrophe Ethics
Links for the day
Less Technology, More Life
Technology is being associated (sometimes rightly) with physical and mental problems
Google Search Has Gotten Worse (a Lot Worse)
getting worse
Birthday in 80 Days
we'll start decorating and party online with our community
Loans and Massive Debt at Microsoft, This Won't End Well.
Microsoft running out of money to pay salaries (to the point of paying people for 'voluntary' layoffs) is a positive sign?
Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Life in Plain Text, Mimicking KARL, Release of Jugulans, Avoiding Slop
Links for the day
Clown Storage Without Backups
Setting up several reliable copies of the data, plus several off-site backups (this data is nowhere as sensitive as medical data), should only cost a few grand
FreeCAD is Becoming Slop-ware, Use LibreCAD Instead
It has regular releases and "Qt5 is mandatory" now [...] they at least audit what they add
Cuba and Venezuela High in Adoption of GNU/Linux
some of the "communist" nations
Links 17/08/2026: Myanmar’s Cholera Outbreak, China Sends Commercial Vessels Through Arctic
Links for the day
GAFAM Loyalty Has Come to an End, Morale Low, People Whose Future is Uncertain Choose to Become "Lifers"
morale is low and there's no loyalty anymore
SLAPP Censorship - Part 152 Out of 200: Injunctions Do Not Cover Criticism, They Have Scope
self-incriminating communications
Clownflare Sees About Quarter of Web Requests in Ireland Coming From GNU/Linux
Well, in Ireland it seems like many people adopted GNU/Linux
Clownflare: In Australia and New Zealand GNU/Linux Peaks at Over 10% During Working Hours
That right there is interesting in its own right
Slowing Down by Intention
At the moment we have 6 or 7 ongoing series
Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Chamboree, Partial Solar Eclipse, Lady Macbeth
Links for the day
Links 17/08/2026: "Bluesky Is Down Again!" and "Anti-Social Media"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 16, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, August 16, 2026
A Vortex of Beacons (or "Bluetooth Everywhere" Vision)
If someone (or someones) calls you paranoid for taking about "beacon"-like functionality, there will be no lack of authoritative citations (e.g. Web links) they can be provided to prove them wrong
Falkland Islands: GNU/Linux Elevated to 6%
GNU/Linux usage seems to have increased a lot there
Links 16/08/2026: Reading Outside, Going Offline More, and Art of Computer Programming
Links for the day
The Question of Patience
Is there a lesson here somewhere?
IBM May be Sued for Mass Layoffs Via PIPs
Some whole threads (with all the long comments in them) recently got nuked by thelayoff.com
Links 16/08/2026: Ceuta Reports Social Control Media Used as a Weapon
Links for the day
Links 16/08/2026: Europe in Crisis of Droughts While Energy- and Water-Consuming, Pollution-Emitting Chatbots Are Spread by GAFAM (US) to Keep a Ponzi Scheme Going
Links for the day
GNU/Linux is a Platform for Work (Usage Surges in Daytime)
GNU/Linux 15% in daytime
We Need Rain, Not Chatbots
There's no "anti-AI" (it's not even AI), there's opposition to fraud, to plagiarism, and to companies that profit more when there's global warning (caused in part by their business activities)
SLAPP Censorship - Part 151 Out of 200: Dealing With Sleazy People and Companies That Steal (While Employing These Sleazy People)
we offer a quick summary and we're reflecting
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 15, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, August 15, 2026
Gemini Links 16/08/2026: Sterrenkijker Releases, Solar Gemini Server
Links for the day