Bonum Certa Men Certa

Free (as in Freedom) Software + Social Control Media ≠ Free Speech

At door



Summary: Speaking through middlemen and private platforms is bad enough (that gives others unjust power over speech); to claim that because the underlying platform is free/libre software it therefore becomes a non-issue is also dishonest

TECHRIGHTS does not do Social Control Media (also known as "social media" or "social networks"). It's a total waste of time compared to self-hosting (blogs or equivalents). I myself am still posting some updates and notes there, notably news links while preparing these for Techrights (with its routine batches of Daily Links). Those quick quips are full of typos, inconsistent style, and are generally regarded as unimportant -- at times barely coherent (no context) -- and totally unpolished (not worth the effort). The 'shelf life' of those quips is the same as that of a pierced apple outside the fridge. The impact is limited, editing is not possible (even mere correction of typos), it's difficult to find old ones (good luck searching now that chronological search is phased out for better "engagement"), and hosts go out of existence quite fast. In Fediverse, for instance, I'm already on my third account due to censorship and shutdown (operator giving up). There's no substitute to hosting one's own with RSS feeds; federation can be impeded at software level or at pertinent nodes. Banishment is outside one's own control. Some people learn it the hard way (e.g. Google+ or Mixer). "Planets" are another issue; we've already seen how Debian, for instance, silences particular developers in an act of retribution (or an attempt to hide something). But it cannot ban the original developers' blogs. It's de-centralised.



"There's no substitute to hosting one's own with RSS feeds; federation can be impeded at software level or at pertinent nodes. Banishment is outside one's own control."It's a little surprising that not more people talk about or address the subject; blind assumptions include the assumption that Social Control Media is here to stay... forever. We're often being told (a false promise) that if the underlying platform is free/libre or "open source", then this magically implies "freedom" and "free speech"; people who express controversial views in such platforms (not even anything illegal) would attest otherwise. Just as Free software is being used to build many "clown computing" platforms that are proprietary ("LAMP" as in (GNU/)Linux, Apache, MySQL, Proprietary Software) and user-abusing, e.g. surveillance, Free software is used by Identi.ca, Diaspora pods and Mastodon instances. But none of them respects free speech absolutely. None. MINDS is arguably even worse and it is centralised, so once you're out forget about coming back. They tried de-platforming me at least thrice before (but I won the appeal and came back).

Social Control Media as a concept is flawed. It does nothing for freedom and does plenty for confrontation because people are confronted by views they would otherwise never subscribe to (unlike, say, RSS feeds). When you toss a whole bunch of people from different cultures into the same pit you get something wholly and entirely different from specialised forums people choose to participate in. The chaotic and divisive nature of the communication leads to feuds if not threats, resulting in bans, silencing (usually some sort of of shadowy sanctions), and permanent termination with no recourse/appeal opportunity.

"It would be nice to see more people blogging again, leaving comments, reading RSS feeds. It would help democratic structures and alleviate somewhat the spread of misinformation."Who needs this trouble? In due course it leads to self-censorship (due to fear of being de-platformed), political AstroTurfing (hard to police/guard against that) and sheer hate. So much more could be said about Social Control Media, but we'll keep that aside for another day. Just remember that Social Control Media is inherently designed for social control, i.e. censorship, not freedom of expression.

While writing this post my brain went into somewhat of a 'thought storm'; I even forgot some of the points I was planning to mention. The same thing happens when one enters the above sites; the "trending" topics sway one's attention away and if that's not bad enough (the topics are cryptic; more like clues and hearsay, not information) the notifications will do the rest (to remove focus/concentration).

It would be nice to see more people blogging again, leaving comments, reading RSS feeds. It would help democratic structures and alleviate somewhat the spread of misinformation.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, UbuntuPIT, and Google News
We've also just noticed more slop from UbuntuPIT
Microsoft Windows is No Longer an Operating System, It's Surveillance Project
Why is this even legal to preload on PCs outside the US?
 
LLM Slop/Advanced Plagiarism Flooding the Zone With Capital That Does Not Exist
Many publishers out there still participate in this bubble instead of calling it what it is
Links 09/10/2025: Sacked Microsoft Workers Make "Sackbird", IBM Taps CockroachDB for PostgreSQL
Links for the day
"Happy Hacking Day" Richard Stallman Talk This Afternoon (From 14:00 to 16:00) at Haaga-Helia University in Pasila
Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Finland
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 08, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 08, 2025
Links 09/10/2025: Impact of Microsoft Layoffs, More Data Breaches
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/10/2025: Autumn Blues and C IRC Bot
Links for the day
Slopwatch Appreciated by Real Authors of GNU/Linux Articles
We do try to keep on top of those things
Upgraded R.R.R.R.R.R. Today
The Web of 2025 is full of garbage, not limited to slopfarms
Freedom From Proprietary Prisons
Forking always an option
IBM's Watson Died in 1956, Now Watson Dies Again
IBM is becoming just a reseller of GAFAM and other stuff
Microsoft Says That Constant Mass Layoffs Are Success, the Media Isn't Buying This Microsoft Narrative Anymore
If people in the media feel an obligation to repeat whatever lies Microsoft tells, what point will there be to the media?
Links 08/10/2025: "Mali Puts Free Speech on Trial" And Apple Enforces Dictatorship
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2025: ‘Death to Spotify’ and Law to Ban Loud Commercials on Streaming (Dis)Services
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2025: Real Innovation and Nina.chat is Dead
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2025: Y2K38 Bug is a Vulnerability, Chat Control in Europe a Threat
Links for the day
How and Why Once-Legitimate Sites Turn Into Slopfarms
Many sites will go offline and many social control networks will shut down once they realise or even openly admit they spend money and time gardening a bunch of bots and slop
UbuntuPIT Became a Slopfarm and Gnoppix Tarnishes Its Own Brand With Slop
It fits all the characteristics of mildly-edited (if at all) slop
Slopwatch: Linux Journal and Other Slopfarms
GAFAM needs to go the way of the dodo
Gemini Links 08/10/2025: "Seek Seek Revolution" and Gradient Backgrounds
Links for the day
Qualcomm Arduino Takes Aim at Raspberry Pi
Qualcomm is a Microsoft partner
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 07, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 07, 2025
Stagnation of the Economy and What Free Software Can (or Could) Do For It
If your economic model is based on a pyramid of lies, it won't last very long
Social Control Media is Sinking
it would rightly seem like the era of centralised "social" sites (they're not social, they're about controlling the users) is ending, not overnight but gradually
Participation in Cancel Culture Detrimental to One's Career
A cautionary tale
Passion Wins
we've increased the number of birds we feed to 100+
How Solderpunk and Sean Conner Started Gemini Protocol (and, Collectively, Geminispace) Back in 2019
Based on the "official" history
Arduino is Now a Patent Bully (Qualcomm)
Qualcomm has just bought Arduino
Many Years of Microsoft Cancellations and Faked (Acquired) Revenue "Growth"
XBox is basically the "next Skype"
The Comment TheLayoff.com Has Just Censored for Criticising a Ridiculous Puff Piece of IBM Management
If comments get censored for their "style" rather than their substance, then society will be worse off
The Power of Writing Down Facts
The more we write and publish, the more people will know what happened
Microsoft's Non-Denying Denial About XBox's Death is Already Being Shattered to Pieces
Like Microsoft's 'open' 'hey hi', heralding meaningless non-committing agreements with AMD is little more than vapourware
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT Joins the Slopfarms Club
Slopfarms gonna slop
Links 07/10/2025: Privacy at Risk, GAFAM Remains Off the Hook
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/10/2025: Modern Retro Console Idea and Batch vs Bash
Links for the day
Links 07/10/2025: International Criminal Court (ICC) Convicts Ali Kushayb; Moroccan Imprisoned for 'Offensive' Shirt
Links for the day
Links 07/10/2025: EU' Chat Control is Back, US Cracks Down on Democracy
Links for the day
Techrights Pursues Justice and Truth Because, Without Those, Society Descends Into Chaos
most people reject dogma and pseudoscience
Upcoming Talks by Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Göteborg, and Rome
Join with him and share the software
Something Bad is Happening in the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
The latest OSI blog post is from a Microsoft operative and a few weeks ago the Executive Director left
TLS 1.3 Dominates Geminispace (99% of Known Capsules)
it's nowadays safe to assume almost every capsule can handle TLS 1.3
Why soylentnews.org Has Been Having Technical Difficulties Lately
The network has been going up and down quite a lot this past week
A Statement Against Violence
The facts are on our side
They've Run Out of Things to Rebrand or Label as "AI"
The next few years will be interesting because if Microsoft lays off tens of thousands of workers each year, there won't be much left except mountains of debt and dying brands
The Register MS is Still Being Paid to Participate in the "AI" Ponzi Scheme Which Will Crash the Economy
The Register MS is hoping to get lucky by tricking people into a scam
Richard Stallman Confirms His Talk in Göteborg This Coming Friday
"The hosts say that the list will not be given to the state"
Most of the "Linux" Results This Morning in Google News Are LLM Slop From the Same Slopfarm, Plagiarising Phoronix
The main question is, does Google even care at this point?
Gemini Links 07/10/2025: Civil War and "Goodbye Web"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 06, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 06, 2025