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The Big Tech Lobby Playbook
How Big Tech’s power has rewritten digital rules globally
somo.nl/big-tech-lobby-playboo…
Big Tech giants have developed a powerful playbook to shape laws and politics in their favour, all around the world.
Our Big Tech Lobby Playbook series explores their tools and strategies through 6 case studies from Australia, Brazil, India, the EU, Kenya and the US.
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#BigTech #SocialMedia #Lobby #Meta #X #Facebook #Instagram #TikTok #LeaveX #SaveSocial
The Big Tech Lobby Playbook - Rewriting digital rules globally - SOMO
This series of articles by SOMO dives into specific examples of Big Tech lobbying and how they helped shape laws and politics in their favour.SOMO
The early Web had a quality that has been lost ever since: it was *simple*
Download #httpd , #netscape write some #html by hand and boom, the concept of a networked digital society is born.
It first started going pear shaped with #LAMP . The complexity of a full blown database was not justified for most use cases. As proven decades later by the popularity of #sqlite and #ssg approaches.
The final blow was when #bigtech got into the act. Immense complexity for the simplest things became a moat
"A resistance fighter understands that technology must never be accepted as part of the natural order of things, that every technology— from an IQ test to an automobile to a television set to a computer — is a product of a particular economic and political context and carries with it a program, an agenda, and a philosophy that may or may not be life-enhancing and that therefore require scrutiny, criticism, and control. In short, a technological resistance fighter maintains an epistemological and psychic distance from any technology, so that it always appears somewhat strange, never inevitable, never natural."
– Neil Postman, from his book Technopoly (1993)
🔗: therealists.org/2023/03/the-re…
#TheRealists #blog #WaybackMachine #resist #resistance #BigTech
This email arrived with impeccable timing.
"Don't worry" you say?
I'm not worried, I'm absolutely ELATED that my account is scheduled to be deleted. Thank you, bye #Discord !
For reference: theverge.com/tech/875309/disco…
#DeleteDiscord #BigTech #privacy
Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month
Starting in March, all Discord users will have a “teen” experience by default unless they complete age verification using a video selfie or ID.Stevie Bonifield (The Verge)
How are you managing your business/company without Big Tech? I would love to hear specifically selfhosted tools.
I have been managing my one person firm with Nextcloud, Trillium Notes and Forgejo. But now I am getting an employee and need to have files/information shared with other person. I have used Cryptpad for managing tasks and files previously, but loved to hear other options.
Over the years, I've realized how far we've drifted from the original idea of the World Wide Web. These days, it feels more like a corporate, big-tech web. I think there's real value in self-hosting as much as possible while still using major platforms, especially when you can pick more European and reasonable options.
People often forget that YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram were once independent companies, not owned by Meta or Google. Google was meant to be ad-free, and OpenAI was founded as a non-profit research organization, etc.
We'll probably never return to that vision, but I'm glad I own most my data and have about half of my tech self-hosted and open-sourced. It's only a dent, but I'm proud of that dent.
I like what Joseph Gordon-Levitt is doing. It's incredibly tough to stand up to big tech.
#BigTech #SunsetSection230 #Section230 #OnlineSafety #USPol #JosephGordonLevitt
Elbows Up: How Canada Can Disenshittify Its Tech, Reclaim Its Sovereignty, and Launch a New Tech Sector Into a Stable Orbit : Cory Doctorow : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
A keynote speech for the CIO of Canada's invitational 2026 Digital Government Leaders Summit, in Ottawa, Ontario, on 28 January 2026. In attendance were the...Internet Archive
OpenAI just announced ads in ChatGPT.
They promise not to sell your data or let ads influence responses.
Sound familiar? 🤔
Here's why you should be skeptical 👇
tuta.com/blog/openai-chatgpt-g…
#OpenAI #ChatGPT #BigTech #Advertisement
2026: The year ChatGPT gets ads. Start of a trend? | Tuta
OpenAI is testing ads in ChatGPT. Of course it does - just imagine how much money they can make selling people's attention to advertisers! Will your favorite AI get ads as well?Tuta
Another reason to not use #Google - they'll readily share your data with the government and give you minimal opportunities to respond. It's not worth it.
newrepublic.com/post/206088/ho…
#bigtech #degoogle #techgiants #Gmail
DHS Hunts Down 67-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Who Criticized Them in Email
The Department of Homeland Security is using a little-known tool to go after its critics.The New Republic
New year, new digital you? Kom naar de Digital Autonomy Fair van de RUG!
Begin het nieuwe jaar met goede voornemens: pak de controle over je digitale academische leven terug.Op 3 februari 2026 vindt de eerste Digital Autonomy...Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
It was an honor to speak at the #FOSDEM. Thank you for the possibility to share my message on how to lead change from closed source to #opensource and why contributing to this transition actually matters more than ever.
In case you missed the talk and would like to join the #FOSS revolution, I'm happy to share the recording: video.fosdem.org/2026/aw1120/7…
#fosdem #opensource #foss #leadership #changemanagement #unplugtrump #vendorlockin #bigtech
As we guessed, it seems that despite Google saying they were not making recordings of people's voices and mining them for advertisers, they were doing exactly that.
If it was a colleague caught wiretapping the workplace, we'd have them sacked and never speak to nor trust them again. In the case of Google, it's even more personal.
No Google service is free. We are the terrain they extract from. We always pay.
cbsnews.com/news/google-voice-…
Google to pay $68 million over allegations its voice assistant eavesdropped on users
Class-action lawsuit alleged that Google's voice assistant illegally recorded and shared private conversations with advertisers.Aimee Picchi (CBS News)
If we all want to make a change and reduce the impact of #BigTech, then this is the time to migrate from closed to open solutions.
I'm actively moving my stuff 🚚 How?
1) Strip data from my #LinkedIn profile
2) Set up my personal website
3) Be active here on Mastodon
4) Created my Nolto profile
5) Promoting the change
Project #LinkedOverAndOut 😎
michaelboelen.com/blog/moving-…
Anything missing or additional tips for those migrating?
Like? A boost is very welcome 🚀
Moving away from LinkedIn to a future-proof alternative (step by step)
The journey of moving away from LinkedIn, step by step, instead of just throwing away everything. Includes a more future-proof alternative.Michael Boelen
It is kind of obvious what's happening:
reuters.com/legal/litigation/a…
However, due to the shrinking workforce in many countries due to the greying of society, *some* of that replacement might prove necessary.
Oh, and it won't "just" be bluecolar workers: youtu.be/AVPjyJ3GTEo
My current opinion ist, that only craftsmen, childcare workers, will be safe...until #BigTech figures out to churn out cheaper robots by the thousands; or millions, as in the movie based on #Asimov's "I Robot"
☀️ CEO of W, Anna Zeiter, was #eBay Chief Privacy Officer and VP #AI and Data Responsibility:
"... [eBay's AI] policies have recently come under regulatory scrutiny, particularly in Europe where privacy authorities in Germany have raised concerns about [eBay training AI with user data after users complained]."
"Sellers have also raised transparency concerns around ways that eBay may be using AI to alter their listing information without their explicit permission and without clear disclosure to them or to consumers..."
For those ~500 new followers in the last week, here is our main reasoning why the argument that you have to stay on social networks to provide opposition is complete nonsense
leavex.eu/posts/why-stay-on-so…
If you agree, please share. This is mainly for those of you who still have or know of representatives on X, whatever their reason may be.
Why the argument that you have to stay on social networks to provide opposition is complete nonsense
Author: Mike Kuketz, translated from the original in German The argument that you can’t leave platforms like X or TikTok because there would otherwise be a lack of “dissent” and “opposition” is untenable for several reasons - it’s simply complete bul…Leave X - Protect Democracy
Folks, our very own @gerrymcgovern has his new book, 99th Day: A Warning About Technology, coming out next Monday.
gerrymcgovern.com/books/99th-d…
“99th Day is essential reading for anyone who cares about our planet. Prepare to be disturbed, enlightened and inspired.” – Justine McCarthy, The Irish Times
And, if you’re in Ireland, Gerry has a book tour in February. If I’m in the country, I’ll be at the Dublin event on the 9th. Hope to see some of you there :)
💕
#99thDay #books #environment #climateChange #capitalism #technology #BigTech #technoSolutionism #fascism #ireland
Ethical Technology or Feudalism?
A talk I gave six years ago that I’d highly urge you to watch. Still entirely relevant today, if not more so (sadly).
(What I call the Indienet in the talk is what I now call the Small Web; a peer-to-peer Web owned and controlled by people not corporations or governments.)
Amazing. W (I kid you not): A bunch of VC-funded European Big Tech assholes attempting to rewrite history by erasing the federated European alternatives that already exist to create their own centralised, surveillance-ridden X clone.
Same shit, different flag.
And I’m sure the usual fools will flock to it the moment it’s ready.
Fuck these people.
#EU #bullshit #W #BigTech #surveillance #capitalism #peopleFarming @nicolasvivant colter.social/@nicolasvivant/1…
Nicolas Vivant (@nicolasvivant@colter.social)
Attaché : 1 image @Radgryd@mstdn.games @aral@mastodon.ar.al It's real. → https://wsocial.euMastodon
Billionaire wealth tracker from Oxfam:
oxfam.org/en/oxfam-billionaire…
Makes for quite sickening reading 🤢
As featured in our article on the #BillionaireMindVirus
blog.rebeltechalliance.org/the…
#bigtech #billionaire #taxtherich
The Billionaire Mind Virus
A deep dive into the psychology of tech billionaires, so you understand why they are such a threat.Patrick Leavy (The Rebel Blog)
Human fracking… is that anything like people farming?
ar.al/notes/we-didnt-lose-cont…
straitstimes.com/singapore/edu…
#peopleFarming #BigTech @Deixis9 beige.party/@Deixis9/115917678…
Spotlight on 'people farming' at ST Education forum
Tech firms take heat as experts discuss good and bad sides of entrepreneurship. Read more at straitstimes.com.Sue-Ann Tan (ST)
Nah, fuck it, turned everything back on again. Why should I fix your damn broken interface and fool myself into thinking this piece of shit is anything but? Going to experience iOS 26 in all its enshittified glory. Will make it easier to hate this phone and move onto something more ethical once it finally croaks.
Apple is likely one release cycle away from going full Microsoft/Google anyway.
Warning: kissing fascist ass may result in liquid glass.
So my phone tricked me into updating to iOS 26 (nice one, asshats). And wow: it really is a case study in form over function. Gratuitous, meaningless aesthetics and motion. Decoration, not design. “Look what I can do!”
Oh well, if it gets me using my phone less, that’s a good thing, I guess.
But the next time you hear someone from Apple talking about design, please feel free to laugh in their damn faces. What a sad joke they’ve become.
#apple #ios26 #liquidAss #design #decoration #BigTech #fascism #aesthetics
Jeff Bezos is saying the quiet part out loud. They want to kill local computing.
You will own nothing and be happy. You will rent your computing power from the cloud. You pay a subscription for the privilege of using a computer.
AI demand is artificially spiking DRAM prices and Big Tech is pushing "AI PCs," the squeeze is on to force us into a rental model.
Reject this future. 
Keep your hardware local.
Run #Linux. 
Own your data.
The "cloud" is just a landlord for your data.
#NoAi #FOSS #OpenSource #Privacy #SelfHost #SelfHosting #BigTech #RightToRepair #RAM #Amazon #EatTheRich
