Dass es den europäischen Regierungen und der EU bei den von ihnen vorangebrachten Alterskontrollen (= Identitätsdatenkontrollen) im Internet nicht um den Jugendschutz sondern um die Kontrolle von Informationszugängen und Kommunikationsräumen geht, zeigt sich gerade wieder beim Vorhaben Frankreichs, auch das dezentrale Fediverse/Mastodon als "Pornographieplattform" einzustufen um es entsprechenden Kontrollen unterwerfen zu können.

Mit dem Argument, dass diese oder jene Kanäle, Plattformen, Programme oder Angebote dafür genutzt werden könnten, neben anderem auch nicht jugendfreie Inhalte zu teilen, wird so ein Vorwand geschaffen, der die umfassende Kontrolle von alledem rechtfertigen soll.

https://www.heise.de/news/Paris-plant-Social-Media-Verbot-fuer-Kinder-Alterskontrollen-auf-Bluesky-Co-10439513.html

#Bluesky #Mastodon #SocialMedia #EU #Alterskontrollen #Frankreich #Fediverse #Datenschutz #Daten #Privacy

Warum das Social-Media-Verbot für Teenager zum Albtraum wird

‚Weltweit wird ein Social-Media-Verbot für Jugendliche diskutiert. Doch kaum jemand spricht über die dystopische Überwachungs­struktur, die dafür aufgezogen wird. Mit potenziellen Folgen für uns alle…..‘

https://www.republik.ch/2026/04/10/ctrl-warum-das-social-media-verbot-fuer-teenager-zum-albtraum-wird

#Überwachung #SocialMedia #Altersverifikation #Deutschland #Datenschutz #Daten #Privacy

Compose Yourself – Social Connecting and Physical Distancing

#CreativeInsights #MusicianTips #SocialMedia https://muz4now.com/2020/compose-yourself-social-connecting-physical-distancing

Have you ever met someone from the Fediverse in person to do something together?

I don't mean at a Fediverse-related event. If you have, I'd be curious to hear what kind of activity brought you together.

I've seen people from other social media platforms organize offline activities and meetups, Facebook and Instagram (Meta), Orkut (Google), and Twitter (now X), and I'm curious whether this happens through the Fediverse too.

Please, boost to find more activities, if any.

#SocialMedia #Meetup #Fediverse

The EU vows to defend its stand against X after the U.S. backs a court challenge from Elon Musk.

@AssociatedPress reports: https://flip.it/ZKZb1_

#ElonMusk #SocialMedia #Technology

"“While estimating age based on user behavior is less invasive than requiring users to upload photos, credit card information or a state-issued ID, age-gating the internet creates dangerous new forms of surveillance, censorship, and exclusion,” Electronic Frontier Foundation senior counsel David Greene told CNET.

Discord includes a facial age-estimation option that requires a video selfie. Although the site says all facial analysis happens locally on the device, this use of AI still gives us pause. Experts point to ongoing accuracy challenges and inherent data risks, raising concerns over how corporate policies and algorithmic parameters might evolve in the future.

We’re also not fans of the credit-card check option, which not only costs money but sends credit card details to a third party, which may increase financial security risks.

Inaccurate age estimates can always happen, and they complicate the process. While Discord notes that users can initially switch to alternative confirmation methods, manual review serves as the fallback if those options fail. However, this manual route is a last resort and requires a human representative to personally verify both a government ID and a photograph."

https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/discord-introduces-alternative-age-verification-tools-after-pushback/

#SocialMedia #AgeVerification #Discord #Privacy #DataProtection

The TRUTH about Mark Zuckerberg and #Facebook:
https://medium.com/@author_jcafesin/the-truth-about-mark-zuckerberg-7d5299bd160b

#instagram #greed #parenting #harvard #depression #socialmedia #zuckerberg #mentalhealth

Here's a great long read! How social media algorithms can prey on sleep deprived mothers, offering them miracle solutions in the form of products — that in the end have very little impact. (Ahem, some of us might have first-hand experience of exactly this.)

 https://flip.it/0xLgxy

#SocialMedia #Marketing #Momfluencers

#Discord’s #AgeVerification era is upon us, despite community backlash

https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/22/discords-age-verification-era-is-upon-us-despite-community-backlash/

#privacy #SocialMedia #cybersecurity

Europe’s Age Verification Law Panned By Experts

Europe is pushing for an age verification law through the EU Kids Act. It's going to be a failure in waiting.

https://www.freezenet.ca/europes-age-verification-law-panned-by-experts/

#Censorship #News #AgeVerification #AI #EFF #EU #EUKidsAct #Europe #gaming #SocialMedia #Steam

TechCrunch: Discord’s age verification era is upon us, despite community backlash. “Starting Wednesday, Discord, the community messaging platform, will roll out age verification measures to all users. The rollout comes after the company initially delayed its age verification plans in February due to backlash from users concerned that biometric scans and ID checks could jeopardize their […]

I made this post on my YouTube channel

#Mastodon #BlueSky #SocialMedia #Fediverse #RetroGaming

To Enforce Its Proposed #SocialMedia an for 450 Million Pre-Teens, #EU Builds an #OpenSource App

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/20/0712211/to-enforce-its-proposed-social-media-ban-for-450-million-pre-teens-eu-builds-an-open-source-app

#privacy #AgeVerification #SocialMedia

Being an artist on commercial social media. 🤐

#comics #comic #mastoart #socialmedia

Alt...

First panel: The person is jumping through a burning ring of fire. Second panel: The person is carrying an elephant on their back. Third panel: The person is holding a fork and staring blankly at a plate full of cauliflower pieces. Fourth panel: The person, visibly tired, is speaking with someone looking like Mark Zuckerberg (allegedly) who is wearing a crown. He is described as "Social Media overlord" The dialog: Person: Will you show my posts to my followers now? SM Overlord: Yes. Person: To all of them? SM Overlord: Don't be ridiculous.

Social media posts expressing support for abortion access have been used in prosecutions in states where aiding an abortion is criminalized.

So what: pick a health app that keeps data on your device, like Euki, and don't sign in with Google or Facebook.

#privacy #reproductiverights #socialmedia #indigoprivacy

How the #Meta Settlement Silences Youth #Activism

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/09/meta-settlement-yet-another-example-online-youth-organizing-under-threat

#privacy #Facebook #Instagram #SocialMedia

Podcast streaming platforms collect per-second listening data including which segments users skip, rewind, or abandon and sell this to podcast advertising networks.

So what: install uBlock Origin, then scan a site at themarkup.org/blacklight to see who's tracking you and cut it.

#privacy #socialmedia #indigoprivacy

I welcome the new EU rules for the protection of minors on social media.

I think the fediverse has a major benefit here, in that we can create local communities where admins and users have faces, and access is democratically guaranteed.

#Fediverse #socialMedia #stateOfTheUnion #EuropeanUnion

The European Union is moving to ban social media for under 13-year-olds across the 27-nation bloc, and introduce restrictions on digital technology for older children.

https://abcnews.com/Technology/wireStory/eu-chief-proposes-bloc-wide-social-media-ban-136486395

#EU #SocialMedia

#California governor signs laws aimed at protecting kids from risks of #SocialMedia, #AI chatbots

https://apnews.com/article/california-social-media-safety-kids-online-harms-6063026d1b54a8537d639605c23aab80

#privacy #AgeVerification

Saskatchewan Government Misleads Public in Social Media Survey

If you ever wondered where the so-called "broad support" for age verification comes from, well, we might have gotten the answer.

https://www.freezenet.ca/saskatchewan-government-misleads-public-in-social-media-survey/

#Censorship #News #AgeVerification #Canada #government #Saskatchewan #SocialMedia #survey

The Australian government has proposed new legislation that would force tech companies to allow users to opt out of algorithmic social media feeds. Here's more from CNBC.

https://flip.it/tlNkdB

#Technology #Australia #SocialMedia

Ώπα! 💣

"A #Melbourne #Greek #restaurant has rejected online hate and a #bomb threat after hosting a joint #Jewish-Greek cultural evening.

On #Facebook, the owner insists it will keep bringing the communities together. Last Friday the #MediterraneanGreekTavern in #Elsternwick staged a night that mixed the two traditions.

Guests dressed in white, #challah sat beside Greek dishes, prayers were said, and a #bouzouki band played #HavaNagila alongside music from #ZorbatheGreek.

The dinner marked six months of #Shabbat Club #Australia.

[...]

Earlier nights have been held at other Melbourne spots. Friday’s larger gathering had a long waiting list.

The next day the restaurant posted warmly about the young crowd. Supportive replies came first, then a surge of abuse via #socialmedia.

Commenters called the hosts sell-outs, accused them of supporting “#genocide killers,” urged that #Jews be #deported, and one reportedly openly called for the tavern to be #bombed."

https://www.jwire.com.au/greek-tavern-reportedly-faces-bomb-threat/

@futurebird

Also it is clear that #Youtube recommendation algorithm serves completely different realities to different people. Sometimes suddenly the algorithm (by accident, or on purpose) leaks some blatant misinformation or alt-right/fascist video's into my browser viewport.

The example in the snapshot I encountered yesterday, and is one that is easy to detect. I watch pro-Ukraine channels, and this guy is a clear Russian hack.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Diesen

It shows how dangerous Youtube is for #freedom and #democracy, esp. where more and more people turn away from TV and regular #news channels to get fully 'informed' by #SocialMedia.

Alt...

Misinformation in my recommendations. A video thumnail reading "Ukraine is closer to collapse than you think" by a Russian hack called Glenn Diesen.

Labor Day #Sale for #Redact: 25% off with code LABORDAY25

https://redact.dev/?affiliateCode=THENEWOIL

#privacy #SocialMedia

Most businesses create social media accounts, and the reason is obvious: to reach customers and partners.

But imagine living in a world dominated by major tech platforms, walled gardens where millions, sometimes billions, of people interact every day. That’s our current reality, shaped by growing corporate control over our digital lives.

Now think of any small business you know: a bar, a restaurant, a tattoo studio, a local shop, a vet clinic…

If most people are still on traditional platforms, what arguments would you give a small business to convince them to share their content on #Pixelfed or #Mastodon, instead of staying on #Instagram or moving to #Bluesky?

Have you tried already? What were the results?

#SocialMedia #BigTech #Fediverse

#Meta's $17 Billion Settlement is a Bad Deal for Teens and All #SocialMedia Users

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/09/metas-17-billion-settlement-bad-deal-teens-and-all-social-media-users

#privacy #AgeVerification #Instagram #Facebook

“Meta’s settlement with 52 state attorneys general is a bad deal for all internet users, and especially for teens. That’s what we said the day the settlement was announced.

In this post, we go through the Settlement’s provisions in detail and explain why that is so, including how:

- The Settlement embeds age assurance technology and age-gates into Meta’s social media products and requires all users—minors and adults—to undergo a rights-threatening age estimation process

- The Settlement places severe restrictions on Teens that can largely only be modified by the Teens’ parents and only then in exchange for giving their parents a ton of information about their online community and usage;

- The Settlement seems to empower the attorneys general to enforce Meta’s content restriction on “age inappropriate content,” categories that Meta itself has had trouble administering without excluding information about sexuality, sexual and reproductive healthcare, and abortion medication;

- The Settlement actually requires Meta to collect, analyze, and retain more information about its Teen users—when the pressure should have been on Meta to diminish its surveillance capitalism.

- And the Settlement in no way limits the attorneys general from seeking the user information for their own law enforcement purposes.”

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/09/metas-17-billion-settlement-bad-deal-teens-and-all-social-media-users

#SocialMedia #Meta #AgeVerification #Censorship #USA #Surveillance

RE: https://social.vivaldi.net/@everton137/115400615193674994

A small business recently asked me to set up an Instagram account. I explained that I couldn’t do that, but offered instead to run a workshop on using Mastodon and Bluesky to reach its target audience in Berlin.

I don’t think small businesses should sacrifice an audience they have spent years building elsewhere. But what if they are starting from scratch? Can they succeed on platforms with fewer people?

Let’s see if it can work. :) Do you know any good examples?

#Fediverse #SocialMedia #SmallBusiness

everton137 » 🌐 2025-10-19 / 2025-10-19
@everton137@social.vivaldi.net

Most businesses create social media accounts, and the reason is obvious: to reach customers and partners.

But imagine living in a world dominated by major tech platforms, walled gardens where millions, sometimes billions, of people interact every day. That’s our current reality, shaped by growing corporate control over our digital lives.

Now think of any small business you know: a bar, a restaurant, a tattoo studio, a local shop, a vet clinic…

If most people are still on traditional platforms, what arguments would you give a small business to convince them to share their content on #Pixelfed or #Mastodon, instead of staying on #Instagram or moving to #Bluesky?

Have you tried already? What were the results?

#SocialMedia #BigTech #Fediverse

The internet is broken.

Many people feel that if they don't get likes, views, or comments, they've failed. I still vividly remember the days when I created my first website or updated Twitter via text message. It was great just being online, visibility wasn't even on our minds.

Commercial algorithms ruined the internet. Everything is filtered through them, and it has fundamentally changed how people think. Even dating has turned into a doomscrolling app on Tinder, browsing a catalog of people's traits. We no longer appreciate the natural things in life; instead, people constantly chase something better, never actually getting there.

It's sad that these days the Internet is mostly about boosting one's ego. We post only our best moments, even though we'll end up rotting in a coffin just like everyone else. Still, a thousand followers and a couple of likes are undeniably a bit comforting (note: I'm being sarcastic here).

We here on the Fediverse are different, though. We've accepted the natural way of things, and we don't expect every post to go viral. I just wish other people could see how the internet used to be.

#enshittification #Internet #SocialMedia

Buried in #Meta’s $18B settlement is a legal pass on kids’ data

https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/27/buried-in-metas-18b-settlement-is-a-legal-pass-on-kids-data/

#privacy #Facebook #Instagram #SocialMedia

@joyoftech

JUSTICE: HOW TO KILL META!
========================

The legal math on media is broken. The punitive measures are not effective deterrents.

If you look at the numbers, Meta does harmful things, apologizes, pays a pittance, and still comes out ahead financially.

Zuckerberg sold out his users data to Cambridge Analytica, influencing the US election. Then he appeared before Congress like a contrite little schoolboy - "Oops! I didn't mean to accidentally cut multibillion dollar deals and sell out Facebook users. Honest mistake. I promise not to do it again ( unless the price is right! )"
Because of the math, he still came out ahead.

I left Meta's platforms a long time ago.

People who are not savvy, are locked into the Facebook walled garden, because of the Network Effect. ( "I can't leave Facebook. All my friends are on Facebook!" )

Having liberated ourselves, it is our duty to liberate others, who are still trapped, to give them their right to privacy.

Here's a plan of action:

1) Place ads on Facebook, explaining the benefits of #Mastodon
( https://joinmastodon.org/ )

1.1) Freedom from Meta's censorship and algorithms.

1.2) A community owned, open social media platform.

2) When a user clicks, guide them through exporting their data from Facebook, and deleting their Facebook account.

3) Give them an optional questionnaire, asking about their interests, and match them with the right Mastodon instance.

4) If they skip the optional questionnaire, pick a random Mastodon instance for them.

5) Give them an option to enter into a Facebook migration registry.

6) Help them set up a Mastodon account and import their data.

7) If they opted into the migrant registry, reconnect them with their former Facebook connections, who also joined the registry. Like a reunion in Heaven with your loved ones. ☺️

#FaceBook #Meta #instagram #WhatsApp #SocialMedia #Fediverse #Mastodon #Technology #Tech #Justice
#FuckZuck #FOSS #Linux #OpenSource #Freedom #Liberty
#Law #USA

Buried in Meta’s $18 billion settlement is a legal pass on kids’ data, reports @Sarahp of @Techcrunch.

https://flip.it/vpVFir

#Meta #SocialMedia #Privacy

#Meta agrees to $18 billion settlement over teen #SocialMedia harms

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/technology/meta-agrees-to-18-billion-settlement-over-teen-social-media-harms/

#privacy #Facebook #Instagram

Instead of filtering, I look at the output of good people drifting into just One Direction

• I mute them for a week
• If their output is still single directional
• I mute them for a month
• If it's still not what I'm used to I look back and mute them for a week

ad infinitum

Usually that is enough for those people to eventually start posting again as normal

I never bother them about their toots because it's their personal feed.

I am however The Master of my feed and I decide who I mute

@rl_dane

#FediVerse #filters #SocialMedia

#NewZealand PM introduces under-16 #SocialMedia and #AI companion ban

https://www.jurist.org/news/2026/08/new-zealand-pm-introduces-under-16-social-media-and-ai-companion-ban/#

#privacy #AgeVerification #SocialMediaBan

Meta reaches $17 billion settlement with American states in landmark trial over teen social media addiction.

@AssociatedPress reports: https://flip.it/z_lckK

#Meta #SocialMedia #Technology

In a dramatic capitulation, the owner of #Facebook & #Instagram agreed to the financial penalties for violating federal #child #privacy & states’ #ConsumerProtection laws, the #states announced. #Meta also agreed to limit how long #teenagers can spend on its platforms & to bans on features that stoke #MentalHealth issues,striking at the heart of the company’s business of #engagement for advertising.

#law #tech #ChildEndangerment #SocialMedia

#Meta to Pay Up to $17.1 Billion in Landmark Settlement Over #SocialMedia #Addiction Claims

The social media giant settled with 47 states, the District of Columbia & US territories, & agreed to make major changes to its products over claims its platforms endangered #children.

#law #MentalHealth #tech #ChildEndangerment
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/technology/meta-settlement-social-media-addiction-lawsuit.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8VA.IIIG.rXrxMroWQMr4&smid=nytcore-ios-share

#socialmedia

.. out of 10 follow requests in the fediverse I reject about 8.

I reject user accounts that do not even have a profile or their own posts or their own media on their original server page, because I consider them to be of non-human origin until then.

What do I conclude from this?
Even here in the noble fediverse, "social media" shows itself to me as a bubble of vain appearances.
Hardly anything is authentic or truthful anymore and if you post here you make yourself suspicious of untruthfulness like everywhere else!

So how do we want to defend ourselves against this flood of social engineering???

Any suggestions???

#nobot #noai #socialengineering #socialMedia #fediverse #mastodon

Alt...

Social Media Bubble

Is it more important that publications post on the Fediverse, or that they don't post on X?

#EvanPoll #poll #SocialMedia #Publishing

"Age verification (laws and regulations requiring platforms and websites to assure or estimate that a user seeking to use an online service is of a certain age) is everywhere. At the time of writing, about half the states in the US have some internet age verification law in place, and dangerous proposals, from the KIDS Act to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), have been advancing at the federal level. European Union member states are moving toward having age verification in a centralized app by the end of this year. Australia famously now has one extremely broad restriction in place.

Most age verification laws tend to fail at their primary goal of barring kids from being online or from entering only specially designated zones, not to mention they pose a significant threat to everyone’s privacy. Some proponents of these age-based internet restrictions think they've found the silver bullet: Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs). We wrote about ZKP’s when they were first rolled out in the age verification context last year. However, more recent examples show our concerns weren’t just conjecture; ZKP-focused AV schemes are gameable, hackable, and not the cure-all some may claim."

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/08/zkps-arent-age-verification-silver-bullets

#AgeVerification #USA #Privacy #Surveillance #ZKP #EU #SocialMedia #PoliceState #Censorship

Just in, in "water-is-wet"-type news, a study from journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that X's algorithm learns what you hate and shows you more of it. Here's the full story from @404mediaco.

https://flip.it/wtOlNf

#Technology #SocialMedia #ElonMusk

#Bluesky says its recent outage was caused by another #DDoS attack

https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/18/bluesky-says-its-recent-outage-was-caused-by-another-ddos-attack/

#cybersecurity #SocialMedia

Meta is heading to federal court in California today in a trial brought by four states citing the addictive nature of Facebook and Instagram for children. The trial could cost the social media company (valued at $1.5 trillion) up to $1.4 trillion. Gizmodo's Matt Novak explains why Meta may not pay that much even if it loses the case.

https://flip.it/f.eM-z

#Meta #SocialMedia #MentalHealth

Meet #PixelSocial: a private social network you can host without any server just in your chats! for example in the family chat to have a private social network that only the family can access to! or for a group of friends

if you want to test it, there is also a public anonymous instance where you can actually interact with strangers thanks to a bot that works as bridge:

https://i.delta.chat/#C753A22A447DE8CA18653B9C7668BC822C0561CA&a=pixsocial%40arcanechat.me&n=PixelSocial&i=sz7HYOnPmjG1WWOclOFlGLFv&s=XJFfgZRHwvTVAvBAQKJxFL2F

#ArcaneChat #DeltaChat #chatmail #webxdc #bot #socialmedia #socialnetwork #miniapp #europe #european #privacy #anonymity #autonomy #digitalindependence #sovereignty

Here's Carole Cadwalladr on the hounding (to death) of Jason Arday... as she points out she has direct experience of this sort of social media attrition.

Perhaps most importantly she includes at the bottom of the post a guide on what to do for for those not caught up in the onslaught, but who have sympathy for (social) media's victims. You'll want to (whatever the digital parallel is for) 'cut out & keep'!

#JasonArday #politics #SocialMedia

https://broligarchy.substack.com/p/a-digital-lynching

Meta is facing another trial over social media addiction, the latest test for the platform that is facing thousands of lawsuits, including accusations of the impact its apps have on teen mental health. @Engadget has more:

https://flip.it/tcJ96u

#Tech #Meta #SocialMedia

404 Media: The Government is Monitoring Anti-Flock TikTok and Instagram Accounts. “Government surveillance centers are monitoring viral anti-Flock Instagram posts, warning local police about upcoming DeFlock events including one scheduled to start next week, and have told cops to ‘increase patrols around ALPR [automatic license plate readers]’ as backlash to Flock grows, according to government […]

French Court Rules Social Media Age Verification Infringes Privacy, Freedom of Expression

In a rare bit of good news, Frances top court ruled against age verification for it's obvious constitutional violations.

https://www.freezenet.ca/french-court-rules-social-media-age-verification-infringes-privacy-freedom-of-expression/

#Censorship #LawAndTechnology #News #AgeVerification #court #France #ruling #SocialMedia

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité!

"A short video circulated on #socialmedia has sparked an uproar in #France after a business owner at the #LesDeuxAlpes resort in the #Alps was seen complaining to a customer about the presence of #Jewish vacationers at the site. According to reports, she refused to sell products to Jewish customers. The 22-second video went viral and drew angry reactions, the website of the #French newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré reported Saturday.

In the video, the woman, who owns a food stand near the resort’s summer toboggan run, is seen saying at the start of the conversation: “There are too many of you.” The customer asks her: “Who is ‘too many of us,’ ma’am?” She responds explicitly: “The Jewish community. There are too many of you.”

“And then what?” asks the man filming the conversation on his cellphone. “And then what? At some point, it’s too much for people,” the woman replies."

https://www.ynetnews.com/jewish-world/article/h1cq600auml

Are you on Instagzam? The social platform has redesigned its wordmark logo — supposedly after exploring hundreds of options — and the internet doesn't like it. Here's more from @Mashable.

https://flip.it/DurD4I

#Technology #SocialMedia #Instagram

What can we learn from Australia’s social media ban for teens?

@KnowableMag reports: "The Aussie experiment comes amid a lack of clear evidence that the apps harm the majority of adolescents. It may take a dramatic research pivot to finally reveal what’s going on and how to fix it."

https://flip.it/EAH6Vq

#SocialMedia #Technology #Australia

#FBI says cybercriminals are hacking into victims’ online accounts to steal their intimate pictures

https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/11/fbi-says-cybercriminals-are-hacking-into-victims-online-accounts-to-steal-their-intimate-pictures/

#privacy #cybersecurity #SocialMedia #nsfw

Jury selection is on Wednesday, with opening statements slated to begin August 18. #Meta founder and CEO #MarkZuckerberg is expected to testify, as is #Instagram head #AdamMosseri.

In terms of potential damages & implications for Meta, the trial is the biggest test yet of youth #socialmedia litigation & comes amid a broader reckoning across the globe over social media's effects on young users.

#law #privacy #infosec #tech #engagement #addiction #MentalHealth #business

The trial in Oakland, expected to last seven weeks, will test Colorado, Kentucky, California & New Jersey's allegations that #Meta designed its platforms to keep young users hooked & ‌misled consumers about their safety. It will also address claims by 29 states that the company illegally collected & used #children's #data in violation of federal law.

#law #privacy #infosec #tech #socialmedia #engagement #addiction #MentalHealth #business

#Meta faces biggest #court fight yet over #socialmedia’s impact on #children

Meta Platforms will face a coalition of state attorneys general in a California #FederalCourt trial beginning on Wednesday over claims it engineered #Facebook & #Instagram to be #addictive to children, a case that could expose the company to massive damages & force it to make sweeping changes ​to its platforms.

#law #tech #MentalHealth #business
https://www.reuters.com/business/meta-29-states-head-court-biggest-test-yet-youth-social-media-litigation-2026-08-12/

New York Times: Malaysia Was Confident in Its Social Media Ban, but Kids Are Still Logged In. This link goes to a gift article. “The authorities have asked social media companies to explain their failure to comply with the ban and detail the measures they have taken to implement age verification mechanisms, the Ministry of Communications said in a statement last week. They now have until […]

FUCK ZUCK! ( Here’s how! )

Zuckerberg sold out his users data to Cambridge Analytica, influencing the US election. Then he appeared before Congress like a contrite little schoolboy - "Oops! I didn't mean to accidentally cut multibillion dollar deals and sell out Facebook users. Honest mistake. I promise not to do it again ( unless the price is right! )"

I left Meta's platforms a long time ago.

Having liberated ourselves, it is our duty to liberate others, who are still trapped, to give them their right to privacy.

People who are not savvy, are locked into the #Facebook walled garden, because of the Network Effect. ( "I can't leave Facebook. All my friends are on Facebook!" )

Here's a plan of action:

1) Place ads on Facebook, explaining the benefits of #Mastodon and the #Fediverse
1. Freedom from Meta's censorship and algorithms.
2. A community owned, open social media platform.
3. Free and Open Source software.
https://fediverse.info/

2) When a user clicks, guide them through exporting their data from Facebook, and deleting their Facebook account.

3) Give them an optional questionnaire, asking about their interests, and match them with the right Mastodon instance.

4) If they skip the optional questionnaire, pick a random Mastodon instance for them.

5) Give them an option to enter into a Facebook migration registry.

6) Help them set up a Mastodon account and import their data.

7) If they opted into the migrant registry, reconnect them with their former Facebook connections, who also joined the registry. A reunion with your loved ones in a place without darkness. ☺️

#FuckZuck #Meta #instagram #WhatsApp #SocialMedia #Fediverse #Mastodon

‚Meta wertet das Wort »Antifa« in Verbindung mit »Gewalt« künftig als potenziellen Verstoß gegen seine Richtlinien – allerdings mit unklaren Regeln!

Die Aufforderung »Nazis jagen« in Verbindung mit »Antifa« könnte bei Instagram und Facebook zur Kontosperrung führen.….‘

#Facebook und #Instagram weiten Sanktionen zu #Antifa aus

https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1199048.meta-konzern-facebook-und-instagram-weiten-sanktionen-zu-antifa-aus.html

#Repression #SocialMedia #Antifaschismus #Zensur

Don’t say Antifa!

Wie Meta den Rechtsstaat und die europäische Medienregulierung herausfordert.

‚Meta hat angekündigt, „Antifa-Inhalte“ auf #Instagram und #Facebook künftig als Risikoinhalte einzustufen, die schneller Gefahr laufen, sanktioniert zu werden.

Damit reiht sich der Konzern in den Kampf der Trump-Regierung gegen „die“ Antifa ein und zeigt erneut, welche direkten Auswirkungen dieser Kampf auf #Deutschland und #Europa hat…..‘

https://verfassungsblog.de/antifa-meta-dsa/

#Antifa #Antifaschismus #Repression #USA #Meta #Trump #socialMedia #Antireport

Myspace eyes comeback as an "antidote" to social media fatigue — but it may be a long shot.

CNBC reports: "The early 2000s platform would capitalize on nostalgia and rejection of the traditional social media experience."

https://flip.it/Y.rZ4D

#SocialMedia #Tech #Technology

LEAVING META
WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR LIFE 💎

After my posting about Meta over the past two days, one thing became very clear.

A lot of people would LIKE to leave Facebook, Instagram, or both. But parts of their actual lives are all tangled up in them.

So don’t make leaving a purity test. Start somewhere. Remove Facebook from your phone and use it only on your laptop, or better still, only on your desktop when you genuinely need it.

STOP POSTING TO META. STOP FEEDING THE TIMELINE.

Move conversations with real friends to your email, text, Signal, phone calls, Mastodon account, or wherever works for you, away from Meta.

TELL PEOPLE WHERE ELSE THEY CAN EASILY FIND YOU.

If you run a business, start putting your email address and/or website URL everywhere you promote your business so Facebook is not your only front door.

Download anything you actually want to keep. Then, when you’re ready, deactivate or delete what you no longer need.

Maybe you keep Messenger for Aunt Doris. Maybe you keep Instagram because your local café apparently believes websites were abolished in 2014.

Fine.

The point isn’t ideological cleanliness.

THE POINT IS REDUCING YOUR DEPENDENCE.

Every conversation you move elsewhere is one conversation Meta no longer owns the doorway to.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO ESCAPE THE META CAGE IN ONE HEROIC LEAP.

Just start opening the door.

#Meta #Facebook #Instagram #SocialMedia #Fediverse #people #DEPENDENCE #Messenger

Reuters: Three in five Americans favor stronger oversight of social media companies, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds. “A bipartisan majority of Americans support more government rules for how ​social media companies conduct business, including a requirement of age-verification tools to keep younger children off social media, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.”

FACEBOOK IS TOXIC. META IS AWFUL.
WHY CONTINUE FEEDING IT? 💎

Nearly everyone complains about Facebook and Meta.

The algorithms are toxic.

The advertising is invasive.

The outrage is manufactured.

CHILDREN ARE BEING HARMED.

Privacy is disappearing.

And then millions of people open Facebook or Instagram.

Again.

And again.

I genuinely do not understand it.

If you believe these companies are damaging children, manipulating attention, and making billions from human vulnerability, why are you still giving them your presence?

Especially the parents.

If Facebook and Instagram are unhealthy for your children, what exactly are you modeling by remaining there yourself?

“We know this place is harmful, darling, but Mummy and Daddy have photographs to look at.”

I left Meta years ago.

I didn’t die.

My friends did not evaporate.

Civilization continued.

There is email.

There are phones.

THERE IS THE OPEN WEB.

There is even the terrifying possibility of seeing another human being, god forbid, in person.

Meta survives because people who complain about it continue supplying exactly what it needs:

Their attention.

Their relationships.

Their outrage.

THEIR CHILDREN.

You do not have to wait for Zuckerberg to become a better person.

You can simply leave today.

The door swings both ways.

@DigitalCoup
@economics_that_works

#Facebook #Meta #Instagram #SocialMedia #Algorithms #BigTech #DigitalWellbeing #OnlineSafety #ChildSafety #Privacy #AttentionEconomy #TechEthics #SocialMediaAddiction #Zuckerberg #DeleteFacebook

A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial.

@AssociatedPress reports: https://flip.it/NReo8v

#Meta #SocialMedia #Technology

The new Handi Homepage let's you listen to music, monitor Matrix chats, listen to the radio, search the web, play podcasts and more...

All without leaving any digital footprint...

https://handihomepage.com/

#socialmedia #dataprivacy #opensource

Alt...

Handi Homepage

US Senators Pushing Failed Age Verification Law, the SCREEN Act

The US is looking to be the next country to jump off the age verification cliff through failed age verification laws.

https://www.freezenet.ca/us-senators-pushing-failed-age-verification-law-the-screen-act/

#Censorship #News #AgeVerification #SCREENAct #SocialMedia #US #VPN

UC Davis: All 50 States Have Introduced Bills to Regulate Digital Media for Kids — A New Database Tracks Them. “The Youth Digital Policy Repository categorizes state legislation by location, year and topic, including age verification, parental consent and targeted ads. The database, available to the public, lists researchers who can provide expertise to policymakers working on future […]

RE: https://mastodon.social/@lashman/117037432954066469

"We need nazis on Bluesky for 'balance'"

Notice how it's never "Twitter is a right wing cesspit, something should be done to make it more Liberal" with American Social Media.

Why Europeans think Bluesky is going to be any different from the other American networks, guess they're suckers for slick marketing....

#Bluesky #SocialMedia

Turns out #AgeVerification for #SocialMedia isn't really that effective after all!

In #Australia, three months later, teens still either aren't checked, or the verification assumes the users are above 16.

Right now it's almost as if it would be better to leave "social media parenting" up to the actual parents...

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/1/most-australian-teens-still-online-three-months-after-under-16-ban

#NorskTut

@briankrebs

Hahaha, my friend keeps telling me about this "tweet" which keeps making rounds around on #socialmedia mostly #reddit and now I am seeing it on #mastodon and he's available on #fediverse #bluesky 😎

https://bsky.app/profile/theselongwars.bsky.social

Australia’s Age Verification Law Still a Failure, Study Finds

An Australian government study has found that little has changed in the governments failed age verification laws.

https://www.freezenet.ca/australias-age-verification-law-still-a-failure-study-finds/

#Censorship #News #AgeVerification #Australia #fail #research #SocialMedia #study

RE: https://mastodon.social/@sturmsucht/117025930463084597

"Normal People enjoying normal Things"

This blog post by @sturmsucht sharing his experience with traditional #SocialMedia and the #Fediverse is pure gold. If you've been in both worlds you'll enjoy the read, and the transitioned you've made already, while agreeing violently with your head... 👌🏻😍

"Social media on big tech platforms isn't about sharing what we love and connecting with others anymore"

#SovereignByDesign #DigitalAutonomy #DigitalSovereignty

"It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for 'em."

"According to investigators, surveillance footage and information provided by the suspect's roommate led detectives to quickly identify and arrest #Laschinger. During questioning, he allegedly admitted to the attack, telling investigators he had been influenced by content he viewed on #socialmedia shortly beforehand. Police said he also acknowledged that he deliberately targeted the building because it was a #Jewish place of worship."

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/artc-florida-brick-thrown-through-window-of-chabad-synagogue

Which software ecosystems have you been brave and courageous enough **to abandon completely**? Check all that apply

Please boost for #Science

#SocialMedia #Meta #Google #Microsoft #internet #web #apps #Bigtech