8 ms·

All social media apps should be automatically banned on managed devices, especially those operated by government officials.

toastal 4y ago
Would something like a federated option for politicians be acceptable—where the government itself hosts then platform and only allows official accounts on the instance? There could be a reason to get across content in a digital medium, but what option has the least compromises?
- SQueeeeeL 4y ago
  That sounds so convoluted and would never actually be used by regular users as long as more intense options exist (see Mastodon). I'm not sure why it needs to be a right to waste time consuming information about random celebrates and people you haven't spoken to since high school.
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    Mastodon is actually perfect for this. The EU has already set one up. https://social.network.europa.eu/explore https://social.network.europa.eu/explore
  - toastal 4y ago
    That is Mastodon. But I framed the question in a way that doesn't limit options to only Mastodon as there are and could be different Fediverse platforms that may be better suited for the task.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
giancarlostoro 4y ago
I was about to say "except for PR" but I guess they're better off having dedicated campaign / marketing / PR phones for just those cases.
Ekaros 4y ago
I would even extend that to all apps not necessary to carry out the duties.
stingraycharles 4y ago
You have no idea how pervasive WhatsApp is with government officials over here. It’s a huge problem, and those with the power to do something about it don’t seem to care.
- mk89 4y ago
  Whatsapp is owned by an American company, who cares... thanks to the CLOUD act US can do whatever they want. Here the message is very clear (about tiktok, I mean) - you have no power at all over them. Or very limited. Plus, who knows what this app collects about you... EDIT: I know it's about EU, but the principle remains the same. There is clearly more trust towards US than somewhere else...
  - stingraycharles 4y ago
    It may surprise you, but in general the EU doesn’t feel that great about US companies having access to all this data, let alone private discussions between leaders of countries of the highest level. And that company being FB/Meta makes it so much worse.
    - themitigating 4y ago
      Then why haven't they done anything about it?
      - washadjeffmad 4y ago
        That's what GDPR and every other human- and privacy-centric policy enacted in the past twenty years has been for. US adtech today argues that individuals have the right to give up their privacy and personal information in exchange for creating value for others, but that that information is inherently valueless without the markets, relationships, and processes they have created. This largely hasn't been (openly) discussed at the public policy level in the US because our lawmakers are terrified of accidentally passing a law that "kills Google". The world is getting close, which was part of the Alphabet/Google and Meta/Facebook maneuvers, as subtle entry into new markets becomes less possible.
michaelt 4y ago
[flagged]
rvz 4y ago
And all of them should be fined in the millions of euros for privacy and GDPR violations in order to comply and continue operating in the EU. No company shall get away from these fines and it doesn't matter if it is Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Given that TikTok is far worse than all of them with an atrocious history of privacy violations that if investigated, the recurring fines will be at least in the tens of millions and even nearing the hundreds of millions of euros once repeated again which will certainly happen. They are already getting warnings from the EU of a ban [0], and have already been fined in the past by French regulators [1] so it is only a matter of time for them to get slapped with another fine in the tens of millions or even up to hundreds of millions of euros. [0] https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-leaders-fire-warning-shots-at-tiktok-over-privacy/ https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-leaders-fire-warning-shot... [1] https://www.politico.eu/article/tiktok-fined-e5m-in-french-privacy-case/ https://www.politico.eu/article/tiktok-fined-e5m-in-french-p...

toastal 4y ago

Would something like a federated option for politicians be acceptable—where the government itself hosts then platform and only allows official accounts on the instance? There could be a reason to get across content in a digital medium, but what option has the least compromises?

SQueeeeeL 4y ago
That sounds so convoluted and would never actually be used by regular users as long as more intense options exist (see Mastodon). I'm not sure why it needs to be a right to waste time consuming information about random celebrates and people you haven't spoken to since high school.
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  Mastodon is actually perfect for this. The EU has already set one up. https://social.network.europa.eu/explore https://social.network.europa.eu/explore
- toastal 4y ago
  That is Mastodon. But I framed the question in a way that doesn't limit options to only Mastodon as there are and could be different Fediverse platforms that may be better suited for the task.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

giancarlostoro 4y ago

I was about to say "except for PR" but I guess they're better off having dedicated campaign / marketing / PR phones for just those cases.

Ekaros 4y ago

I would even extend that to all apps not necessary to carry out the duties.

stingraycharles 4y ago

You have no idea how pervasive WhatsApp is with government officials over here. It’s a huge problem, and those with the power to do something about it don’t seem to care.

mk89 4y ago
Whatsapp is owned by an American company, who cares... thanks to the CLOUD act US can do whatever they want. Here the message is very clear (about tiktok, I mean) - you have no power at all over them. Or very limited. Plus, who knows what this app collects about you... EDIT: I know it's about EU, but the principle remains the same. There is clearly more trust towards US than somewhere else...
- stingraycharles 4y ago
  It may surprise you, but in general the EU doesn’t feel that great about US companies having access to all this data, let alone private discussions between leaders of countries of the highest level. And that company being FB/Meta makes it so much worse.
  - themitigating 4y ago
    Then why haven't they done anything about it?
    - washadjeffmad 4y ago
      That's what GDPR and every other human- and privacy-centric policy enacted in the past twenty years has been for. US adtech today argues that individuals have the right to give up their privacy and personal information in exchange for creating value for others, but that that information is inherently valueless without the markets, relationships, and processes they have created. This largely hasn't been (openly) discussed at the public policy level in the US because our lawmakers are terrified of accidentally passing a law that "kills Google". The world is getting close, which was part of the Alphabet/Google and Meta/Facebook maneuvers, as subtle entry into new markets becomes less possible.

michaelt 4y ago

[flagged]

rvz 4y ago

And all of them should be fined in the millions of euros for privacy and GDPR violations in order to comply and continue operating in the EU. No company shall get away from these fines and it doesn't matter if it is Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Given that TikTok is far worse than all of them with an atrocious history of privacy violations that if investigated, the recurring fines will be at least in the tens of millions and even nearing the hundreds of millions of euros once repeated again which will certainly happen. They are already getting warnings from the EU of a ban [0], and have already been fined in the past by French regulators [1] so it is only a matter of time for them to get slapped with another fine in the tens of millions or even up to hundreds of millions of euros. [0] https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-leaders-fire-warning-shots-at-tiktok-over-privacy/ https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-leaders-fire-warning-shot... [1] https://www.politico.eu/article/tiktok-fined-e5m-in-french-privacy-case/ https://www.politico.eu/article/tiktok-fined-e5m-in-french-p...