Oh hey, my Senator, Dick Durbin, finally did something I like. It's nice to see the Open App Markets Act revived. I hope it actually goes somewhere this time.  I'm not a huge fan of the carve outs or giving Apple and Google final say on what's allowed on their platforms, but it expressly calls for side-loading so that's good.

Apple and Google should absolutely not be able to tell consumers what apps they can and can't have on their devices. It's wild to me how many people support these billion dollar corporations' ability to censor hardware they paid for.  Allowing side-loading and curbing the worst, most anticompetitive behavior by these companies should be a no-brainer to everyone.

#Apple #iOS #Google #Android #USPolitics #Politica #OAMA #OpenAppMarketsAct

Our weekly newsletter is out, with updates on #JCPA, #KOSA, #OAMA, #COPPA 2.0, the last podcast of the year, and more:

https://techfreedom.substack.com/p/on-free-speech-techfreedom-gets-results

Welp, it's official:

#KOSA is not in the #omnibus. That's good news.

But neither are #AICOA and #OAMA, and that's terrible news.

#BigTech giants spent more than $120 million lobbying against these bills, running misleading TV ads in swing states, standing up #astroturf groups that claimed to advocate for small businesses, you name it.

This isn't over. You'll see news saying "Big Tech won again."

The truth is their days our numbered. Our movement is growing. It's only a matter of time.

📣 PLZ READ AND BOOST!

I've been working on #digitalrights and #techpolicy issues since right after the #SOPA blackout.

We spend most of our time trying to STOP bad legislation (think: #EarnItAct, #SESTA FOSTA, #KOSA etc)

It's *so rare* we get a chance to pass ACTUALLY GOOD legislation.

We have one of those once in a lifetime chances right now: the #BigTech #antitrust bills #AICOA and #OAMA

There is a real chance these bills make it into the #omnibus. Do the thing https://www.AntitrustVoteNow.com

Sorry to link to the #birdsite but I did a long thread there about how #KOSA (the deeply misguided #KidsOnlineSafetyAct) is a major threat to online access to #abortion information, fundraising and organizing.

Congressional leaders are deciding like RIGHT NOW what bills go into the #omnibus package. Anyone who can please reach out to oppose #KOSA and support actually good bills like #OAMA, #AICOA, and #ADPPA.

https://twitter.com/evan_greer/status/1603791142184620043

#OAMA / S. 2710 is a straightforward bill that would:

1) End Apple and Google's duopoly, allowing independent developers to build on a level playing field

2) Make it way harder for authoritarian governments to abuse app store choke point for censorship

http://antitrustvotenow.com

The TechFreedom weekly newsletter is out, featuring #OAMA, #KOSA, spam, surveillance, obscenity, judicial ethics, and more:

https://techfreedom.substack.com/p/oama-and-kosa-still-violate-the-first

Big Tech's self-dealing and walled gardens are a big part of the reason it has been hard for open source, federated, and decentralized alternative social media networks like #mastodon to grow and compete with the corporate giants.

#AICOA and #OAMA won't magically fix that overnight, but they'll put us on a path where alternatives like #mastodon, #matrix, etc can compete on a more level playing field and eventually surpass or replace companies like Meta, Twitter, YouTube, etc

URGENT: Congressional leaders are deciding TODAY whether or not to move forward crucial Big Tech #antitrust legislation.

There is still a real chance we can get #OAMA and #AICOA over the finish line this year. These are important bills that would crack down on self dealing and #monopoly abuses. This matters to #mastodon. It matters to #opensource. It matters for #humanrights.

Read this: https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/10/perspectives/elon-musk-twitter-antitrust/index.html

Write / call your Senators: https://www.antitrustvotenow.com

Please boost!

RETWEET TO SOUND THE ALARM!!!

Congressional leaders are deciding as soon as TODAY whether or not to advance the Big Tech #antitrust bills #OAMA (S. 2710) and #AICOA (S. 2992)

Tell 🐦SenSchumer 🐦LeaderMcConnell 🐦POTUS: it's time to rein in Big Tech!

http://AntitrustVoteNow.com