Luke LeBrunNov 18, 2022

The collapse of Twitter for (basically) self-inflicted reasons makes a strong case for building online infrastructure structured as a non-profit or public utility.

People rely on these platforms for public information, use them for democratic debate and many invest their livelihoods in them.

These platforms are too important to public safety, peoples’ livelihoods and democracy to leave in the hands of eccentric billionaires or the whims of stock markets.

Show threadDystopicRedhead
@llebrun Absolutely agree.
I have even thought we, the people, the Twitter users, should actually campaign to get public ownership of Twitter.
Nov 18, 2022 at 3:20amWeb
Show threadLostatsea369Nov 18, 2022
@DystopicRedhead @llebrun I couldn't agree more- the fact that Twitter (& Facebook for that matter) haven't become public utilities, regulated by gov't oversight (solving the entire 'free speech' debate) & seen as the new 'public square' speaks to the overwhelming ownership companies & corporations have over our govt & 'elected' officials.
Show threadDystopicRedheadNov 18, 2022
@lostatsea369 @llebrun Absolutely. We need to get back our online public space, our virtual square. It's so important for debate and democracy.
Show threadHtaggertNov 22, 2022
@llebrun @lostatsea369 @DystopicRedhead but the whole regulated by Government oversight is fraught with issue. Which level of Government? Should say the Governor of a certain state have oversight and then declare that one “can’t say gay”? I feel like it’s caught between a rock and a hard place. And if Government is the administrator- they then have access to a lot of information…I don’t have a solution. Just a lot of questions.
Show threadT. McElweeNov 18, 2022

@DystopicRedhead @llebrun maybe a little judgey of me, but Twitter's staff didn't even so much as sick-out or picket.

It says a lot about how techies, even when they have every reason to build an alternative, simply won't.

Show threadDystopicRedheadNov 18, 2022
@tdotmcelwee @llebrun Now you mention it - so so GLARINGLY true. No protests. No picketing. No nothing of what would have been normal like - 20 years ago? I don't know if the issue is just a techie one. But I sure know that when there was a workers' strike at the car factory, students, teachers, people from all walks of life joined in. I don't see much of that anymore.
Show threadDave JohnsonNov 19, 2022

@DystopicRedhead The tech industry developed since the Reagan years, when they broke unions and stopped enforcing regulations. So the industry just ignores the rules.

People IN the tech industry are younger than those years and have no memory of that, The industry also purges people who pass a certain age.

Show threadGoldaDec 4, 2022
@DystopicRedhead @tdotmcelwee @llebrun this might be part of the sysadmin ethos of "keep the pipes running at all times" - like, the idea of letting things break is so counter to the professional ethics that it would be a hard sell
Show threadDave JohnsonNov 19, 2022

@DystopicRedhead @llebrun

The government used to do that. Things were declared to be public utilities and regulated for the common good.

The telephone system was regulated because the "network effect" meant everyone had to be on the same system or the system wouldn't work.

That is Twitter for the "town hall" effect, and Facebook for connecting with friends and relatives.

Show threadTRiGNov 19, 2022
@dcjohnson @DystopicRedhead @llebrun The problem is that this puts the government (or a government-owned body) in charge of moderation. In the USA in particular, with its free speech laws, that gets weird fast. In other countries, it's still not necessarily ideal.
Show threadDave JohnsonNov 19, 2022
@TRiG I think a functioning democracy should be able to handle that.
Show threadTRiGNov 19, 2022
@dcjohnson In principle, yes, but it would get tricky in practice. Not an insurmountable problem, probably, but certainly something to bear in mind.
Show threadDave JohnsonNov 19, 2022
@TRiG Yep. Also we have to find a functioning democracy to try it out.
Show threadDystopicRedheadNov 19, 2022
@TRiG @dcjohnson @llebrun That's a legitimate concern. The platform/s should be overseen and moderated by some sort of impartial body. But I believe we're thinking about it with a mindset that is still heavily influenced by the past. Oversight maybe could be international and decentralised.