jmfcApr 17, 2023
Robert Reich

Zuckerberg owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post.

Elon Musk owns Twitter.

When multi-billionaires take control of our most vital platforms for communication, it’s not a win for free speech. It’s a win for oligarchy.

Apr 16, 2023 at 11:21pmWeb
Show threadRevJeberApr 16, 2023
@rbreich
You're right, but it's up to us to provide a better, more reliable, more transparent, and more open vehicle for vital communications.
We're wasting time bitching about the losers, time we should be using to replace them.
Show threadSteven MolnarApr 16, 2023
@rbreich True, but Zuckerberg became a billionaire because of Facebook, Bezos became a billionaire because of Amazon, and Musk became a billionaire because God has a strange sense of humor. It's long past time we stopped patronizing their businesses.
Show threadMartaApr 17, 2023
@MolnarSteven @rbreich No, they already inherited a fortune, those platforms made it bigger and additionally made their owners more exposed to the public, which is why we point them out.
Show threadBöckli 平凡札記Apr 16, 2023
@rbreich We can always quit #Twitter, #Facebook, #Instagram and #WhatsApp. Like I already did long time ago. Your keeping to use it does not help with the situation. Delete your account now!
Show threadPanamintApr 16, 2023
@rbreich It’s a win for authoritarianism. All three of these clowns run their respective companies as authoritarian dictators. They don’t know how to create or manage a company without relying on authoritarianism. If they believed in a participatory democracy, several employees who labor for them would be on the company’s board.
Show threadJBBApr 16, 2023
@PanamintQuarters @rbreich This could be true of Musk and Zuckerberg. But Bezos doesn't control Amazon. He owns around 10% of it and doesn't have the fancy voting shares that Zuckerberg has at Meta or Page and Brin have at Alphabet (though he controls few more percentage points of voting power by way of his ex-wife's shares).
Show threadJBBApr 16, 2023

@PanamintQuarters @rbreich As for WaPo, I've never read anything about him exerting much influence. It's hypothetically possible, and the fact of his ownership is concerning.

Though, sure, these are capitalist-owned enterprises, not worker collectives. Like most of our economy.

Show threadPanamintApr 17, 2023
@JBB @rbreich Bezos owns all of Nash Holdings, the privately held company that Bezo used for tax reasons to buy the WAPO for $250 million. He controls all board members and all decision making for Nash Holdings.
Show threadfrankaboyApr 17, 2023
@rbreich true
Show threadRockZombieApr 17, 2023
@rbreich you need to follow it through, they are fascist, that’s the end-point.
Show threadRichservo Apr 17, 2023
@rbreich Twitter, facebook and instagram are vital platforms for communication? Interesting.
Show threadtoxtethogradyApr 17, 2023
@rbreich But a distributed platform like Mastodon is a win for free speech...
Show threadwirepairApr 17, 2023
@rbreich @BlackAzizAnansi on the plus side they are all miserable!
Show threadBioalchemy13 🇺🇸🇺🇦Apr 17, 2023
@rbreich Not to mention the holdings of Warren Buffet’s company, Berkshire Hathaway (List shortened to fit Toot):
The Bryan-College Station Eagle
The Buffalo News
Culpeper Star-Exponent
Danville Register & Bee
Dothan Eagle
The Free Lance–Star
Independent Tribune
The McDowell News
The Morning News
The News & Advance
The News Herald
Omaha World-Herald
Opelika-Auburn News
The Press of Atlantic City
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Roanoke Times
Tulsa World
Waco Tribune-Herald
Winston-Salem Journal
Show threadMove forward or die!Apr 17, 2023
@rbreich you forgot Murdoch
Show threadMyOpinionApr 17, 2023
@rbreich This is why Mastodon is so important.
Show threadFenix🔥 Resistance Starts NOWApr 17, 2023
@rbreich I think you forgot to mention Fox & Murdoch
Show threadJ.H.NoyesApr 17, 2023

@rbreich
Notice how they're looking to ban TikTok because they can't lean on ownership to control the narrative. In Montana, at least.

The Montana TilTok ban is separate from the proposed national ban, and even more sinister as Republican media conglomerates bought up our local news outlets, sold off their assets, and shut them down. This state is going to hell fast.


@DemocracyMattersALot

Show threadPablo MartiniApr 17, 2023
@rbreich Who controls the minds?
So don't forget MSM billionaire's? Mudroach Australia, UK & USA? & the "grandpa pals with Hitler" little seen (Lord Rothermere) aka Harmsworth (a non dom ie. Non taxpaying MSM owner) conglomerate, mass media = right wing.
How much MSM does it take to take to confuse the addicts?
Show threadConstant HolidayApr 17, 2023
@rbreich I love that you are here. Thank you, even if it isn’t you. Thank you, even if this is just your publicists frantically reposting all your random thoughts, actually, thank you especially. Hard job.
Show threadTeacher JasonApr 17, 2023
@rbreich which is why TikTok-ban is a thing.
Show threadSocial Justice Warrior🦍Apr 17, 2023

@rbreich They control our societies, our busiplaces and our homes. They control how we organize, how we talk and what we can do. They are empires.

They abuse their power to monitor us, create attention inequality and infantilize us.

But we dont need empires. We can take back control. But only if we want to.

Show threadrealcaseyrollins ✝️Apr 17, 2023
@rbreich @rbreich That's pretty reductive, or rather a parts to whole fallacy; if you could find a billionaire who buys such a company, and he supports free speech, it could be a win for both free speech and an oligarchy.
Show threadDaveApr 17, 2023
@rbreich this is of particular concern with Musk calling to defund NPR. A core principle of a healthy democracy is free speech, and nonprofit news media has a long history in this role. It’s no wonder that NPR is under constant attack from right wing fascist like tRump and musk.
Show threadElizabeltaApr 17, 2023
@rbreich and it's bloody scary.
Show threadBuy nothing newApr 17, 2023
@rbreich Is there an alternative to WhatsApp?
Show threadSzymon BęczkowskiApr 17, 2023
@princelysum Signal
Show threadCarK Apr 17, 2023

@princelysum

In case this question is meant seriously:

There are plenty of alternatives to
#WhatsApp

Telegram, @signalapp , @threemaapp , Element (see also @matrix), #Conversations_im, @snikket_im @delta

See also https://alternativeto.net/software/whatsapp/ for more.

WhatsApp Alternatives and Similar Apps / Services | AlternativeTo

The most popular alternative is Telegram, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to WhatsApp so hopefully you can find...

Show threadMoriApr 17, 2023
@delta @matrix @signalapp @threemaapp @snikket_im @cark @princelysum I can strongly recommend Signal. Been using for a few years, it works well across OSs, all family and friends are on there now and it’s highly functional. Adding new stuff all the time. And privacy and security are through the roof. I think of #Signal to WhatsApp as #Mastodon to Twitter.
Show thread10tothe22Apr 17, 2023
@rbreich
Facebook is the dumbest website on the internet. Twitter is next.
Show threadFrank SchmidtApr 17, 2023

@rbreich
As an experiment I let an AI evaluate this statement:

"There are good arguments on both sides of this issue. A nuanced, balanced perspective is needed rather than an absolutist one. Reasonable people can disagree on the appropriate level of regulation or policy response, if any, to calls for curbing big tech companies' power without compromising free speech. But the concerns raised in the original statement are valid and deserve consideration."

https://poe.com/s/CLwt48bwBdxiVZV9hA8x

Evaluate the content of the following statement: "When multi-billionaires take control of our most vital platforms for communication, it’s not a win for free speech. It’s a win for oligarchy."

Claude-instant: " This statement makes a critical argument that when very large companies, especially those owned and controlled by a small number of multi-billionaires, dominate the major platforms a

Show threadTroy PersonApr 17, 2023
@rbreich agree
Show threadPiatunApr 17, 2023
@rbreich Elon now feels like completely ruining twitter. Twitter was bad with their service before but now it seems bad as a platform...
Show threadLApr 17, 2023
@rbreich this morning I literally looked up “are Meta and Google in cahoots?” Because you can only use two phones for the same WhatsApp account if (at least) one of them is an Android.
Show threadRichard E. Rawson, Psy.D., MBAApr 17, 2023
@rbreich
You're absolutely right. When billionaires (oligarchs) control such large platforms for communication, it gives them an even greater level of influence over the public discourse, allowing them to shape the conversation in a way that benefits their own interests. It's an alarming trend and one that needs to be addressed if we are to protect our freedom of speech and democracy.
Show threadDaniël Franke 🏳️‍🌈Apr 17, 2023
@rbreich Having our communications platforms be privately owned and unregulated was where we went wrong.
Show threadBaron VonskinnbackApr 17, 2023
@rbreich it is also why any right-minded intelligent free thinking person would avoid all of these platforms like the plague they are...
Show threadKerri LevineApr 17, 2023

@rbreich

#StrongerTogether

Show threadOldeHippi 🦋🎨🙏🌺Apr 17, 2023

@rbreich

What is the solution? Really. Do you have a solution?

Show threadOldeHippi 🦋🎨🙏🌺Apr 17, 2023

@rbreich

Free enterprise means anyone can purchase platforms. Even self centered billionaires.....

Show threadStargeezer SmithApr 17, 2023
@rbreich
Tis why I'm on Mastodon.
Show threadSamuel SullivanApr 17, 2023
@rbreich I have to say, Elon Musk at least is exposing a lot of the corrupt practices of Twitter before he bought it. And the truth is, the US government was unsurprisingly behind some of them. All that said, I’m sticking to #mastodon.
Show threadAbazigalApr 17, 2023
@rbreich Someone has to own these platforms. It’s either someone whose values you agree with, or someone whom you don’t.
Show threadmiket330Apr 17, 2023
@rbreich it's disgusting to think social media is a viable platform for accuracy in news!!
Show threadEarthlingApr 17, 2023

@rbreich

A lot of people worship guns and the principle that you have to make money from everything, everywhere.
Making money with social communication platforms is incompatible with advocating and safeguarding ethical behavior and human rights at the same time.

Show threadmudsharkbytesApr 17, 2023
@rbreich We should not have any billionaires in this world, it’s obscene. As any individual makes more money the tax rates need to rise until they hit 90%. Once you’re making so much money you can easily satisfy your every whim the rest just gets transformed into power and influence. Even taxed at 90% they’re STILL making more money.
Show threadNachtaktiv  Apr 18, 2023

@rbreich

You are absolutely right!
So, come on everybody, join the #fediverse|!

Show threadpadeluun ⁂Apr 18, 2023
@rbreich The best: We all own the Fediverse.
Show threadthis.venApr 18, 2023
@rbreich
I think the most vital platforms for communication have always been decentralised. The #Fediverse, #Matrix, and #XMPP just need to be explored by people who are still dependent on the toys of oligarchs.

The greatest freedom is the freedom of choosing a platform that might be unpopular yet, but doesn't exploit your participation for profit. #FreedomOfSpeech is when the platform is irrelevant.
@chpietsch