Mastodawn

Chris Trottier Jun 26, 2023

My standpoint is that, not only should all social software support ActivityPub, it should be required by law.

Further to that, all social software should have an account migration path towards and away from it.

No, I’m not saying all servers should federate with each other. What I am saying is that it should be impossible for any one server software to monopolize the network effect.

RE: https://cosocial.ca/users/evan/statuses/110606024253857339

Evan Prodromou (@[email protected])

"All social software should support ActivityPub." #EvanPoll #poll [ ] Strongly agree [ ] Somewhat agree [ ] Somewhat disagree [ ] Strongly disagree

CoSocial

Show thread

Chris Trottier Jun 26, 2023

Okay, I’ll make two exceptions: peer-to-peer social software and chat.

Nostr is kind of a gray area for me too.

But any social software that’s server-based should absolutely use ActivityPub.

Show thread

Chris Trottier Jun 26, 2023

Speaking of chat, that should be federated too. A good many chat systems such as WhatsApp are still based on XMPP.

It should be a requirement—by law no less—that WhatsApp federates.

Show thread

Chris Trottier Jun 26, 2023

The way you bust monopolies is by enforcing interoperability.

How do I know this?

Almost all successful social networks grow off the back of another.

Facebook grew through email.

YouTube grew through MySpace.

Instagram grew through Tumblr.

Never has any social network grown its network effect spontaneously. Nobody just shows up.

Show thread

Chris Trottier Jun 26, 2023

If you’re using a chat server that requires absolute security, and thus can’t federate, there should be a limit on how big that chat server is allowed to be.

Is it hosting 1 billion people? Too bad, “security” shouldn’t be an excuse to extend your monopoly.

Federate or break yourself up.

Show thread

Chris Trottier Jun 26, 2023

Some people are saying, “Oh, if you break up WhatsApp’s monopoly on chat, it will be less secure.”

Why is a for-profit, multi-billion dollar enterprise like Meta the arbiter for security?

If WhatsApp’s security requires centralization, take it out of Meta’s hands. Given Meta’s track record with privacy, they should be the last entity protecting WhatsApp’s security anyway.

Either way, I don’t buy the notion that a monopoly should continue in the name of security.

WhatsApp should federate or be broken up.

Show thread

Kevin Karhan

Jun 26, 2023

@atomicpoet everyone who trusts any of the #PRISM collaborators, espechally #NSAbook, disqualifies themselves for any #security-based discussion - period!

Fact is: #AllGafamsAreEvil and every #SingleVendor / #SingleProvider solution is either #backdoored by governments (i.e. #ANØM) or literally illegal and will be attacked (i.e. #EncroChat).

So no, don't trust #WhatsApp nor #Threema nor #Telegram nor #Keybase nor #Signal.