When Facebook started, they bootstrapped networks by downloading & matching contacts from email. Twitter, and everyone else, did the same.

Threads is blowing up because Facebook is using their monopoly on the social graph. Legislation to guarantee easy, fast access to your own contact lists for use in non-billionaire-owned media would help level the playing field, because Zuck & co sure aren't going to give the connections they stole back to us otherwise.

@blaine GDPR request would get access and be a massive PITA for them to serve too.
@coldclimate yeah, it does, but not with useful timelines nor format for use by open alternatives. GDPR should specify that access needs to be as fast and specific as internal tools have access.
@blaine @coldclimate TBH I struggle to see how Threads is compliant with GDPR's principles incl migrating the social graph from one service to another (I assume they would argue it is a 'compatible' purpose?) so providing an API for others to do the same would also be incompatible with GDPR. I think??

@derivadow @blaine @coldclimate They're not, which is why they're not currently (officially?) launching in GDPR-land.

https://tcrn.ch/3JMuu5f

TechCrunch is part of the Yahoo family of brands

@pilum @blaine @coldclimate except for the uk. I assume they are judging that the risk of enforcement is sufficiently low here :(
@derivadow @blaine @coldclimate Didn't the UK already repeal the GDPR?
@pilum the uk govt has consulted on it, said it will but no at the moment it is still the law.