Read on Twitter
Play stupid games…
Now, that said, it could just as well have been my account for whatever reason because it’s not my account (or your account), it’s Twitter’s account. The only freedom of speech you have on private property like Twitter is what the owner (Twitter, Inc.) grants you.
Twitter (and Facebook, Google, etc.) are not parks, they are shopping malls. Their policies (e.g., verification, promoted tweets) and algorithmic timelines decide who gets heard/heard louder and who doesn’t so they must be liable for the activity on their premises.
They must be held liable for the content they publish but we do not win by making them better censors. Instead, we must use this—and other regulation, like privacy legislation—to scupper their toxic business model and make them less attractive while funding ethical alternatives.
What kind of ethical alternatives? Ones that’s are owned and controlled by individuals; by you and by me. Where the owner is still liable for what is posted but where that owner is you. Where our existing system of laws and traditional policing apply.
Alternatives where those who provide utilities (like hosting/domain name services) are, of course, not liable. (This is what Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc., say they do today, which is patently false. We must not conflate the two for to do so is at the detriment of the former.)
Alternatives that are the opposite of Big Tech. Alternatives I call Small Tech.
Watch my talk at the EU parliament: https://ar.al/2019/11/29/the-future-of-internet-regulation-at-the-european-parliament/
Read about Small Tech: https://small-tech.org/about/#small-technology
Help us build a Small Web: https://ar.al/2020/08/07/what-is-the-small-web/
Watch my talk at the EU parliament: https://ar.al/2019/11/29/the-future-of-internet-regulation-at-the-european-parliament/
Read about Small Tech: https://small-tech.org/about/#small-technology
Help us build a Small Web: https://ar.al/2020/08/07/what-is-the-small-web/
