- cross-posted to:
- linux@programming.dev
- cross-posted to:
- linux@programming.dev
Previously used link: https://archive.ph/ICJZZ
Until now, the EU has allowed a majority of countries to rely on American big tech companies for communication and storage of sensitive data. For example, many universities across Europe rely on Google or Microsoft for email services, research data storage, and department communication. Similarly, many of them write their research using Microsoft Word, which could be used by these big companies to train their own AI models.
A majority of regular citizens rely on Meta for instant messaging apps (WhatsApp), Facebook, Instagram, but also on X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok. None of these apps are properly regulated even with EU’s efforts, leaving people unshielded to other states’ attempts at polarization. There is also the problem of mass profiling of users, which is used to supply targeted advertisements and sometimes influence public opinion on certain topics (cough Musk tweaking the Twitter algorithm to promote AfD cough).
The article that I supplied focuses mainly on the aspect of maintaining data privacy when our data is harvested by outside entities. However, this is, in my opinion, a horrible approach. We need to move everything ASAP to open source alternatives, and preferably EU based ones. Some attempts at this have been previously made in Germany, which should give hope to other countries in the EU.
The cost of moving away from Google/Microsoft tech stacks will be a drop in the bucket compared to the wealth that these companies extract from EU. Similarly, offering alternatives to social media like Friendica, Mastodon, Pixelfed, Lemmy, and perhaps PeerTube, would be a huge win against disinformation and propaganda from other countries. We should also push for instant messaging platforms like SimpleX that do not rely on Google’s proprietary Push Notification services, and perhaps deGoogled Android devices.
If the recent events are not a catalyst to push everyone away from US software in the EU, I do not know what else will. Do you think that this would be possible at all?
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I have switched to all of the things you mentioned a while back and never looked back, but it’s impossible to get friends of family to so the same. For them web search == google, browsers == google chrome, facebook is the only existing internet service and the same with whatsapp.
I’m afraid that, no matter how hard we try, we will always and forever be a part of a lonely niche.
edit: wording
Yeah I’ve also switched over most things but it seems like most other people aren’t interested in doing the same. Even Lemmy is fairly inactive compared to Reddit
Funny how Europe is finally starting to notice this issue.
Us “tinfoil hatters” (as we’ve been called) have been decrying the privacy issues since the 90’s, but everyone just dismissed us as crackpots.
You may be interested in the EU OS for the public sector, Proof-of-Concept for the deployment of a Fedora-based Linux operating system with a KDE Plasma desktop environment.
There is also the Open Source Strategy of Schleswig-Holstein, a northern German state, that has unveiled an ambitious plan to break free from proprietary software dependencies by ditching Microsoft for Linux and LibreOffice.
I understand and agree with what you say but I am a bit confused with the choice of article. The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a organisation where the literal economic elites meet (in Davos among other places) to talk about what to do to maximize their power and profits.
Of course their mission statement could be considered as inspiring, but I believe we should be vigilant. It’s just PR imo. They have similar statements from personalities we know of, from who we couldn’t get fooled anymore. An examples could be:
Thank you for the information. I’ll keep that in mind for the future! To be honest, I intended to find a petition on this topic and share that to incentivize some mobilization, but I could not find anything. This was the most recent article I could find on the topic, given my limited time to research. If you have a suggestion on an article, I would love to change it to that!
I intended to find a petition on this topic
Maybe this is close to what you are looking for?
Petition No 0729/2024 by N. W. (Austrian) on the implementation of an EU-Linux operating system in public administrations across all EU countries
Oh, I don’t know how I forgot about this. I have already signed it last year haha. Thanks for reminding me!
Removed by mod
What? I am genuinely confused by your position
Mate, I am not advocating here for the EU to break E2EE, nor support linking of your social media profile to a citizen number that can be used against you. Similarly, I do not wish for the EU to start generating its own propaganda machine to replace the US one.
I am merely stating that we should invest more in EU open source, promote more fact checking and open algorithms (or even banning them) for social media. What is happening with Twitter, Facebook and TikTok is not ok. We do not need social media to profile us and push content that a state or rich person deems necessary for their benefit. Aren’t you on Lemmy specifically because of that?
we should invest more in EU open source, promote more fact checking and open algorithms (or even banning them) for social media. What is happening with Twitter, Facebook and TikTok is not ok.
I have nothing against “invest more in EU open source” or “open algorithms” but let’s stop pretending that we don’t know where the governmental “regulation” leads. If you’re so afraid of people who might get some crazy ideas then humanity has an excellent method: education. People would be able to dismiss crazy ideas by themselves. But it works only for crazy and stupid ideas. Clever but anti-governmental ideas will linger.
Aren’t you on Lemmy specifically because of that?
Yes, that’s the reason. Overregulation.
Well, what I’m thinking about is not too far from education. I am suggesting that we have independent fact-checkers, or at least tools that show all the angles of a certain issue (e.g., something like Ground News, but not owned by a for-profit organisation), paid by tax money. This should be incorporated in something like an API that Fediverse instances could tap into. Again, not governments deciding who is right or who is wrong, but citizen-backed initiatives that work for the people. There should be open source plugins that could be used by fedi instances to relay the fact-checking or other relevant information.
I am categorizing this as governmental regulation because the tax money is allocated by the government specifically for content “moderation”. However, this doesn’t mean that content should be removed from social media just because it talks about a topic (unless it is illegal), but people should at least have additional information available for free that they could research further. And no, I don’t think the community notes employed by Meta and Twitter are enough, as we’ve seen how that went for the Americans in the last election.
independent fact-checkers, paid by tax money
In my culture, there is a proverb that says, “The one who feeds the girl — dances with her.” Your variant is a straightforward censorship. No idea how it might work in the real world.
So, if tax payers pay for it, they all get to dan…[insert sexist proverb here], right? A few guardrails extra around minority rights and Robert is your uncle.
