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@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz · 3 months ago

"Of course, now these fights are all about real things. Now we need to worry about centralization, interoperability, lock-in, surveillance, speech, and repair. But the people – like me – who've been fighting over this stuff for a quarter-century? We've gone from 'unserious fools who mistook tech battles for human rights fights' to 'useful idiots for tech companies' in an eyeblink."

@pluralistic, 2025

https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/13/digital-rights/

Glad I'm not the only one who's noticing this.

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#TechRights

Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz replied · 3 months ago

I see it a combination of two dynamics. Firstly, a cynical hijacking of the techlash as a cause celebre by political parties.

This is obvious in openly right-wing parties like the one currently in charge of the NZ government (eg #B416 is astroturf funded by partisans). But it also includes centre-right liberal parties cosplaying as "centre-left". Sir Smarmer's "Labour" party leaning into the "Online Safety" Act is an example, as are the dominant Clintonite faction in the US Democrats.

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz replied · 3 months ago

Secondly, defensive astroturfing by the DataFarmers themselves, as they try to co-opt the "techlash" to their own advantage. Bringing in compulsory age verification, and getting rid of Section 230 and similar laws that help smaller services compete, are both good examples.

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Strypey

@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz replied · 3 months ago

There are now a lot of newbies in the tech rights space, and that's great. We need massive social movements to make the change we want.

But some of have been doing this for a quarter century or more. Maybe we've learned a thing or 2 in the process? Maybe on these topics it's worth listening to us, before you evaluate the overtures of politicians who just started talking about these issues, or suspiciously well-funded social media campaigns by groups that didn't exist 5 years ago.

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