Macht Plattformen besser, statt exklusiv! https://www.digitale-gesellschaft.ch/2026/05/27/macht-plattformen-besser-statt-exklusiv-position-zu-alters-und-identitaetsverifikation-auf-social-media-plattformen/ #SocialMedia #SocialMediaVerbot #SocialMediaBan #AgeVerification #Datenschutz #privacy #surveillance #Überwachung

The teenagers in this article talk much more sense than the current government.

#SocialMedia #SocialMediaBan #UKPolitics #Teenagers

‘It makes no sense’: 16- and 17-year-olds on UK social media ban | Social media | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/17/it-makes-no-sense-16--and-17-year-olds-on-social-media-ban

How to create an account on #WSocial in 13 easy steps:

1. choose a username
2. choose a password
3. choose your interests
4. download the #WIdentity app to your phone (two options: Apple AppStore or Google Play Store)
5. scan a QR code
6. create a PIN code
   optional: enable biometrics; re-enter PIN
7. choose whether you simply want to verify that you're human or if you also want to verify your name
8. choose the verification method (automatic photo review, request a manual review or scan your passport chip)
9. scan your passport's picture page
10. scan your passport's chip
11. take a selfie
12. scan a QR code to link the W Identity to your W Social account
13. enter your PIN code

Congratulations, you're verified*!

(* for two years)

Demonstration in all its simple glory here:

📺​: https://inv.nadeko.net/Vcq4MiabpEQ

Please save this toot as reference if you ever hear somebody say that IT'S TOO COMPLICATED TO JOIN THE FEDIVERSE BECAUSE YOU NEED TO PICK A SERVER 🤡​

#SocialMedia

It's amazing what connections can achieve. I guess there's just not enough people who stand to gain financially from liking ActivityPub in Davos

https://blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-public-institutions-and-the-theater-of-european-digital-sovereignty/

#WSocial #SocialMedia

#wsocial was announcing a top-down approach to get their #network working & they are doing it

In the #Blick article #AnnaZeiter explains why #AliceWeidel & other #Nazis are welcome to her #socialmedia #platform https://www.blick.ch/digital/anna-zeiter-bringt-twitter-alternative-w-social-auch-alice-weidel-ist-willkommen-id22026157.html

wSocial tries to become a new #Tech #empire by pulling on their personal networks & riding the problematic term of #European #Sovereignty

#Lobbying the #rich & #powerful seems to pay out in the #EuropeanUnion ¯\(°_o)/¯

Alt...

Screenshot of the BLICK article on WSocial and Anna Zeiter

The UK Green Party's position on the social media ban for young people is gross and out of touch with reality. It's the classic case of embracing surveillance and control in exchange for empty promises. I'm embarrassed to be associated with such a boneheaded take on a critical issue.

https://greenparty.org.uk/2026/06/15/green-party-reaction-to-social-media-ban-for-under-16s/

#ukpol #ukpoli #greenparty #socialmedia #socialmediaban

RE: https://curia.social-network.europa.eu/@Curia/116758852644484436

Dear EU Lawyers,

Did @Curia just say that any site which exercises algorithmic control over your feed is potentially liable for its content, as it is no longer a neutral host?

What would be the consequences?

#EULaw #CJEU #Algorithms #SocialMedia #ECJ #Law

https://curia.europa.eu/site/upload/docs/application/pdf/2026-06/cp260087en.pdf

The open Internet is being killed by stealth.

The social media ban is part of a global push towards a permission-based Internet where access is controlled.

The government should address the causes of online harms in the business model of the platforms.

Sign the petition ⬇️

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/break-big-tech

#stopKillingInternet #stopKillingTheInternet #socialmediaban #socialmedia #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #privacy #censorship #ukpolitics #ukpol #ageverification

Within a year we've gone from porn to “iPhone users, Spotify users, Xbox and PlayStation players pushed through ID checks.”

Now social media...

It'll only make online harms worse. The data shared for age checks feeds back into ads and customised content that keep us online.

🗣️ ORG's James Baker.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/15/effects-uk-social-media-ban-under-16s-enforcement

#stopKillingInternet #stopKillingTheInternet #socialmediaban #socialmedia #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #privacy #censorship #ukpolitics #ukpol #ageverification

Complex systems and simplistic interventions don't mix.

The current approach fails to deal with the real engine of online harms.

The UK government must change the way the whole system works, not erode our privacy and free expression rights.

Sign the petition ➡️ https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/break-big-tech

#stopKillingInternet #stopKillingTheInternet #socialmediaban #socialmedia #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #privacy #ageverification #ukpolitics #ukpol

Alt...

A systems-led approach to online safety. User switching rights – Allow users to switch platforms while retaining their contact networks, as you can with your phone number or your email account. Freeing user feeds – Ensure users can control content on platforms, directly or by third parties, to decide what makes them safer and what gives them value. Creating competition by breaking up platforms – Stop platforms being able to own multiple social networks and prevent tech giants using platforms as part of a wider business strategy. Socially-driven social media – On Mastodon and BlueSky, user switching rights are central, and their communities power small environments, leading to safer spaces.

We must shift measures from costs on users to user empowerment.

That means directly tackling the market power of social media platforms that generate online harms.

We should take on the attention economy, prioritisation algorithms and targeted advertising rather than restricting content or access.

#stopKillingInternet #stopKillingTheInternet #socialmediaban #socialmedia #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #privacy #ageverification #ukpolitics #ukpol

Alt...

Treating the symptoms, not the root cause. Platforms rely on extensive data collection to keep users online for longer and target them with ads. Algorithms prioritise content most likely to capture attention and drive interaction, spreading harmful, polarising and addictive content. The data shared for age verification can also be used by platforms and the wider data broker ecosystem to send you ads and customised content. A social media ban is a policy that will fuel the reinforcing loop that generates online harms for profit while sacrificing privacy and free expression.

From Internet filters to the UK Online Safety Act, our privacy and free expression rights have been hollowed out.

Digital ID age checks have expanded from porn to new areas of the Internet.

Future measures will include automated takedowns and breaking encryption to scan content on people's devices.

#stopKillingInternet #stopKillingTheInternet #socialmediaban #socialmedia #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #privacy #ageverification #ukpolitics #ukpol

Alt...

Stripping away rights and creating new risks. Every failed attempt to make children safer online is followed by more surveillance and censorship. In less than a year, the government has expanded age verification to such an extent that it'll be virtually impossible to be online in the UK without handing over identity documents or biometric data to unregulated companies. Children have rights too and these policies will harm their free expression and privacy rights, and push them into less regulated spaces. Meanwhile the business models driving harms are untouched.

The road to hell...

The government is chasing its tail with the social media ban.

It's another 'online safety' policy heaped upon a bedrock of failures. It too will fail to remove harms. More authoritarian measures will follow.

The UK government must think again with a systems approach.

ORG's @jim explains ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/the-social-media-policy-ratchet/

#stopKillingInternet #socialmediaban #socialmedia #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #privacy #ageverification #ukpolitics #ukpol

BBC news at 6.
Leads with the Social Media Man for under 16s.
Then there's a slot about "EL" (Russia) inciting riots/violence/firebombing via social media.
Are they going to regulate social media companies to police this kind of thing - for everyone?
No
Ban the kids
🤬
#UKpol #socialmedia

#SocialMedia of #realnameregistration , oh sorry, they call it real #humans , that advertises with " #AI " #slop

#wsocial is more than problematic

And already has #bots crawling it's #network

Now they show that they are problematic concerning #aesthetics as well & advertise with tasteless #aislop

@bildoperationen

#realnameregistration is highly dangerous & if the company that wants to have your most private data can't save there net from bots they're not very trustworthy, are they?
#tech

Alt...

Still of an "AI" slop video of W Social

The government has ignored calls to regulate age verification companies to ensure our sensitive data is protected.

Instead it has expanded ID checks to multiply the risks.

But the actual cause of harms is off the hook – how platforms use our data to monetise our attention.

Sign the petition ⬇️

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/break-big-tech

#stopKillingInternet #StopKillingTheInternet #socialmediaban #socialmedia #ageverification #onlinesafety #privacy #censorship #ukpolitics #ukpol #dataprotection

“Soon it will be virtually impossible to be online in the UK without handing over identity documents or biometric data to unregulated companies.”

The social media ban means EVERY user has to prove they're over 16. This puts millions at risk of their personal data being hacked.

🗣️ ORG's @JamesBaker.

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366644294/Big-tech-must-introduce-age-checks-to-support-UKs-under-16s-social-media-ban

#stopKillingInternet #StopKillingTheInternet #socialmediaban #socialmedia #ageverification #onlinesafety #privacy #censorship #ukpolitics #ukpol

A social media ban won't fix online harms.

That's because the business model creating them is left untouched.

It just makes every user do an ID check to prove they’re over 16.

Instead we should tackle the attention capture economy of targeted ads and personalised algorithms.

Sign our petition ⬇️

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/break-big-tech

#socialmediaban #onlinesafety #socialmedia #stopKillingInternet #ukpol #ukpolitics #privacy #censorship #bigtech

The social media ban for under 16s is interesting as it feels like a low-stakes admission from government that social media use can be highly problematic.

The reasons for this are in the design of the platforms, and I would argue that it's probably not the under-16s who are most at risk from its most pernicious harms.

I don't think many under-16s were rioting in Southampton and Belfast over the last couple of weeks. That unrest was almost entirely social media-generated. #socialmedia

Every time I see a commercial on TV I enjoy seeing how many of the 7 tools of propaganda get used. The Ontario government commercials are a lovely source of this. Also the CHIP reverse mortage. And the hearing aid ad. (Their celebrities are so well known they have to subtitle who they are now)

Someone might have fun making a BINGO card for this!

follow along here https://www.elmcommunicationsllc.com/post/the-7-tools-of-propaganda-and-how-to-spot-them

#Propaganda #OnPoli #CriticalThinking #SocialMedia

The problem of online harms lies with the underlying business models of social media platforms.

Bans based on making everyone do digital ID checks don't change that.

We must break the advertising-driven business model built on surveillance, profiling and maximising engagement.

Sign our petition ⬇️

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/break-big-tech

#stopKillingInternet #socialmediaban #socialmedia #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #privacy #censorship #ukpolitics #ukpol #kierstarmer

A global movement to #stopKillingInternet is coming.

Bans will wall off the open Internet. Kids locked out and adults pushed through digital ID checks.

Connection and access to information is being swept away for a policy that leaves platforms free to continue promoting harmful content for profit.

Find out more ➡️ https://www.stopkillingtheinternet.com/

#socialmediaban #socialmedia #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #privacy #censorship #ukpolitics #ukpol #kierstarmer

Social media bans don't work.

Yet it's happening globally as leaders try to grab headlines with creeping digital ID checks.

This doesn't take on how platforms are designed to capture users' attention with harmful content through data-driven algorithms so they can sell ads.

ORG's @JamesBaker explains ➡️ https://peertube.openrightsgroup.org/w/bBTjPwubE92HMVGtt9dN2Z

#stopKillingInternet #stopKillingTheInternet #socialmediaban #socialmedia #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyact #privacy #censorship #ukpolitics #ukpol #kierstarmer

The social media policy ratchet:

How #onlinesafety measures are costing users but leaving #socialmedia companies just fine thank you.

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/the-social-media-policy-ratchet/

Banning under-16s online restricts access to information while creating huge privacy risks.

Instead the UK government should target the root cause of online harms.

That means tackling the business model of social media platforms – from targeted ads and algorithms to user lock-in.

Sign the petition ⬇️

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/break-big-tech

#socialmediaban #socialmedia #starmer #stopkillinginternet #ukpolitics #ukpol #onlinesafety #ageverification #digitalid #privacy #censorship #StopKillingTheInternet

Age verification is being extended to block vast areas of the Internet.

That means millions of people handing over ID documents and biometric data to unregulated providers.

It becomes a treasure trove for hackers, as has already been seen since introducing age checks with the Discord data leak.

#socialmediaban #socialmedia #starmer #stopkillinginternet #ukpolitics #ukpol #onlinesafety #ageverification #digitalid #privacy #censorship #discord

An under-16s ban means making every adult prove they're over 16 for access.

The data shared for age verification can also be used by platforms and the wider data broker ecosystem to send you ads and customised content.

It's a policy that fuels the very business model that generates online harms.

#socialmediaban #socialmedia #starmer #stopkillinginternet #ukpolitics #ukpol #onlinesafety #ageverification #digitalid #privacy #censorship

The UK social media ban for under-16s does nothing to sort out the harms caused by platforms.

Harmful content is a product of a business model that uses data to drive engagement and target users with ads.

Digital ID checks feed more data into this system, while leaving the engine for harms unchecked.

Read our response ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/starmers-social-media-ban-fails-to-address-root-causes-of-online-harms/

#socialmediaban #socialmedia #stopkillinginternet #ukpolitics #ukpol #onlinesafety #ageverification #StopKillingInternet #StopKillingTheInternet

A social media ban addresses the symptoms, not the cause of online harms.

Platforms rely on extensive data collection to target ads and keep users online for longer.

Algorithms prioritise content most likely to capture attention and drive interaction, spreading harmful, polarising and addictive content.

#socialmediaban #socialmedia #starmer #stopkillinginternet #ukpolitics #ukpol #onlinesafety #ageverification #digitalid #privacy #censorship

#fediverse #socialmedia

Everyone should read this story. The dystopian future is already here. What will the next generation look like?

“When both students and teachers are performing for unseen audiences, something essential is lost. The classroom becomes less a place of learning than a stage.”

Politico: I’ve Been Teaching for 15 years. I’ve Never Been Afraid in the Classroom — Until Now https://www.huffpost.com/emtry/classrooms-under-surveillance-recording-lectured-higher-education-threat_n_6a26d101e4b009b22c86ab49 @politico #education #surveillance #socialmedia

@mttaggart

There’s a lot of controversy around social media age limits — and rightfully so. But six months after Australia’s youth ban, other countries are already learning lessons.

Legislation in Brazil and Canada pairs age limits with design standards, including an opt out if platforms are “safe by design.” Experimentation is the route to better policy, instead of endlessly debating while tech companies evade accountability.

https://disconnect.blog/social-media-policy-is-evolving-beyond-age-limits/

#tech #socialmedia #auspol #cdnpoli #canada #cdntech

Age verification ...

#privacy #privacymatters #ageverification #socialmedia #surveillance #dataskydd #dataprotection #gdpr #deepstate

Alt...

A meme related to age verification on the Internet

“My Students Can’t Read

The generational collapse in literacy is measurable, persistent, and likely to get worse.”

—> Terrifying article, and it’s not just the USA

https://archive.ph/ZXtQ5

#Education #Literacy #Academia #Universities #AI #SmartPhone #Online #Digital #SocialMedia #Internet

"You may not know it, you may not believe it, but the reality is that a ruthless propaganda war is being waged against the survival of human civilisation in the name of short-term greed at any cost. It is that simple, that irrational. Even though truth, science and sanity are on our side, human civilisation is currently losing the war"

#ClimateEmergency #GlobalHeating #Media #SocialMedia

Invitation To A Turkey Shoot – How To Debunk Climate Denial
https://medialens.substack.com/p/invitation-to-a-turkey-shoot-how

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Mastodon/116686738841941842

According to the EU's tech package, released today, the #EU is currently reliant on foreign providers for over 80% of its critical digital products, services, and infrastructure. We're thrilled to see the Commission acknowledge that this is an issue, and lay out a strategy to fix it.

We view this announcement as validation of Mastodon’s mission at the highest level; the Commission’s strategy is grounded in European values that Mastodon shares including security, sustainability, and human-centric design.

What’s more, the EU's explicit strategy is to build and deeply invest in #OpenSource offerings across the entire technology stack. The significant nature of this commitment provides institutional validation and will bring significant policy, funding, and competitive advantages to open source projects like #Mastodon.

#Fediverse #OpenWeb #SocialWeb #SocialMedia #FOSS #OSS

Walrus 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 boosted

Mastodon » 🌐 2026-06-03
@Mastodon@mastodon.social

The @EUCommission just released a statement positioning open source as central to #Europe’s #TechSovereignty.

We couldn’t agree more. #OpenSource is critical to a robust and independent society.

Here’s our full statement: https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/06/europes-new-tech-strategy-puts-open-source-front-and-centre/

#Mastodon #Fediverse #SocialWeb #OpenWeb #DigitalSovereignty

Every single day we’re met with a flood of information we’re supposed to follow, absorb, and understand to be ready for all the rest that will follow.

It keeps us engaged, which is great for the platforms, but is it really great for us? All I know is I need to pull back.

https://disconnect.blog/information-overload/

#tech #socialmedia #information #media #overload

New video! Looking back at running this channel for the past 10 years, talking about the ups and downs and everything in between. Content Warnings: Politics, AI, Mental Health.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/B9ni1mzMExA
PeerTube: https://makertube.net/w/oJMboRyTcxwzqPwi92aVvB

#YouTube #PeerTube #SocialMedia #Politics #FullTimeYouTuber #Patreon #RetroComputing #VintageComputing #VintageHifi #AudioEngineering #Comments #VideoCreator #MakingVideos #Job #FullTimeContentCreator #Anniversary

Alt...

Thumbnail for my video, showing a collage of pictures of: a toy dinosaur with a red floppy disk in its mouth, a VIC-20 READY prompt with the cursor changed to a heart, a TAC-2 joystick, a Sega Mega Drive, an Atari 1040 STFM, a PlayStation leaning against a tree, an Amiga 500 with a "classic edition" badge, a classic Commodore 64 bread bin. There's a cut in half picture of myself making an astounded face on the right hand side. The overlayed big text reads "TEN".

"This may not be the Nuremberg trial, but we all know that the excuse of “following orders” is not an alibi when you know what you are doing. And everybody at Meta knew what they were doing. They knew they were designing systems to maximize engagement that polarized society. They knew this when they turned privacy into an exploitable variable. They knew it when the evidence mounted up on the harm Instagram was causing. They knew this when the platform became an infrastructure of propaganda, hatred and manipulation. And they knew this because many of these damages were documented, denounced and discussed inside and outside the company.

And now the same machinery is beginning to be applied inwards. Meta employees who for years helped surveil, profile, and exploit billions of users now discover that they too can be monitored, measured and turned into training data. As The New York Times notes with more than a hint of irony, Meta’s embrace of AI is making its employees miserable”.

Let’s be clear, Meta’s workforce have not had a Damascene moment: It’s something more human and more uncomfortable: the belated realization that the system they helped build had no limits, it just hadn’t come for them yet."

https://edans.medium.com/e7bb510a9127

#Meta #SocialMedia #Surveillance #Capitalism #Privacy #DataProtection

Internal documents: US authorities observe "anti-tech extremism"

Internal documents show: US security authorities are targeting tech critics – allegedly out of concern about AI-related unrest and "extremists".

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Internal-documents-US-authorities-observe-anti-tech-extremism-11312244.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&utm_source=mastodon

#Datenschutz #ElonMusk #FBI #Gesellschaft #KünstlicheIntelligenz #Meinungsfreiheit #Netzpolitik #SocialMedia #news

RE: https://mastodon.social/@_elena/116645486985827346

Who’s behind W Social?

Folks like this:

“Ingmar Rentzhog, an entrepreneur who claims he found and helped develop the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg into a world phenomenon, also used her name to bring in almost SEK 10 million in venture capital for his company - without her knowledge, SvD has found. ‘We had no information about that’c says Svante Thunberg, the teenager’s father.”

***

“I'd venture to say that Rentzhog has a talent for spotting trends tied to societal causes - climate change, European digital sovereignty - and harnessing media attention to build businesses around them.”

– @_elena

Is Europe-washing a term? Because it should be.

#wSocial #bullshit #sameFuckersDifferentFlag #eu #socialMedia #sovereignty #VC #BigTech #EuropeWashing