this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2025
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One way around this is to nationalize social media companies. Use public funding to run the service instead of private companies and run the service in the same way as licensing a vehicle to drive on the highway.
Social media has essentially become a public necessity that everyone wants and needs, it should be run and regulated like the public water system. It should be run, controlled, regulated and monitored by a system like the postal service where it isn't designed to make money but instead concentrate all is activity into just providing a critical independent service to everyone.
Then the state acquires the ability to spy on all your communications, and when the state is taken over by bad actors (as now), they can use that to blackmail, bully or worse.
And they will spy on us, at some point, if this were to be allowed to pass. Not a question of "if" the government will abuse it, but "which" government will abuse it.
Do we allow private enterprise total control over social media who then use their control to flood society with their propaganda use their power to blackmail, control, bully or worse.
OR
Do we allow government agencies total control over social media who then use their control to flood society with their propaganda use their power to blackmail, control, bully or worse.
At least with the publicly controlled government option, we would all have some measure of control or regulation. It would take a lot more organization and complication for bad actors to manipulate the message because they first have to take control of government.
Leaving control of social media in private hands means we've already given up control because bad actors can just buy whatever message they want and push it to everyone. Their message and manipulation guides everyone to the government they want. Bad actors win because they have control of social media and can win control of government.
The game is already set. We want to argue that the government shouldn't have control of these things because we don't/won't/can't trust government .... but we are more than willing to put our trust in private for profit corporations.