this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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Privacy

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John Oliver cited a 5000% rise in search queries related to leaving Meta and deleting accounts. Among the topics mentioned in the analysis, attention was drawn to early Facebook's naivete with regard to moderation requirements, the constitutional framework, and a history of governmental interference.

Oliver debunks common right-wing "cry censorship" talking points, as well as the objective difficulty of moderation endeavors, and how direct threats by Trump may have influenced Zuckerberg's turnaround.

Oliver went on to suggest Signal, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Pixelfed as alternatives that "do not seem as desperate to fall in line with Trump". For those reluctant to completely ditch Meta, Oliver revealed a new site with step-by-step instructions to "make yourself less valuable to them".

The guide was a collaboration with the EFF, and includes settings' tweaks for Facebook and Meta, whose 98% of revenue comes from micro-targeting ads, the host previously cited, to increase privacy, and recommends Firefox, Privacy Badger, as "other measures" to take in order "to block advertisers and other third parties from tracking you".

The segment culminated in a mock advert, in which the new Meta's approach to moderation is coined as "Fuck it", and hints to racism, internet scams, and calls to genocide running rampant on Meta's platforms.

The clip reminds the origins of Facebook as a site to "rank college girls by hotness", and its implication in genocide in Myanmar, which was more thoroughly discussed in an Oliver's previous special on Facebook in 2018.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 13 hours ago

Took a long time, but nice to see this topic getting mainstream attention.

[–] [email protected] 59 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

John Oliver's show is doing amazing things, including the Drumpfinator addon.

What is that URL, though? I'm guessing I'm know it if I (happily) watch the episode?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

it's an inside joke of the show where he presents himself as a """secret""" furry that loves rat erotica. The content of the link is legit though.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

with the sometimes quite insider-y references, there absolutely is at least one furry on the writing team

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago
[–] [email protected] 8 points 12 hours ago

Oh, absolutely! That's maybe why the jokes feel so pure and not disrespectful.

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

For the masses maybe, but Signal & Bluesky ain’t it for a Privacy forum

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

How is Signal not privacy-friendly? It's the most private thing that can be called a "messenger app".

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (2 children)

I think the main red flag is that they are spending so much money. In 2023 they had 55m monthly active users and they spent $35m. The casual WhatsApp user that might switch to Signal is definitely not gonna pay for this so either Signal fans have to donate more or Signal has to start finding other monetization which if we look at other companies means selling private data.

(Also, half their spending is on hosting and they are not self hosting so a donation to Signal is basically a donation to Amazon and Google.)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Signal doesn't have private data to sell; that's the whole point.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 hour ago

And my point is that since their costs are so high they will either have to become a paid app or start collecting data to sell. Or become more efficient but you’d think if they knew how they’d already done that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

either Signal fans have to donate more or Signal has to start finding other monetization which if we look at other companies means selling private data.

Lo and behold, after RiseUp now Signal is accused of selling data. Well, it is well known (and audited) that Signal keeps so little metadata it is not even useful to the authorities that have subpoeana-ed it.

This is an extra-ordinary claim you have to back with extra-ordinary evidence, in order to save face.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Where did I accuse them of selling data right now? I’m simply noting the risk that they will have to cover the insane costs of their inefficient infrastructure through either becoming a paid app or collecting data to sell.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

John Oliver for president ✊

[–] Oni_eyes 36 points 15 hours ago (5 children)

He can't because he wasn't born here, but we could totally elect his wife and let him do the whole first husband thing while still advising if she needs it.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Yep after all that's how musk did it by using trump as the symbolic figurehead

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 17 hours ago (20 children)

Why don't stories like this EVER mention Lemmy?

[–] breadcat 14 points 10 hours ago

it's not an alternative to any meta platform

[–] [email protected] 78 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

Well, I get that Lemmy is an alternative social media, but it's not really an alternative to Facebook. Anonymous usernames, text-based posts, you can't follow people, Fediverse is somewhat confusing.. I'd recommend it as an alternative to Reddit, but probably not the website where boomers want to check up on their neighbors and friends

[–] [email protected] 37 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

you can't follow people

Challenge accepted

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 13 hours ago

I guess the hate for Reddit isn't as great as for Shitter and Fakebook. (yet)

[–] [email protected] 14 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Because Lemmy is nowhere near as ready for primetime as other platforms.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 14 hours ago (4 children)

I reckon Lemmy is actually pretty good. I wouldn't know if the mobile apps are good, because I don't use those - but for me the core functionality of Lemmy on my computer is smooth and functional. I don't see any obvious low-hanging-fruit.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 51 minutes ago

Boost is great for Android.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Voyager ist amazing

[–] [email protected] 13 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I ditched reddit for Lemmy during the whole API crackdown bs. I've only used Voyager, but it seems quite comparable to RIF, which is the only way I ever viewed reddit.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 14 hours ago

I think we're too weird and niche.

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[–] SomeAmateur 132 points 19 hours ago (6 children)

Good, glad it's getting some main stream attention. If more people start taking advantage of these settings and alternatives it's going to hurt Meta's bottom line eventually

[–] [email protected] 33 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

it’s going to hurt Meta’s bottom ~~line~~ eventually

Just hurting Meta's bottom is good enough for me

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago

Meta has been quite naughty indeed

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[–] [email protected] 73 points 19 hours ago (12 children)

I don’t want to get my hopes up but is this Facebook’s MySpace moment?

[–] [email protected] 57 points 18 hours ago

My personal MySpace moment for Facebook was 10 years ago. Best choice ever made.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 17 hours ago

MySpace was way smaller than Facebook, it wasn't even available where I am for most of its (meaningful) existence (I never had a MySpace despite being the exact target age range).

[–] [email protected] 10 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

So much of Facebook is just automated accounts responding to automated accounts in order to milk gullible advertisers. If everyone logged off tomorrow, I don't know if Zuckerberg would notice.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 14 hours ago

i have certainly notices a SHARP downturn of new content being added to insta and facebook by people i actually know over the last few years.

All that seems to be left is AI Slop and ragebait. a venn diagram that overlaps considerably

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 18 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 45 points 20 hours ago (6 children)

good initiative but uh what's up with that domain name?

[–] [email protected] 93 points 20 hours ago (4 children)

There was a whole saga of him buying expensive rat erotica artwork at one point, which is a sentence I never thought I'd write.

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