this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
1659 points (99.5% liked)

Privacy

34476 readers
1174 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] CAVOK@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Use Magic Earth or Organic Maps instead of Google Maps too. Neither will track you.

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago

I've tried so hard but I don't think magic earth, organic maps, or osmand likes me

[–] Novocirab@feddit.org 1 points 4 days ago

Love it, thanks! Just did it. The chosen domain may be a bit unfortunate though, I think, because it could be punished by many algorithms.

[–] Routhinator@startrek.website 4 points 6 days ago

The problem I see with this is that a Meta employee literally came out on Mastodon recently and revealed that non of these settings do anything and are false flags.

https://misskey.de/notes/a3ax4tqomg

[–] SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works 141 points 1 week ago (2 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

[–] whydudothatdrcrane@lemmy.ml 35 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

Just hurting Meta's bottom is good enough for me

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 27 points 1 week ago (2 children)

They'll just bury the settings, or remove them. Who's going to stop them now?

[–] androidul@lemmy.ml 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

one can always delete their accounts

[–] ryper@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

As if Meta actually deletes anything

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Greg@lemmy.ca 79 points 1 week ago (16 children)

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

[–] Scrollone@feddit.it 62 points 1 week ago

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

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 29 points 1 week 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).

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 22 points 1 week ago

Nobody left MySpace because of enshitification

load more comments (13 replies)
[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 74 points 1 week 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?

[–] fushuan@lemm.ee 24 points 1 week 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.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 18 points 1 week ago (6 children)

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

load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] perishthethought@lemm.ee 70 points 1 week ago (12 children)

Why don't stories like this EVER mention Lemmy?

[–] OneTwoThree@mander.xyz 85 points 1 week 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

[–] jagermo@feddit.org 41 points 1 week ago (1 children)

you can't follow people

Challenge accepted

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

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

[–] breadcat@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 week ago

it's not an alternative to any meta platform

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 17 points 1 week ago (9 children)

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

[–] Zagorath@lemm.ee 1 points 6 days ago

Eh, Lemmy is way more mature as a platform than PixelFed is, and he mentioned that.

I think the explanation being in relation to what it's intended to replace is more likely. He doesn't care as much about getting people off Reddit as he cares about getting people off Zuck and Musk's platforms.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] whydudothatdrcrane@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 week ago (12 children)

Clean cut kids do not find Lemmy very palatable.

load more comments (12 replies)
load more comments (7 replies)
[–] Corgana@startrek.website 49 points 1 week ago

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

[–] morgunkorn@discuss.tchncs.de 48 points 1 week ago (6 children)

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

[–] honeybadger1417@lemmy.world 96 points 1 week ago (5 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.

[–] whydudothatdrcrane@lemmy.ml 22 points 1 week ago

sentence I never thought I’d write

🤣 🤣

[–] morgunkorn@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 1 week ago

rat erotica

aah thank you! now I can make sense of those last jumbled letters, quite the unusual word combination for sure ^^

Newsweek - The True Story Behind 'Last Week Tonight's' Rat Erotica Painting (archive link)

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago

Oh, he just had that lying around

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Sunny@slrpnk.net 47 points 1 week ago (1 children)

John Oliver for president ✊

[–] Oni_eyes@sh.itjust.works 38 points 1 week ago (7 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.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] grid11@lemy.nl 46 points 1 week ago
load more comments
view more: next ›