Yes, we got gatekeepers. We just got the wrong ones
If there is too much violence and radicalization online, it is not because of lack of gatekeepers.
This is just a small, but necessary addedum to my other post about outlawing instantness in social networks. In that post I quote a tech journalist who, in a piece about the temporary shutdown of social networks in Sri Lanka after the Easter bombings, wrote:
“In the early days of the internet, there was a lot of talk of how this was a good thing, getting rid of those gatekeepers. Well, they are gone now”
I find the latter assertion wrong. We still have those gatekeepers. They just happened to become:
- as powerful as sovereign states
- much less controllable or accountable (even during political elections)
- ready to shut down whatever THEY don’t like
- while pumping and accelerating, to unsustainable levels, whatever else improves their bottom line, like “insulating fascists from reality”
Who writes this, why, and how to help
I am Marco Fioretti, tech writer and aspiring polymath doing human-digital research and popularization.
I do it because YOUR civil rights and the quality of YOUR life depend every year more on how software is used AROUND you.
To this end, I have already shared more than a million words on this blog, without any paywall or user tracking, and am sharing the next million through a newsletter, also without any paywall.
The more direct support I get, the more I can continue to inform for free parents, teachers, decision makers, and everybody else who should know more stuff like this. You can support me with paid subscriptions to my newsletter, donations via PayPal (mfioretti@nexaima.net) or LiberaPay, or in any of the other ways listed here.THANKS for your support!