A monopolist's first preference is not to be regulated.

A monopolist's second preference is to be regulated in a way that only it can comply with - and that none of its competitors can comply with.

1/
Oh, hai, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg!

"I think [the insurrection was] largely organized on platforms that don’t have our abilities to stop hate, and don’t have our standards, and don’t have our transparency."



2/
Translation: make rules that ban all the smaller platforms that compete with us, otherwise Qanon-addled musketfuckers will hogtie Congress with zip-cuffs and execute them under the Capitol Dome.

3/
Even if that was true (and to be clear, IT IS NOT TRUE), it would be a terrible idea.

But (again): IT'S NOT TRUE.

"Facebook played a much larger role than Sandberg suggested."

washingtonpost.com/technology/202…

4/
* 128,000 people used FB discuss the rally, many planned their trip using it

* 24+ GOP politicians used FB to organize buses to the event

Oh, and despite claiming otherwise FB STILL hasn't shut down election disinformation groups:

buzzfeednews.com/article/janely…

5/
As @mmasnick says: "it's just gaslighting people to pretend that Facebook has the power to moderate away all bad behavior, and even dumber to pretend that no such planning happened on your platform."

techdirt.com/articles/20210…

6/
Sandberg's position boils down to this: "if you're gonna get a fox to guard your henhouse, we should be that fox."

Image: Phil Catterall (modified)
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henh…

CC BY-SA:
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa…

eof/

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More from @doctorow

16 Jan
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: Pelosi kicks Katie Porter off the Finance Committee; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2021/01/16/spe…

#Pluralistic

1/ Image
Pelosi kicks Katie Porter off the Finance Committee: Paging Upton Sinclair, Mr Sinclair to the white courtesy phone.



2/ Image
#20yrsago Teresa Nielsen Hayden’s formal excommunication web.archive.org/web/2000022605…

#15yrsago New discussion draft of GNU General Public License is released gplv3.fsf.org

#15yrsago Firefly fans trying to raise enough $ to produce a new season web.archive.org/web/2006011803…

3/
Read 19 tweets
16 Jan
The Democrats are at least two parties. The progressive wing of the party (which is by no means unified) and the finance wing of the party, which is also the party leadership.

1/
During the leadership race, the progressive wing was represented by @SenSanders and @SenWarren; the former wants to minimize the role of markets in our lives, the latter wants to redeem markets by regulating them. It's a distinction with a difference, but I donated to both.

2/
Both wings of the party have prominent representatives in Congress; Sandersism are most visibly associated with @AOC (whom I donated to) and Warrenism is embodied by @RepKatiePorter (likewise), who was also one of Warren's law school proteges.

3/
Read 23 tweets
16 Jan
1949 - Paul Robeson was scheduled to sing in Peekskill, New York when a riot was staged by hundreds of members of the Ku Klux Klan, American Legion, and New York State Troopers. ImageImageImageImage
It was later revealed that the local police helped coordinate the mass assault on African-American attendees. The violence, it was said, was “tolerated – if not organized – by local police and FBI.” ImageImageImageImage
Some of the white mob chanted, “We’re Hitler’s boys. We’re going to get Robeson. Lynch Robeson!” Among them was the police chief’s son. ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
15 Jan
Note to galaxy brains: if you think that the right response to being shaken down by the FBI at the behest of an internet troll is to keep silent lest you "give trolls ideas," then you are not being very thoughtful about this.

pluralistic.net/2021/01/15/hoo…

1/
I'm an immigrant whose citizenship application and residency are at stake. I came forward about my experience despite that because people deserve to know that this is happening and that federal law enforcement is enabling it.

2/
The idea that the troll who sicced the FBI on me was some kind of Louis Pasteur of Internet Hate whose unique insight led them to invent this incredibly creative tactic is...foolish. Making false reports to cops to shut up your opponents is as old as Plato. At least.

3/
Read 7 tweets
15 Jan
Today's threads (a thread).

Inside: Laura Poitras fired from First Look; Kickstarting a pad of "Tiny Paper Dungeons"; Facebook says it's the best henhouse fox; I was investigated by the FBI and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2021/01/15/hoo…

#Pluralistic

1/ Image
Laura Poitras fired from First Look: She says it's because she spoke out on Reality Winner.



2/ Image
Kickstarting a pad of "Tiny Paper Dungeons": Procedural paper adventures for your pocket.



3/ Image
Read 23 tweets

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