When people say "#Mastodon is like early Twitter," they often refer to the absence of algorithmic amplification & ads or the functionality set. But what makes it like early #Twitter in my opinion, isn't that. It's that the #Fediverse enables you to easily connect with real, awesome humans from anywhere: makers, celebrities, community leaders, top experts in their fields. Just tag them with an honest post and you'll have wonderful interactions such as this one. 🤩

Mastodon

Magical Cat (@koteisaev@mastodon.online)

I thinking about one thing that #fediverse self-hosting landscape lacks. Well it is not only about Fediverse per se. I dream to have something like...

Tech firms are spending more than ever on #lobbying the #EU amid mounting opposition to the bloc’s digital rules, according to @npub19gkv...xllu. The 733 digital #industry groups registered in #Brussels now spend €151 million a year pushing their interests, up from €113 million 2 years ago. Meta is the overall largest lobby spender in the EU (€10 million). There are now an estimated 890 lobbyists working to shape the tech agenda, up from 699 in 2023.

Corporate Europe Observatory

Big Tech lobby budgets hit record levels | Corporate Europe Observatory

New figures show that the digital industry as a whole is now spending €151 million a year on lobbying the EU, a major increase to what was alread...

“We are not a fining machine,” said a @European Commission official, when asked about the timeline for making decisions on ongoing #DSA cases. Well, then maybe you should not have put yourselves forward as lead enforcement authority under the #DigitalServicesAct. With great power comes great responsibility.

What a timing: while I'm sitting at a #CloudAbolition workshop, #AWS takes down major centralised services like #Signal, #WhatsApp and #Teams. People continue happily texting me on @npub1m9z3...whzq though 💚 :fedi:

Since it has gotten some beating recently (in particular from #Apple fanboys), I've written something about the #DigitalMarketsAct for @EDRi and how things are going at this front:

European Digital Rights (EDRi)

The DMA is a success, it should be strengthened and expanded - European Digital Rights (EDRi)

Despite its somewhat disappointing enforcement so far, the EU’s Digital Market Act has become a global role model for modern antitrust policy.

#DMA #competition #antitrust #bigtech #marketpower

Mmmm, how much I love high-speed #rail travel. #trains

"Asking enslaved people if they actually want to work the plantations for free would kill the cotton industry." -- Nick Clegg #AI #AIcon #exploitation #BigTech

Yay looks like the @European Commission and #EDPB have taken a rather clear joint position: #PayOrConsent is unlawful for gatekeepers under #DMA and #GDPR. Hello #Meta 👋 📄.pdf #privacy #DataProtection #gatekeepers #PayorOK

Sounds like Tech Commissioner #Virkkunen is trying to reassure critics in the #EU on #DSA + #DMA enforcement: “I have been working all the time on these topics. But of course, people, they have very different personal styles, I think,” she told #Politico. “It’s important to stay calm, even if there are different kinds of attacks against this legislation,... We are fully enforcing the rules all the time and everybody can be ensured on that.” “Our rules are not part of trade negotiations.”

Unpopular opinion: #JensSpahn and the German #CDUCSU don't oppose #ChatControl because of our #civilsociety pressure but because the far-right #noAfD opposes it as well.