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Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act

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Re: Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act

#621

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Because social media already has the age info exactly?" I don't know what this question means. What information does social media have "exactly"?

Facebook can make a very accurate guess from your photos, your posts, your friends' ages, and the data brokers they link it all up with.

You said it. An accurate _guess_. Not exactly.

Re: Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act

#623

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think age verification laws are good in principle - there's a lot of stuff on the internet that people should be protected from. But it's the manner of age verification that is the issue. The EU has zero knowledge proof age verification systems, e.g. through your bank, which are secure and don't involve sending a copy of your ID and / or face scan to a dodgy US based 3rd party.

I disagree. What if, hear me out, parents actually parent, instead of relegating the parenting to companies, and ruining the internet for the rest of us?

Anyone should be allowed to buy/do anything at any age, why have any restrictions that's a parent's responsibility! /s

A proper society raises their new generations.

Yes, rights and responsibilities fall mostly to parents, but I see no reason to make licentious activities difficult for parents to inhibit.

What is it you want to do on the internet?

We can have systems that allow anonymity (between client and server), but still put hardcore porn, gore, financial frauds and such out of reach of those without proof they're over 18.

Now, don't get me wrong, Palantir and it's ilk are a danger to society. But just because the military-industrial complex wants to use any excuse to control people, doesn't mean all of those excuses are wrong.

Re: Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act

#624

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Swiss eID is open source[1] and it's usage will be limited. Any type of age verification for online service would need go to a vote and would probably loose. "Eigenverantwortung", it is the parents job to look after the kids, not the state. [1] https://github.com/swiyu-admin-ch

You can't just push responsibility for the kids to the parents, where is the world going? This is madness. The next thing you are going to claim kids from young age shouldn't have fully unlocked smart phones, shouldn't install any app and so on. Where is the end of this? Are you telling me parents should spend more time with kids, heck even be their role models although it is much harder compared to just giving up on…

I totally agree with that sentiment but we can and should both have good parents and safe devices.

Re: Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act

#625

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think age verification laws are good in principle - there's a lot of stuff on the internet that people should be protected from. But it's the manner of age verification that is the issue. The EU has zero knowledge proof age verification systems, e.g. through your bank, which are secure and don't involve sending a copy of your ID and / or face scan to a dodgy US based 3rd party.

I disagree. What if, hear me out, parents actually parent, instead of relegating the parenting to companies, and ruining the internet for the rest of us?

My main issue with this argument is that we never applied it to any other age gate created in the past. Why? Maybe part of it was control, but also because we know parents will fail their kids, and there were cases bad enough in the past that society decided to step in and protect kids even when parents fail.

If we really embraced this logic, then should we look at returning to the laws from before the 'protect the children' push of the 20th century. Compare this to some countries where kids can go buy beer. I've read stories from people in less regulated countries who use to buy beer for their parents when they were underage, and nothing was stopping them from buying it from themselves if their parents allowed it (or failed to stop it). Even a concept like child labor, why should we regulate that out to companies to control instead of depending upon parents to parent? When you consider web access as a person having some sort of transaction with a company, it generalizes to a very similar position of if a parent or the government should monitor that relationship for harm.

Re: Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act

#626

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The clearest example of lobbying (chat control) has repeatedly been struck down. They can try as often as they want and they only have to win once. We - as in those who don't want this Orwellian monster to be written into law - have to win all the time.

Right but thats just the system working as intended? Gay marriage would still be illegal if unpopular ideas couldn't be reraised. Democracy is a balance, unfortunately you have to put up with fighting against the shit ideas as well as for the good ones.

> Right but thats just the system working as intended?

No, it is a one way street and thus creates an imbalance. EU regimes never push new legislation that gives more rights to their citizens, only try to limit them again and again.

> Gay marriage would still be illegal if unpopular ideas couldn't be reraised.

Gay marriage is a good example. It got passed despite being unpopular. In many countries where it was pushed by force from above, from the EU to the national level, it is still unpopular.

> Democracy is a balance, unfortunately you have to put up with fighting against the shit ideas as well as for the good ones.

The issue with democracy as we have it in the EU is the imbalance of power and responsibility. Given the EU regime's decisions in the last few decades, I consider it just a shell to push unpopular and undemocratic decisions to their member states, so lobbyists don't have to bribe everyone, just the EU regime.

Re: Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act

#627

Why "lobbying" is not treated as corruption? This kind of corporate influence should be illegal.

Lobbying is literally half of what representative democracy is. First, you elect representatives to office. Then, you try to get them to do what you want. The latter is lobbying. Of course, when money becomes a significant portion of how the second one happens, things can get complicated.

Eventually it is the fault of voters to keep voting for the same people.

Re: Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act

#628
So meta acts as a government spy actor. Interesting.

When a company such as meta pursues mass-sniffing, is it still a company or is it just a spy-agency? Meta isn't even hiding this anymore. I am glad to finally understand why these "age verification" is pushed globally. Meta pays well.

Re: Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act

#629

This is an underhand way of mandating digital id at the point of operating system boot or login

I am curious how this will play out for Linux. I won't accept any code that spies on my owned computer devices. No criminal goverment can force be to surrender my rights here. But it is interesting to see how easy it is to purchase legislation in the USA - well done, Facebook! I predict more people will abandon it though, now that they see that Meta is trying to push out global spying on regular people.

Re: Meta Platforms: Lobbying, dark money, and the App Store Accountability Act

#630
post #599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. What if, hear me out, parents actually parent, instead of relegating the parenting to companies, and ruining the internet for the rest of us?

I'm concerned about these laws and their implications for privacy, but as a parent, I'm not sure what you mean to say parents should parent. How? What should the parent do? How would you recommend a parent protect a 13 year old who spends their time in their room and out with their friends on their phones?

Translation: you can't parent your own child so you want the government to do it, as if they'll do it properly.
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