EFF is leaving X • Hacker News Board

Re: EFF is leaving X

#621

Post by lynndotpy » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 9:13 PM UTC

kjksf wrote: post #84

numpad0 wrote: post #50

> We called for: > - Transparent content moderation: Publicly shared policies, clear appeals processes, and renewed commitment to the Santa Clara Principles > - Real security improvements: Including genuine end-to-end encryption for direct messages > - Greater user control: Giving users and third-party developers the means to control the user experience through filters and interoperability. Makes sense. Especially th…

Are they getting that from Bluesky? Mastodon? LinkedIn? Instagram? TikTok? Facebook? Of course not. And yet they leave X and only X.

You don't seem to be aware of the context of the quote, and you don't seem to be aware of the state of social media.

1. These are not reasons they listed for leaving X. These are lists of problems they identified on Twitter. They did not leave until 2026.

2. Yes, you get better transparency with Mastodons, owing to the fact Mastodons are usually operated and moderated by people with an interest in transparency. BlueSky moderation is also done more transparently (see its labeling system) and in ways that are less absolute (see BlackSky, etc).

3. Yes, you get better user control with Mastodons and BlueSkys. There are third party apps which work well, owing to them having open APIs. BlueSky - Mastodon bridges are common.

4. It's not "only X". EFF hasn't posted to identi.ca in 13 years, Flickr in one year, or comp.org.eff.news since 2000.

Re: EFF is leaving X

#622

Post by SecretDreams » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 9:13 PM UTC

reg_dunlop wrote: post #253

SecretDreams wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd be surprised how easy it is for people to compartmentalize their principles. Many do it day to day every time they purchase something online that was probably made using less than ideal labour practices. Still, I'd advocate to leave social media in general. And certainly to get off twitter.

Hmm, I'd argue what you call "compartmentalize their principles" is in fact, NOT having principles. Correct me if I'm wrong: I'm asserting that having a principle is an inalienable belief that actually guides behavior, not selectively applies to behavior. Though generally: yes, I agree: get off twitter, and I'd go a step further and say..minimize all social media involvement.

I agree with your sentiment. But if we go this rigid with it, we might find that the majority of humanity does not have principles.

Re: EFF is leaving X

#623

Post by DaSHacka » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 9:14 PM UTC

dmschulman wrote: post #581

dzhiurgis wrote: post #558

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

One of the biggest accounts on X hosts one of the most listened to podcasts on Spotify/Apple and has a huge following that's grown exponentially since 2023. He's an active Holocaust denier, proud antisemite, and dined with the president and members of his cabinet on more than one occasion. To say there's no growing movement towards Nazi and anti-Jewish ideologies is to be willfully ignorant of the world around you.

I'm trying to figure out who you're talking about but no one makes sense.

Fuentes? Definitely not on Apple.

Rogan? Not a holocaust denier, has fairly progressive views outside of his Trump endorsement.

Adin Ross? Does he even have a podcast? And would anyone care what he thinks?

Re: EFF is leaving X

#624

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 9:14 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: EFF is leaving X

#625

Post by jl6 » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 9:15 PM UTC

Seems like any activist org should have two audiences:

1) Supporters who may become donors

2) Neutrals/opponents who may become supporters.

If you only ever communicate in forums where people already agree with you, you’ll probably have optimized your fundraising, but will probably never achieve your actual purpose.

Activist orgs have to reach and turn the non-supporters somehow, and the absolute best way to achieve the opposite is to brand them as The Enemy and cut yourself off from them. Joining the omnicause is the icing on the cake, signalling the end of focused goal-oriented activism in favor of the dilute, general grievance mire.

The left are always looking for someone to expel, and the right are always looking for someone to recruit. Guess how this ends.

Re: EFF is leaving X

#626

Post by foobiekr » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC

dyauspitr wrote: post #458

davidw wrote: post #118

My grandparents were pretty WASPy, conservative people who lived in northern Idaho. And they hated the white supremacist/neonazi groups up there with a burning passion. They were of an age to remember people going off to fight in Germany and Asia against that kind of ideology. They would have been absolutely appalled and ashamed to see a business leader throwing those salutes and backing it up with talk of a "white h…

[flagged]

Getting excited about Elon claims is foolish. His fab will go nowhere similar to his endless battery claims. It’s just another Musk attempt to grab federal subsidies.

Re: EFF is leaving X

#627

Post by Acrobatic_Road » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC

tempaccountabcd wrote: post #57

ceejayoz wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brand reputation from staying on Twitter is part of the math.

How could you possibly lose reputation from that?

[flagged]

Re: EFF is leaving X

#628

Post by michaelhoney » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC

jl6 wrote: post #625

Seems like any activist org should have two audiences: 1) Supporters who may become donors 2) Neutrals/opponents who may become supporters. If you only ever communicate in forums where people already agree with you, you’ll probably have optimized your fundraising, but will probably never achieve your actual purpose. Activist orgs have to reach and turn the non-supporters somehow, and the absolute best way to achieve…

yeah, but twitter is 90% assholes these days

Re: EFF is leaving X

#629

Post by stale2002 » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 9:21 PM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #54

bko wrote: post #36

> Musk fired the entire human rights team and laid off staffers in countries where the company previously fought off censorship demands from repressive regimes Is the contention here that there is more censorship on X compared to Twitter pre acquisition? Is X more heavily censored than Facebook or TikTok They go on to say they're still on Facebook and TikTok and explain: > The people who need us most are often the on…

> Is the contention here that there is more censorship on X compared to Twitter pre acquisition? That's easy to sustain. Pre-acquisition: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1589414958508691456 Post-acquisition: https://x.com/elonjet

[flagged]

Re: EFF is leaving X

#630

Post by Zetaphor » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 9:21 PM UTC

black_puppydog wrote: post #515

ghshephard wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was recently at a brown bag at work - regarding enablement of AI in the workplace (it was awesome - all over the roadmap) - and one of the audience asked the speakers (a very diverse group of people) how on earth they keep up with all the developments in AI? All six of the speakers immediately said Twitter was realistically the only place you can keep up with the conversation. Having an extensively curated list mea…

My goodness, the only branch of work that I can think of where knowing something a few hours earlier is probably day trading also. Seriously, if you're working on anything worthwhile, you can wait for the weekly digest. Everything else just seems like hyperiding.

You can still stay pretty up to date (at least in AI) without even being on X, since everything distills out to every other platform anyway. Between /r/LocalLlama and the ThursdAI and Latent Space newsletters, I'm at most only a few days away from whatever the latest hype is.