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EFF is leaving X

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Re: EFF is leaving X

#851

Post by bifrost »

schoen wrote: post #340

I worked at EFF from 2001 to 2019. When I started, EFF was a very effective coalition between (primarily) progressives and libertarians. This had largely been the case since EFF was founded in 1990 by both progressives and libertarians. When people would call EFF a "left-wing" organization, I would correct them. It wasn't a left-wing organization, it was a big tent and had consistently had very significant non-left-w…

It was over for me when the EFF advanced the charge of government censorship of the internet. The EFF had previously been a client of mine so I was somewhat familiar with how things worked and basically once Gilmore was out, it went downhill.

They did a lot of good work (much like the ACLU) but they are now honestly unrecognizable.

My old company donated around $3k/mo of services for almost a decade which in the grand scheme of things isn't a lot but we kept them online when other ISPs would've shut them off.

I've ceased donating to them and the ACLU because they no longer stand for freedom on or off the internet. My money now goes to groups that actively pursue the government for violating our constitutional rights.

Re: EFF is leaving X

#852

Post by lostlogin »

peyton wrote: post #805
spopejoy wrote: post #782

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The story behind the numbers they present clearly demonstrates that X is censoring/shadowbanning them. Going from 600MM to 13MM impressions/yr -- losing 98% of their impressions! -- is no accident but clearly Musk's thumb on the scale. Imagine what this means if you are trying to gauge impact of a post. Remember, X is giving them zero information about who they're preventing from seeing it. Impressions is the main da…

[flagged]

> I thought EFF would be his thing too, no?

Musk is a freedom of speech absolutist when it comes to the things he has to say. ‘I think that the bedrock of democracy is freedom of speech’ [1].

He has rather different views when it’s anyone else speaking [2].

[1] https://mrcfreespeechamerica.org/blogs/free-speech/tom-oloha...

[2]https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/15/elon-m...

Re: EFF is leaving X

#853

Post by nradov »

spopejoy wrote: post #782
helaoban wrote: post #259

>Our presence on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok is not an endorsement [...] We stay because the people on those platforms deserve access to information, too. We stay because some of our most-read posts are the ones criticizing the very platform we're posting on. We stay because the fewer steps between you and the resources you need to protect yourself, the better. Does this not apply to X users?

The story behind the numbers they present clearly demonstrates that X is censoring/shadowbanning them. Going from 600MM to 13MM impressions/yr -- losing 98% of their impressions! -- is no accident but clearly Musk's thumb on the scale. Imagine what this means if you are trying to gauge impact of a post. Remember, X is giving them zero information about who they're preventing from seeing it. Impressions is the main da…

Is censorship the only possible explanation for the drop in impressions? Presumably the vast majority of impressions before were from bots.

Re: EFF is leaving X

#854

Post by pbreit »

helaoban wrote: post #259

>Our presence on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok is not an endorsement [...] We stay because the people on those platforms deserve access to information, too. We stay because some of our most-read posts are the ones criticizing the very platform we're posting on. We stay because the fewer steps between you and the resources you need to protect yourself, the better. Does this not apply to X users?

"X post today receives less than 3% of the views a single tweet delivered seven years ago"

Does anyone believe this?

Re: EFF is leaving X

#856

Post by tonymet »

cogman10 wrote: post #402
tonymet wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well put. if their mission is to help protect vulnerable communities, and the effort to post on X is near zero ( it can be automated or take just a moment manually), they are betraying their mission to help protect as many vulnerable communities as possible.

That's not EFF's mission. They are not an organization that deals in helping vulnerable communities. They are an organization dedicated to improving electronic ownership and privacy. At most, X only serves as a marketing/fundraising mechanism. Nothing more. And the EFF doesn't really need to do that as I'm certain their victories and fights will still be shared on X without them.

Advocacy and awareness is one of their primary efforts. And they are defending LGBT and abortion rights . Those aren’t abstract , those are for people

Re: EFF is leaving X

#857

Post by saulapremium »

throwawaypath wrote: post #780
willdr wrote: post #724

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you talking about? X is exclusively the domain of terminally-online people.

[flagged]

It's funny how excited you are about BlueSky, a place that I would imagine you don't go? But somehow you know all about it?

Re: EFF is leaving X

#858

Post by cbsmith »

nradov wrote: post #853
spopejoy wrote: post #782

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The story behind the numbers they present clearly demonstrates that X is censoring/shadowbanning them. Going from 600MM to 13MM impressions/yr -- losing 98% of their impressions! -- is no accident but clearly Musk's thumb on the scale. Imagine what this means if you are trying to gauge impact of a post. Remember, X is giving them zero information about who they're preventing from seeing it. Impressions is the main da…

Is censorship the only possible explanation for the drop in impressions? Presumably the vast majority of impressions before were from bots.

It sort of doesn't matter. Bottom line is it isn't an effective platform for them.

Re: EFF is leaving X

#859

Post by happosai »

takoid wrote: post #312
supern0va wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>X, for better or worse, gets you eyes, more so than any other alternative social media. But that is actually what they called out: they're not getting eyes anymore. Views at X have cratered so hard that it's barely worth the time.

But it's worth their time to stay on platforms like Bluesky and Mastodon? Something isn't adding up.

The reason to leave ex-twitter and the reason to keep using lesser platforms may not be the same reason.

Probably the reason EFF keeps using mastodon/bluesky is not for reach, but to support federated platforms.

As an activist organization EFF needs reach people, but also it needs to show people alternatives to surveillance capitalism exist and encourage their use.

Re: EFF is leaving X

#860

Post by Levitz »

lynndotpy wrote: post #375
pmdr wrote: post #234

> We'll Keep Fighting. Just Not on X Yeah, somewhere where regular people that aren't terminally online won't ever have the chance to see it. This is a dumb decision. I'd very much like for open, distributed social networks to win, but that's not a reality we'll be living in anytime soon. X, for better or worse, gets you eyes, more so than any other alternative social media.

> X, for better or worse, gets you eyes, more so than any other alternative social media. This is not true at all, and it's a silly statement. X isn't mainstream anymore, and the people who think it is are simply stuck in a bubble. I suspect you might be one of the "terminally online people" you're denigrating as not "regular people". X's MAU is in the ballpark as Quora or Pinterest. "Pinterest gets you more eyes tha…

>This is not true at all, and it's a silly statement. X isn't mainstream anymore, and the people who think it is are simply stuck in a bubble

Used by 20% of adults, of course it's mainstream, everyone knows what it is, it regularly gets quoted on TV, you are looking outside from the bubble, not at the bubble

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