alt Hacker NewsNothing was ever said about the addictive design of mainstream TV - because then the rulers controlled the message being streamed into the brains of the population.
It is precisely on Facebook and Instagram where you find the only popular movements against the current order in Europe, and the citizen journalists who expose and scrutinize the powers. It's a giant political threat towards those in power.
So, how do we keep the good parts and get rid of the bad parts of the free flow of information on social media, where all citizens are invited to broadcast?
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I don't follow, the argument is against the addictive design of the feed algorithms, not the information being shared per se.
Nothing in this is geared towards curtailing platforms like social media to exist, it's trying to curtail the design of psychological manipulation for "engagement". Ragebait is the most common case, it makes people interact with content if it enrages them; another common case is to feed kids with slop content that makes them fixated on the platform, scrolling endlessly trying to get the elusive dopamine hit quite similar to the feeling of playing a slot machine.
I think framing this as the EU trying to censor platforms because people post content against the current order is a big cynical leap. I can't see how these platforms' current practices need to be defended, what is your reason for doing that? Maybe you have ulterior motives as well?
> Nothing was ever said about the addictive design of mainstream TV - because then the rulers controlled the message being streamed into the brains of the population.
More outlandish conspiracy theories on hackernews...
You are in fact wrong - see the myriad of rules advertising, especially what can be advertised on children's TV.
What messages are not being allowed to be 'streamed into the brains of the population' exactly? Are you suggesting, for example, that claims made by the US president should not be shown on TV? Are you suggesting that these are not then analysed and scrutinised by people on TV?
> It is precisely on Facebook and Instagram where you find the only popular movements against the current order in Europe, and the citizen journalists who expose and scrutinize the powers. It's a giant political threat towards those in power.
Also known as Russian, Iranian, Israeli and Chinese bot farms.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/22/experts-w...
https://www.npr.org/2024/07/09/g-s1-9010/russia-bot-farm-ai-...
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/05/facebook-bot-fa...
https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-allies-using-armies-...
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/volunteers-found-iran...
People calling this stuff "popular movements" and "citizen journalists" are either naive or complicit.
I'd say: the fediverse. Everyone can "broadcast" and discuss freely without having a central power that can censor or subtly manipulate the broader discussion.
> all citizens are invited to broadcast
Is this really the way we’re wired after thousands of years of evolution? Even the word broadcast implies something very one way. Pre social media it was very normal to “broadcast” by discussing ideas with friends, family and neighbours, face to face in a civil manner. Good ideas gained traction gradually, bad ideas didn’t get traction because the extremists were too far apart. A nice natural protection against extremes.