Save Social – Saving social networks as a democratic force

Saw this presented at the Ahoy conference. It starts with a well argued outline of surveillance capitalism: "a few predominantly US and Chinese tech companies control information and public debate... users must disclose their most personal data to access ... [while] algorithms opaquely filter what users see ... freeing us from the common good and journalistic standards of quality... undermining our democracies... Journalism is becoming a loss-making business ... generative AI is accelerating this process ... often [in the process] infringing multiple copyright laws ... cement the dominance of the platforms".

Followed by some proposed principles they want everyone (in Germany) to sign up for. Given that "alternative networks... based on open and recognized standards and protocols" exist, we should as a society "strengthen alternatives with good content... Publicly funded content must be fully available at least on these platforms... Politicians, authorities, universities, research institutions, libraries, and even public broadcasters" must add these networks to their publishing portfolios.

Also, government should:

• "invest in ... these open platforms and protocols... to improve their usability, facilitate growth ... increase market penetration ... [with] citizens' committees to define and monitor ... democracy-strengthening services"
• create a legal framework so "democracy-enhancing platforms and services ... can operate on a non-profit basis"
• ensure the education sector promotes these democracy-enhancing platforms and networks.

It also foresees a "range of competition, tax, and copyright law instruments:

• ... Market share caps ... for large platforms ... A digital tax on tech giants... to finance a democracy-strengthening information and discussion infrastructure as well as quality journalism"
• "Large platforms must introduce open standards and interoperability" and stop penalising links to content outside their platforms
• They should "act quickly in the event of account suspensions, hate speech, or defamation... assume responsibility and liability for their content"