[verandaguy]

I agree with you in principle, but I also disagree with your example.

No doubt, China uses this kind of opportunity to spy on users, which I think is plenty good a reason to stop using Opera. OTOH, Google's also spying on its users for profit (at the very least).

Please consider using Firefox. They're currently a very competent browser, and their principles are still rock-solid.

If you still prefer Chrome but want to support what Firefox stands for, think about donating to the Mozilla Foundation: https://donate.mozilla.org/en-CA/?source=donate_redirect. They do some very good work in the online privacy and digital rights space, and even though they're not the top dog in the browser space, they've got plenty of weight to throw around.

[TeeMassive]

Mozilla has openly gone pro deplatforming recently: https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2021/01/08/we-need-more-than-d...

> Changing these dangerous dynamics requires more than just the temporary silencing or permanent removal of bad actors from social media platforms.

> Additional precise and specific actions must also be taken:

> Reveal who is paying for advertisements, how much they are paying and who is being targeted.

> Commit to meaningful transparency of platform algorithms so we know how and what content is being amplified, to whom, and the associated impact.

>Turn on by default the tools to amplify factual voices over disinformation.

> Work with independent researchers to facilitate in-depth studies of the platforms’ impact on people and our societies, and what we can do to improve things.

The basis they use to justify their stance is irrelevant. Good crises have always been used as a way to legitimize future abuse. I want a browser, not a tool meant to manipulate what I'm allowed to say and to see while posing themselves as arbiter of truth.

If you want to donate your hard earned money, the EFF are really the most effective, ethical and sane organization that I know so far. GNU is alright but are way too deep into ideology over practicality to my taste.

[opheliate]

> Mozilla has openly gone pro deplatforming recently

The article you've linked does not specifically advocate deplatforming as I read it.

It begins by questioning when platforms should make the decision to deplatform, and who should have the power to do so:

> When should platforms make these decisions? Is that decision-making power theirs alone?

It implies that deplatforming is ineffectual, as there's no single voice which could be silenced to prevent hate:

> [...] the rampant use of the internet to foment violence and hate, and reinforce white supremacy is about more than any one personality

And it suggests solutions, which you have included in your post, which do not involve deplatforming, they involve transparency. It says, "Changing these dangerous dynamics requires more than just the temporary silencing or permanent removal", which I suppose you could read as advocating deplatforming as well as their proposals if you approach the article with the intent to find that view, but given the context of the rest of the article suggesting that deplatforming doesn't work, it seems more like the author is suggesting that deplatforming be replaced.

It's a pretty wishy-washy article overall, and I think its suggestions are a bit hollow without more specific steps to take, but it appears to go to great lengths to not specifically endorse deplatforming. Reading what they have said as a call for such action, rather than advocating alternative solutions to the issues faced by social media comes off as disingenuous IMO.

[TeeMassive]

The article explicitly calls fore more, implying in addition of. Mozilla's only reason of existing is Firefox and therefore their only way to enforce this kind of measures.

[verandaguy]

I didn't know about that, thanks for the link! I do agree with some of their points though: transparency in advertising and how algorithms pick content for users, as well as facilitating disinformation/misinformation research would be (in my mind) a pretty big win these days. Deplatforming's more dangerous in general, though.

I'll second EFF here though, they're fantastic.