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by edwcross 21 days ago
Law forbids my local administrative entities from engaging with porn and gambling. Yet they force me to use Facebook if I want to see events that are happening (and paid with my taxes).

So, sorry, but the liberal ideal paradise of "let loose and people will choose" does not work in practice, at least where I live. I need some laws to force my less tech-savvy nearby citizens to make the right choices.
3 comments
Mwntalhwalth 21 days ago
In order to follow clubs the local HS puts on you have to follow their Instagram account. They put the content/updates nowhere else.

"Need to be on IG dad so I can be active in extracurricular in HS."

Mandate APIs out and this problem goes away so folks can vibe code really simple solutions that keeps you off the site.

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netsharc 21 days ago
A decade ago official entities like police or city hall would say "Follow us on Twitter to get the latest news", and would just use it as an instant publication platform (well it's what it was designed for)...
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edwcross 21 days ago
Yes but for local political points, they left Twitter last year, because "it was trendy". Besides, lots of old people living here, so they can't leave Facebook, otherwise the old people won't get their news!

As if they cared, most news are only useful for working people and families anyway... but oh well, they vote, they have time to complain loudly, and they have all the houses around here (because of course, why would they move to a better-suited flat place, and leave their now-too-large-for-a-couple houses so that families could move instead?), so the mayor has to be on Facebook, and not on Bluesky or Mastodon or somewhere else.

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austin-cheney 21 days ago
You are falsely conflating so many things. I highly doubt your local law prevents certain people from ever accessing porn or gambling, because its absurd to enforce. More likely is that they forbid use of employer information system to access vices, which is fine.

Secondly, your local municipality isn't forcing you to access Facebook just because they put some content there.

Third, if you feel that strongly about this then go to your city counsel and demand they put their content somewhere else.

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