Zuckerberg is now urging Trump to stop the EU from fining US companies.

The tech bro billionaire, like Elon Musk before him, wants to spread divisive harm, misinformation and AI slop with no responsibility whatsoever.

No doubt other US tech corporations will follow, demanding more and more outrageous immunities.

I firmly believe countries like the UK need to start properly protecting their citizens.

Yet each and every UK govt. department, council, institution and political party embrace and utilise the services of these same US corporations to disseminate and process their own news and information.

This compels us all to reveal personal information to these US corporations to obtain what should be publicly accessible information. This is despite these corporations and their affiliates having weak data protections, inadequate content moderation which exposes us to incentivised inflammatory content.

These corporations generate immense revenue from surveillance advertising and have no qualms sharing personal data with the highest bidder.

Their profits are spirited out of UK jurisdiction thereby avoiding tax which degrades our health system, roads, education and other essential services.

These profits further enrich their right-wing billionaire owners and fund the global broadcast of their own world view.

This is an abuse of power that has demonstrably destabilised the UK and other countries who do not align with their motivations.

It's clear Westminster doesn't have the cojones to stand up to them, let alone take them on.

This all has to change. The time has come to boycott.

So, I'm further reducing my presence on these US platforms. A process that is already complete with Google and X/Twitter. Over the coming months I'll be putting up the shutters on Meta platforms too.

I'm taking a stand and I urge you to do likewise.

But, like hundreds of others in my Gloucestershire ward, you can still follow my Councillor updates and news. One way is by signing up to the Fediverse. It's friendly, safe, free from advertising, surveillance, algorithms and outrage. I'm @eco-g@stroud.social

You can also sign-up (anonymously) for my District Councillor e-mails here you can also get notifications from via any RSS reader.

You can also catch up with me on my personal Bluesky account at least until divisive attention seeking trolls and bots turn up who'll eventually turn things pear-shaped there too.
#tech

In my 'bio' on the Green Party website, before I was elected, I said

Many of the societal problems we see today are rooted in business practices of tax avoiding American internet conglomerates and their intrusive surveillance advertising practices.

So, it is with this in mind, my Councillor Facebook page will be merely a pointer to my publicly accessible Blog (which you are reading right now).

Many of the people I speak to, in the community, dislike Facebook, Twitter (X as it is now known) and social media more generally.

Arranging my social media presence in this way means that residents are no longer compelled to register their details with one of these untrustworthy, privacy disrespecting, companies in order to receive local news and updates. 😁

Additionally, residents can subscribe anonymously and receive an e-mail update whenever I post.

If you are interested in how alternative Social Media works I'd highly recommend investigating the Fediverse, it's a much nicer place to hangout. You'll find my personal account over @gruff@stroud.social

This is a very informative potted history:– https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/what-earth-fediverse

#tech