Call to Dutch government: #MakeSocialsSocialAgain
And you can join
Big Tech's dependence on social media platforms is no longer sustainable. As Big Tech's power becomes increasingly intertwined with political power, it is high time to switch to better alternatives. Together with Bits of Freedom, DeGoedeZaak, PublicSpaces and Waag Futurelab, Noorderlicht is therefore launching the #MakeSocialsSocialAgain campaign. With it, we call on cultural and social organisations and users to actively engage in alternative social media platforms that safeguard public values.
Join
Last week, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook, announced it would stop using fact checkers and stop intervening in hate content and discrimination. Moreover, Meta also put a line through its diversity and inclusion programme last week.
Social media are potentially digital village squares where insights and opinions could be shared by and with different people in the world. How can we still rely on social media to share our stories when those platforms are increasingly giving space to disinformation and hate? We seem to be under the thumb of Big Tech platforms, but we can break that dependency.
In fact, there are already alternatives - social media that are truly social. We believe in platforms built on public values such as transparency, privacy, and sustainability, based on open source software, open standards and open democratic governance.
On 16 January, we call on public organisations to take the first step together by starting to use alternatives to Big Tech social media platforms.
Read what you can do here. Together, we will make social media truly social again. Join us!
