Mozilla: "We’re taking a break from Facebook"

[Paul Boddie]

Hello,

Remember this thread? ;-)

On Friday, 23 March 2018 17:48:35 CEST Florian Snow wrote:
> 
> If we meet those conditions, I think we can gain from being on platforms
> like Facebook because we can reach people that we would not reach
> otherwise and hopefully, in the process, they will become more aware of
> Facebook's privacy issues.

Here's an interesting development I noticed just now:

"Norwegian Data Protection Authority choose not to use Facebook"

https://www.datatilsynet.no/en/news/2021/norwegian-data-protection-authority-choose-not-to-use-facebook/

I mean, of course they won't, right? They're a data protection authority! But 
it is worth reading up a bit more about the decision. For instance:

"A data protection authority creating an account on such a platform may 
therefore seem somewhat contradictory. Nevertheless, the communication 
department believes the Authority should consider new channels of 
communication and new types of content suited for such channels, to 
participate and play a greater role in the public discourse. The idea is that 
these channels may contribute to effectively disseminate and host these types 
of content, generate increased traffic to the website and open up new arenas 
for debate and guidance."

https://www.datatilsynet.no/contentassets/8561465062b04a6b904c8c3573a24687/
report-en_should-the-norwegian-dpa-create-a-page-on-facebook.pdf

Does that sound familiar? Now, here's part of the conclusion:

"In addition, we believe that a presence on Facebook and the company’s 
subsequent processing of personal data would have considerable impact on the 
Data Protection Authority’s reputation and ethical standards. We believe that 
the Data Protection Authority’s decision on whether or not to implement 
Facebook will be noticed, and it may have an impact on the use of the platform 
by other parties."

Going back to 2018...

> I think we should have a voice of dissent on a platform we find problematic
> instead of leaving it to voices of approval.  Or to put it another way:  If
> you want to warn people about the dangers of X, you need to talk to people
> who use X (and X can be anything: non-free software, drugs, Facebook,
> Twitter, etc.).

Interestingly, this came up recently in another context:

"Facebook’s Blocking Decisions Are Deliberate – Including Their Censorship of 
Mastodon"

https://changelog.complete.org/archives/10303-facebooks-blocking-decisions-are-deliberate-including-their-censorship-of-mastodon

Or, in other words, you can try and get your message across, but the platform 
will work against you relentlessly.

So, is it really worth the reputational damage being on Facebook?

Paul