The copypasta I’ve been tweaking since this topic keeps coming up. Yeah I know, it mentions Lemmy, and we’re already here, but it’s the prepared Copypasta and talking about it now instead of scrolling through and editing is easier.

Consider making an account on a Canadian Mastodon instance. Mastodon is a decentralized open-source social media platform similar to X/Twitter. There are several Canadian based general interest “instances” where you can make an account: Mstdn.ca, TheCanadian.Social, CoSocial.ca or SocialBC.ca.

There is no one company fine-tuning an algorithm to entertain you, sell you crypto, and radicalise you, so you’ll need to do some work on setting up your feed. Check out Fedi.Directory, Interesting Accounts to Follow on Mastodon and the Fediverse and Fedi.Tips- An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse.

For some Canadian themed news sources, I recommend the following Mastodon follows:

• CBC News
• Global News
• The Tyee
• PressProgress
• Meanwhile In Canada
• Winnipeg Free Press
• The Narwhal
• Cory Doctorow
• Michael Geist
• Senator Paula Simmons
• Canadian History Ehx
• Saskatoon Star Phoenix

Following #Hashtags is also a good way to stay in the loop on a topic. For now, I’d suggest #Canada and #CdnPoli .

There are also Canadian instances and other Federated services, but Mastodon is probably a good gateway. If you would like to explore the Canadian Fediverse further, join the discussion over at Lemmy.ca or Sh.itJust.Works (kind of like Reddit) or check out the scenery at Pixelfed.ca (kind of like Instagram).

Even if it isn’t your primary social media, at least you’ll have a backstop of news and a way to connect without the algorithms manipulating what to show you. Hope to see you out there.

X is now the mouthpiece of a Fascist government hell bent on destroying us we need to purge them. We have seen the damage unrestrained propaganda can cause when amplified from X. We are force feeding a generation non-stop harmful propaganda and wondering why they are angry and disenfranchised.

We need tech regulation.

Here’s a great interview that explains why:

https://youtu.be/jsHoX9ZpA_M

In short, in order for democracy to work, we need shared trust. To have shared trust, we need a common basis of reality.

Our current unregulated informational landscape fragments reality and polarizes people because it is the most profitable thing to do, but it is death to a functioning society.

The fact is, banning X is free political points. The moment a country does it, it will domino into other countries doing it as well, and they will be seen as having been the leader and first of the movement. They should make sure users know of the federated alternatives before they do so, though.

Because of the network effect, without a ban it’s extremely difficult to unseat an incumbent in the social media space.

Banning X and other American social media would drive Canadians to other platforms and help them thrive.

100%. X is a hate-filled propaganda machine owned by an asshole in the Trump inner circle and hostile to Canada. Fuck it. Fuck Insta too. And Facebook, though we need alternatives to marketplace since it killed many of those (Kijiji isn’t a good alternative either). Fuck Fox News big-time, and PostMedia

I wonder if we could built a Marketplace alternative tied to the Fediverse

I Just did a Thing

I just started a whole thing, issuing official complaints with the RCMP, CSIS, CSE, The Inspector General, and few other agencies that I cannot think of right now I sent an email to every MP, and several news outlets.

The letter is get off of X because we are at war with the US, trade war but war non the less. The lettered agencies are because one of them uses X and the other two should be looking at espionage and foreign interference.

The Media is included, to try and push it a bit further faster. If Canadian media and officials can leave X, that is a big F you to Musk and a retaliatory measure protecting Canadian interests. I really hope something can be done to protect us, and that other countries will follow suit

Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t agree with such a move, but X is an exception. We’ve seen the platform owner directly interfere with politics in multiple countries and we know what crowd of terrorists he’s been running with both on his platform and elsewhere. The platform owner is definitively a traitor to Canada, aiding a malicious enemy who has threatened our country and set out to harm us. But I do wonder what reaction the average Canadian (who just uses the most popular social media because everybody else is on it and hasn’t participated at all in alternatives like the Fediverse) would have. If we manage to elect a non-CPC gov’t though, maybe they can use that mandate.

Canada should not ban individual social media services one at a time. It can’t be justified, constitutionally or morally. Canada should instead pass a privacy law that prohibits the surveillance capitalist dirty tricks that make them profitable, and design regulations that require interoperability.

Of course that would require a government capable of designing good tech regulation, which we don’t seem to have much chance of seeing around here any time soon.