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The #Scandinavian countries wants to loosen #BigTech's grip on the public debate and the #Nordic Council of Ministers now recommend member nations to go all in on #ActivityPub! A big thanks to @carl for contributing to the recommendations!

https://pub.norden.org/nord2023-004/3-access-to-diverse-and-credible-digital-platforms-and-communities.html

I also submitted this to #HackerNews, for those who want to participate in the conversation there: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35625517

cc: @aral

We recommend that Nordic countries support the use of open standards and protocols (such as ActivityPub) to encourage effective portability between competing platforms. We recommend that the Nordic countries support funding for public and civic actors and regulations that increase diversity in available platforms in accordance with established state aid rules. We recommend that the Nordic countries ensure that policies on business and industry promote the development of sustainable and open democratic technologies, both at a national and a European level. We recommend that Nordic countries support the use of open standards and protocols (such as ActivityPub) to encourage effective portability between competing platforms. We recommend that the Nordic countries support funding for public and civic actors and regulations that increase diversity in available platforms in accordance with established state aid rules. We recommend that the Nordic countries ensure that policies on business and industry promote the development of sustainable and open democratic technologies, both at a national and a European level.
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Aral Balkan , @aral@mastodon.ar.al
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@ruben_int @carl Great news. Would really be nice if someone threw some scraps at us sometime too if they want us to continue to exist. Itā€™s amazing to me that weā€™ve been funding, out of our own pockets (first by selling a couple of homes and now by Laura contracting with a tech company in the US), research and development on technology for the common good.

small-tech.org

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@aral @carl Could be a possibility, point 3A says to Ā«Support the volunteers who facilitate online communities where democratic debate unfoldsĀ».

It might take some time for these ambitious recommendations to find their way into real policies, but I am really happy that the Nordic Council of Ministers took this initiativ. It will be less of an uphill battle arguing for alternatives to #BigTech both in politics and private companies, when you have such a solid report that sets a clear course. Arguing for using ActivityPub becomes a little less 'crazy-hippie-suggestion' and a bit more 'save-democracy' šŸ˜†

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Carl Heath , @carl@heath.social
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@aral @ruben_int I agree. The intention isnt to create a dependency on Big Tech. The intent of the recommendation is to provide funding for for administrators of public groups of a certain size to cover operation expense. That funding should be public funds. One possible means of financing is to use taxation of Big Tech. I agree this is vague in the current text.

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Aral Balkan , @aral@mastodon.ar.al
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@carl Indeed. Tax the heck out of them and use those funds by all means :) But without their names attached. They didnā€™t donate their funds. Itā€™s not ā€œSponsored by Facebookā€. They paid their taxes like everyone else (letā€™s say; donā€™t get me started) and a democratically-elected government used those taxes to fund them. Thereā€™s no reason for them to be mentioned at all. Unless their taxes are somehow more important than yours and mine.

@ruben_int

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