Ben Werdmuller
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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Fediverse

Content Policy on the Social Web

[Social Web Foundation] The Social Web Foundation's statement about Meta's moderation changes is important: "Ideas matter, and history shows that online misinformation and harassment can lead to violence in the real world. [...] Meta is one of many ActivityPub implementers and a supporter of the Social

12 Jan 2025

Notable Links

DoJ releases its Tulsa race massacre report over 100 years after initial review

[Adria R Walker at The Guardian] A full century after the Bureau of Investigation blamed the Tulsa race massacre on Black men and claimed that the perpetrators didn't break the law, the DoJ has issued an update: "“The Tulsa race massacre stands out as a civil rights

12 Jan 2025

The indie web should be a universe of discovery

In Oxford, my hometown, the flagship Blackwell’s bookshop looks like any ordinary bookstore at ground level. But if you go down a set of stairs, you find yourself in the Norrington Room: one of the largest rooms full of books in the world. The shelves expand out around you

12 Jan 2025

Notable Links

Is Ignorance Bliss?

[Jared White] I've been thinking about this paragraph since I read it: "In times past, we would worry about singular governmental officials such Joseph Goebbels becoming a master of propaganda for their cause. Today’s problem is massively scaled out in ways Goebbels could only dream of:

12 Jan 2025

Building an open web that protects us from harm

We live in a world where right-wing nationalism is on the rise and many governments, including the incoming Trump administration, are promising mass deportations. Trump in particular has discussed building camps as part of mass deportations. This question used to feel more hypothetical than it does today. Faced with this

11 Jan 2025

Technology

The Good, The Bad, And The Stupid In Meta’s New Content Moderation Policies

[Mike Masnick in TechDirt] Mark Zuckerberg is very obviously running scared from the incoming Trump administration: "Since the election, Zuckerberg has done everything he can possibly think of to kiss the Trump ring. He even flew all the way from his compound in Hawaii to have dinner at Mar-A-Lago

11 Jan 2025

Technology

Mullenweg Shuts Down WordPress Sustainability Team, Igniting Backlash

[Rae Morey at The Repository] The bananas activity continues over at Automattic / Matt Mullenweg's house: "Members of the fledgling WordPress Sustainability Team have been left reeling after WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg abruptly dissolved the team this week. [...] The disbandment happened after team rep Thijs Buijs announced in

11 Jan 2025

Notable Links

Indonesia kicks off ambitious $45b free meal plan

[Natasya Salim, Najma Sambul, and Bill Birtles at ABC News] This is something that every nation should provide. It's really impressive that Indonesia is putting it into action: "Indonesia has launched a transformative free meal program designed to combat malnutrition and support underprivileged communities. Championed by President

10 Jan 2025

Technology

Meta’s Free Speech Grift

[Jason Kottke] Jason nails what the supposed focus on free speech by Meta and others is really about: "What Zuckerberg and Meta have realized is the value, demonstrated by Trump, Musk, and MAGA antagonists, of saying that you’re “protecting free speech” and using it as cover for almost

08 Jan 2025

Notable Links

Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors

[Arno Rosenfeld at the Forward] The Heritage Foundation is out to "identify and target" Wikipedia editors, using antisemitism as a cover: "Employees of Heritage, the conservative think tank that produced the Project 2025 policy blueprint for the second Trump administration, said they plan to use facial recognition

08 Jan 2025

46 books

Previous birthday posts: 45 wishes, 44 thoughts about the future, 43 things, 42 / 42 admissions, 41 things. One. I lie in bed as Ma read Dodie Smith’s ‌The Hundred and One Dalmatians to me. It was the fifth, and last, straight time; after this, she would finally put her

07 Jan 2025

Technology

Mark Zuckerberg: Fact-Checking on Meta Is Too "Politically Biased"

[Alex Weprin at The Hollywood Reporter] I don't think this is a great thing at all: "Meta will also move its trust and safety and content moderation teams out of California, with content review to be based in Texas. “As we work to promote free expression, I

07 Jan 2025
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Werd I/O explores the intersection of technology, democracy, and society. It's independently published by Ben Werdmuller, reader-supported, and always free to read.