Also… don’t call this the internet.
Facebook and Twitter are not the internet, they are Facebook and Twitter. It’s tragic they have become the de facto internet for so many, but still.
this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2025
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I think the point they’re trying to make is that these two large sites are just the start. Others will follow suit to the point where eventually most sites across the entire internet will be in this bifurcated situation. We’re seeing similar things with things like cookies, ads, and age verification.
Fair point, and probably true.
That said, for much of the 'old' internet... it doesn't matter. Spaces were mostly user moderated niches, and they weren't monetizing their users to the point where tracking regulation is enough of an issue to bifuricate.
Is there some kind of loophole where Canada can join the EU? I mean we're not really that far away if you fly over the North Pole and down again.
Pretty please? Think of the better costs for Poutine and Maple Syrup!
Literally yes. Cyprus is in the EU, while being part of the Middle East. Being a French-English European clone country with a Danish land border and a strong democracy gives us good odds of qualifying as "substantially European".
The real problem there is that we couldn't technically have our own currency, and the US border would probably be a lot harder to cross as it would be the Schengen border. Also, it might make Trump pay a lot more attention in a bad way. Honestly it still seems like a good deal to me, though.
The irony of all of it is that technically I can become a dual citizen anytime I wanted to file the paperwork since my parents are Portuguese citizens. But up until recently I've never felt the need for that particular escape valve.
I've always known I would have to get it eventually in order to handle my now ageing father's finances over there when he passes. And I always regretted not doing it when I was young and free to travel before life gets one bogged down in trivialities.
Yeah, I would get that in order sooner rather than later. Having you papers ready to go is emergency planning 101.
In my case, Israel is not an improvement, lol.
It's not that you can become a dual citizen. You are a dual citizen you just haven't requested any evidence of that from Portugal
it might make Trump pay a lot more attention in a bad way
He's already talking about annexing you and he hasn't even taken office, how much worse could it be?
Famous last words, lol.
The dude is incoherent, so it's hard to tell if he says annexation but means a 5% tariff, or if he's serious and also going to decimate the population to show who's boss. Intending one and then forgetting to do it is also an option. If he really means it, Canada's military is a joke, that won't change in under a month, and the rest of the Western world probably can't help in that timeframe either.
That being said, he actually just ruled out using military force to get Canada. Panama and Greenland are valid military targets according to the same press conference, though.
Last week’s economist article
https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/01/02/why-canada-should-join-the-eu
There's still a lot of bad blood between the Danes and the Canadians. A lot of good young men watched booze being spilled in front of them. It was horrific. I just don't know if there's any coming back from the kind of horrors both countries saw in the Whiskey War.
There is a process. First you need to join Eurovision.
Nothing new. Try watching CNN International vs CNN US some day. One is a real, respectable news outlet while the other is a propaganda mill.
Had coffee the other day with a Meta engineer. After Trump got elected, suddenly their manager was like "we have to ensure we have no false positive removals" of content that violates their various policies. When pressed, the manager was like "damn right this is about the election." Previously they were more concerned about false negatives, apparently. Anyway, I suspect they're trying to avoid Elon aiming his ion cannon at them or something. All social media in the US is probably going to swing further right as a result.
TikTok was a warning shot to the US companies to stay in line.
TikTok is prime example of political influence via social media. Unlike twitter where influence comes from a lax content policy, TikTok bans undesirable content.
Not to mention the security implication of having the location habits/sexual pref/interests of all your population in the hands of a foreign dictator (TikTok) or oligarchal megalomaniac (Elon,Zuck).
Maybe some US “Twitter broadcasters” will move to EU analogues when it turns into such a wasteland. If Twitter’s base hates them anyway, there’s no point in being there, and they can still get some traction overseas.
I fear regular users are “stuck” in the US though. Old friends or grandmas are not moving off of Facebook. And small businesses (or anyone small enough not to be amplified by news outlets and other sources) is stuck on US Twitter, where the audience they’re actually trying to reach is.