CLEANSING: Firefox Browser Developer Claims 'Deplatforming' Trump Isn't Enough, Wants To Shield Internet From 'Bad Actors'
Mozilla, the developer of Firefox browser, says “more must be done” to rid the internet of President Trump and other ‘bad actors’.
Mozilla argues that banning and permanent removal of bad actors is not enough.
Mozilla tweeted out that the unrest at the Capitol was the “culmination of a four-year disinformation campaign orchestrated by the President.”
This week we saw the culmination of a four-year disinformation campaign orchestrated by the President. We have to acknowledge how the internet was misused to get here.
And we have to change it.https://t.co/gIVZHQPYT4
— Mozilla (@mozilla) January 8, 2021
In a blog post titled ‘We need more than deplatforming’, the open-source software community said that Twitter’s decision to permanently ban Trump from its platform didn’t go far enough in weeding out “hate” on the internet. While blaming Trump for the “siege and take-over” of the US Capitol on January 6, the non-profit tech group argued that “white supremacy is about more than any one personality.”
With unilateral censorship of a sitting US president, Big Tech has proven it’s more powerful than any government
“We need solutions that don’t start after untold damage has been done.Changing these dangerous dynamics requires more than just the temporary silencing or permanent removal of bad actors from social media platforms,” Mozilla wrote.Advertisement - story continues belowThe group proposed a number of measures to help protect the internet from verboten views. Internet ads should list who paid for them, how much they are paying, and who is being targeted, Mozilla said. There should also be “meaningful transparency” of platform algorithms so that people can examine what kind of content is being promoted.
The group also demanded that “tools to amplify factual voices over disinformation” are added to the default settings of internet platforms, and said that independent research must be carried out to determine how social media is affecting society and what can be done to “improve things.”
The blog post concluded by stating that the answer to Trump and other allegedly bad voices was not to “do away with the internet,” but rather to “build a better one” that can “withstand” such “challenges.”
Mozilla tweeted the statement, claiming that the unrest at the Capitol was the “culmination of a four-year disinformation campaign orchestrated by the President.”
Many Twitter uses responded by saying they will remove Firefox:
your bio is literally “We work to ensure the internet remains a public resource that is open and accessible to all.”
— Seb Parker (@Seb_Parker) January 9, 2021
I’ve used your browser for 15 years. No more.
I’m out.
— Piping Hot Centrist Takes (@CentristLogic) January 9, 2021
Uninstalling Firefox as soon as I wake up tomorrow, thanks for the tip.
— Oyvey Shutitdownstein (@GodHatesRaceMix) January 9, 2021
H/T RT
