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Manila Bulletin devider Technews devider The Making of the Big Gangsta

The Making of the Big Gangsta

Published Feb 27, 2023 01:08 pm

I am sure you remember the movie/TV trope where shop owners were being extorted money by gangsters for "protection" and the protagonist or a band of heroes going against them, sound familiar?

May it be a Filipino produced movie/TV series or one from Hollywood, the story remains the same, with the protagonist and their friends end up winning. Same story, same ending.

Well, this time the story is about information technology - where the villains are the big tech companies. Big tech is now turning into big gangsta, but how?!

Here's how - let's take the case of Twitter first, Twitter is now requiring its users to subscribe so users can continue protecting themselves with SMS-based multi-factor authentication (MFA) (you need to enable app-based or hardware-based authentication right now, if you don't want to pay up).

If you don't pay, you don't get to use it. And not too far behind, Meta is now copying the same Twitter subscription model for both Facebook and Instagram, two separate subscriptions, so Meta can protect users from imposters. Yeah, just like in the movies! You want protection, you pay up.

C'mon! It is not that subscribers get zero ads or get protected from their surveillance - nope, nothing like that. Users need to understand that both Twitter and Meta are not providing new or better services that are worth their subscription fees!

What they are doing is trying to squeeze out more from its users, because their revenue is tanking (they just fired a lot of their employees!) - thanks to dwindling advertising revenues and users leaving their platform. The question is - who will save users from this? Who will be the savior? Well, first off, you are better off ditching SMS-based MFA anyway, so just configure your account to stop using it and opt for better MFA methods.

The best solution to save users is provided by the free, open source software community, like Mastodon, MissKey, CalcKey, PeerTube, PixelFed, and more. Users can verify themselves FOR FREE, too! Are you willing to shell out USD8/month (or USD11/month for iPhone users) for the promise of LESS ads (not ZERO) and use of SMS-based MFA? Will you giveaway your hard-earned USD12/month (USD15/month for iPhone users) each for Facebook and Instagram, whilst having your data and online behavior collected and exploited, with no guarantees that you won't be subjected with fake news and hate speech? I don't know with you, but I'd rather spend it somewhere else. Besides, that verified tag no longer has a prestigious meaning - now, it says you are a Facebook dumb f*k or a Twitter CEO fanatic.

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