[Mark Zuckerberg’s promise to end censorship at Facebook and Instagram] is just an announcement. The real test is what happens in the next few months. But people’s excitement about it comes from something they feel instinctually yet don’t say out loud: this stuff matters a lot more than gun laws do. A lot of laws can be effectively nullified if people can communicate freely about them. Think about how the AR MagLock in California or “other” firearms in New Jersey undermined the bans in those states. Or how quickly news of “freedom week” spread in California, leading residents to buy 1 million magazines in just seven days. You can imagine more draconian social media rules that would have made those developments impossible. You can also imagine how freer social media rules would lead to more innovation, faster, all the time. …
Gun laws are a public signal about what is halal and what is haram, what is clean vs. unclean. But social media content policy is a much more powerful signal. Unlike law, it reaches into every person’s home every day. It affects not just what they do, but what they learn and who they associate with.
There’s no spot in society with as much immediate leverage on gun rights. We’ll see how these policy changes change the way that leverage gets used. We’re optimistic.
— Open Source Defense in Instagram Matters More Than Gun Laws Do
Working in the IT industry, my answer is no. Technology companies will do what is politically expedient at any juncture in time. Similar to how FedEx and UPS were calling in front of congress or the senate (I forget which one) a few years ago (if anyone remembers) and both immediately changed their shipping policies for firearms, IT companies will do the same.
Just like “freedom week” stated above, one may get a small taste of “easing up on content”…until the end of “freedom week” arrives.
“Technology companies will do what is politically expedient at any juncture in time.”
That’s pretty much the take I’m getting from other places I’m reading, and it makes sense.
In 4 years there will be someone else to deal with, of either party…
I’m more optimistic compared to a couple of years ago. That isn’t declaring a victory for you doom and gloomers out there. It’s merely noticing a change. The censors/authoritarians didn’t have as much control and influence as they thought they did. This only happened because they overplayed their hand. If they were able to “keep the trains running on time” (effectively govern), then we’d probably still be playing by their rules for some time. Crappy governance got so bad that it could no longer be dismissed by the media Jedi mind tricks.
Had Cackling Kamala won none of this would be happening…nuff said.
There are few more hoplophobic dirtbags than Mark Zuckerberg in the tech industry. He has been responsible for blocking and banning gun makers, gun owners, hunters and gun rights activists on his platforms regularly for a long time. He was also responsible for banning Republican candidates including Donald Trump himself, a decision that he reversed when he saw the writing on the wall just before the 2024 elections took place. This new “openness” is a convenient temporary about turn for ole Zuck. He should not be trusted. It would take him half a day to reverse this new decision if there were a hoplophobic administration in the White House again. In fact, he is likely to be secretly hoping that the old state of affairs returns so that he could lord it over law abiding gun owners again.