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We are something else

I don’t have a Meta account, but I do have a WhatsApp account, which is practically mandatory in Italy. It’s a cancer that will be very difficult to eradicate. I don’t use Meta accounts by choice because I don’t use social networks, and because I care about my privacy, and because I prefer this blog to be the place where all my content resides. Things already said.

Zuckerberg’s latest racist and misogynistic decisions, made to ingratiate himself with the far-right President of the United States, amplify my discomfort. He is not the only one; Big Tech is all aligned, and the rot is everywhere.

The future Zuckerberg wants is one where tech billionaires like himself can play in the gated world of suburban tech campuses and Hawaiian compounds without criticism or accountability, while telling the rest of us that toys like VR headsets and the metaverse will save their lives. It doesn’t matter that their tech ambitions are little more than scifi fantasies. Silicon Valley’s alliance with the extreme right will allow them to keep preaching how much tech will save the world for a little longer — all while they continue to degrade life for everyone.

But if we cannot give up everything, let’s try to give up what we can.

I have decided that I will not uninstall WhatsApp because it would be destructive in a universe of relationships and communications in which I am immersed by choice or necessity, but I will greatly reduce its use. I cannot give it up; it would be hypocritical and self-destructive. I will try to always send my instant messages as SMS, and if I have something more sensitive to write, I will use Signal. Moreover, there is always the email. I will limit WhatsApp use, attempting not to compromise my relationships but highlighting the need for a choice of change.

During the interview with Rogan, Zuckerberg repeatedly used the typical language of Trump supporters against the mainstream media and criticized the Biden administration for its pressures against COVID misinformation. Referring to the policies related to DEI (which he abolished, as I mentioned earlier), he said that those policies ended up “castrating” companies, while in his view, a greater “masculine energy” would be important. He added: “I think having a culture that celebrates a bit more aggression has its merits, which are really positive.”

I won’t get anything, I am aware of that. But at least I won’t be entirely complicit with those who have chosen to look toward a future filled with hatred, discrimination, misinformation, propaganda, and shit.

It is a personal choice, and I am aware that it cannot be replicated by everyone, but those who can do something, should do it.

We are something else.