While the fact that Twitter is run by a flagrant right-wing fascist who would do anything to help other major right-wing fascists is nothing new, I did think this was an interesting look at the state of social media.
The idea that you can never own your own account (and likely, by extension, anything you post on said account) really drives home the point that the Internet as it is now is basically wholly owned by a handful of corporations.
I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to reach the point of everyone making their own silly little sites again. It seems like social media is now required to drive views, so the artists who need views for sales will always need to be on social media.
Luckily, decentralized social media is on the rise. Lemmy, while still comparatively small, has a fairly active user base; and while Mastodon has not (and likely will not) ever be mainstream, even Bluesky is technically decentralized as well (I think).
Having said all that, I would very much like to see people making their own sites just for things they enjoy. It’s surprisingly not that hard to do as long as you don’t need it very polished.
I usually try to call my Representative and Senators during my commute. The only tricky part is remembering the bill numbers.
I have the distinct impression I’m going to have something to say to them every day over the next four years…
This is especially vile to announce on Transgender Day of Remembrance; but I have no doubt in my mind that it was intentional.
This feels like a move made with the explicit purpose of hurting people as much as possible. (“The cruelty is the point.”)
To my knowledge, there is no legal recourse for this, but I am not a lawyer, so I could be wrong…
I know it likely won’t do much, but I do recommend calling your representatives. I asked mine to issue a statement saying that they will not be party to enforcing this rule. I hope they issue such a statement of solidarity soon 🤞
I wish I could say I was surprised to see Disney pulling such a transphobic and cowardly move, but it’s certainly not the first time they’ve done it.
I hope negative backlash can effect some change within Disney, but seeing as they didn’t learn their lesson with Moon Girl, I wouldn’t hold my breath…