Comment on Australian prime minister labels Elon Musk ‘an arrogant billionaire who thinks he is above the law’
danbeeston@mastodon.social 6 months ago@ajsadauskas @quicken @tardigrada @mrkvnz Australia should host a Government server and provide a default account for each citizen. Make it an official point of information for the nation.
@danbeeston @ajsadauskas @quicken @tardigrada
They should, at least have their own federated systems at all levels of government.
My initial boost onto these services was during the bigger floods. (2011) The bird site was invaluable source of information, and I wonder how that’s going to be handle for the next one.
Honestly, better to just have an official government server with official government accounts.
They can then federate as needed - official correspondence would be recognizable as it comes from their domain.
Meanwhile people would be able to remain on the servers they’ve chosen and follow whatever is of interest.
It might be better to legislate more power and enforcement capabilities to regulate social media companies. Many of them are close to monopolies in their niches and their network effects make competition almost impossible.
I do believe there are areas where it is more ethical and efficient for government to operate services (eg policing, public hospitals, emergency services, schools) but I don’t believe social media is one of them.
I petitioned my local member 20 years ago about doing something this for email for delivery of documents and communication with citizens. He was even polite enough to meet with me about it.
I got precisly no where though :)
Salvo@aussie.zone 6 months ago
Sounds a bit too much like the Australia Card.
Also, it would also be government-controlled media.
danbeeston@mastodon.social 6 months ago
@Salvo That could be a problem. I just wish there was a tax-payer solution so we weren't at the beck and call of either corporations, billionaires nor flaky benefactors. It should all be like the ABC but for social media.
skribe@aus.social 6 months ago
@danbeeston @Salvo publicly funded, independently run.
ajsadauskas@aus.social 6 months ago
@skribe @danbeeston @Salvo The other option would be to set up an official gov.au Mastodon instance, and give each government department, agency, and Parliamentarian an official account.
People can then have their choice of instance, whether that's community run or private (e.g. Threads).
In the longer term, there might be scope for some other government institutions — particularly universities — to set up their own instances as well.
Salvo@aussie.zone 6 months ago
I think community funded is a better option than either directly or indirectly government funded. This is what is so great about the Fediverse.