this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2023
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Aha. This may be why Threads is based on ActivityPub - a way to prevent accusations of it being a Twitter clone. It's just an innocent member of the Fediverse. ;)
Yep. Being a part of the fediverse gives Meta a defensible argument that (1) they are not stealing Twitter's intellectual property as Mastodon already exists and (2) they are not monopolizing the Twitter-like social media environment as any of their users could move to Mastodon if they wanted to.
The second point may actually be very true. This way they are a smaller target for anti-trust investigations in case Twitter is completely obsoleted by Threads.
Who'da thunk the fediverse was just going to be used as a shield in a petty big tech feud?!
Keep in mind that Meta's Threads doesn't have ActivityPub integrated yet. Doubt they are going to get any protection from the fediverse.
There's also the regulation angle. The Digital Markets Act is likely why they're federating: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en
The interoperability is the big one. Being federated means that Threads isn't considered a "gatekeeper platform". I wouldn't be surprised if Instagram and maybe even Facebook itself start to federate as well. Since Threads isn't currently connected to the wider fediverse, that's probably why they're not in the EU yet.
This also means that fears of "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" are likely overblown. Breaking fediverse interoperability means that they'd be a gatekeeper again and subject to EU regulations against gatekeepers. Interestingly, both Twitter and Reddit are now likely subject to being considered gatekeepers due to making their APIs effectively inaccessible.
Very good point! I don't think the threat from Meta is technological, they also seem to be good citizens on the the open source projects they collaborate on.
I am far more concerned about how Threads is going to change the community. Not the vapid influencer crap, but the toxicity, divisiveness, bigotry and disinformation coming out of Facebook.