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Mozilla CEO: ‘We need more than deplatforming’

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Chief Executive Officer of Mozilla Mitchell Baker said in a statement that the internet needs “more than deplatforming” and that change “requires more than just the temporary silencing or permanent removal of bad actors from social media platforms.”

Baker, who began as CEO in April, issued a post on the company’s blog calling for different solutions to be taken that “don’t start after untold damage has been done.”

“There is no question that social media played a role in the siege and take-over of the US Capitol on January 6,” the CEO wrote. “The rampant use of the internet to foment violence and hate, and reinforce white supremacy is about more than any one personality. Donald Trump is certainly not the first politician to exploit the architecture of the internet in this way, and he won’t be the last.”

Baker called for actions to be taken beyond “temporary silencing or permanent removal of bad actors from social media platforms.” Instead, she proposed four ideas.

First, it should be revealed who is paying for advertisements and who is being targeted by the ad.

Next, she proposes that unsaid entities should “commit to meaningful transparency of platform algorithms so we know how and what content is being amplified, to whom, and the associated impact.”

Tools should be utilized that prioritize facts over disinformation, as well.

Lastly, a focus should be put on “Work[ing] with independent researchers to facilitate in-depth studies of the platforms’ impact on people and our societies, and what we can do to improve things.”

The solution is not to change the internet or get rid of it but rather “to build a better one that can withstand and gird against these types of challenges,” the statement says.

These proposals should be committed to by “platforms” so that mistakes like allowing the President of the United States to practice his/her first amendment right is never made again.

You can follow Ben Wilson on Twitter @BenDavisWilson 

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Economy

Home foreclosures soaring nationwide

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A new report published by real estate data provider ATTOM found that there were 32,938 properties in February with foreclosure filings, which includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. That marks an 8% increase from the prior year, although it is down 1% from the previous month.

The February rise of foreclosures is another symptom of Americans struggling with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. 

Fox Business reports that according to Zillow, housing affordability is the worst it has been in decades, thanks to a spike in home prices and mortgage rates. Combined, the two have helped to push the typical salary required nationwide for homeownership up to $106,500 — a stunning 61% increase from the $59,000 required just four years ago.

In South Carolina, foreclosures surged 51%, while Missouri saw a 50% jump and Pennsylvania a 46% increase. Foreclosures in Texas rose 7%, and in Indiana they climbed 0.8%. Although foreclosures are rising, they remain well below the levels recorded during the 2008 financial crisis, reports Fox Business.

However, the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan rose to 6.74% this week, Freddie Mac reported, which is well above the pandemic-era lows of 3%. And even though mortgage rates have more than doubled in just three years, home prices have hardly budged.

Fox Business states that the problem could soon get worse as high home prices, mortgage rates and property taxes bite Americans:

The Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest-rate hike campaign sent mortgage rates soaring above 8% for the first time in nearly two decades last year. Rates have been slow to retreat, hovering near 7% as hotter-than-expected inflation data dashed investors’ hopes for immediate rate cuts.

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