I covered Threads a bit already here but it looks like it's time for its own thread. I'm still working on my Twitter writeup but obviously that's been a bit delayed.

Threads has launched early! You can just go to the App Store and download it!

Quote:Threads has an algorithmic feed full of posts from everyone on the app and…that’s it. Unlike Twitter, Mastodon or Bluesky, it doesn’t seem possible to only view posts from people you follow. There’s just one feed full of people and brands I don’t follow. Very annoying.

(Very interesting: I found this through a Tumblr screenshot which preserved the original ending text of "It kind of sucks". Softening it for defenders? Or maybe clarifying it really sucks?)

No Instagram Threads app in the EU: Irish DPC says Meta's new Twitter rival won't be launched here

Quote:The new Threads platform is designed to import data from Instagram, including behavioural and advertising information.

In its US format, the platform tells users that it will collect a wide variety of data from users, including health, financial information, browsing histories, location, purchases, contacts, search history and sensitive information.

HEALTH?!?!? Why does Instagram have that information in the first place???

Reminds me of a related article about Google, which I actually didn't link because I thought it was too cynical, but here we go:

AI developments detect Parkinson’s from your mousepad and won’t tell you

Quote:Researchers at Stanford reported in March 2018 how digital tracks left by a computer mouse may reveal involuntary tremors or shakes, most commonly attributed to Parkinson’s disease. Eric Horvitz, one of the researchers, believes this information, along with other user web search data, could help diagnose Parkinson’s in people before they’re even aware of it. Or, Google could indirectly raise premiums by alerting that individual’s insurance company.

Finally, here's a sample of their quality content:

reallyreallyreallytrying@tumblr Wrote:just opened threads. it's basically a fake app from a tv show that a teenage girl uses right before being murdered by cyberbullies. not doing that again

This one is actually pretty sick so feel free to skim to the end for a tl;dr, I feel actively a bit worse after getting citations on this one.

This is a warning about Meta and Threads.

Quote:This is a warning about Meta and Threads.

Please boost this here and outside of Mastodon so that pregnant people in the United States are informed that using Meta/Threads is dangerous.

I'm unlikely to get pregnant but I have ZERO presence on Meta/Facebook/Instagram/Threads as a matter of principle.

Screenshotted tweet by Andrea Becker Wrote:Reminder before everyone gets really into "threads": Meta actively HELPS law enforcement criminalize people seeking abortions in banned states

an 18 year old and her mom are facing prison time for an at home abortion and it's all thanks to meta handing over facebook messages

Quote:In late April, police in Nebraska received a tip saying 17-year-old Celeste Burgess had given birth to a stillborn baby and buried the body. Officers soon learned that her mother, Jessica Burgess, and a friend had helped her with transportation and burial. The police issued citations for concealing the death of another person and false reporting. But in June, they also charged Jessica with providing an abortion for her teenage daughter. Police had made the discovery after obtaining a warrant that required Meta to hand over their conversations on Facebook Messenger. The messages, which were not encrypted, showed the two had discussed obtaining and using abortion pills.

Correcting the Record on Meta’s Involvement in Nebraska Case

Quote:Much of the reporting about Meta’s role in a criminal case against a mother and daughter in Nebraska is plain wrong. We want to take the opportunity to set the record straight.

We received valid legal warrants from local law enforcement on June 7, before the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The warrants did not mention abortion at all. Court documents indicate that police were at that time investigating the alleged illegal burning and burial of a stillborn infant. The warrants were accompanied by non-disclosure orders, which prevented us from sharing information about them. The orders have now been lifted.

I love how unnecessarily emotionally charged Facebook's post is, and how little it actually confronts people's worries - how dare people imply we ruined these women's lives in an illegal way, it was in a 100% legal, "Valid" way!

TL;DR: Facebook can and will surrender your data to cops; that's true of any non-encrypted platform, but Threads is especially worrying if people start using it like Twitter (e.g. locked vent  accounts) on top of all of the data they already scrape, and the amount of rights being stripped from everybody in America right now