this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2025
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cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/18210719

Archived

Facebook is banning posts that mention various Linux-related topics, sites, or groups. Some users may also see their accounts locked or limited when posting Linux topics. Major open-source operating system news, reviews, and discussion site DistroWatch is at the center of the controversy, as it seems to be the first to have noticed that Facebook's Community Standards had blackballed it.

[...]

DistroWatch says that the Facebook ban took effect on January 19. Readers have reported difficulty posting links to the site on this social media platform. Moreover, some have told DistroWatch that their Facebook accounts have been locked or limited after sharing posts mentioning Linux topics.

If you're wondering if there might be something specific to DistroWatch.com, something on the site that the owners/operators perhaps don't even know about, for example, then it seems pretty safe to rule out such a possibility. Reports show that "multiple groups associated with Linux and Linux discussions have either been shut down or had many of their posts removed." However, we tested a few other Facebook posts with mentions of Linux, and they didn't get blocked immediately.

[...]

Addition to include the DistroWatch link: https://distrowatch.com/weekly-mobile.php?issue=20250127#sitenews

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[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 day ago

How many reasons do they have to give you before you walk away from facebook?

[–] Doolbs@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago

This is the first shot

Even though almost every big tech company uses Linux on the backend they don't want you to use it.

Think of Peacock not letting people running Linux be able to use their application.

It's free and open source, and the powers to be don't want anybody to have that.

You can do what you want with it if you are willing to learn about it. Governments don't like that.

I may be wrong, but I see more of this coming.

[–] kibiz0r@midwest.social 122 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Did not expect “Linux users” to be this early in the stanzas of “First they came for the […]”

[–] _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 40 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I mean, Linux literally runs the world, so if this is the best he can do, not even my bunny slippers are gonna be spooked.

[–] probably2high@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

I think we're about to see FOSS under siege by the technocrats, and it's going to be depressingly effective since most people have no idea why it's so fundamentally important to the world of tech.

[–] rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Are we the baddies?

No, no, we're not the... wait what distro you running?

[–] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 3 points 18 hours ago

Quick, get em bois

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[–] john89@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago

The powers that be know the threat free software is to their control.

Richard Stallman was right when he said "free software, free society."

[–] ne0n@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Are there really that many Linux users discussing on Facebook? My brothers in Open Source, there are much better places even without this ban…

[–] viking@infosec.pub 1 points 1 day ago

Probably more like people complaining about Windows, and others recommending a switch to Ubuntu or something.

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[–] LordKitsuna@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean they are not wrong, Linux is a very big threat of good cyber security which makes it harder for them to collect information. I am not at all surprised that Facebook views cyber security practices as a threat( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[–] probably2high@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

My initial instinct is that it's not about security (obviously), but the beginning of the attack of FOSS, since China dunked on everyone with their AI model, that can now be used by anyone freely while performing similarly (with the appropriate resources) rather than the ever-growing product making you pay for their useless snake oil.

[–] john89@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

You're definitely onto something. This isn't the first time corporations have targeted FOSS, but because Linux is gaining in popularity we're starting to see the old FUD and EEE tactics come back into play.

Once we start seeing more normal people using it, primarily women, we'll also see tons of misinformation that exists to sow the seeds of doubt in their minds.

Probably something like the old "mac vs. PC" commercials but with "windows vs. linux"

[–] probably2high@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

This is a hilarious thought, because you know Windows Chad couldn't get through two sentences before vomiting out something about AI "Linux can't even have Copilot baked into the fiber of every piece of the system like Windows does, Linux is just an old fashioned computer."

Might be the one thing that would actually bring the year of the Linux desktop.

[–] angelmountain@feddit.nl 114 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

I assume Facebook runs on Linux, as does the rest of the internet?

I wish Linux distros use a license that prevents this nonsense.

(I know including ethics in a license is a bad idea, but still...)

[–] Fecundpossum@lemmy.world 87 points 1 day ago (2 children)

“Linux for me, not for thee”

They need the serfs to be hapless surveillance targets, not power users with technological agency.

[–] LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 1 day ago

technological agency.

Such a good term for it.

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[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 4 points 1 day ago

For the record, not everyone thinks ethics in licensing is a bad idea.

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[–] _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 1 day ago (2 children)

We've been on the receiving end of attention like this from Microsoft for longer than Facebook has been a thing, if Zuck thinks this is gonna make a dent in things, he's mistaken.

[–] Teknikal@eviltoast.org 18 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Remember the first time I read about Linux (long time ago) and they were basically calling it a communist os (not even joking) first site on Google at the time was all about how it was unpatriotic to use it etc.

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

a communist os

That's exactly what it is

[–] vonbaronhans@midwest.social 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Probably not in the sense that the average American uses the word "communist", which is more about their remembered history of authoritarian regimes of the USSR and mid 20th century China and those sorts. Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, and the atrocities thereof.

Linux is communist insofar as it is open source, and therefore less affected or tied up in capitalistic practices. Capitalists still use and contribute to Linux, but often those contributions go back into the commons of the open source code.

You probably know all that, I'm just feeling long winded.

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[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 45 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

https://www.axios.com/2025/01/10/mark-zuckerberg-joe-rogan-facebook-censorship-biden

Zuckerberg on Rogan: Facebook's censorship was "something out of 1984"

"It really is a slippery slope, and it just got to a point where it's just, OK, this is destroying so much trust, especially in the United States, to have this program."

He said he was "worried" from the beginning about "becoming this sort of decider of what is true in the world." Zuckerberg praised X's "community notes" program as superior to Facebook's model.

Way to tackle censorship, Zuck…

The irony is Facebook is a major contributor to a lot of open source software, and Zuckerberg in particular publicly praised the "open" approach of Llama and some other projects. Buts it’s clearly all just self serving, huh?

[–] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 63 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] pmjv@lemmy.sdf.org 56 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)
[–] Quacksalber@sh.itjust.works 79 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

My conspiracy theory: Meta has an AI that scans articles/the internet for threats and then adjusts the filters for Facebook. The AI just read the story that some Games companies are blocking Linux clients, because they see them as unsafe. The AI just copied what it read.

[–] ObstreperousCanadian@lemmy.ca 43 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I agree. It's like Occam's Razor, but with stupidity instead of simplicity: the most stupid reason is the most likely.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Macco's Razor. The stupidest possible explanation is probably the right answer.

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 28 points 1 day ago

Hanlon's razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity (or incompetence).

This works for individuals, but when it comes to corporations, you really have to ask, why not both?

[–] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 13 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Schrodinger's Razor:

The answer is both really smart and really stupid, but you won't know which until you look at the source.

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[–] reksas@sopuli.xyz 54 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

I wonder if microsoft asked them to do this, either way this is something that shouldnt be ignored. Its basically direct attack and their endgoal might be to make regular people hate or fear linux. That in turn could be used to influence laws and try to ban or limit linux to corporate use only. Computers have become so integral part of society that by controlling the operating system you control the people.

[–] _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't think it was Microsoft, in the past few years they've been being a little chill towards Linux.

As for being an attack, even if they wanted to, they couldn't get rid of Linux. Even the US government can't tell people to stop using it. I mean, they can tell people to stop, but there's no practical way for them to enforce such a law. Most distros out there also distribute via torrent, so even if you took down the websites for all the distros, you couldn't stop the distribution of the ISOs. Not to mention, if they outlawed or restricted Linux, I can't think of anything that would absolutely make the Linux users become very rebellious. Imagine the majority of the hackers, white, gray, and black hat, all of a sudden becoming very angry with the US government. It would be absolute chaos.

Not to mention, there are corporations like Valve and Ubuntu that have invested millions into Linux. I don't believe for a second they would just lay down and not fight the government outlawing something that has become very lucrative for them.

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[–] fin@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I just can't believe. wth?

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Facebook infra runs on Linux.

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[–] Krompus@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Weird and shitty, but who gives a fuck about Facebook?

[–] PrettyFlyForAFatGuy 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Everyone over the age of 45 and is not tech inclined

[–] Krompus@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (3 children)

How many of them give a fuck about Linux?

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Those who need it the most. Imagine them just asking questions about what this Linux thing is to their friends.

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[–] Mushroomm@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sure but those links to sketchy .apk games of which the ad for them involves rape or kidnapping usually are a-okay

[–] labbbb2@thelemmy.club 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Clown show, one of the reason to not to use proprietary software

[–] noorbeast@lemmy.zip 23 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I am reminded about the catchphrase for GrayJay: Follow Creators, Not Platforms

[–] cy_narrator@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Who hurt Facebook? This must be some unintended issue or else what do they have to do with Linux? Facebook has 0 reasons to do it

[–] _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 1 day ago (3 children)

You mean besides the fact that Linux gives power and choice back to the user, and that goes against everything Facebook stands for?

[–] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

That and Linux is kind of like a software implementation of socialism and it's been a smashing success.

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