Madeira Consorcio

113 Madeira Consorcio Meeting 25.7.2020

We met in the gallery again, with our new member SG who met most of the group now.

Our topic was Freedom of Speech and Section 230 – an American law that provides a shield to internet platforms so that they are not liable when a person posts harmful content on their platform. Prez Twitter spoke about it:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/trump-social-media-companies-alleged-bias

Trump is – he says – going to remove the shield from the internet provides so that they can be sued for defamation etc, if a person is allowed to upload hate speech and such. (Of course, he is only interested in the consequences for Himself.)

The new regulation will also force platforms like Twitter and FB to disclose the person posting the content. VPN Networks and dark servers can, however, disguise the original and identity of any post.

We think that in general, persons should stand by the content they post, and be accountable for it. But money rules the World, and advertising money compels the platforms to harbor as much content as possible.

Several countries ban harmful content by law, due to their history (Germany, Nazi)

Harmful speech: we have no means to talk to each other, to call the otter person and clear up misunderstandings.  Email is not a great means of communication; it does not convey the writer’s demeanor. Things we deem OK, may be offensive to another person, but feeling offended does not constitute a crime.

So if Twitter Prez goes through with it, the platforms could be more accountable. Claus thinks he may even break up the big platforms. They managed it with AT & T but will they manage it again?

M. said that on Madeira Island the DN has been sold by Blandy’s to the owner of Grupo Sousa (Transport). This may not be an improvement. The JN was re-branded, but both newspapers are very similar now. The DN claims to be not biased and independent, the JN, at least, does not claim that.

We also said that the public could very well influence these platforms with boycotts but as participants aren’t consequent in their actions, boycotts have no real power.

Younger generations should step in but they are apathetic, and their attention span is short.

Altogether, we couldn’t get a good grip on the topic, it is too difficult to draw the line between good content and harmful content.

We also spoke about Covid and flying in these times: without food & drink, but with masks and strong discouragement to use the bathroom, the airlines should give out Xanax pills in a nice tote bag to each passenger so that we can knock ourselves out until the flight arrives at the destination.

A thought experiment for us: In WWII some items were used for barter: cigarettes, nylon stockings, chocolate etc. If we were to get a new financial crisis, it would be good to ponder beforehand which items will be useful for barter this time around…

Cl. says that, with all that money-printing by the governments, there will be no inflation because the crisis is not coming from the banks, the states are causing the problem. If each of us were to personally get 4000€ out of the pot from the EU now, we would just own the 4000€ to ourselves. So there would not be any need to pay back unless inflation comes up again.

Covid:

The new see-through mask can be found here.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/21/mit-researchers-designed-reusable-n95-face-mask-for-healthcare-workers.html

and the article about the new Portuguese-made mask (unfortunately, without mention of the shops which sell them) here:

https://www.dinheirovivo.pt/economia/primeira-mascara-que-inativa-covid-e-portuguesa/Upconign

Upcoming medicines and vaccines:

Vaccines AZD1222 Oxford

Medicine: Dexametasona, Epo, Interferon (not so good) and others

Our next meeting should be on August 22nd.