Ads themselves are just annoying but tolerable. But we’re talking about targeted marketing. Ad companies keep data on you, the user, so they can squeeze out a bit more money from avertisers. That requires the users’ consent in many parts of the world and ad companies still try to weasel around that. When you don’t want them to have your data, a word from you should be enough. No hidden options, no clicking through a dozen pages, no ifs and whens.
I know i’m really late to the party, but this video gave me an idea how blockchains could actually be useful for art. Not to sign a digital image to your name, that’s bullshit. But to link an actual piece of art to you as a certificate of ownership. So in case it gets stolen, you can prove you’re the real owner. This requires first time entries to be verified by certified experts, but after that you’re good to go. You would need to solve a bunch of problems, like what happens when someone dies and the objects are inherited, or what if you buy it, but the owner doesn’t update the chain or makes a mistake, etc. You would probably need a group of mods/experts who can amend the entries. But then you could more easily contact the owner, manage reproduction rights and in general make art theft less attractive, because all art dealers can easily check the current state.
Who would be the right one to sue? Reddit is hosting it, but they are using admins to keep discussion civil and legal; the admins of PCM are most likely not employed by Reddit, but are they responsible for users egging each other on? At what point is a mod responsible for users using “free speech” to instigate a crime? They should have picked a few posts and users and held them accountable instead of going for the platform. People will keep radicalizing themselves in social media bubbles, in particular when those bubbles are not visible to the public. Muting discussion on a platform will just make them go elsewhere or create their own. The better approach would be to expose them to different views and critique of what they are saying.
Maybe if they pay extra to be featured at the top?