ActivityPub for Administrations (2021-04-19)

# <img src="https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/uploads/default/original/2X/b/bdaa10ca0b1da3bf0e91db4e8e2e91610acd9a9b.svg" width="60%" style="border:0;background:#191919"> > **" A resource arrangement that works in practice can work in theory. "** _— Ostrom's Law_ <small>19 April 2021</small> <aside class="notes"> About Ostrom's Law: Elinor Ostrom debunked a theory that had influenced public policy for the next 30 years of its publication, stating that given a common pool of resources, such as a grazing field, actors driven by self-interest would end up destroying it, and therefore it should be either privatized or controlled by the State -- this is known as the « Tragedy of the Commons » (Garrett Hardin, 1968) ; instead, she demonstrated from empirical situations across cultures around the world, that successful institutional arrangements could be made outside of the State and the Markets, by the users themselves, following a number of rules and establishing polycentric governance involving all users of the resource, that could turn into a « Drama of the Commons » (Ostrom, 1990). More background: https://www.aei.org/articles/elinor-ostrom-and-the-solution-to-the-tragedy-of-the-commons/ especially the last four paragraphs explain the empirical and theoretical advances of Ostrom quite clearly. </aside> --- ### Today's Outline 1. A brief history of the Federated Universe 1. What is ActivityPub? 1. Fediverse: a European vision for social networking 1. ActivityPub is social media with European values  --- ### The Web Was Born Open The world wide web was [decentralized from the start](https://cerncourier.com/a/cerns-ultimate-act-of-openness/): first web software from CERN put in public domain  <aside class="notes"> * Early internet (80’s early 90’s) - Open, protocol centric * Email * Usenet * IRC </aside> Social media emerged which was inclusive/empowering to non-technical people  <aside class="notes"> * Web 1.0 (90s to mid 2000s) * Your own website * Community forums * Web 2.0 Blogs - RSS </aside> --- ### How the Web was Closed - Ad-tech financed R&D - "If it's free, you are the product" - Walled gardens, vendor lock-in - Lack of sovereignty (externalized to platforms)  <aside class="notes"> - Before web2.0, ordinary people could only learn the news from centralized TV and newspapers - After web2.0, people could become newsmakers themselves as well as express their opinions - Ad-tech is not only corrosive to society in its demand for personal information but also in its manipulative function that forces human behavior (promotes misinformation and extremism, categorizes vulnerable minorities) - Centralization of political power in the hands of large (US-based) platform operators is contrary to European ideals - Negative effects of the lack of sovereignty: - Random deplatforming occurs - Algorithmic censorship done in error - No support desk to fall back to </aside> --- ### After the Web Enclosure - Privacy issues & data protection - Was your private phone number leaked lately? - Centralization of power - Discretionary moderation - Control of (manipulative) algorithms - Incentive to maximize engagement  <aside class="notes"> (that decides what you are going to see) // @aschrijver: Something not mentioned, because the EC is all-too aware of this, but the 'maximizing engagement' is biggest contributor to the erosion of the fabric of society we witness today (less incentive to squash misinformation, addictive UX designs) // </aside> --- ### Re-Opening the Web - Grassroots initiatives band together - A multitude of diverse approaches - Open Standards & FOSS Software - Federated communities - Celebrating an inclusive culture  <aside class="notes"> - There are a number of new initiatives working to bring the inclusiveness and usability of web2.0 with a more decentralized and democratic architecture. - These projects are almost always built using free and open source software, typically with strong Copyleft protections to prevent use in proprietary applications. ("reappropriation of software") - They follow a “federation” model where individual users register on the platform of a community or organization of which they are a member - and these community platforms interoperate using open standards such as ActivityPub. - Inclusivity: the fediverse empowers everyone equally, which benefits various communities and cultures (diversity) and levels the playing field for communication (SME's talk to THEIR customers, not EVERYONE). Note that reaching out to the proper audience is made impossible by platform algorithms. </aside> --- ### What is ActivityPub? - W3C Recommendation since 2018 - Created by W3C Social Community WG - Interoperable, extensible Protocol - Not controlled by any one entity - Facilitates decentralized (web) apps - SocialHub / SocialCG innovation center  <aside class="notes">The Social CG was formed to gather the various parties involved in creating these technologies, to research and specify a common understanding of the Fediverse and gather consensus on building blocks towards fully working implementations. After n years of hard work, the ActivityPub specification became an official W3C Recommendation, leading to the diversity of implementations we know today. Further research is done collaboratively among all implementers using the SocialHub to coordinate efforts." Above all ActivityPub is extensible and can support different application domains. With this any type of application can interoperate. </aside> ---  ### How does it work? <img src="https://pad.public.cat/uploads/upload_e464c67c796e93e142709fc92ec4526b.png" width="85%" style="border:0;background:#191919;padding:20px"> --- <aside class="notes"> - ActivityPub is an Actor based protocol for allowing interoperability between different social platforms. - ActivityPub is similar to email because with email, you can communicate with people who are using entirely different email providers. - In addition, ActivityPub also allows you to “post” a message which will be received by anyone who “follows” you on any AP application (not just email). </aside> ### Towards a landscape of open gardens * Like email, you can interact with anyone on any ActivityPub server running any ActivityPub app * Results: - Diversity: each server has its own local rules - No user lock-in - Innovative landscape  --- ### What is it used for? | Service | AP Offer |-|- | Microblogging | [Mastodon](https://joinmastodon.org/), [Pleroma](https://pleroma.social/), [GNU social](https://www.gnusocial.rocks/) | Publishing | [WordPress](https://wordpress.org/plugins/activitypub/), [Write.As](https://write.as/) | Sharing Knowledge | [Drupal](https://www.drupal.org/project/activitypub), [SkoHub](https://skohub.io/), [OLKI](https://olki.loria.fr/platform/) (science), [openEngiadina](https://openengiadina.net/) | Sharing Media | [PeerTube](https://joinpeertube.org/) (video), [Castopod](https://podlibre.org/) (podcast), [PixelFed](https://pixelfed.org/) (pictures) | Sharing Events | [Mobilizon](https://mobilizon.org/en/), [Gancio](https://gancio.org/) | Sharing Links | [Lemmy](https://lemmy.ml/) | Sharing Code | [ForgeFed](https://forgefed.peers.community/), [FedeProxy](https://fedeproxy.eu/)  <br> Many more apps on [SocialHub](https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/c/software/) and [Fediverse.party](https://fediverse.party/en/miscellaneous)  <aside class="notes"> - Open-ended protocol which can be used in a diverse set of different software applications - Behind these projects, there are grassroots communities coming from all over the world but in significant proportion with European roots. - Mention that some of the developers take part in the webinars & workshop </aside> --- <img src="https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/uploads/default/original/2X/2/2093dfd19221cc13b576af4b912126bd7053d5a3.svg" width="60%" style="border:0;background:#191919;padding:1px"> --- ### The European & Fediverse Models | European Union model | The Fediverse model |-|- | Diversity of countries, languages, cultures, markets | Diversity of independent communities with diverse interests and exchanges | Cooperation of sovereign countries | Cooperation of sovereign communities | SMEs form alliances with each other on a leveled EU market | SMEs federate and cooperate without platform manipulation | Anti-monopoly, pro-innovation | Designed against monopoly, makers space / innovation lab  <aside class="notes"> Instance responsible for its own community, no single authority “Only two industries refer to their customers as 'users': computer design and drug dealing” ― Edward R. Tufte // @aschrijver: - On the Fediverse we refer to users as "fedizens" .. i.e. 'the (EU) citizens of the fedi'. A cultural term that makes us feel united. - Anyone with an innovative idea can start building an app, and just integrate with what's already out there. Making fedi a true makers space or 'innovation lab'. // </aside> --- ### Main Benefits of the Fediverse  - Self-sovereignty: no user / vendor lock-in - Choose your host or run your own - Choose your own moderation policy - Decentralization & Trust - Avoids power asymmetry over users - No single gatekeeper: open by design - Avoids incentive to manipulate users attention - Deceptive patterns are unwelcome  <aside class="notes"> Incentive is to enable communication, not capture eyeballs (eliminates ad-tech) Data protection responsibility of each instance No commercial or political manipulation by powerful platform Conclusion: this model solves the problems of The Closed Web. // @aschrijver: On "no vendor lock-in": - open-standards based, FOSS software, contribute / extend as you like - self-host, choose software version / app vendor / set your rules // </aside> --- ### Unmediated Citizen Engagement * Direct outreach to interested citizens, active participation * Your administration runs its own network * Inter-department communication * Interactive presence with European Citizens * _The Medium is the Message_ * Represent European values in the way you engage * Foster collaborative environments  <aside class="notes"> * Presence on ActivityPub decentralized social media ensures accessibility to all European Citizens. * In this era, it’s not enough to have a website or a phone number, there needs to be a social media presence. * Institutions run own instance without third party tech (think cookie banner) * Citizens engage directly with public bodies * ActivityPub is multilingual (exchange content in 'language maps') * Represent European values by doing, not saying. I.e. "talk the talk, walk the walk" </aside> --- #### ActivityPub is "Digital European Values" * Unity in diversity * Inclusive & collaborative * Transparent & open * Democratic & free * Humanist approach  <aside class="notes"> “Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively”. The opposite, as it relates to tech, is where social media are purely developed for “the bottom line” to maximize profits and shareholder value to the detriment of all other - moral and ethical - considerations and regardless of negative downsides. E.g. behavorial design takes agency away to maximize engagement. This incentive is lacking in the Fediverse, and as a result people’s interests are first and foremost in consideration. </aside> --- ### Social Networking Reimagined  **By committing to sustained support of** ➤ free and open-source software, and ➤ the Fediverse & ActivityPub community **European institutions can cement their role** **in defining the Internet for Humans.**  <aside class="notes"> // Maybe reuse the actual list of EU values so it shows how much it matches. https://ec.europa.eu/component-library/eu/about/eu-values/ Also "Goals and values" might be useful: https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/eu-in-brief_en // End the presentation with Hamish's statement: "ActivityPub and the EU is a good fit: -strategically, in challenging Big (US) Tech dominance - tactically, in being simple to implement and open to innovation outside of group control. In the upcoming webinar and workshop let's look at pratical small steps to make this happen." </aside>