Telegram … be warned

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I’m sure the vast majority on this forum are, to some extent, aware of the perils of ‘Social Media’ … but this BBC story really shook me:

https://apple.news/AZx5rhbVHQR6G7K6uyaQXOw

Catchily titled

Telegram: ‘The dark web in your pocket’

MichaelG.

.

[quote]
I realised my Telegram settings had made it possible for people to add me to their channels without me doing anything.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Definitely an antisocial-medium to avoid then.

I don’t touch X, Facebook or WhatsApp either.

What this does show is the cowardice of the sites’ owners.

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

I don’t think it’s as simple as the above comments. The internet has pitfalls. The obvious point being that owners of sites or systems are out to gain users for the obvious value that holds.

The BBC like any news organisation makes it’s mark by sensationalism. The writer acknowledged his settings allowed this so was naive or incompetent or deliberately allowed the action he complained about.

What is the alternative? Are we dependent on the integrity of all creators, or are we going to promote censorship? Censorship is an ideal solution, except you then depend on the integrity of the censors and that leads to the immediate concern of who and what is responsible. Do you want a Chinese or Russian or Korean level of control because without a dictatorship it’s always going to end up woolly and diluted.

Dramatic claims of the ease of buying drugs or guns or other contraband is simple to claim but consider the realty there; the integrity of the vendor is hardly trustworthy as to whether you ever get the goods and even if some were honest then how do you know if the whole thing is a sting operation by law enforcement and where do you ask the goods to be sent? Do you give such dodgy traders or the police your home address?

The real solution to this is in the upbringing of children and the decency of society – parents keeping their kids away from access and teaching them good behaviour and of course good border security when it comes to the import of illegal items – but that costs money and again depends on the honesty of the watchers.

If you choose to try such a system as telegram to bypass censorship (for good or bad reasons) the there is always the choice of correct settings or leaving the system if it doesn’t suit you.

I use WhatsApp because it gives me simple and free communication with a closed circle of friends and family. I use facebook but simply ignore the associated garbage it points towards me much as I ignore ads on webpages – I don’t think my brain even registers them any more. I tried and abandoned X because it tried to spew too much stuff at me and I waste enough time online as it is.

Again the starting point is parents and children. Give kids unsupervised access to ‘smart’ communication and you get the expected result.

pgk

[Author]

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