SanctimoniousApe

That's in large part because the market has been engineered to force that on a lot of people. There's exceedingly few alternatives that aren't evil, and those few that exist are comparatively quite expensive to choose - especially at a time when much of the public doesn't get paid enough anymore to be able to afford that choice.

Yeah, "abuses" like DEI and other equality, sustainability, etc initiatives.

i.e. Take all our worries away by leaving us with nothing to worry about.

I think they were asking about the actions against big tech starting under Trump. My memory ain't what it used to be (& it was never very good), but even if something was started under Trump there have been various actions taken against big tech going at least as far back as the Internet Explorer near-monopoly days - so it's not exactly like they did anything new, special, or unprecedented.

EDIT: Can some kind soul take pity on me and explain why I'm getting downvoted, instead of just a hit & run? What did I get wrong?

Oh, somehow I missed that craze - thx for the reference!

I'm not the most knowledgeable in this area, but from what I know Google doesn't really tell you much of anything outside of the developer's claims as to what happens to your data. Exodus actually downloads the app and scans what's in it so you know what's possibly happening behind the scenes. It's extremely common to see Google's tracking for developers to trace down bugs at a minimum, but this didn't even have that.

For those concerned about privacy, Exodus gives the current version a clean bill of health - no trackers found, nor worrisome permissions.

The description in OP immediately made me think of the positively ancient arcade game "Crazy Climber," in which you used two joysticks - one for each half of your body - to climb buildings. Before too long, the coordination required to perfectly time your movements of the two joysticks became quite the challenge for those new to arcade games (which was most of us back then).

"Deeper ties," or simply more cannon fodder for the front lines?

Thanks - I've subbed & will check it out.

No, ty for that. However, that relies upon communities wanting to be found, doesn't it? I'm more concerned with communities that may be forced to keep things quiet due to being out of political favor, social acceptance, or even legality. Especially with the incoming administration, I fear that may be more of a valid concern than in the past. Discussing how to get an abortion in Texas, for an easy example of something that might be targeted.

Funny how this suddenly becomes a problem worth writing about when it affects Trump. It been an issue for decades, but not enough to change it. I have my suspicions as to why, but I'll leave that as a thought exercise for the reader because I don't feel like getting into it.