“U.S. public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately. 🤬
“A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, John Nkengasong, sent a memo to senior leaders at the agency on Sunday night telling them that all agency staff who work with the WHO must immediately stop their collaborations and ‘await further guidance.’
“Experts said the sudden stoppage was a surprise and would set back work on investigating and trying to stop outbreaks of Marburg virus and mpox in Africa, as well as brewing threats from around the world. It also comes as health authorities around the world are monitoring bird flu outbreaks among U.S. livestock.
“The memo also says CDC staff are not allowed to visit WHO offices.”
Many people have begun looking for alternatives to Meta, especially Facebook. Below are some reasons why people are looking for something else, followed by some non-Meta and non-X platforms and apps that can replace or partially replace Facebook and/or Instagram.
Reasons for Leaving
1 – Privacy concerns: There have been some high-profile scandals and revelations about how user data is collected, stored, and shared, which have led to mistrust. There have been court cases regarding the sale of private Facebook information to Cambridge Analytica and similar companies. There have been some exposés that document Facebook is spying on you and profiling you. Even your private messages. In October 2024, Facebook began reviving their facial recognition system. Many people are now looking for platforms that emphasize transparency, data protection, and user control.
2 – Tired of ads: Ads are so prevalent on Facebook that many people are really tired of them. Ads can become overwhelming to people and clutter up their feeds.
3 – Algorithm issues: Many people are tired of being fed information and posts based not on their friends and preferences, but by a nebulous algorithm that is controlled by Meta and is considered to be manipulative. Researchers also say that Twitter changed its algorithm to promote Elon Musk and Republican posts leading up to the election. And now that Meta has removed fact-checking, misinformation and disinformation will spread even more quickly.
4 – AI Issues: Facebook and Instagram have announced that they will be adding thousands of AI “users” in the attempt to create more engagement. “The AI characters will be created by users through Meta’s AI studio, with the idea being that you can interact with them almost like you would with a real human on the website. They’ll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform… that’s where we see all of this going.” Most people I know on Facebook are there to connect with actual people.
5 – Conflict: Another problem is the generation of weird hostilities and the amplification of divisive narratives that happens on Facebook. It likely happens everywhere, but Facebook seems to encourage it. Facebook used to be a place for staying in touch with family and friends, but in recent years it has become just as much a place for combativeness, arguing, ads, and misinformation. As one online comment said, “Facebook has become a place for cowardly, agenda driven people & merchants to hide behind, chest beat, recruit, & troll for targets & victims.”
6 – Supporting Mark Zuckerberg: He stole the idea for Facebook from his friends and took full ownership of it. Early on in Facebook’s history, he covertly attempted to benefit from selling personal data without people’s consent. He uses the Facebook algorithm to control what people see and hear, and it is broadly accepted that his decisions about Facebook have focused on what would make him richer. “Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.” He’s already a billionaire over 200 times. Many people no longer want to help make him richer by participating in Facebook. And he’s using his fortune to support Trump and maneuver himself to be part of the power behind the throne, one of the major players in the oligarchy.
“Summing up ‘The Facebook Files,’ the Wall StreetJournal notes: ‘Facebook’s own research lays out in detail how its rules favor elites; its platforms have negative effects on teen mental health; its algorithm fosters discord; and that drug cartels and human traffickers use its services openly.’ The newspaper adds, ‘The documents show that Facebook has often made minimal or ineffectual efforts to address the issues and plays them down in public.’
“The repeated pattern the documents show is that, in an attempt to assuage public anger, Facebook would make periodic gestures at reform, mainly by conducting internal research into the impact it was having on its users. The researchers would come back with extremely negative reports and suggestions for wholesale reform. Zuckerberg and other top executives would then reject those recommendations because they would dampen the company’s growth.” – The Nation
Seen mostly as an alternative to X, which has its own issues and reasons for leaving it, Bluesky is a decentralized social network that allows you to have more control over what you see and prioritize your specific interests rather than having a “rage-baiting” algorithm do it for you. It’s a kind of micro-blogging platform with posts limited to 300 characters. It is more focused on privacy and relies more on community moderation than a single company (or CEO). The blocking function actually works. There are no ads and a chat function is built in. Its number of users has soared, especially since the 2024 presidential election. Bluesky is also widely seen as an environment of accountability, diversity, and empathy that prioritizes free speech and democratic values over corporate interests.
Mastodon is a decentralized network with no single owner. It allows you to join independent servers that have their own custom moderation policies. Mastodon uses community-based moderation, where you choose the server you want. Each server can limit or filter out undesirable types of content, enabling you to find communities that align with your values. Each server can also set the character limit for posts, which defaults to 500. No central company collects user data.
Vero – https://vero.co/ (Mobile, with desktop in beta) Not Open Source
Vero is seen as more of a replacement for Instagram, allowing you to share original content with your community, like photos, links, videos, music, and more. The biggest selling points are the lack of ads and algorithms. Also, Vero supports high-resolution images and won’t crop the photos you upload, like Instagram sometimes does. Their goal is as follows: “In a world over-run with fakes, deep fakes, trolls, and bots, we commit to truth, transparency, and meaningful connections.” Vero recently added a “Discovery” page that allows you to explore new photographers and content creators or be discovered yourself.
Telegram is more of an instant messaging program that is especially popular in India. It is very private and anonymous if you like, and doesn’t even show your phone number to people you talk to, which is different from Facebook that collects just so much information. You can also create groups for discussions and chats have no limits on size of media or characters. “Secret” chats are even an option, so no eavesdropping is possible and the chats are not stored on their servers. On the negative side, there is minimal moderation and the absence of strict oversight makes it a safe space for criminals and scammers.
Reddit is a social media platform that offers a wide range of communities focused on specific interests like almost any hobby, interest, or profession. It is more text focused than media focused, with its most popular functions being entertainment, news, and discussion. It focuses heavily on user-submitted content and the upvote/downvote system helps highlight the most relevant and valuable content. Many subreddits aggregate news stories and provide detailed analysis from various viewpoints.
MeWe is a decentralized social network with no ads, targeting, or newsfeed manipulation. It is advertised as the most private social network with safeguards in place to protect your information. It also has interest groups you can join, based on your passions and interests. You also have complete control over who sees your posts and who can contact you. I have seen some articles saying it is more of a right-wing extremist site, group with Parler and TruthSocial.
Moving Forward
To see when your Facebook account was created, type “your information” in the search box in the top left, then click “access your information.” In the left sidebar, click on “personal information.” I’ve been on Facebook since July 15, 2005. That’s almost 20 years. Given all the issues above and my general feeling of a need to move on, I think I’ll be leaving Facebook soon. I’ve already started building a profile on Bluesky.
To download your Facebook data, go to your Facebook settings, click “See more in Accounts Center” then click “Your Information and permissions”. Select “Download your information” and click the “Download or transfer information” button to choose which data you want to download and initiate the process; you can select specific categories like posts (which includes photos), messages, and more, and you can choose the date range, including “All time”.
Issue an executive order to make it easier to fire career civil servants.
Issue an executive order “to censor, limit, categorize, or impede” people’s speech and ban federal money from being spent on any efforts related to combating misinformation or disinformation.
Remove Biden’s limits on the use of A.I.
“Delay” the ban on TikTok.
Remove the environmental protections that limit commercial fishing.
“Your head will spin when you see what’s going to happen,” Trump has said about his “day one” actions.
“Trump is planning to issue dozens of executive actions — more than 100 just on Day 1, at least in his own telling — within his first week in office, sources familiar with his plans told CNN.”
It’s not about “indoctrination.” It’s about teaching things SHE doesn’t approve of.
“Sanders’ proposal to fire professors over ‘indoctrination’ drew criticism from civil liberties and faculty groups. Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors, called it a ‘grossly hypocritical false narrative.’
“Sanders is doing a disservice to Arkansas students by suggesting she will deny due process for faculty with ideas she disagrees with,” Wolfson said. ‘Maligning a system that is an engine of innovation and bedrock of our democracy hurts Arkansas students.'”
The incoming Trump team has begun questioning the loyalty of career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council. These are career employees. They are being asked about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions, and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered “incriminating” by Trump!
Just like he promised and just like Project 2025 advocated, they plan on replacing most of the career folks with loyalist sycophants.
“Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, in recent days publicly signaled his intention to get rid of all nonpolitical appointees and career intelligence officials serving on the NSC by Inauguration Day to ensure the council is staffed with those who support Trump’s agenda.”
Trump won’t rule out military action against Greenland and Panama.
A reporter asked if Trump would rule out “military or economic coercion” to put the US in charge of Greenland and Panama.
He said, “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two. But, I can say this, we need them for economic security. The Panama Canal was built for our military. I’m not going to commit to that now … it might be that you’ll have to do something,” Trump continued.
He added: “The Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China, China, and we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China, and they’ve abused it.”
Trump, who incited insurrection and refused a peaceful transfer of power four years ago, accuses Biden of making the transition “as difficult as possible.” Really!! Yet again, Trump is projecting, attributing his own worst faults to other people.
“You read that right. The MAGA cult leader, who was impeached for inciting a resurrection and refusing a peaceful transfer of power four years ago, is now publicly complaining that President Biden is engaging in “lawfare such as has never been seen before” to make Donald’s return to the Oval Office more difficult. Not a joke. Not The Onion.
“You may recall that, in addition to siccing a violent mob to storm the US Capitol, Trump engaged in months of legal chicanery to stop Biden from taking office, begged elected officials like then-Vice President Mike Pence and others to violate US law and halt the formal transition process, and — after all attempts to steal a second term failed — refused to attend Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021.
“But, yes, Joe Biden is clearly making this month’s transition “as difficult as possible” by, ya know, governing and fulfilling the duties of the presidency until his term officially ends.”
“President Biden is bequeathing his successor a nation that by many measures is in good shape, even if voters remain unconvinced.”
“To hear President-elect Donald J. Trump tell it, he is about to take over a nation ravaged by crisis, a desolate hellscape of crime, chaos and economic hardship. “Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World!” he declared on social media last week.”
“By many traditional metrics, the America that Mr. Trump will inherit from President Biden when he takes the oath for a second time, two weeks from Monday, is actually in better shape than that bequeathed to any newly elected president since George W. Bush came into office in 2001.”
“Several officials in Lincoln County, Oregon have received an anonymous letter urging people to report “brown folks” they suspect are undocumented immigrants, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
“The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office recently learned about a letter being circulated throughout Lincoln County which encourages community members to track and report information regarding people of color, specifically community members that are believed to be undocumented,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook.”
