Escaping Billionaire-Owned Media? Move to Mastodon

Billionaire-owned media makes the “free-press” a mouthpiece for the ideology of the super rich. It ignores the urgency of the climate crisis, radicalizes readers, and actively promotes right-wing propaganda.

So here’s a quick rundown of billionaire-owned/controlled media outlets:

  • Elon Musk, Twitter (with financial-aid from the Saudi billionaires)
  • Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp
  • Rupert Murdoch, News Corp (Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, several Australian outlets)
  • Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg
  • Jeff Bezos, The Washington Post 
  • John Henry, The Boston Globe 
  • Glen Taylor, Star Tribune 
  • Patrick Soon-Shiong, Los Angeles Times 
  • Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas Review-Journal 
  • Joe Mansueto, Inc. and Fast Company 
  • Laurene Powell Jobs, The Atlantic 
  • Marc Benioff, Time 
  • Chatchaval Jiaravanon, Fortune 
  • Cox Family, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  • Mortimer Zuckerman, US News & World Report
  • Barbey Family, Village Voice
  • Stanley Hubbard, Hubbard Broadcasting
  • Carlos Slim Helu, The New York Times
  • Warren Buffett, regional papers (~70)
  • Lord Rothermere, The Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Metro and the i
  • The Barclay Brothers, The Telegraph and the Spectator
  • Patrick Drahi, Libération and L’Express
  • Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev, Novaya Gazeta, the Evening Standard, and The Independent

Billionaires also have collectives or consortiums – like the Economist, which is owned by the Agnelli family, the Cadburys (chocolate), the Rothschilds (banks) and the Schroders (banks), along with some staff and former employees.

So how does one escape the tyranny of Twitter? Here are a few articles to help you decide if Mastodon is worth moving to ( I have).

techdirtWhy Would Anyone Use Another Centralized Social Media Service After This?
WiredMastodon Is Hurtling Toward a Tipping Point
GuardianFirefox and Tumblr join rush to support Mastodon social network
The VergeWhere to find Verge staff on Mastodon
Mozilla BlogMozilla to Explore Healthy Social Media Alternative
CNNAs Twitter backlash grows, rival Mastodon reaches 2.5 million monthly users
techdirtI Speak Fluent ‘New Social Media CEO Who’s In Over Their Head’ 
Business InsiderElon’s stale playbook
TechmemeTop News
WiredMastodon Features That Twitter Should Steal (but Won’t)
SF ChronicalElon Musk polls Twitter users on whether he should step down, hours after another controversial policy change
The Hollywood ReporterTwitter Bans Linking to Mastodon, Facebook, Truth Social and Other Competitors
IGNTwitter Will Now Suspend or Remove Accounts Promoting Links to Some Social Media Platforms 
USA Today/APTwitter bans users from promoting rival social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon
New York TimesTwitter to Ban Accounts That Promote Rival Social Media
ReutersTwitter prohibits users from promoting accounts on Facebook, Mastodon 
TechCrunchTwitter bans posting of handles and links to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon and more
The VergeTwitter abruptly bans all links to Instagram, Mastodon, and other competitors 
The HillHow Musk may reinvent the internet without even trying
MacStoriesMacStories Is on Mastodon with Its Own Server
Daily Beast Elon Musk Boots WaPo’s Taylor Lorenz From Twitter
WSJ How to Use Mastodon, the Social-Media Platform Blocked by Elon Musk’s Twitter
PC Elon’s Mastodon Vendetta Makes Us All Less Safe
Forbes Elon Musk Bans Journalists On Twitter As More Flee To Mastodon: Here’s Who To Follow
Washington Post A guide to getting started with Twitter alternative Mastodon
The Guardian Twitter’s suspension of journalists sets ‘dangerous precedent’, UN warns
MSNBC McNamee: Musk Twitter suspensions a ‘direct attack’ on journalism & democracy
CNET What Is Mastodon, the Alternative Social Network Now Blocked by Twitter?
The Intercept Elon Musk Is Taking Aim at Journalists. I’m One of Them.
BBC Twitter blocks users from sharing Mastodon links
Forbes Twitter Suspends Accounts For Rival Mastodon And Several High-Profile Journalists
Business Insider Musk’s Twitter is blocking links to its competitor Mastodon
Bloomberg.com Twitter Suspends Accounts of Mastodon, Journalists Covering Musk
TechCrunch Twitter suspends Mastodon’s account and bans links to Mastodon servers
CNET Twitter Suspends Account Encouraging People to Join Mastodon
The Hill Twitter suspends Mastodon’s official account
CNN Elon Musk’s Twitter bans CNN, NYT, WaPo journalists without explanation
The Verge Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon
Thoughtworks Podcast Welcome to the fediverse: Exploring Mastodon, ActivityPub and beyond
CYBERSCOOP Fleeing Twitter users face uncertain privacy, security features on alternative platforms
The Desk LGBT server on Mastodon blocks group for journalists
The Popehat Report Goodbye, Twitter Everything Ends, And That’s Okay.
ZDNET You’ve got Mastodon questions, I’ve got answers
Tech Policy Press Priorities to Make the Fediverse Sustainable
The Next Web Vivaldi browser backs Mastodon to free social networks from Big Tech
Bleeping Computer New Vivaldi version integrates Mastodon into the browser sidebar
TechCrunch Third-party Twitter app makers turn their attention to Mastodon
Business Insider Migration to other social media platforms shows no signs of slowing
The Verge The race to build a better Twitter
PC Magazine EU Leader Uses Mastodon to Tell Elon Musk How Twitter Needs to Be Regulated
Vanity Fair “NO ONE IS GOING TO KILL TWITTER EXCEPT ELON”: AS MUSK’S BLUE BIRD REELS, THE ARMS RACE FOR AN ALTERNATIVE IS ON
Dewey Square A Snapshot of the Twitter Migration
Electronic Frontier Foundation How to Make a Mastodon Account and Join the Fediverse
Slate Social Networks Are Going Much, Much Smaller
EscapingTech I Was Wrong About Mastodon
CNET Confused by Twitter ‘Replacement’ Mastodon? Here’s How to Get Started
NOEMA Mastodon Isn’t Just A Replacement For Twitter
Ars Technica How secure a Twitter replacement is Mastodon? Let us count the ways
Reason Mystified by Mastodon? We’re Here To Help
Time Thousands Have Joined Mastodon Since Twitter Changed Hands. Its Founder Has a Vision for Democratizing Social Media
The Markup The Markup: Mastodon’s Moment
CMS Wire How to Pick a Mastodon Server
Axios How Mastodon, a favorite Twitter alternative, works
CNET Twitter Migrants Flock to Mastodon: How Does the Open Source Social Network Work?
Android Authority Elon Musk just ended Twitter SMS 2FA (Update: Appears to be back up for some)
WE GOT THIS COVERED Some Twitter accounts may become permanently inaccessible thanks to Elon Musk’s meddling
The Guardian Musk says he has ‘too much on plate’ amid reports of more Twitter job cuts
CNBC SpaceX just bought a big ad campaign on Twitter for Starlink
PoliticoDems want answers from Musk’s Twitter
Mint ‘Embarrassingly wrong’: Elon Musk’s Twitter theory rubbished by ex-employee
Axios Elon Musk’s Twitter sees rise in racial slurs, hate speech
AP Twitter drama too much? Mastodon, others emerge as options
MIT Technology Review Twitter’s potential collapse could wipe out vast records of recent human history
Politico ‘Serious risk of breach’ at Musk’s Twitter
CNN Playbill leaves Twitter, saying the site ‘expanded tolerance for hate’
Mashable Surprise? Elon Musk’s $8 Twitter Blue hasn’t made very much money so far.
Human Rights Watch Musk Chaos Raises Serious Rights Concerns Over TwitterLayoffs of Critical Staff, Impersonation Issues Dog Early Days
The Guardian Joining the herd: what’s it like moving from Twitter to Mastodon?
The CHIVE Twitter is a sh*tshow right now & the memes aren’t holding back (28 Photos)
The GuardianABC AU Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co apologises after fake Twitter account says insulin is free as Elon Musk rolls back verification
Washington Post Elon Musk’s first big Twitter product paused after fake accounts spread
The Medical Republic Is #medTwitter really leaving Twitter?
LA Times What to do if you’re worried about the latest Twitter chaos
CNN Elon Musk’s Twitter faces its ‘Titanic’ moment as executives and advertisers flee while trolls run rampant
The Guardian Exodus continues at Twitter as Elon Musk hints at possible bankruptcy
The Verge Inside Elon Musk’s first meeting with Twitter employees
The Verge Twitter reactivated the ‘Official’ gray check for accounts that are actually verified / Things are going just great and nothing is on fire.
Yahoo Twitter Gives Blue Checks to Fake Tesla Account, Fake Politicians and Real Nazis on Twitter Blue Day 2
The Verge Elon Musk is putting Twitter at risk of billions in fines, warns company lawyer
NBC Two Twitter executives resign as Musk’s chaotic run continues
UX Collective Twitter alternative: how Mastodon is designed to be “antiviral”
Toronto Star I fled Twitter to check out Mastodon. Here’s what I found
CNET What Is Mastodon? The Twitter Alternative for People Flying the Coop
Rasberry Pi Raspbery Pi: An escape pod was jettisoned during the fighting
ZDNet ZDNet: Why Twitter will fail shortly — Sometime soon, Twitter will crash badly. Here’s why.
MIT Technology Review MIT Technology Review: Here’s how a Twitter engineer says it will break in the coming weeks
Huffpost What’s The Deal With Mastodon, The Twitter Alternative?
The Atlantic Elon Musk Is Bad at This: The Musk era of Twitter has so far been defined by unhinged tweets, fleeing advertisers, and botched layoffs.

Begin your move to Mastodon by reading this. Here’s a list of servers to join. I’m here (still trying to figure it out).

The real question now is: how do we build a media network that actually serves the public interest?