The problem
Universities have long been places of critical thinking in Australia and beyond, and it is astonishing how uncritically some social-media platforms are used. There are good reasons to take a critical view of the use of X/Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, etc:

1. Psychological impairments such as depression and internet addiction have been widely reported. Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen revealed the methods of manipulation and pointed out that the major platforms use psychological teams and methods to keep users hooked for as long as possible and maximise advertising. The presence of universities on the platforms encourages their use and reinforces dependencies.

2. Personally identifiable information is collected from users on a large scale to create personality profiles for targeted advertising. In July 2020, the European Court of Justice ruled that much of this data collection is illegal and incompatible with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

3. The personal data obtained in this way is used to incentivise unsustainable consumption. Videos labelled with the hashtag #tiktokmademebuyit have been viewed more than 40 billion times by consumers, a large proportion of whom were enticed to buy by using the platform.

4. Disinformation and hate speech, cyberbullying, and discrimination are still dominant elements on the media that describe themselves as social. Even legal regulations have not been able to change this. Our elected politicians and other public figures continue to be intimidated and threatened on these platforms, persecution of women is instigated, elections are manipulated, and democratic institutions are attacked.

5. Because all users prefer to use platforms that are highly subscribed, the operators have become global monopolies. This form of business contradicts the model of a social market economy, which favours diversity over monopolies. The decentralised structure of services such as Mastodon, Friendica, PeerTube, etc., which have come together in the Fediverse, is much more in line with a social and economic order based on solidarity and justice.

6. The combined profits of Facebook/Meta, Alphabet/Google, TikTok, etc. have grown to the order of €100 billion (~ AU$166) in recent years, which is comparable to the national budgets of medium-sized countries. Instead of being held in private hands, the money is much more urgently needed to solve social problems in the countries where it is generated. Corporations contribute to the division of societies into rich and poor and counteract the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which call for the reduction of income inequality.

Universities cannot seriously want to promote these socially damaging developments. Historically, they have emerged as places of enlightenment, knowledge and democratisation of knowledge and many university members still see them in this role today.