Wikipedia co-founder calls for two-day strike against social media networks

Wikipedia co-founder is urging people to stop using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and has called for a global strike for two days over privacy breaches and abuses of user data.

Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, recently wrote a blog post, announcing two days strike, from July 4 to 5, in order to show ‘massive demand’ for change and to pressure the networks into restoring control of personal data to users, reported BBC News.

As July 4 marks the Independence Day of US, Sanger has called his strike as the ‘Declaration of Digital Independence’, which calls for social networks to be decentralized and turned into systems that respect the rights of free speech, privacy and security, and will cause a fundamental shift in the attitude towards data ownership.

Calling for a boycott and not using social media for 48 hours, Sanger wrote, “We’re going to make a lot of noise. We’re going to flex our collective muscles and demand that giant, manipulative corporations give us back control over our data, privacy, and user experience.”

He further mentioned that the more people join, the more it will demonstrate that how dissatisfied people are with the current situation of social media giants. Sanger believes that the strike will prompt changes at these networks, hence giving people more control over their data.

Also, Daily Mail reported, Sanger asked the platforms to be become more open and interoperable so that a post made on one network can show up on the others. “This is how social media should have been developed from the beginning, rather than walled off in separate, competing networks.”