The latest #StackOverflow bullshit and people on fedi trying to delete their contributions to me strikes extreme semblance to #wiki communities and "forking" where wiki communities such as @MinecraftWikiEN move from one host to another.
Situation is very similar because in both cases written work is licensed on Creative Commons, both communities have interest in deleting their past contributions (in case of wiki it's because old content is cannibalizing search results which drive vast majority of traffic), the reasons are usually the same (disappointment with hosting platform enshittifying), and the written work in both cases is public good.
For me both raise an excellent ethical question - what amount of control should people have over whether their work is held and displayed on given website, after they knowingly contribute it under open license? Legally those websites I think have a good case for keeping it, but legal argument is just that - legal, not ethical.
I think it comes to question whether we should prioritize personal choice, consent and freedoms or public good. And then, if written work still exists somewhere else like in case of wiki fork, would it really be hurting public good to remove work on previous host?
@Frisk @MinecraftWikiEN Well, afaik, there's an EU law known as the right to forget, where it's your basic human right to delete anything you post online. But with StackOverflow, they cheekily added a clause to their TOS that waives that right when you use their site. I feel like doing that in itself should be illegal, period. If it's something that is in the public space and available freely for anyone to use.
@Azukuni @MinecraftWikiEN While disclaimer I'm not a lawyer, neither GDPR nor right be be forgotten can possibly account for written work of this type. Both refer to private information - information about individuals, us, not written works we make.
@Frisk @MinecraftWikiEN No Hmm.... Well I guess I misunderstood, also I didn't realize the US actually had no such law I thought they did. Here's the article discussing more on this law if you wanna give it a read. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/right-to-be-forgotten/#:~:text=The%20right%20to%20be%20forgotten%20means%20that%20individuals%20have%20a,about%20them%20from%20the%20past.
@Frisk @MinecraftWikiEN Oh also the Right to Forget law exists in the US as well apparently.