As to the topic of this thread, and the actual byline, if we replace “Mastodon” with the more accurate terminology of “Fediverse” then I think one can say “Yes, indeed no billionaire can control it in the same way they can’t control the Web. But they sure can come to dominate it”.
As some wondered… yes, the screenshot is doctored. Here is as it was published by The Guardian:
Byline was not “The platform is still a lawless hellhole of no use to anyone for advertising whatsoever according to inside sources” but instead read:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/nov/01/mastodon-twitter-elon-musk-takeover
As to the topic of this thread, and the actual byline, if we replace “Mastodon” with the more accurate terminology of “Fediverse” then I think one can say “Yes, indeed no billionaire can control it in the same way they can’t control the Web. But they sure can come to dominate it”.