Vivaldi browser is backing Mastodon to release online communications from Big Tech’s stranglehold. The Oslo-based company today became the first browser to integrate Mastodon — just weeks after launching its own server on the federated social network. The moves aim to accelerate the uptake of Mastodon, while attracting more users to Vivaldi’s privacy-focused browser. They arrive amid a backlash against Silicon Valley’s closed platforms and lock-in algorithms, which spread deeper into the mainstream after Elon Musk bought Twitter.  Since the world’s richest person took over the bird app, Mastodon’s active user base has soared from 300,000 to 2.6 million —…

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