The policy you are suggesting is far further away from “open source” than this is. It is totally reasonable for Meta to claim that doing something closer to open source has some proportion of the benefits of full open source.
Suppose meta was claiming that their models were curing cancer. It probably is the case that their work is more likely to cure cancer than if they took Holly’s preferred policy, but nonetheless it feels legitimate to object to them generating goodwill by claiming to cure cancer.
In your hypothetical, if Meta says “OK you win, you’re right, we’ll henceforth take steps to actually cure cancer”, onlookers would assume that this is a sensible response, i.e. that Meta is responding appropriately to the complaint. If the protester then gets back on the news the following week and says “no no no this is making things even worse”, I think onlookers would be very confused and say “what the heck is wrong with that protester?”
Suppose meta was claiming that their models were curing cancer. It probably is the case that their work is more likely to cure cancer than if they took Holly’s preferred policy, but nonetheless it feels legitimate to object to them generating goodwill by claiming to cure cancer.
In your hypothetical, if Meta says “OK you win, you’re right, we’ll henceforth take steps to actually cure cancer”, onlookers would assume that this is a sensible response, i.e. that Meta is responding appropriately to the complaint. If the protester then gets back on the news the following week and says “no no no this is making things even worse”, I think onlookers would be very confused and say “what the heck is wrong with that protester?”
It is a confusing point, maybe too subtle for a protest. I am learning!
It was a difficult point to make and we ended up removing it where we could.
This is a good point and feels persuasive, thanks!