Sex censorship killed the internet we love • Hacker News Board

Re: Sex censorship killed the internet we love

#371

Post by belorn » Sat, Feb 02, 2019, 3:34 PM UTC

sgt101 wrote: post #55

The real "original sin" of the free internet is the curation of the experience of using neutral information systems to drive engagement and skew users decisions away from their own interest towards the commercial interest of the web sites. Routine deception and manipulation mean that there are no clear lines or defensible moats of freedom. There is no rule of law or communal standard of fairness on the internet. This…

There is a very easy test to check if anti-prostitution laws are prudes or about labor rights. You rewrite them into labor rights so to make prostitution illegal without including the word sex.

I have not heard a single country that have managed to do this. For rather obvious reasons, it is not practical to make employment illegal where the employee is in need of money.

There are countries however that do treat the problems with prostitution as a labor rights issue and resolve it similarly. For example when people think of human trafficking they think of prostitution, but human trafficking in constructions is actually several times larger. Exploitation in construction is thus a very large problem and the common solution is to impose stricter regulations so the government can catch and punish those that earn money on human suffering.

Re: Sex censorship killed the internet we love

#372

Post by Pharmakon » Sat, Feb 02, 2019, 3:34 PM UTC

door5 wrote: post #319

marcus_holmes wrote: post #127

I find the US prudishness thing so fascinating. I'm travelling at the moment, and meeting lots of Americans (and Europeans for contrast). There's definitely a huge difference in tolerance for swearing and blasphemy. Also several well-educated and seemingly intelligent Americans who hold strong racist opinions. But that's another subject. I guess it all comes down to the religion. Americans do seem to be more religiou…

>Also several well-educated and seemingly intelligent Americans who hold strong racist opinions. But that's another subject. Bring up Muslims or Roma people to a European and you'll find this isn't a uniquely American problem.

There’s also plenty of anti-semitism and good old fashioned prejudice against black people. Truthfully, it’s not so different, just look at the recent Windrush scandal.

Re: Sex censorship killed the internet we love

#373

Post by pnw_hazor » Sat, Feb 02, 2019, 3:35 PM UTC

marcus_holmes wrote: post #127

I find the US prudishness thing so fascinating. I'm travelling at the moment, and meeting lots of Americans (and Europeans for contrast). There's definitely a huge difference in tolerance for swearing and blasphemy. Also several well-educated and seemingly intelligent Americans who hold strong racist opinions. But that's another subject. I guess it all comes down to the religion. Americans do seem to be more religiou…

Christians aren't banning content on the internet. Tumbr, Facebook, and Twitter don't care a hoot about what Christians think. In some mainstream internet corners Christian content is more likely to banned than purient content.

Re: Sex censorship killed the internet we love

#374

Post by nkohari » Sat, Feb 02, 2019, 3:36 PM UTC

Freak_NL wrote: post #154

aussieguy1234 wrote: post #21

Since I heard about Tumblrs new policy a week before it was implemented, I've been hard at work building Libr ( https://librapp.com ) to replace it. A large amount of art that isn't porn, but that qualifies as "adult content" under the new policy has been all but purged from the internet. It's impossible to ban adult content in a cost effective way without also banning a large amount of legitimate art. Libr is about…

> This will be a Progresive web app - No app store needed, meaning no app store bans. Why do you call it an app instead of a website? The word 'app' to me strongly implies that whatever the service does can only be meaningfully accessed via an app on Android or IOS, and that the publisher has reasons (often for monetization purposes) to keep the software client proprietary and exclusive.

> The word 'app' to me strongly implies that whatever the service does can only be meaningfully accessed via an app on Android or IOS

I don't think this opinion is generally held. App just means application, which can describe any software.

Re: Sex censorship killed the internet we love

#375

Post by gottebp » Sat, Feb 02, 2019, 3:39 PM UTC

hobs wrote: post #331

crazygringo wrote: post #329

Again and again I see the comments of how crazy it is that we allow violence in films/TV/anywhere, but not sex which is peaceful and harmless -- as if this were some kind of idiocy or hypocrisy. There's a good reason we try to draw lines between areas where sex is "allowed" and "not allowed" -- because it's arousing and has the potential to be greatly embarrassing . It's private , in a way that violence isn't. I seri…

That's completely a cultural artifact though, there's no reason to be squeamish about sex and to accept violence. Plenty of cultures have much looser taboos around this than yours, its not how human beings are wired.

If something is cultural, why does that imply it is automatically bad or should be tossed aside? This is not to say any culture is all good or all perfect, however didn't much of culture come about through generation after generation evolving and learning and passing on what worked? I invoke Chesterton's fence here: Fences take work to put up, and someone put in that work. First understand why it was put in place and only then should you consider tearing it down.

Cultures each have differing strengths and weaknesses, woven into a complex fabric, and it is difficult to change just one part in isolation without butterfly effects elsewhere -- much like a large codebase.

Re: Sex censorship killed the internet we love

#376

Post by klmr » Sat, Feb 02, 2019, 3:39 PM UTC

brobdingnagians wrote: post #348

marcus_holmes wrote: post #127

I find the US prudishness thing so fascinating. I'm travelling at the moment, and meeting lots of Americans (and Europeans for contrast). There's definitely a huge difference in tolerance for swearing and blasphemy. Also several well-educated and seemingly intelligent Americans who hold strong racist opinions. But that's another subject. I guess it all comes down to the religion. Americans do seem to be more religiou…

My church doesn't teach it's only for procreation, and we are solidly Christian. We teach that it's also wholesome, fun, and great to be enjoyed between husbad and wife; a spark of the divine, if you will. That it is between a husband and wife and God to decide when to have children, and so contraception is totally appropriate. Sex helps build the relationship. I remember when my dad taught a lesson at church about h…

> Not prudish here, just also very conscious [that sex] should be between life-long committed people

That is prudish. To be perfectly clear, it’s entirely fine to decide that this is the right thing for yourself. But the way your comment is written makes it clear that you think this is the only correct way, for everyone. Yeah, that’s extremely prudish.

Re: Sex censorship killed the internet we love

#377

Post by rexpop » Sat, Feb 02, 2019, 3:40 PM UTC

Flimm wrote: post #262

coldtea wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the Americanization of the world. If most of one's movies, songs, tv shows, social media control, search engine biases, etc, come from a single country, with its cultural stickups, that's what you get.

I would hypothesize that it is due to the greater influence of feminism. I realise that not all feminists would agree, but many feminists have been against the objectification of women's bodies in pornography, sexualized advertising and media.

Feminist, here. I disagree! :)

There's big difference between using women's bodies to sell products (film franchise included) and permitting the open expression of nude bodies.

I resent the former, and respect the latter.

Re: Sex censorship killed the internet we love

#378

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Feb 02, 2019, 3:42 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Sex censorship killed the internet we love

#379

Post by pnw_hazor » Sat, Feb 02, 2019, 3:43 PM UTC

robertAngst wrote: post #296

bksenior wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google been a defacto monopoly for a long-time. I always just assumed it was to keep regulation from some states backwards religious senators/congresspeople at bay.

Aside from the privacy, google has been the best company of my life. But I'm one of those, dont care about privacy people with mild porn habits and I'm starting a non-profit. I don't have much to hide, especially given the good I've accomplished with Google's support. (Also I get 200+ website visitors from google daily)

Privacy is about the least of google, et al. evils.

It is the legion of researchers and engineers that leverage personal information to build dark patterns and Digital Skinner boxes is where the danger and harm comes from.

Re: Sex censorship killed the internet we love

#380

Post by mason55 » Sat, Feb 02, 2019, 3:43 PM UTC

whack wrote: post #361

m_mueller wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are cultural differences, not genetic ones (for the most part). I think that’s quite a difference as one can adapt over the time span of a couple of generations (or even immediately by strong willed individuals) while race is much more sticky and impossible to shake once you’re born into it. Case in point, when a Roma family settles down, they can in theory just be another Eastern European family to those who d…

FWIW, I don't think cultural discrimination is acceptable either. I've met people who don't bat an eyelid when they hear European accents or southern/Boston/new-York accents, but are openly hostile to those speaking African-American vernacular. Similarly for Mexicans speaking Spanish as well. Also, I've never met a Roma person, but it's my understanding that they can trace their genetic ancestry to Asia, and that the…

What’s the difference between cultural discrimination and constructive criticism? Can you complain that the Saudis don’t (didn’t) let women drive or is that cultural discrimination? Anti-FGM campaigns?

I’m being intentionally obtuse but there has to be a line somewhere. Or not and people should be free to argue without fear of the label “cultural discrimination”.

FWIW I have no idea what the answer is.