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WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

nautil.us

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Re: WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

#241

Post by iliketosleep »

adinobro wrote: post #17

A few things worth being aware of Alibaba does not own WeChat but rather's it's competition Alipay. It does not have any access to WeChat data. So far the "social credit" on seems to be mostly based on how much you buy and it only seems to give you discounts to massively overpriced products (similar to a credit card reward system). You don't really download apps in Wechat but rather add a link more like a Facebook Ap…

> Also, everyone in China still accepts cash but you generally need correct change.

There's a growing minority of vendors that no longer accept cash (they have signs up saying so), but from what I've seen it's only in areas with youthful populations.

Re: WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

#242

Post by kristianov »

tepidandroid wrote: post #238
danShumway wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Clearly, a bit of a different story than what's implied in this article. Is it? I would classify both of those as satirical comments (albeit offensive ones). I'm not sure how familiar you are with the US, but it would not be considered socially acceptable here for the police to question you about comments like this made in, say, a private Facebook message. It definitely would not be acceptable for police in the US…

You wouldn’t satirize the Nanjing massacre in China in the same way you wouldn’t satirize the Holocaust in Germany.

Well, on youtube, Holocaust jokes were done by Larry David, Norm McDonald, Sarah Silverman...

Re: WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

#243

Post by danShumway »

tepidandroid wrote: post #238
danShumway wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Clearly, a bit of a different story than what's implied in this article. Is it? I would classify both of those as satirical comments (albeit offensive ones). I'm not sure how familiar you are with the US, but it would not be considered socially acceptable here for the police to question you about comments like this made in, say, a private Facebook message. It definitely would not be acceptable for police in the US…

You wouldn’t satirize the Nanjing massacre in China in the same way you wouldn’t satirize the Holocaust in Germany.

Again, different cultures. In the US, this kind of satire is legal. Despicable, but legal.

If Facebook leaked a private message of this nature to the police in the US, Facebook (or whomever contacted the police) would be criticized as well. Banned from the platform? Go right ahead. Involve law enforcement? There would be a lot of criticism for that.

Regardless, it still seems to me that the reporting in this article seems accurate:

> People are regularly arrested for messages they send in supposedly “private” group chats. In 2017, two people were arrested in Nanjing for separate instances of making satirical comments referring the massacre in the city by the Japanese in 1937.5

I'm seeing arguments that this is reasonable, I'm not seeing arguments that this didn't happen. The conflict seems to be that different cultures have different attitudes towards inflicting legal repercussions on private hate speech.

Re: WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

#244

Post by danShumway »

tfha wrote: post #239
danShumway wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Clearly, a bit of a different story than what's implied in this article. Is it? I would classify both of those as satirical comments (albeit offensive ones). I'm not sure how familiar you are with the US, but it would not be considered socially acceptable here for the police to question you about comments like this made in, say, a private Facebook message. It definitely would not be acceptable for police in the US…

The point was that the arrest happened after the messages got exposed on social media, and not just after the words were uttered in private

They were exposed on social media by an unauthorized 3rd party after they were uttered in private, right? That certainly sounds like someone was arrested for something they said in private.

Maybe there's additional context I'm not understanding?

Re: WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

#245

Post by sapilla »

kristianov wrote: post #242
tepidandroid wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn’t satirize the Nanjing massacre in China in the same way you wouldn’t satirize the Holocaust in Germany.

Well, on youtube, Holocaust jokes were done by Larry David, Norm McDonald, Sarah Silverman...

I admire their vascular health, those jokes are hard on the heart.

Re: WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

#246

Post by zwaps »

zachguo wrote: post #206
scilro wrote: post #166

I find WeChat and its aggressively centralized model fascinating, and something to keep eyes on, but this article falls into the familiar trap of playing a bit loose with the facts when it comes to how the Chinese government surveils its citizens. For example, this is from article: >People are regularly arrested for messages they send in supposedly “private” group chats. In 2017, two people were arrested in Nanjing f…

I'm fed up with those people who think they understand China simply because they have read a sci-fi novel written by an Englishman before modern China has been founded. China's system is so complicated and so far from a heavy-handed police state.

I am neither American nor Chinese, but there is a qualitative difference.

In the USA, i can say whatever I damn please. In China, I can not talk about certain topics. Whether or not both CCP and FBI bug my phone, I do not know. However, China is super oppressive when it comes to freedom.

Re: WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

#247

Post by bllguo »

danShumway wrote: post #244
tfha wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point was that the arrest happened after the messages got exposed on social media, and not just after the words were uttered in private

They were exposed on social media by an unauthorized 3rd party after they were uttered in private, right? That certainly sounds like someone was arrested for something they said in private. Maybe there's additional context I'm not understanding?

yes? The initial implication was that the police were monitoring the private chat, whereas the second article suggests that the police only became aware after the message was circulated. Surely you can see that these two situations paint different pictures regarding the Chinese surveillance apparatus.

Re: WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

#248

Post by meowface »

scilro wrote: post #166

I find WeChat and its aggressively centralized model fascinating, and something to keep eyes on, but this article falls into the familiar trap of playing a bit loose with the facts when it comes to how the Chinese government surveils its citizens. For example, this is from article: >People are regularly arrested for messages they send in supposedly “private” group chats. In 2017, two people were arrested in Nanjing f…

Just because that particular example was misreported doesn't necessarily mean surveillance of WeChat private messages isn't occurring.

Re: WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

#249

Post by Avamander »

tepidandroid wrote: post #235
sirmike_ wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> China's system is so complicated and so far from a heavy-handed police state. No. China is not free. I am sorry you are fed up. But I bet millions of victims of Chinese oppression are in much dire condition and wish they could be fed up and not dead or disappeared. Xi Jinping is a dope. The amount of articulation of control China has over the its citizens is chilling. Defending China, Fuck the Chinese govt. I can s…

> Defending China, Fuck the Chinese govt. > I hope the Chinese people rise up one day and figure out a better form of governance for themselves. Besides the immature, flippant impulse to challenge authority that seems quite prevalent in the West, why should the Chinese feel compelled to pursue the path of destruction you're advocating for? The CCP, for all its imperfections, has lifted 850 million illiterate peasants…

> In general, the people of China are very happy with the progress that's being made (particularly true of the rural population who have witnessed in real-time, continuous improvements to their standard of living).

"All for the common good." Didn't even realize that movie was a documentary about China.

I find it appalling that you find the Chinese government even remotely okay, the Chinese government violates people's basic human rights for just simply being a part of a minority. The assertion that it's not a free country and horrific the worst way possible when you're a minority is absolutely true.

Also, FYI, you can rise out of poverty without continuously slaughtering people ;)

Re: WeChat is Watching: Living in China with the app that knows everything about me

#250

Post by Avamander »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #222
beenBoutIT wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Japan that raped Nanjing hasn't existed for decades, the comment is extremely offensive but can't be taken literally. This is the Chinese equivalent of an Israeli telling a Hitler joke, insensitive and offensive but not taken literally because the bad guy is long dead.

Japan has repeatedly refused to apologize or even admit such atrocities occurred. It further fuels the fire. They've even edited their textbooks to gloss over the fact.

Nice whataboutism, so what the Japanese censor their books? Doesn't make it okay that the guy was jailed for that.
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