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We Chat, They Watch

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Re: We Chat, They Watch

#441

Post by say_it_as_it_is »

donkeyd wrote: post #433
say_it_as_it_is wrote: post #432

This isn't unique to WeChat. How do you think you receive free teleconferencing services from Google?

Please back this massive claim up with some evidence. If there is none, please realize that a lot of companies use G Suite and pay for these services, which might allow Google to provide them for free to individuals. I don't know for sure that this is the case, but I have seen no evidence for your 'claim' either.

You want evidence that Google provides free services in exchange for tracking and interpreting all of the content passed through its services, turning it into a multi-billion dollar enterprise?

Re: We Chat, They Watch

#442

Post by Terr_ »

vinay427 wrote: post #360
draugadrotten wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America was at war with the talibans: America had always been at war with the talibans. A large part of the political literature of five years was now completely obsolete. Reports and records of all kinds, newspapers, books, pamphlets, films, sound-tracks, photographs--all had to be rectified at lightning speed. Although no directive was ever issued, it was known that the chiefs of the Department intended that within…

Except that all of this material (movies and TV, news articles, reports) is still available. I don't see how this adapted quote is at all applicable. The whole point of the 1984 scenario was that people couldn't talk about the preceding period and no evidence supporting its existence could be found.

I'll go a step further: Not only is the evidence and history of US-Taliban relations all still there, but the accused-1984 people weren't even denying the history exists. They were, at worst, just glossing over it.

Let's suppose that there are five tiers on the spectrum of "good" to "1984": Acknowledge the history; Omit it; Contradict it, Erase it, Punish dissenters.

Prior to 2016 most US politicians never went past Omit.

Re: We Chat, They Watch

#443

Post by viridian »

seppin wrote: post #214
wolco wrote: post #172

It's a feature not a bug. It was designed this way because it makes business sense. Why are Americans using WeChat I'm not sure.

Because it's the only way to communicate with 1/5 of the world's population?

About 1/6th these days. Pedantic I know, but it's super common for people to not realize that China's population growth is nearly zero. India will likely have more people than China by 2025.

Re: We Chat, They Watch

#444

Post by intopieces »

einpoklum wrote: post #415

Chinese state surveillance and state censorship is terrible. But - US', and int'l corporations' mass surveillance, and censorship, is way up there in the "degree of evil". Please encourage your tech-savvy friends to use safer applications, like Signal for messaging - not WhatsApp; and FOSS alternatives to Zoom, e.g.: https://fosspost.org/alternative-software/end-users/zoom-alt... no less importantly - try to ween the…

What's the problem with Apple mail?

Re: We Chat, They Watch

#445

Post by kazagistar »

101404 wrote: post #378
coldtea wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> India will eventually show them eventually up as having an inferior political model but on balance I doubt it. If anything India's system is less effective, equally or more corrupt, and downright barbarous in some social aspects (e.g. castes). Plus the rampant inequality which is much worse than China.

Democracy and rule of law usually start to have an advantage over authoritarianism when you surpass an annual GDP per capita of about 5000 USD. So, on the long term, I am optimistic that India will catch up. Especially now that the USA is moving away from China as "work bench". I hope we here in Europe will follow that policy, too. It just makes much more sense to support an emerging democracy than to support a facis…

Have you not been following the news where India just elected a facist leadership and had numerous deadly race riots supported by their government? Try checking your ideology with reality sometimes.

Re: We Chat, They Watch

#446

Post by 101404 »

hiq wrote: post #320
srg0 wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting. What else is blocked/censored on Facebook Messenger or in WhatsApp? Don't use FM myself.

No text is censored on WhatsApp, it's technically impossible due to E2EE. Obviously you can't send GB of data in one message, and there must some other small client-side restrictions, but nothing you can reasonably call censorship.

Of course it's technically possible. They would just need to do the blocking on the client, before sending the message (or after receiving it).

Re: We Chat, They Watch

#447

Post by [deleted] »

madengr wrote: post #409
givinguflac wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The intelligence agencies have been clear there is no evidence of that. Do not confuse the US government’s position with the rantings of an old orange racist.

There is evidence pointing to cleavage: https://youtu.be/R6y8dlhoMpo

[deleted]

Re: We Chat, They Watch

#448

Post by s_y_n_t_a_x »

tedk-42 wrote: post #385
defnotashton2 wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Implying that censorship is only used to suppress malicious or illegal activity.

World isn't binary like you frame it to be.

> The intention is for well meaning folk to communicate and do business online.

You can be a well meaning normal person and still expect to receive information about what your country is doing wrong.

Applying this as the China standard and saying its norm is being complicit.

The entire difference is the CCP is using this information to fuel its propaganda that it uses to suppress its people's freedom.

Hong Kong seems to want to keep their freedom and does not accept China as the normal.

In the western world you can be critical of your government all you want and the norm is that nothing is censored.

I mean, even Snowden was allowed to publish his book, even though he didn't get to keep the proceeds.

Do you think the CCP would have allowed that at all?

Freedom dies when it's not protected.

Re: We Chat, They Watch

#449

Post by 101404 »

brandall10 wrote: post #203
cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For example, it’s impossible to send a message containing the link “joebiden.info” This is the first I've heard about this. Had a look at the site and the content loaded doesn't seem to be malicious (technically), just content on some questionable areas about Biden. What's going on here?

It's run by a person on Trump's campaign team: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/us/politics/fake-joe-bide... At the bottom it claims: "It is not paid for by any candidate, committee, organization, or PAC." While that may be technically true (it would be hard to verify), it's certainly misleading. I'm assuming because of that claim it runs afoul of FB's community standards.

How is it misleading? It's completely true.

And, is Fb now a judge in the US who should decide these things?

I don't think it's good to trying to justify what Fb is doing.

Re: We Chat, They Watch

#450

Post by mrscottson »

orestarod wrote: post #413
goatinaboat wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see how an evidence-based person would conclude that China's government is working well Indeed, in the 50’s and 60’s it seemed plausible that the economies of North Korea, Cuba, Russia, the DDR were all going to surpass their Western counterparts before long. The wheels started to come off in the 70’s and by the 90’s it was all over for them.

But these countries were isolated from the world in terms of technology, economy and influence. China, on the other hand, is a country the West depends on both for production and profit, and has not closed off itself to anything that can help it stay on top. From a state of pariah, it rose to superpower status, and there is no real competitor to take its wheels off - the western companies and governments are the firs…

World history doesn't match your statement... The west rose on the backs of those two nations...both by direct and indirect resource, knowledge, and labor theft.
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