Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube • Hacker News Board

Re: Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube

#401

Post by Lio » Mon, May 18, 2020, 4:41 PM UTC

ravenstine wrote: post #356

Lio wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like to think I’d take the high road but the Milgram shock experiment[1] shows that most people, including me, probably wouldn’t. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

Then we need to come up with ways to counteract the Milgram effect, if that's even possible.

Yes indeed. It’s one of those spiky problems with human nature.

It ranks up there with the problem of dealing with seductive disinformation.

For everyone pointing out that nothing happened in Moab there’s someone else with a Remember Moab bumpersticker[1].

[1] Neal Stephenson reference.

Re: Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube

#402

Post by vorpalhex » Mon, May 18, 2020, 4:41 PM UTC

chki wrote: post #55

vorpalhex wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Youtube doesn't censor most pejoratives in comments, as you can tell by reading any of the comments.

I think you are reading things into the comment your replying to that aren't there.

It is either the case that the parent likes to add random facts into conversations such as "the word communist contains 9 letters" which has nothing to do with the conversation, or the parent clearly felt that the phrase being perjorative was tied to it being censored.

Let us assume the parent was being on topic and relevant. Therefore they seem to indicate the censoring was due to it being perjorative. As most other perjoratives are not typically censored (per my comment), that would imply that the "Communist Bandit" perjorative is somehow special.

Is it special because it's somehow especially worse than other perjoratives, or is it special because it offends a foreign state's political party?

Re: Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube

#403

Post by throwaway894345 » Mon, May 18, 2020, 4:41 PM UTC

mbostleman wrote: post #378

koheripbal wrote: post #112

I think a more fundamental problem is a single private company having a near-monopoly on various public communication channels, and having financial interests in various global dictatorships. The Founding Fathers could not have predicted this. Google's "We're a private company" get-out-jail-free card cannot continue to apply.

>>The Founding Fathers could not have predicted this.>> Sure they could. They had the East India Tea Company. I'm not a legal expert but it seems like the fundamentals are pretty simple and timeless. If they have a monopoly, then their private get-out-jail-free card no longer applies.

As I read it, "this" refers to "a monopoly on communication/speech", not "a monopoly [of any kind]".

Re: Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube

#404

Post by jansan » Mon, May 18, 2020, 4:41 PM UTC

shadowgovt wrote: post #345

zaggynl wrote: post #2

Try commenting 共匪 on any youtube video, the comment will be deleted after ~15 seconds

Mine's been up for [edit: an hour]; make of that what you will.

You must have excellent karma. Mine was deleted after ten seconds. I simply wrote: "Just testing if comments containing 共匪 will be deleted" to a Rick and Morty video.

Re: Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube

#405

Post by nine_k » Mon, May 18, 2020, 4:41 PM UTC

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #282

toolz wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have loads of communication channel alternatives. People freely choose google and should be allowed to continue freely choosing whatever platform they please. The idea that some governing body can better choose my communication platform for my personal needs than I can for myself doesn't seem logical from my point of view.

Ah yes, the idea that profit driven management is a better juror of freedom than our democratic society. Whatever they decide, they owe you no explanation or recourse. After all, these people are 'accountable' to wall street. To them 2008 and Boeing 737 were an unforceable turn of fortune, and they should bear no harm from it.

Please remember that democracy is a way to control a shared resource by the opinion of the majority, and it makes the minority submit to the decision of the majority. A democracy is more free than a tyranny, but it's not freedom incarnate.

If 1.5B Chinese people totally democratically voted to ban particular words from usage worldwide, and were very serious at enforcing their decision, would you conform?

I'd very much appreciate if no society ever chooses things for me, as long as the choice is not of a conflicted shared resource that needs to be handled uniformly to even work (like property laws or traffic rules).

Re: Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube

#406

Post by _4ziu » Mon, May 18, 2020, 4:41 PM UTC

nunodonato wrote: post #9

wow, three "google bans/deletes" on the frontpage today. Its never too early to start ditching everything google.

Good luck with that. Their services are essential to my life and I don't think they're doing this dramatic draconian version of censorship everyone thinks. Never seen this kind of hate from the HN crowd towards amazon or apple's manufacturers and warehouse workers working in deplorable conditions, which is far and away the worst thing a company could be doing. Not whatever this is.

Re: Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube

#407

Post by baq » Mon, May 18, 2020, 4:41 PM UTC

mistermann wrote: post #301

baq wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the best and surest way to have your account deleted from facebook is to post porn. the best and surest way to delete an inconvenient discussion from hn is to spam it with a political flame war. i don't have proof that this is the case here but i wouldn't be surprised that such threads are actively heated up and/or gaslighted by nation state sponsored censors.

Or ideologues.

you missed the point. these people are targets.

Re: Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube

#408

Post by chipperyman573 » Mon, May 18, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

ausbah wrote: post #386

chipperyman573 wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your first paragraph describes subs like r/esist, r/againsthatesubreddits, r/fragilewhiteredditor, etc. They just don't do what many people would consider hate speech so they don't get banned. I think this highlights that while your goal many occur in parallel with banning hate speech in some cases, on its own it will not accomplish much because the same thing will just happen on whatever side nobody thinks is "spewi…

what a topsy turvy world to live in where calling out bigotry is equated with hate subs. maybe on the fronts of brigading or the like, but content wise I don't see how they're morally equivalent

Generally the comments have pretty bad stuff in them, or at least they did before I blocked them.

Re: Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube

#409

Post by baq » Mon, May 18, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

pb7 wrote: post #373

baq wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

google search is a utility class service at this point, a tier below tap water and electricity. the world would be an objectively worse place without it for billions of people. with great power comes great responsibility is how the saying goes, but i can see them fighting tooth and nail to not be labeled as such. same for facebook and others like them.

You're putting the cart before the horse. Google and Facebook are utilities but the Internet service you need to access them isn't. Seems a bit ridiculous, no?

my bad for assuming that it goes without saying i guess? or that most people except us here can't tell the difference?

Re: Google deletes “communist bandits” from comments on Youtube

#410

Post by ktta » Mon, May 18, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

ddevault wrote: post #338

yashap wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not a Google employee, but really all companies of large enough size care only about the bottom line. Large companies don’t have morals, they just try to make money at all costs, full stop. Google is a bit more hypocritical in that they pretend to be about more than this, but lots of companies are similarly hypocritical, especially tech companies. It’s really only small businesses that have any sort of humanity (…

The answer to this is collective action.

Isn't that the answer to most problems in the world? Getting that in place in the real problem, isn't it?