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Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

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Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#161

Post by Barrin92 »

rightbyte wrote: post #144
Barrin92 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It always starts like that. many places have cultures and also law that for decades has worked perfectly fine reigning in the very worst forms of hate speeech (say holocaust denial in my country) while not descending into a sort of activism that starts to get silly. There's no automatic mechanism that turns sensible rules into insensible ones, and it's also need not be the case with sensible hate speech rules. With…

Historic revisionism as an subgroup of hate speech is a prime example of slippery slope and moving of definition. I would add "fake news" to hate speech.

sorry I have no idea what you're trying to say. Holocaust denial is generally considered to be both historical revisionism and hate speech, the former being a tool for the latter. Is this just semantics?

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#162

Post by tomatotomato37 »

thrownblown wrote: post #136
komali2 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last I checked 4chan bans CP and literally nothing else except that weird picture of two miscellaneous mascots riding a scooter.

They also banned all images from the Netflix film "Cuties" https://www.newsweek.com/4chan-bans-images-netflix-film-cuti...

4chan already bans anime/cartoon style deciptions of underage content, so it's not really surprising that they ban this too

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#163

Post by Hamuko »

humanistbot wrote: post #47

The rationale they gave is that hate speech appears on these apps, because some of the microblogging sites that can be accessed via Fediverse have this kind of content. Based on this rationale, I look forward to Google Play removing Chrome, Firefox, and all other web browsers from the store as well.

You don't even have to go that far because you can just find plenty on Twitter.

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#164

Post by [deleted] »

thrownaway954 wrote: post #160
john_moscow wrote: post #64

For anyone else concerned with the recent Big Tech censorship, people are actively building alternative social medial platforms and they are taking off. The RedditAlternatives subreddit [0] provides a fairly good overview of them. Some are rather extreme, others are more reasonable, but there are alternatives, and it's up to us, the reasonable people, to choose where we want to spend our time and money. [0] https://w…

look, i'm not trying to cut down alternative platforms by any means, however these alternative platforms are failures waiting to happen. the reason is that although they start low cost, eventually, if they grow, they need some form of income in order to continue. at that point, they need some form of advertising which, cause of their content, they cannot get and as such, they close up.

[deleted]

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#165

Post by GoblinSlayer »

emteycz wrote: post #114
vbezhenar wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might be Apple forcing them to do so. For example you can't publish app with porn content. Even if your app is some kind of forum, you're obliged at least to filter out explicit content in the app. Browser seems to be an exception.

Apple is forcing Google to remove apps from play store? How?

Let's see their owners first.

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#166

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

Barrin92 wrote: post #122
mc32 wrote: post #95

It always starts like that. People agree to very sensible things. Like hate speech is bad and it’s not censorship if it’s not mandated by the government. Eventually the definition of hate or whatever it is that’s offensive is very removed from the original meaning, and now we all bear the brunt of the sensible people who with best intentions wanted to make things better.

>It always starts like that. many places have cultures and also law that for decades has worked perfectly fine reigning in the very worst forms of hate speeech (say holocaust denial in my country) while not descending into a sort of activism that starts to get silly. There's no automatic mechanism that turns sensible rules into insensible ones, and it's also need not be the case with sensible hate speech rules. With…

And even that is destructive. The slippery slope of "speech I don't like" has a tendency to ever expand; not completely unlike, say, government. It is a very human tendency. This is the main reason, even small encroachment should be pointed out.

I think we are in agreement on Google's case in particular being a little more straight forward.

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#168

Post by lotsofpulp »

duckMuppet wrote: post #151
jariel wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is the 'App Stores'. Think of them as retail outlets, in a mall. Do you see shady stuff going on there? Would 'The Gap' sell porn to increase profits by 15%? Of course not. And for obvious reasons. We shouldn't think of 'App Stores' as some kind of truly open marketplaces, any more than a shopping mall is. What we need is just more independent means of distribution.

Partially correct. Thinking about them in terms of the mall or a shopping plaza is good. However, you mistakenly compared the app store with the Gap. The app store is the mall space, numerous apps abound, as do shops. The gap might not sell porn, but Victoria secret, Spencers, Hollywood (nights?? I can't recall) exist in the mall and might not be porn but... Some retail plazas might have an adult section. Best buy or…

High end malls never had any of those things, anywhere I’ve been in the US. Victoria’s Secret and Spencer’s are pretty far from sex shops or pornography in my opinion.

Not that I agree the policies of app stores to restrict items solely because they are pornography or sex related. But high end mall operators might reject sex shops for many of the same reasons.

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#169

Post by thomascgalvin »

> Like hate speech is bad and it’s not censorship if it’s not mandated by the government.

To be fully accurate, this is absolutely censorship, but it's not a violation of anyone's First Amendment rights. People often conflate the two.

We can argue about whether or not Google should ban certain opinions on their platform, or where the line should be drawn, but it is arguable that hey have the legal right to do so. And the Federal Government, just as inarguably, does not have this right.

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#170

Post by drivingmenuts »

anoncake wrote: post #139
MyNameIsMyName wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Censorship not related to government always strikes me as just complaining. Private entities, whether they be individuals or businesses should be free to determine what is an acceptable uses of their services, and what is not. Do you allow any form of speech in your house or is your house a platform that censors speech?

A home is not a platform at all, let alone a public one open to everyone, anonymously and without needing an invitation. It's a personal and intimate place.

Most service platforms are not public, either, requiring, at minimum, a way to identify the content creator, even if only to the admins. While consuming the content may be anonymous, production is not. The platform itself is only acting as a publisher. In this specific instance, Google is n the wrong.

4chan, being the obvious exception, since content can be created anonymously.

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