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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

#391

Post by gamblor956 »

vxNsr wrote: post #278
gerbal wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right wing propagandists flooded twitter and reddit with deceptive edits, frame grabs, and narratives. I expect there are now multiple retaliatory take down campaigns by multiple groups and bot networks to try to preserve only videos that support their preferred narrative.

I mean the NYT has the videos and very clearly shows that he acted defensively each time. I was surprised by how clearly they were willing to show that considering their bias, I didn’t really read the content around the video, but that alone was interesting. Of course the title at the time made it sound like he was guilty so...

Followup reporting indicates that he was not asked to guard the business that he was "protecting", that the business asked him and others not to get involved and they did anyway, and that he instigated the altercation with the men chasing him in the video.

It's not self-defense when you start the fight.

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

#392

Post by G4E »

gilrain wrote: post #92
grahoho wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A reminder that F-Droid banned Gab from their store. https://reclaimthenet.org/f-droid-bans-gab-app/

A reminder that Gab is not a gray area edgecase, but a purpose-built platform for conspiracies and hate speech.

A reminder that Fdroid allows you to run your own repo and host there whatever you choose, controversial or not.

Fdroid banned this particuliar app (and maybe others, that's not the point) from their own official repo.

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

#393

Post by mike00632 »

noxer wrote: post #149
krapp wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are few if any platforms on the open web free of censorship, they just draw their line in the sand in a different arbitrary place than others. Banning illegal content, spam, harassment, etc (which even the most hardcore "censorship free" platforms do) are also forms of censorship.

You never head of Freenet? There is no such thing as censorship there.

I'm sure they would censor messages used as a denial of service attack.

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

#394

Post by tsherr »

noworriesnate wrote: post #174
rvz wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. This is Google drawing the line on where this "hate speech" is from and they believe that such "content" can be accessed via the Fediverse. To see how ridiculous this sounds, Google might as well completely take down the entire social media and internet browsing category on the Play Store since I keep seeing the same content from both extremes on all these platforms. Just wait until you tell them to take dow…

I get what you're saying, but I don't think this is because Google cares about hate speech. Google is simply using hate speech as an excuse to get rid of apps that it doesn't like. Deciding which apps you like and which you don't isn't that hard of a line to draw.

That's precisely what they are doing. They don't care about hate speech. If they did, they wouldn't have Trump ads on the YouTube banner.

This is justification to get rid of apps they don't like.

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

#395

Post by oehpr »

damnyou wrote: post #376
oehpr wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not deeply versed in Gab's history... But lets hypothetically say that Gab was not created for that purpose, but for precisely the purpose it claims it was created for: To be an open platform for free speech, no censorship. Wouldn't it have ended up in the exact same state it is now? Any service that guarantees no censorship is going to have the majority of its userbase be the runoff from other major websites. Wh…

Yes, any large no-censorship platform for humans will be swamped by Nazis. You could avoid being large — small, high-trust groups work perfectly fine without censorship. You could add more moderation (aka censorship), both platform-wide and within communities. Reddit seems to be heading in that direction. You could avoid being a platform. Some sites are inherently platforms, but does every site need comments? Or you…

I've got to finish going through The Culture series. I thought it was bold stroke to write a book series about a future where humans are domesticated by their own AI.

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

#396

Post by andi999 »

colordrops wrote: post #342
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.

Hanlon's razor has hobbled everyone's ability to see what the establishment is doing. This isn't about good intentions gone wrong. The loss of control of the narrative due to the internet has been a severe setback for the powerful, and they have been slowly clawing it back by limiting access to alternative media. Various think tanks, NGOs, board members with multiple irons in the fire, foreign interests, and the gove…

"threats from lawmakers against outlets if they didn't remove certain content." Could you be more specific what that certain content was?

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

#397

Post by hinkley »

xienze wrote: post #305
thomascgalvin wrote: post #169

> 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. An…

> 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. You're technically right, but in practice it really doesn't matter that the "government" can't censor you when the modern "public square" is held almost entirely by private companies. The government doesn't really hold any power in shaping modern public discourse anymore,…

You could look at this like private citizens trying to block access to public lands (beaches) in order to make them de facto private.

Federated apps are trying to establish a commons, right? If Google can block access, then there is no commons. If the government can force easements on private land owners, I suspect the EFF could make a case for the same for App stores.

Nobody would be making Google host the Commons, just access. This is a much simpler case IMO than forcing Twitter or Facebook to carry messages they don’t want.

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

#398

Post by komali2 »

djsumdog wrote: post #133
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.

You missed the point. You can't police fedi at all. I deploy a new Mastodon or Pleroma server in about 10 minutes.

I guess... 4chan has been around for what, 15 years now? More? And that's with the media Becoming Aware of it many times. Seems pretty robust to me.

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

#399

Post by gruez »

snypher wrote: post #267
gruez wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but a purpose-built platform for conspiracies and hate speech Can you elaborate on this?

A good start is the Wikipedia page; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gab_(social_network)

The line of thinking seems to be: "Gab's target demographic is users that have been banned from the mainstream platforms for hate speech and conspiracies. Therefore by targeting those users, it's 'purpose built' for hate speech and conspiracies.". My question is, can't you apply this to basically anything that's "free speech"? The mechanism seems to be that most people are content with the mainstream platforms, and therefore the only people who go for the "free speech" platforms end up being the people who were banned from the mainstream platforms. By that logic, is tor "purpose built" for criminals, since basically only people with stuff to hide use it? How is it different than gab?

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

#400

Post by justicezyx »

I frequently visits 1 Chinese dota2 esports site. That's a small & independent site with 10+ years history. A vibrant community with mostly young gamers on dota2.

Naturally, a lot of these visitors often engage in dynamic discussions on international relationships and domestic issues. Nothing too sensitive from my perspective. And most of the time, people contribute personal experiences that are quite valuable.

The site is frequently shutdown for a few weeks, probably once every 2-3 months. And sometimes it can be a long one, as long as a few months.

The reason is of cuz the site is engaged in "appropriate discussion".

I want this to be a cautionary tale that, despite different motivation, the end results of these powerful entity, exert influence that is almost identify in behaviors.

The good thing is that there is a process in US to correct the behaviors. While as there is none in China. And we have to stand up to protect the freedom.

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