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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

#451

Post by john_moscow »

augustt wrote: post #356
john_moscow wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I can tell you what's bugging me personally about this. There's a growing divide in our society between the "equal opportunity" and "equal outcome" camps. And while the "equal opportunity" people mostly have the "just let me grill" attitude, "equal outcomers" are pushing increasingly harder, while doing their best to silence any opposing voices. It's now getting to a point where raising one's kids to be proud o…

Any evidence at all that self-improvement is under attack, or are these all euphemisms for something else? Maybe "pick friends based on shared values" means "I wouldn't let my kids play with kids from the other side of the tracks", which should indeed get some pushback.

Here's one for you [0]. That's an infographic from the Smithsonian museum that attributed Enlightenment-age values, like individualism, family structure, and work ethic to "whiteness" and implied that it should be opposed. They removed it after pushback (search archive.org for more).

That's the tip of the iceberg though. There's a whole industry of wrapping this narrative into struggle session-like training while charging 7 figures to various-level budgets. You can find many examples like [1] if you search for Chris Rufo. Except adults sort of understand that it's a kickback-driven nonsense and don't take it seriously. So now they are taking the Critical Race Theory with very similar postulates into schools.

It's not about helping minorities learn from the more successful, and reach for the stars. That's purely about making kids hate what their parents did for them, rather than building on top of that.

[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20200715192955im_/https://nmaahc...

[1] https://christopherrufo.com/cult-programming-in-seattle/

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

#452

Post by godelski »

jf22 wrote: post #414
john_moscow wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I can tell you what's bugging me personally about this. There's a growing divide in our society between the "equal opportunity" and "equal outcome" camps. And while the "equal opportunity" people mostly have the "just let me grill" attitude, "equal outcomers" are pushing increasingly harder, while doing their best to silence any opposing voices. It's now getting to a point where raising one's kids to be proud o…

A lot of countries only said they were trying for "equal outcomes" while rather openly being authoritarian states.

I'm confused about this response. A powerful authority is how you enforce those "equal outcomes." You can have authoritarian left (communism) or authoritarian right (fascism), but both are authoritarian. Let me put it this way: Fascism is authoritarianism but authoritarianism isn't fascism.

Edit: Can someone explain the downvotes? Is the argument that there isn't an authoritarian left? I'm referring to this basic model [0]

[0] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Po...

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

#453

Post by [deleted] »

UnFleshedOne wrote: post #214
newhotelowner wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Big Tech censorship Pretty much all the subs like the the_donald, republicans, conservative, asktrumpsupporters that are against the big tech censorship will censor (ban) you for just showing their hypocrisy. I clicked on few links or r/RedditAlternatives, and they look like Facebook pages of rural Ohio.

But they can't (and shouldn't be able to, even while I agree, they would want to) ban you from starting your own subreddit with your own rules.

[deleted]

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

#454

Post by linuxftw »

dageshi wrote: post #252
linuxftw wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. The real story is federated applications undermine their search monopoly.

I really doubt google cares about federated applications at all. I suspect they're just trying to avoid a potential future shitstorm where they're accused of facilitating something nasty because they "approved" apps to be on the play store.

No, as others have said, you'd have to apply the same reasoning to a web browser. Google dominates the web search, so there's no need to prevent other browsers because it all drives Google's revenue anyway. Any app that allows you to break out of the garden is banned.

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

#455

Post by LegitShady »

masukomi wrote: post #358
croes wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a clever trick. Make the medium you want to censor a private property than it's legal.

not really. it's just saying "this is mine, it's not public property or a public service, and thus i get to manage it how i want." I think MOST people would agree that that's a reasonable approach. just because a lot of people rely on the google play store doesn't mean it's a public service in the legal sense. It's a very private piece of software that is NOT open source and is very obviously owned and managed by a s…

I agree with you, but the flip side is that they are not liable for the speech on their property due to an exception in section 230 of the communications decency act.

If they have shown the ability to control speech on their platforms section 230 should be repealed and Google etc should be responsible for the content on their property like any other publisher.

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

#456

Post by djsumdog »

gerbal wrote: post #234
djsumdog wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually very disturbing considering the amount of misinformation over this incident, and that they're charging that kid for murder! Were you able to find the videos? They tell a pretty different story than the media narrative. Every person he shoots attacked him or had a gun. He doesn't shoot the kid behind them who had his hands up, or any other bystanders. He then walks with his hands up and turns himself i…

It sounds a lot like you are deliberately seeking bias-confirming right wing propaganda!

I want the truth. That's something all US media is failing to give us right now.

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

#457

Post by wonnage »

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.

This is like having a bulletin board in your store and not being able to take anything down from it.

Yes, Google and Apple are big. You can say well, it’s different because in this world there’s only two boards for the entire country, that’s true! But it’s not a censorship problem, it’s an antitrust problem.

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

#458

Post by LegitShady »

spenczar5 wrote: post #341
kanox wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This definition of censorship is bad and must be changed. Large general-purpose platforms should be forced do distribute all content which is not otherwise illegal, and only perform removal based through the standard legal system.

Why should they be forced to distribute it? That's a pretty extreme stance, and you haven't provided a reason.

They should have to choose between neutral publishing and liability on their networks. If they want to censor then section 230 of the communications decency act should be repealed and let them take ownership of their decisions.

As it stands now they get zero liability for speech they can clearly police. I see hate groups in Facebook that Facebook doesn't close if reported. Let them own it

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

#459

Post by omginternets »

RL_Quine wrote: post #102
viro wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When your content is too cancerous for Reddit ...maybe the issue isn't Reddit.

Yes, if the only defense of your content is that it isn't literally illegal to produce and distribute, maybe choose something better to do with your time.

By that logic we should outlaw all things are neither illegal nor valued.

I can think of no faster way to stifle innovation, research, and the human spirit.

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

#460

Post by richiebful1 »

notyourday wrote: post #266
stillbourne wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. It's not censorship, its moderation and editorial discretion.

Great. Google should become liable for all the illegal content that slips through, all the way to the officers and directors of the company. I think we as the society agree that child porn and child sexual abuse is a criminally punishable offense. A platform in a possession of it clearly is in a possession and distribution of child pornography, hence officers and directors should be charged under those statues.

Are you saying that a platform (be it Facebook, Twitter, etc.) shouldn't be allowed to moderate content at all if they want safe harbor protections?
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