Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns • Hacker News Board

Re: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns

#41

Post by pizza » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:35 PM UTC

Causality1 wrote: post #20

dvduval wrote: post #10

I have been studying Chinese for 7 years. Many of my Chinese friends live in Los Angeles and WeChat is central in their life... Getting a job, taking orders, doing all kinds of business, paying for things. They don't know the phone numbers of their friends. Many don't speak English or their English is not very good. If it is completely cut off they will still find ways to communicate but arguably it will be more like…

Those are valid concerns. I also think the opposite side of that coin is worth considering. That is to say, should we allow WeChat to gain an even greater foothold on American soil or should we minimize total damage by cutting it off now instead of later? As for me, I believe allowing WeChat to become anything like the structural institution it is in China in any part of the US would be a mistake. Imagine if Google w…

You really need to explain your point more thoroughly.

- "allow WeChat to gain an even greater foothold on American soil" - does this mean have more users?

- "minimize total damage" - it would be good if you articulated the damage being done

- "Imagine if Google was as controlled by and as much of a cheerleader for the US government as WeChat is for the Chinese" - according to Julian Assange, https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/

Re: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns

#42

Post by aphextron » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:36 PM UTC

From the beginning of this I never understood how there could be any legal basis whatsoever for the ban. Apparently that's because there was none.

Re: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns

#43

Post by snazz » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:36 PM UTC

12xo wrote: post #26

By far the most egregious overreach of Federal authority in recent memory. Noting about this is reasonable. Its 100% the act of a desperate and weak minded despot who knows nothing about technology but acts out of ignorance and pettiness. A truly illegal and Anti-American act.

Are you referring to Trump's ban or the judge's injunction?

Edit: that’s what I thought (and I agree with you), but I wanted to make sure since some other commenters sensed the ambiguity.

Re: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns

#44

Post by valuearb » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:38 PM UTC

shiado wrote: post #22

Free speech concerns on an app built by a nation where people have no rights that bans people for bringing up the Tiananmen Square massacre and Uyghur genocide, unreal.

The unreal part is that your don’t understand free speech rights, ie that the users possess them.

Are you claiming that ByteDance controlled the tanks used in Tiananmen square massacre or is conducting the Uyghur massacre? If so, the Trump administration screwed up by not presenting that evidence.

Re: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns

#45

Post by pcbro141 » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:39 PM UTC

snazz wrote: post #43

12xo wrote: post #26

By far the most egregious overreach of Federal authority in recent memory. Noting about this is reasonable. Its 100% the act of a desperate and weak minded despot who knows nothing about technology but acts out of ignorance and pettiness. A truly illegal and Anti-American act.

Are you referring to Trump's ban or the judge's injunction? Edit: that’s what I thought (and I agree with you), but I wanted to make sure since some other commenters sensed the ambiguity.

Trump. The proposed ban was obviously not the work of the judge.

Re: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns

#46

Post by valuearb » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:40 PM UTC

londons_explore wrote: post #40

justsomedood wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A counterpoint is that the telephone infrastructure has been tapped by the US government to monitor even citizens conversations. My opinion is that since it requires fewer people it is easier to do. I don't think the CCP is as concerned with chinese citizens knowing what they are doing like the US seems to

> I don't think the CCP is as concerned with chinese citizens knowing what they are doing If you ask a random Chinese citizen "are you okay with the government listening in to your phone calls?", most people would say Yes. Having the government listen in and having government presence on the streets makes us feel safe, because most of us trust our government. Sure, it has it's issues, but in general, the government a…

That random Chinese citizen is afraid to say no, and assuming you will report them.

Re: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns

#47

Post by politician » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

All sovereign nations reserve the right to regulate foreign goods, vessels, diplomats, currency, and peoples distinctly from their native counterparts.

Apps are truly no different.

Re: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns

#48

Post by kolanos » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:42 PM UTC

wombatmobile wrote: post #16

When trying to understand China's commercial policies which America is supposedly retaliating against, consider that China has experienced a different mercantile history to America. America has never been invaded by foreign gunships and forced to allow foreign merchants to import opium to addict its citizens in order to fix their own countries balance of payments problems. Opium Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opi…

Americans don't need to try to understand the effects of mercantilism. They were subject to the same draconian economic policies by the British Empire. This is largely what prompted the American Revolution. [0]

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Colonies#Economic_pol...

Re: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns

#49

Post by mcintyre1994 » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:43 PM UTC

shiado wrote: post #22

Free speech concerns on an app built by a nation where people have no rights that bans people for bringing up the Tiananmen Square massacre and Uyghur genocide, unreal.

A quick search on TikTok shows that neither of those topics are banned on the platform, and they're not even banned from its autocomplete functionality - start typing either of them and it'll suggest it for you.

Re: Trump’s WeChat curbs halted by judge on free speech concerns

#50

Post by x86_64Ubuntu » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:44 PM UTC

hutzlibu wrote: post #12

bluedays wrote: post #4

I always wondered how we squared disallowing things like WeChat and TikTok with freedom of speech. This whole thing feels a bit hyperbolic. Is there real danger lurking around the corner if we allow people to shit post on TikTok, for instance? Genuinely curious here.

The danger lies in letting a foreign government controll the communication of americans. But for me as a german, I actually neither want the chinese, nor the US-government (nor the german government) to controll my communication.

It's an app for crying out loud. No one is "controlling communication of Americans" through an app.