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Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

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Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#241
post #150
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost like there was some sort of catalyst event that occurred very recently that would provoke such a response. /s

I'm curious why so many Democrats were allowed to encourage the BLM riots (more than 25 dead, $2 billion in property damage) without so much as a peep from Google, Twitter, Facebook or any other tech giant. Kamala Harris said "they should not stop" and helped with a bail fund for the people who were involved with them. I think protest is a fundamental requirement of democracy, and as Chris Cuomo himself reminded us:…

> protest aren't always peaceful

Forcing an evacuation of the VP, house and senate leadership and like 500 legislators while they are in session selecting the next president is a far, far cry from merely "not peaceful".

Literally the entire legislative branch of the federal government was attacked, along with the backup president!

And, but for a network of cold war escape facilities... they probably would have killed a few or taken hostages.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#242
post #183

It’s pretty coincidental that all of these tech companies are having epiphanies simultaneously now that Democrats will control the house/senate/and presidency. The interesting question is whether they are doing it out fear of anti trust action from Democrats or weren’t doing it for the last four years out of fear of Republicans.

With the new War on Domestic Terror(TM) ramping up, I think the tech companies see a business opportunity for a private-public partnership to save the republic. We can silence dangerous speech with no concerns about the 1st amendment (it's a private platform after all). All your Whatsapp chats can now be mined by Facebook (which the NSA will have access to as well). And the switch that controls social media communica…

They were domestic terrorists and they will stand trial. And whoever organized the event will hopefully be tried for treason. With a punishment that is appropriate for that crime.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#243
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realise that it’s possible for entities outside of the government to censor things, right? That word isn’t only applicable to state actions, and nor should it be.

Real censorship means that the government prosecutes you for speech, no matter where or how or to whom are you saying it. That was happening in parts of Europe from 1945 to 1990. This what is happening in USA right now is nowhere near that. It's just free market. If you're banned from a certain platform you can reach your audience in another way. No one is censoring your speech. It's just a certain company not wantin…

I made this comment in another thread but I think we are few year from it being forced by the Supreme Court as it has ruled very close to this in the past.

> ... noting that ownership "does not always mean absolute dominion." The court pointed out that the more an owner opens his property up to the public in general, the more his rights are circumscribed by the statutory and constitutional rights of those who are invited in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsh_v._Alabama

Twitter is going to be forced to unban most if not all people if they want to be a general open to the public social network.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#244

Wow, is this the great purge? I don’t support certain people, but man I don’t think this is going to end well. This censorship just seems crazy to me.

The purge has been happening for years. I hate how people on HN is praising this. There are literally few alternatives for the average person apart from Google and eyeProducts. I have a PinePhone, but what percentage of America can truly put in the effort to use one? If you cannot install an run your own software on a device, you do not own the device. You cannot praise the removal of Gab or Parlor now and complain l…

Agreed, its horrific.

This is an act of great escalation in an already dicey situation.

I hope I'm wrong when I say this will likely beget more violence.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Newspapers and magazines have always had a choice who or what to print in their papers. TV and radio stations have always had a choice who or what to air. Why shouldn't social media companies have the same liberties?

Social media companies are protected by Section 230 while newspapers and magazines aren't. If social media companies are going to act like newspapers and magazines then they shouldn't be shielded from liability for their content.

Which is a fair comment to make, but ultimately without the protection of Section 230, Twitter or Facebook would have never allowed Trump on the platform in the first place. The risk of being held accountable (ie. lawsuits, defamation suits, etc) for the content he posted would have been too great.

Removing Section 230 wouldn't have the effect people like to think it would.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#247
post #150
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost like there was some sort of catalyst event that occurred very recently that would provoke such a response. /s

I'm curious why so many Democrats were allowed to encourage the BLM riots (more than 25 dead, $2 billion in property damage) without so much as a peep from Google, Twitter, Facebook or any other tech giant. Kamala Harris said "they should not stop" and helped with a bail fund for the people who were involved with them. I think protest is a fundamental requirement of democracy, and as Chris Cuomo himself reminded us:…

The vast majority of BLM protests were peaceful.

> ...93 percent of the protests associated with BLM were entirely peaceful...

Yet our government treats left-wing protests and right-wing protests quite differently.

> Between May 1 and November 28, 2020, authorities were more than twice as likely to attempt to break up and disperse a left-wing protest than a right-wing one. And in those situations when law enforcement chose to intervene, they were more likely to use force — 34 percent of the time with right-wing protests compared with 51 percent of the time for the left.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-polices-tepid-respo...

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#248
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost like there was some sort of catalyst event that occurred very recently that would provoke such a response. /s

Months of violent rioting in the streets? 2/3rds of democrats believing Russia hacked and changed vote counts in 2016? The hypocrisy is unbelievable. This will not end well.

> 2/3rds of democrats believing Russia hacked and changed vote counts in 2016? [Citation needed]

The chronology of Russian involvement with and around the Trump campaign, illegal or not, is pretty damn well established now thanks to the Mueller report, disclosures from other parallel cases, and the recent senate committee report. Changing vote counts isn't part of it.

Meanwhile, as per YouGov [https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/20...] "One in five voters - including 45% of Republicans - approve of the storming of the Capitol building"

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#249
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious why so many Democrats were allowed to encourage the BLM riots (more than 25 dead, $2 billion in property damage) without so much as a peep from Google, Twitter, Facebook or any other tech giant. Kamala Harris said "they should not stop" and helped with a bail fund for the people who were involved with them. I think protest is a fundamental requirement of democracy, and as Chris Cuomo himself reminded us:…

Did the BLM riots promote sedition? That's probably why. Also worth noting that there was no property damage or injuries in more than 97 to 98% of protests[1] [1]: https://today.uconn.edu/2020/10/study-2020-protests-shows-di...

Yes. Attacked federal courthouses and a mob outside the White House burned a church.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#250
post #73

It’s pretty coincidental that all of these tech companies are having epiphanies simultaneously now that Democrats will control the house/senate/and presidency. The interesting question is whether they are doing it out fear of anti trust action from Democrats or weren’t doing it for the last four years out of fear of Republicans.

It’s good that corporations care about (or are afraid of) the government and public opinion. The alternative would be worse.

Not if you care about free speech.

Google and Apple control the means by which the vast majority of the world can access software. This is not like Twitter banning from a platform, this is preventing users from accessing a platform in the first place.

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