Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store • Hacker News Board

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#391

Post by leereeves » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:27 AM UTC

Gene_Parmesan wrote: post #318

djsumdog wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This what is happening in USA right now is nowhere near that It's going to happen. These platforms are so large they encompass a signification amount of the communication market .. and I don't say that lightly. Look at how Facebook has literally gobbled up all its competition and now is pushing policies that make WhatsApp and Oculus useless without handing over full control of all your accounts and devices? These c…

Why this assumption that you need a smartphone? That's patently silly. Your life and liberty do not depend on you owning a smartphone. This is an app on an app store. Do I think it's a great precedent to set? Not really, despite my political beliefs being heavily progressive. But this overblown reaction is bananas. Like, my life is proceeding just fine without either WhatsApp or Oculus products. Or a Facebook account…

> Your life and liberty do not depend on you owning a smartphone

Modern life absolutely depends on being able to connect to the Internet in some way. For a lot of people, that's a smartphone, which is cheaper and more mobile than a computer.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#392

Post by ptero » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:27 AM UTC

chrispeel wrote: post #347

djsumdog wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Nonsense This is the free market in action. No one is forcing Google or Twitter or FB to do anything; I think they've been very restrained. The libertarians should be happy that it's commercial companies shutting Parler down and not govt. It's only when the president incites violence in an attempt retain power that these commercial entities acted.

Once a company is so big that its refusal to support a small business is a major hit, that company cannot operate in a wild west style. That's why most countries have anti-monopoly laws; and it's long past the time when those laws should have been applied to google.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#393

Post by jfk13 » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:27 AM UTC

PurpleFoxy wrote: post #376

valuearb wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you must have a native mobile app, you can download it from alternative stores. Or Parlour can just distribute as a web app. Businesses don’t have any right to force other businesses to carry their products.

This is a big point. I feel it’s acceptable for google to remove whatever they want because android allows you to install the apk directly. IMO apple should either be forced to allow side loading apps or to accept everything within reason to the App Store.

And who is the arbiter of "within reason"?

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#394

Post by rhino369 » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:27 AM UTC

jackson1442 wrote: post #177

Nacdor wrote: 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...

The riots[1] this past year were actual rebellion too. They certainly challenged government authority and burned down police stations.

Some of the Lafayette Square protestors would have breached the white house if they could have too. 60 secret service agents were injured. The only difference, really, is that the Capitol Police did a worse job.

[1]I don't like using the term BLM riots since I have have no idea to what extent they are responsible as a movement (if at all).

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#395

Post by Pils » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

djsumdog wrote: post #293

anonacct38 wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If wal-mart stops selling a brand of ice cream, is that censorship? Is it censorship that wal-mart doesn't sell playboy in their store? If not, then why is the removal of an app from the app store censorship? The world wide web still exists. Parler is still on the internet. Seems like there should be some acknowledgement that there's a difference between refusing to actively participate in distributing content and ce…

You have Wal-Mart, Target, Wal-greens, CVS, BestBuy, MicroCenter, tons of mom-and-pop stores (until all the world leaders drove all of them to bankruptcy due to COVID) Say you had two stores: Walmarket and Toget. That's it. That's all you got. Toget stops telling a brand of ice cream and you literally cannot sell it anywhere else other than Toget and Walmarket because someone would have to drive 2 hours out of their…

> You have Android, iOS and PinePhones.

I mean, Parler is a CRUD app. You are posting a comment on another CRUD app that doesn't even have an official mobile app client!

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#396

Post by rayiner » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

anonacct38 wrote: post #151

post_break wrote: post #4

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.

If wal-mart stops selling a brand of ice cream, is that censorship? Is it censorship that wal-mart doesn't sell playboy in their store? If not, then why is the removal of an app from the app store censorship? The world wide web still exists. Parler is still on the internet. Seems like there should be some acknowledgement that there's a difference between refusing to actively participate in distributing content and ce…

When Hollywood voluntarily removed certain movies and ideas during the black list it was justified for the same reason these bans are justified: these ideas are harmful to society. And it was deemed censorship. In fact it’s an archetypal example of censorship. Government action isn’t required unless you’re talking about the 1A.

And this is yet another escalation on the road that started with “we’re just going to censor tweets that literally say the sky is green.” Google has banned an entire social network.

It’s exactly what social conservatives did back when they controlled the levers of government and industry in the mid-20th century. They prevented liberals from spreading their ideas, because that could cause social unrest, violence, etc. (And there was violence, such as anarchist leftist bombings.)

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#397

Post by JMTQp8lwXL » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #381

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can the bans (being de-platformed) be more horrific than the actual violence that's occurred?

Easy. Tech giants have means to control all public speech and information exchange. -> they ally with political party -> ensure they win elections, fairly or whatever, no one will be able to tell the story that votes are counted unfairly -> install an unremovable authoritarian dictatorship. Which might have imitation elections & stuff, just like USSR had. And then, 'correction' camps for people that do not fully fit…

How much insurrection is acceptable before the tradeoff of a 'new beautiful society' is the better deal? Both sound like bad outcomes. Neither sounds obviously superior.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#398

Post by nnspired » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #322

djsumdog wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Other way round: anyone on the left is used to unfair treatment. The app reporting drone strike locations was banned years ago. Apple caused tumblr to self-destruct. Just this time the policy is actually in our favor. Unlimited incitement to violence is not sustainable. Banning them for this is the start ; America is going to have a long uncomfortable process of dealing with its media.

The start of being banned for wrongthink you mean. It is coming down the line.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#399

Post by guscost » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

AndrewBissell wrote: post #358

guscost wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BLM riots were not a direct and realistic threat to the establishment. They are scared.

Wednesday's riots were not a threat to anything either. They knew it was coming days in advance and allowed it to proceed so it could be used as a pretext for the ongoing crackdown and consolidation of political and cultural dominance (as well as splitting U.S. populist factions onto multiple platforms where they will no longer see each other).

Perhaps. The strongest supporting evidence seems to be the rejection of federal assistance:

https://apnews.com/article/capitol-police-reject-federal-hel...

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#400

Post by usrusr » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

vuciv1 wrote: post #23

All this at the same time? Did they have a Godfather-esque technocrat meeting?

Twitter got all the spotlights, others try to rush onto stage before the audience stops applauding. Corporate decisionmaking structures at Google are clearly slower than a Zuckerberg whim, but their lag is surprisingly low.

Personally, I think it's a bit sad that Twitter with the hard tweet removal is effectively protecting Trump from being judged for his statements by the general public. The radicals got the messages anyways, but superficial observers are supported by the remove in any "bad but harmless" perception of Trump they might have.