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

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#401

Post by cubano » 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…

I think a much better, much older, and much more philosophical argument is...

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

And actually, the more I think about it, this is a more apt analogue to what's happening with Paler then first engages the mind...

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_a_tree_falls_in_a_forest#:~....

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#402

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

djsumdog wrote: post #132

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.

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…

> If you cannot install an run your own software on a device, you do not own the device.

I agree with this, and your analysis of the inaccessible cost of those devices people truly can own and control. However, I do not think this is an accurate parallel to the many horrifying political events of this week.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#403

Post by JRainey » 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…

tech monopolies are effectively info utilities.

censorship of viewpoints you disagree with means you don’t understand the point of freedom of speech.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#404

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

roberto wrote: post #9

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.

It's not censorship, it's free market. These are private companies.

> These are private companies.

So are Baidu and Tencent.

Large companies are part of an industrial–congressional complex, with lobbying and political contributions on one side, political approval and threats of regulation on the other.

Just because something is done by a private company, it doesn't mean that it's not the state or the government wielding its power. In the current political climate, and given how intertwined corporations and state power are in the US, trying to maintain a crisp distinction between private companies and public authority is itself comical.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#405

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

Darmody wrote: post #146

Let's ban Parler but we'll keep Twitter, even though the platform is full of messages like this [1] and worse. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20210107225836/https://twitter.c...

A removed tweet is a pretty bad example. Seems like the content is getting moderated just fine then.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#406

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

mumblemumble wrote: post #159

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.

This decision, in and of itself, doesn't seem particularly unprecedented or untoward to me. Every store, including the Google Play Store, has a right to choose what products it wants to carry, for pretty much any reason whatsoever, including for political reasons. It's probably pretty difficult to find copies of The Turner Diaries in your local Barnes and Noble, and I'd be even more surprised to find a copy of The Va…

[deleted]

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#407

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

tracer4201 wrote: post #126

kortilla wrote: post #12

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.

I don’t agree. The President was just caught red handed asking Georgia to make up votes for him, and he caused an attack on the US Congress. People are actually dead because of the things he said — inciting an overthrow of the government. Even our allied governments are saying he caused the riots. You can’t say the entire world is wrong, every single human being is deep state.

> The President was just caught red handed asking Georgia to make up votes for him

Did you listen to the entire phone conversation and not the 4 minute clip? That's quite not what happened. Trump laid out all his claims and was asking them to accept investigating anything that cloud make up his very narrow margin.

Another fun fact about that call, it was a Settlement Call. That was literally protected by attorney/client privileged. Barnes, a civil rights attorney who does federal cases, and who is currently contracted by the Trump team, talks about it here(starting at 54:49):

https://youtu.be/bnevIjvohvQ?t=3276

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#408

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

wnevets wrote: post #56

Here are some of the screenshots [1] from Paler since Wednesday. Please let me know if you think Google is making a mistake or not. [1] https://twitter.com/YourAnonCentral/status/13473740754552299...

Ah, we’ve had nonsense like that all over the internet for decades.

Liberal pundits are saying similar about conservatives ... elected officials call for disruption in the street, 4chan has crazy stuff, yaddha yaddha.

We have incitement and conspiracy laws. We have an FBI and Secret Service that really take this stuff seriously and are well financed. If anything these posts make it easier for them to keep an eye on the tiny percentage of loudmouths that might actually do something.

There’s a cost to all this ease of expression, to be sure. Maybe people can be radicalized more easily, and that sucks.

But we’ve built this whole society on erring in favor of more free expression, and by and large this value has been a tremendous success, where the downsides are absolutely crushed by the up side.

Nothing will be an unmitigated good but in this case it’s pretty clear where the balance lies, and what these companies are doing -as we speak- isn’t the winning choice, for anyone involved.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#409

Post by ardit33 » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:28 AM UTC

f430 wrote: post #76

isn't anybody else creeped out by this??

I am... I am democrat, but I feel this is deeply disturbing.

I can see how apple doesn't like parler in its app store, and they have every right to remove it. It is a private company, and it shouldn't be forced to host apps that promote violence/whatever they feel is wrong.

But, the fact that you can't download an app, or side-load an app, on any iphone without it being on the app store, makes this decision very worrying.

Tim Cook and apple are being the arbiter of all speech/content, and this is very similar to autocratic countries where they ban entire sites (Like Erdogan did with youtube and twitter).

One rich corporate exec should not have this much power...

The solution is that all computing device makers, should have a away for their devices to be able to download/side-load apps, without having to go a centralized store. This is better for those countries that are ruled by autocrats as well, where the government suppresses free speech.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#410

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

dilap wrote: post #341

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…

I think a better analogy is saying, oh, you've banned newspapers, but who cares, you can still talk to people in person. Which is to say, it's true, & that's a good thing, but that doesn't mean that the censorship itself isn't bad. The most effective, most powerful communication medium that exists right now is native apps for social networks on smartphones. If 100% of that medium is controlled and censored by two com…

I think you mean to say that if you aren’t allowed to walk into anyone else’s home or business, and yell your opinions into their face, your rights to free speech have somehow been infringed.

My analogy is far more accurate than your tortured newspaper analogy. Parlour still gets to publish unrestricted as a web site and as web apps, it just doesn’t get free distribution, marketing and hosting from Google or Apple.