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Uganda bans social media ahead of presidential election

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Re: Uganda bans social media ahead of presidential election

#21
post #3

The predictable [and unfortunate] side effect of censorship on private platforms is it creates the illusion that the truth is being covered up. I have no doubts the next surveillance and encryption backdoor bills will be based upon the incidents happening right now. It's far better for society to keep discussions in plain sight, even if they are woefully misguided.

The crazy thing is that the Q-Anon people will inevitably see the spate of arrests and censorship as "The Storm" prophecy coming true but in reverse, an "Anti-Storm". I have a feeling this will only make many of them even more committed and possibly now that they can point to something real, could even grow the movement. Crazy stuff.

Whenever I hear these comments I wonder what the recommendation is to shrink the movement. Obviously open conversations did not stop the movement from growing.

Re: Uganda bans social media ahead of presidential election

#22
post #15
post #3

The predictable [and unfortunate] side effect of censorship on private platforms is it creates the illusion that the truth is being covered up. I have no doubts the next surveillance and encryption backdoor bills will be based upon the incidents happening right now. It's far better for society to keep discussions in plain sight, even if they are woefully misguided.

And allow actors to spread disinformation anytime they wanted even though the megaphone was given and then amplified(on engagement metric) by these megacorporations in the first place?

Yes, because the trade off is worth it, and we should treat people like grownups who can think for themselves. Why not encourage critical thinking and wider reading, instead of being the police of literally all the information on your giant social media platform?

Re: Uganda bans social media ahead of presidential election

#23
post #17
post #6

Better than doing what we do in the "civilised" world: only banning one side.

That's a huge exaggeration, I'm sure you'll still find millions of Trump supporters on twitter and facebook.

I’m pretty apathetic about these bannings (so hopefully this comment doesn’t read as support or opposition), but “not all conservatives were banned” does not refute “only conservatives were banned”.

Re: Uganda bans social media ahead of presidential election

#25
post #17
post #6

Better than doing what we do in the "civilised" world: only banning one side.

That's a huge exaggeration, I'm sure you'll still find millions of Trump supporters on twitter and facebook.

Unthinkable, how could someone support a sitting president. Are you telling me that some people will also start supporting Biden in the future? what has the world come to..

Re: Uganda bans social media ahead of presidential election

#28
post #4

> A source in Uganda’s telecom sector said the government had made clear to executives at telecoms companies that the social media ban was in retaliation for Facebook blocking some pro-government accounts. This is probably the interesting bit - a retaliatory move by a regime trying to silence the opposition. I don't think this has too many parallels (except for blocking of accounts) with the current US events, which…

It's really inconsequential to the man in charger.

He is, after all, running for like his 10th term now.

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