Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

restofworld.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 208 posts

Re: Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

#111

Post by MattGaiser »

diebeforei485 wrote: post #108
foolinaround wrote: post #102

While the Koo founder sounds idealistic in his interview, it is clear that he is willing to be bound by Indian laws - which a large segment of the country feels that it is being applied selectively. so, Koo will be patronized orimarily by the followers of the ruling party, and will be seen as such, even if it was not his intent.

Worth noting: Under Indian law, truth is not necessarily a defense to defamation. But perhaps having being black-and-white democratically enacted rules (such as they are) is better than having opaque rules set by unelected San Francisco employees.

> Worth noting: Under Indian law, truth is not necessarily a defense to defamation.

So what is defamation defined as then? Offense?

Re: Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

#112

Post by notsureaboutpg »

senthil_rajasek wrote: post #19
ceilingcorner wrote: post #11

The actions of Twitter regarding the last election have almost certainly guaranteed the rise of foreign social media sites. If they have no qualms restricting the speech of the president of America, clearly they’ll have no issue manipulating other governments. American social media sites really have no one to blame but themselves. I say this from a realpolitik perspective. This was clearly the obvious outcome.

Hate speech inciting violence is what was banned not any speech.

It doesn't matter though.

Other governments are going to see the facts on the ground (Twitter can and will restrict the speech of a head of state to his people), and rush to sanction local alternatives which will allow them to reach their people and ban American versions.

Re: Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

#113

Post by adictator »

cobraetor wrote: post #76
BitwiseFool wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The classic problem is, how do you define hate speech and what counts as inciting violence? Who are the people deciding such things? If you're a foreign government you do not want some committee of Bay Area Twitter employees deciding that for your national affairs.

These are great questions, and here's my attempt at answering or elaborating on them. > how do you define hate speech Ira Glasser explains it precisely: "When people say they want to ban hate speech, what they mean is they want to ban speech that they hate ... But if you allowed something called ‘hate speech’ to be banned, then the only important question would be ‘who decides? ... If the government is going to be th…

> If the government is going to be the one to decide what hate speech to ban

Yes. The government, typically democratically elected, should be the ONLY authority on making such rules. Not a commercial / tech company which, for all intents and purposes, was setup with the sole intention of making money. So in the US, even if you take the best case scenario, we have certain sections of the government shooting over the shoulders of companies like Twitter & Facebook. That way they get the results they want without the flak they would have typically received. In return, those sections of govt can confer favors, monetary or otherwise to the tech companies.

Re: Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

#114

Post by naruvimama »

sgpl wrote: post #4

I grew up in India - nationalism is definitely a growing concern for the country IMO, more so than can be expressed online by articles such as this. And nationalism definitely has a huge overlap with hinduism in the country. Creating siloed media platforms that lets such ideas fester and grow is probably the worst thing that can happen. The thing is that even gently challenging these ideas (with some folks I know bac…

Nationalism can mean different things to different people and countries. It can be bad in former colonial powers and good in former colonies.

And the BJP today under Modi is considered a "Hindu nationalist" after 70 years of Independence.

This is in sharp contrast to Pakistan which started killing millions of Hindus & Sikhs, and has more or less completely wiped out their non-muslim population. This ethnic cleansing started even before they were created as a country.

So perhaps the "Hindus" should have a say in the only country meant for them.

Pardon me for saying this but Christian and Islamic values have been enforced on much of the world, which includes India much of whose laws and education are Christian/Leftist leaning.

As for those who are not aware, "Hindu" (of India) is the catch all phrase for anyone who did not fit into the other major faiths. And the "Hindus" themselves mostly consider anyone who are not openly inimical to their pluralistic practices as being in the fold.

Re: Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

#115

Post by msravi »

I was one of those users who made the move from Twitter to Koo. I think what really pushed me and several several others to do so, was the arrogance that Twitter showed to an elected government, for a legitimate takedown of accounts that were fanning flames of hatred and violence through blatantly fake reports on the ground.

This was pretty much like the Capitol hill violence - hooligans stormed the Red Fort on Republic Day and hoisted a separatist flag.

One "farmer" died when he rammed a barricade with his tractor and it turned turtle. Despite there being a clear video of this, several Twitter accounts began maliciously attributing this to police firing, and trending hashtags saying there was a "farmer's genocide."

The government rightly asked Twitter to take these down. Twitter's response was wholly inappropriate for the situation and the contrast to their actions during the Capitol hill incident was really stark.

Re: Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

#116

Post by notsureaboutpg »

naruvimama wrote: post #106
as300 wrote: post #37

I get the impression reading articles like this that the farm bills would certainly negatively impact farmer. See this quote from the article: >The country’s capital city has seen over four months of protest after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government enacted agricultural laws that would adversely affect farmers across India. However, from speaking to people and watching interviews where people discuss *the actua…

My impression is just fear mongering for political gain. India had a power transfer from the British to the elite who used to work for the British as intermediaries. India has mostly been and is still dominated by these elites in most sectors outside of the free markets. They are worried about Modi taking away all these privileges that they have enjoyed for 70 years. So all these elements are ganged up against the BJ…

>They are worried about Modi taking away all these privileges that they have enjoyed for 70 years.

>So all these elements are ganged up against the BJP and Modi.

I have to say, this is a pretty misguided impression. Seems like you haven't actually read up on the farm bill.

Your comment history seems to expose you as a BJP/Modi supporter who doesn't think much before proposing policies. Here's an excerpted comment of yours from a while back:

>Put some armed sentry that shoots on sight,, no more refugees.

>It is part of Turkey's strategy fill Europe with Muslims and them wanting to reinstate the Caliphate.

I mean, I think that speaks for itself.

Re: Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

#117

Post by john_max_1 »

rdedev wrote: post #80
throwawaysea wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what is actually happening, and is a very common incorrect characterization by progressive/Western groups/others. India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) grants refugee status and paths to citizenship for refugees from some of the surrounding countries, but only if they belong to certain persecuted groups. If you're a Muslim from a Muslim-majority country, then almost always you are not a refugee escaping…

If you are an LGBTQ muslim in one of those muslim majority countries you listed above then you will certainly be persecuted. A single factor should not be used to determine the refugee status of a person

So, one criteria is bad just because others weren't considered? FWIW, Muslim hijras are not treated badly in these Muslim countries.

Re: Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

#118

Post by colejohnson66 »

mc32 wrote: post #98
senthil_rajasek wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hate speech inciting violence is what was banned not any speech.

Hate speech should be defined by laws rather than ToSes. With a ToS you can make it up as you like. Speaking against having pets could be hate speech against pet owners. I mean it could mean whatever the mods want it to mean. You can circumscribe it to only affect people you want affected for whatever reason.

> With a ToS you can make it up as you like. Speaking against having pets could be hate speech against pet owners. I mean it could mean whatever the mods want it to mean. You can circumscribe it to only affect people you want affected for whatever reason.

To be fair, Congress could, on a whim, change the definitions of hate speech whenever they felt like it. If you're arguing about selective enforcement with TOS, the police already selectively enforce laws. Hate speech would just be another one they could use against people they don't like, while ignoring those they do. There's no good solution.

Re: Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

#119

Post by john_max_1 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #10
99_00 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does 'nationalism' concern you. Is 'nationalism' always or almost always negative?

Nationalism is always negative to me because I define it as blind allegiance to a tribe who you don't hold accountable.

It is a privilege to say so, My wife's Christian family suffered a lot during Islamist-led civil war.

Re: Koo, India’s free-speech Twitter alternative

#120

Post by john_max_1 »

The modern day blue-tick is equivalent of "Rai Bahadur" title British used to award to their subjects in colonial India.

Twitter banned TrueIndology multiple times while s/he would have been given a blue-tick had he been a leftist.

https://swarajyamag.com/politics/highhandedness-of-the-left-...

Post reply on HN