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Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content”

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Re: Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content”

#231

The road to hell is paved with "good intentions". We desperately need to find a globally adoptable alternative to google and the services that it provides. Docs, Sheets, Drive, etc. are fantastic services in that they work really well on a massive scale. However, Google's increasing role as an arbiter of right vs wrong and a steward of information puts too much power into the hands of one corporation, whose best inte…

We have both nextcloud and LibreOffice.

Re: Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content”

#232

Amazing they have the gall to think they still can arbiter truth, considering how YouTube up until recently was banning the "conspiracy theory" that the recent pandemic may have originated from a Wuhan Lab... Something that now all the experts are saying may actually be true.

Oh that's ok, didn't YouTube just win a major award for Human Rights or something...?

Re: Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content”

#233
post #204
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your fundamental error is in the fact that you think that a private company (and market competition) can fix these issues. It seems that many people on HN are just waiting for the new Savior company, that will magically have incentives to fight for them instead of making money. It's like hoping for market competition create health regulation in the food industry. Turns out, not even Apple is that messiah, and…

The other truth is we're all outraged when these companies host some stuff that we don't like ... and get upset when they don't host the stuff we do like. Consumers aren't rational. Neither are their demands. I'm probably no more rational than anyone else, but I'm honest that I sure as hell don't want to give money to a service that is happy to host some violent folks content / garbage...

Do you support the right of others to host content you consider violent or garbage?

Re: Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content”

#234

The road to hell is paved with "good intentions". We desperately need to find a globally adoptable alternative to google and the services that it provides. Docs, Sheets, Drive, etc. are fantastic services in that they work really well on a massive scale. However, Google's increasing role as an arbiter of right vs wrong and a steward of information puts too much power into the hands of one corporation, whose best inte…

The issue is that we know from experience, after 20+ years of the modern Internet, that if you make a 'free speech' drive/repository place that's widely available, it will host the absolute worst of the human race. Then, let's say you personally were in charge of said Free Speech Drive- every day you'd get up and hear about people using it for (legal) jailbait photos, Islamic State recruiting, collaboration between e…

a lot of people who say they want an absolute free speech drive/free speech host have never actually worked for a colocation/dedicated server/hosting ISP and seen how the sausage is made.

Re: Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content”

#236
Going to plug our new subreddit: https://Reddit.com/r/ifa

We need to pass an amendment abolishing copyright and patent laws.

We need to make (old) Napster, torrents, Pirate Bay, Sci hub, legal, and decentralize the control of information. Otherwise it’s 1984 baby.

Re: Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content”

#237
post #204
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your fundamental error is in the fact that you think that a private company (and market competition) can fix these issues. It seems that many people on HN are just waiting for the new Savior company, that will magically have incentives to fight for them instead of making money. It's like hoping for market competition create health regulation in the food industry. Turns out, not even Apple is that messiah, and…

The other truth is we're all outraged when these companies host some stuff that we don't like ... and get upset when they don't host the stuff we do like. Consumers aren't rational. Neither are their demands. I'm probably no more rational than anyone else, but I'm honest that I sure as hell don't want to give money to a service that is happy to host some violent folks content / garbage...

> The other truth is we're all outraged when these companies host some stuff that we don't like ... and get upset when they don't host the stuff we do like.

Yet it is rational to oppose distribution of what you think is wrong and promote distribution of what you think is right. You must have a hidden premise in there somewhere.

Re: Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content”

#238

Amazing they have the gall to think they still can arbiter truth, considering how YouTube up until recently was banning the "conspiracy theory" that the recent pandemic may have originated from a Wuhan Lab... Something that now all the experts are saying may actually be true.

Oh that's ok, didn't YouTube just win a major award for Human Rights or something...?

Yes, their CEO won a Free Speech Award. At an event sponsored by YouTube. Unbelievably stupid.

Re: Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content”

#239

What. The. Hell. I suppose limiting sharing might be justified. But limiting access and/or deleting own files is outrageous. For that matter, collections of misleading content can have legitimate purposes. Such as research. Now I'm seriously considering dropping my Drive subscription. Update: I got a lot of upvotes, but tbh I may have misunderstood the new policy, which does seem to (maybe?) only be limited to distri…

> I do think Google has a legitimate interest in regulating use of it's services as means of distributing information If so... do you think that your ISP also has a legitimate interest in regulating use of it's services as means of distributing information?

Of course... Have you not heard of copyright notices leading to termination of services?

Re: Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content”

#240
post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is totalitarianism when you don't let your servers be open relays for antivaxxer propaganda during a pandemic?

Soooo… The Who said the virus isn’t airborne initially. They said masks don’t work initially. What’s your plan of action there? Google censors what the status quo asks them to and then flips and censors the other side the second they change their mind? Does that sound like a good world to you? How exactly does long term discussion happen in that cases? Since basically by about April 2020 you’ve banned all pro mask di…

If they're bad at identifying misinformation, then I'll fault them for that. Has Google had a tendency to censor things on the basis of information that later turned out to be true? Your examples are the judgments of groups that aren't Google and judgments that I don't think the groups responsible for pushed for others to ever get censored for.
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