Live data from Hacker News

The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

mintpressnews.com

41–50 of 80 posts

Re: The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

#41
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The great firewall of China prevents most of their citizens from seeing news that isn’t the party line. And if you share it you face criminal charges. Not to mention their social ranking system. It’s ridiculous to say the US media is almost as heavily controlled as China.

> The great firewall of China prevents most of their citizens from seeing news that isn’t the party line Totally not like how access to Russian news outlets has been blocked by parts of the West.

I just went to RT from the US. This whataboutism doesn't work.

Re: The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

#42
Given the discourse on their website, FB should have known the optics here would spur negative pieces like this. That said, not buying the insinuation that CIA itself is influencing their former employees. Former employees shouldn't carry a scarlet letter with them to companies they go to after leaving government. The author's history of sensationalist posts in defense of authoritarian govts is pretty suspect as well.

Re: The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

#43
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The great firewall of China prevents most of their citizens from seeing news that isn’t the party line Totally not like how access to Russian news outlets has been blocked by parts of the West.

I just went to RT from the US. This whataboutism doesn't work.

I'm so tired of "whataboutism" being used to as some attempt to shut down an argument. It is perfectly valid to point out hypocritical arguments. And it might stun you to know that the West isn't solely composed of the US. Try going to RT from the EU - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L...

Take special note not just of the block, but of the anticircumvention provisions.

Re: The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

#44

Do people really believe there is a difference between government and the big tech? These companies regularly get large government contracts, it is unlikely that there aren’t deeper connections. I don’t believe free market exists in the USA and I think it’s economy and media is almost as heavily controlled as China.

Which government contracts has Meta acquired?

Re: The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

#45
post #38

I live in a country that is not USA. Why should we allow a company led by CIA agents to operate in our country?

To have access to American tech. Simply turning off Google/Apple/Amazon/Facebook will have massive repercussions throughout that countries economy and politics and put that country at a competitive disadvantage on a world stage.

Tell that to China, they seem to be doing fine without Google/Amazon/Facebook.

Of those companies, Google is probably the only one you can't remove without effort.

But this article was about Facebook. Why should we allow Facebook to operate on our country given that they hire from the CIA?

Re: The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

#46

Given the discourse on their website, FB should have known the optics here would spur negative pieces like this. That said, not buying the insinuation that CIA itself is influencing their former employees. Former employees shouldn't carry a scarlet letter with them to companies they go to after leaving government. The author's history of sensationalist posts in defense of authoritarian govts is pretty suspect as well…

If you were previously part of an organization that violates human rights, I have every right to hold it against you.

Re: The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

#47
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The great firewall of China prevents most of their citizens from seeing news that isn’t the party line. And if you share it you face criminal charges. Not to mention their social ranking system. It’s ridiculous to say the US media is almost as heavily controlled as China.

> The great firewall of China prevents most of their citizens from seeing news that isn’t the party line Totally not like how access to Russian news outlets has been blocked by parts of the West.

Which Russian news outlets are blocked? Can you list them?

Re: The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article gives its sources, and I can go to Linkedin myself to verify its veracity. You're making an argument from authority that I should ignore the source since some authority said to - incidentally a source discussing how "former" CIA employees are working to censor what information I can see.

> The article gives its sources, and I can go to Linkedin myself to verify its veracity. So? If they're willing to publish false or fabricated information to push their conspiracy theories, they're almost certainly willing to do other misleading things to push it too -- like making a mountain out of a molehill or giving some mundane fact a sinister spin.

this particular report is accurate.

Re: The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

#49
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The great firewall of China prevents most of their citizens from seeing news that isn’t the party line. And if you share it you face criminal charges. Not to mention their social ranking system. It’s ridiculous to say the US media is almost as heavily controlled as China.

The degree is usually different, but it is sometimes spectacular how much media collaborates to hide news. Look for any coverage in the US press about the gigantic strikes that workers in India organized in November 2020, possibly involving 250 million workers [0]: there isn't even 1 single article written by any mainstream media in the US (and much of Europe). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Indian_general_st…

> The degree is usually different, but it is sometimes spectacular how much media collaborates to hide news.

Hiding implies a deliberate act to obscure, but you're example is most likely nothing of the kind.

> Look for any coverage in the US press about the gigantic strikes that workers in India organized in November 2020, possibly involving 250 million workers [0]: there isn't even 1 single article written by any mainstream media in the US (and much of Europe).

Are you talking about this?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/world/asia/india-farmers-...

Also there was a US presidential election in November 2020, which is the kind of thing that drowns out pretty much every other kind of news story. The fact is that unless an international story has some kind of domestic angle (which includes geopolitics), it probably won't get much attention, because most people just don't care.

Re: The Ex-CIA Agents Deciding Facebook’s Content Policy

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The great firewall of China prevents most of their citizens from seeing news that isn’t the party line Totally not like how access to Russian news outlets has been blocked by parts of the West.

Which Russian news outlets are blocked? Can you list them?

Sure:

RT- Russia Today English

RT- Russia Today UK

RT - Russia Today Germany

RT - Russia Today France

RT- Russia Today Spanish

Sputnik’

Source: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L...

Or here's a mass media summary if you don't want to read the official documentation: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-bans-rt-sputnik-bann...

Post reply on HN