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India’s government wants total control of the internet

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111–120 of 207 posts

Re: India’s government wants total control of the internet

#111
post #7

Yes there is increasing threat to freedom of speech, but India is not new to this. The left leaning Congress had even worse norms when they imposed martial law (Emergency). India has a robust sphere of public debate and draconian laws and acts of discrimination by the government are regularly criticised. In more cases than not the government embarrasses itself by its clumsy use of power to restrict opposition, like i…

> it allowed the Bharat Jodo Yatra (Join India Campaign) and understands that a robust opposition is in national interest.

Last time I checked India was still a democracy.

Re: India’s government wants total control of the internet

#112
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is useful to realize that either side is moved by the allure of power, and it's a fool's errand to justify the current situation with whataboutism - either instance was wrong.

I am not justifying the situation. I don't buy the overly negative prognosis.

> n't buy the overly negative prognosis.

No one need to buy negative opinions or so but trying to suppress truly occurring issues is childish. One needs to be mature to accept criticism. Whether twitter or elsewhere...

Again as a OCI, pointing out any issue is treated by this govt more as unpatriotic. (This strategy was successfully used by Bush/Trump to polarize the US). It is not good in the long term to do that.

Again many of the complaints are not out of spite. It is truly from heart many have optimism and feel let down. This is even inside the Indian consulate - I once was told that visit us only if you want to give a positive vibe (when I politely asked them as they printed place of birth with typo).

Note that US citizens complain about NSA spying, abortion rights etc.

Given poor law/order people can disappear in India. Take citizens that are languishing in prison. Again US police are not perfect but there are due procedures in the DOJ-USA. And getting a driving license or registering a house in US/EU will not need bribes.

Listening to complaints is the first step.

One can politely disagree. By banning things they create a chilling effect.

and please do not all the time compare to Congress govt. This is similar to blaming British. Yes, all that happened - just move on - NOW do good to current citizens.

No point in having dirty beaches complaining about Congress or British.

Re: India’s government wants total control of the internet

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At some point BBC needs to make a streaming service for everyone. Anyone with a 100 video content library is making their own, BBC is leaving money on the table I think. Unless licensing their content makes them way more money, the only other blockers I can think of are competence related and things being slow because of BBC's semi government organization.

Counterpoint: Nobody wants to subscribe to 100 services. If you're not in say somebody's top 3, that person is probably not going to buy your service. Therefore, if you don't believe that you will be in the top 3 for some fairly large number of people, you should not try to start your own consumer-facing service. The BBC might correctly determine that, although it's a respected content producer, it doesn't have enoug…

The thing is, this is sort of the reality we are living in. People are subscribing to a 100 different services. Niche streaming services are very popular, but I do agree you have to be the best at your niche to be viable. The whole profitability point you made is completely valid. There are indeed no numbers that I am aware of that say these are profitable.

Re: India’s government wants total control of the internet

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't New Delhi just tell Youtube HQ to obey worldwide and enforce it on all their subsidiaries, or lose the market? In that case it wouldn't matter how many intermediary entities are there between HQ and local operations.

What if Alphabet calls the bluff and stops serving all of their services in the market. The population would know why which wouldn't be a good look for leaders. Google is too invested in $earch to call a bluff though.

Google has competitors in the search space so it's understandable why they're afraid of calling bluffs.

And from what I understand Youtube isn't profitable by itself.

Re: India’s government wants total control of the internet

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't New Delhi just tell Youtube HQ to obey worldwide and enforce it on all their subsidiaries, or lose the market? In that case it wouldn't matter how many intermediary entities are there between HQ and local operations.

What if Alphabet calls the bluff and stops serving all of their services in the market. The population would know why which wouldn't be a good look for leaders. Google is too invested in $earch to call a bluff though.

Alphabet would be shooting themselves in the foot doing that, they'd be giving a local competitor a solid footing, which they could then expand from to the US

Re: India’s government wants total control of the internet

#116
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pardon me for interrupting in the middle of a “LITERALLY HITLER REEE!” but LOL if you don’t think every every other political party isn’t trying to appeal to some caste or the other particularly at the local level. Of course they do because democratic politics is about people first and ideas second. In India jati is the basic unit of society, in Ancient Greece it was the Demos (which is exactly the same thing) and in…

Yup he gets things done. Just like he got a pogrom done and shown their place. Also thank you for proving my point above. Lol

> Upper caste population

Chill. I thought Upper caste population is the smallest size.

Re: India’s government wants total control of the internet

#117
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pardon me for interrupting in the middle of a “LITERALLY HITLER REEE!” but LOL if you don’t think every every other political party isn’t trying to appeal to some caste or the other particularly at the local level. Of course they do because democratic politics is about people first and ideas second. In India jati is the basic unit of society, in Ancient Greece it was the Demos (which is exactly the same thing) and in…

Yup he gets things done. Just like he got a pogrom done and shown their place. Also thank you for proving my point above. Lol

Ok so your point has been proven. Now what’s the plan? You’re going to build a time machine and go back undo the “pogrom”?

If you have time travel technology I’ll definitely vote for you.

Meanwhile back in reality the one who has a compelling vision for the future and a plausible record in executing it will win the election. Do you have someone like that in mind?

Re: India’s government wants total control of the internet

#118
post #69

Why is that fuck still in power? It has been 9 years. We do not need another Putin or Xi.

Non liberal populism is here to stay.

Just like conservatives/tory/UKIP from UK, the BJP have found way of blaming everyone else for issues. Of course, it works for a decade. Pretty sure once they have exhausted all cylinders, they will end up in same current UK situation.

At the end if the majority (mostly boomers) that do not want change continue to do this it is saddening for the young. But of course, when it bites them it may be too late.

Sad but democracy in function.

Re: India’s government wants total control of the internet

#119

I think this government does not have problem with criticism, but opposition is doing very bad job of criticism itself. It fails to present proper solution/ better approach on things that matters to national security, policy and way forward for country and people dont appreciate such cynical thinking anymore. strawman arguments on high moral ground will not work after a while. As for BBC "The Modi Question", comes fr…

After all that government done to Muslims, and its intentional hatred towards them, you still say it doesn't have a problem with criticism?

They are so accepting of criticism, that every time one criticizes them, they get banned from India's Twitter.

This isn't a real account and should be flagged.

Re: India’s government wants total control of the internet

#120
I once saw a former Swiss president answer to question about US gun problem (especially schools). He just answered, well if the majority decide do that then... it is your problem. Not ours.

Same here. If Indians, split from Internet - and if the majority (perhaps boomers etc), decide it is the right decision - may be OK - but likely they will lose in the long term - in terms of education, awareness, global participation etc.

In some ways, top Indian MNC can benefit from talent not leaving India.

Sure some will say, we have our own space program, etc - but lets be honest - it will take decades to even build a new operating system. Cooperation in science, tech benefits all humanity.

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