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Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts on the assassination of a BC Sikh leader

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Re: Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts on the assassination of a BC Sikh leader

#81
post #66
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indian nationalist circles close to the government have been claiming credit on behalf of RAW for some time (e.g., https://tfipost.com/2023/06/raw-will-never-confirm-but-harde... ).

Even that article you cite stops short of saying that RAW was definitely the perpetrator. There are occasionally people who opportunistically claim credit for crimes they didn't commit, when it suits their politics. And even if it was someone in RAW, being "close to the government", does not necessarily mean it was ordered by that government. None of us have enough information to say for sure at this point. Yet peopl…

> The Prime Minister of Canada just did a state visit to India, where he was not warmly received, and made to look foolish on the world stage. So, he has his own political calculations in this affair, and is far from an objective arbiter of truth

This 100%. It is the only reason why this mudslinging is happening now.

Re: Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts on the assassination of a BC Sikh leader

#82
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

India (among other countries) have passed so called "hostage-taking laws" that require large social media companies to have in-country employees that can be strong-armed from ways small to large (threats of being convicted of treason and executed). This is a specific policy to allow them to enforce their censorship laws in other countries.

Do they have options to enforce that other than blocking access to the service in question?

If there is a single Facebook employee on Indian soil, that Facebook cares about, then obviously, yes they can enforce it, simply by being mean to those Facebook employee(s).

It seems like India's stance is: If you want to do business in India, you have to have employees you care about on our soil, so we can be mean to them if you do something we don't like.

Facebook's stance appears to be: We like your money enough that we will comply with this.

I'm just glad I'm not one of those Facebook employees.

Re: Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts on the assassination of a BC Sikh leader

#83
post #77
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mr. Nijjar was not involved; he was 8 years old when this happened.

He was involved in other similar activities though.

A man’s freedom to live in a liberal democracy is not dependent on his activity’s perceived similarity to crimes committed by other people. It’s determined by the law and the application of justice. The Canadian government guarantees this and the Indian government interfered with this sovereign right as alleged.

Re: Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts on the assassination of a BC Sikh leader

#84
post #59
post #48

To those saying "But Bill C-18" - it's not the Canadian government taking things down. It's the Indian government, taking down articles and posts that accuse them of assassinating a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. C-18 is a problem. We need to deal with it. That's not relevant to the issue at hand. And to those saying "Well he was a terrorist..." we, in Canada, have something called the Rule of Law. You have to pr…

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182 The Khalistani perpetrators of the worst terrorist act on Canadian soil, second only to 9/11 in deaths, walked free. I can't comment on Canada's justice system broadly. But when it comes to holding terrorists accountable, Canada's track record is a joke.

As per your own link, many of the suspects are dead, on the run, in prison for decades (in the case of one suspect that provided testimony against the other perpetrators), or were found to have not had involvement in the plot. Saying the perpetrators "walked free" is a massive distortion at best.

Re: Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts on the assassination of a BC Sikh leader

#86
post #66
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indian nationalist circles close to the government have been claiming credit on behalf of RAW for some time (e.g., https://tfipost.com/2023/06/raw-will-never-confirm-but-harde... ).

Even that article you cite stops short of saying that RAW was definitely the perpetrator. There are occasionally people who opportunistically claim credit for crimes they didn't commit, when it suits their politics. And even if it was someone in RAW, being "close to the government", does not necessarily mean it was ordered by that government. None of us have enough information to say for sure at this point. Yet peopl…

> The Prime Minister of Canada just did a state visit to India, where he was not warmly received, and made to look foolish on the world stage. So, he has his own political calculations in this affair, and is far from an objective arbiter of truth.

This is a very bold claim.

Re: Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts on the assassination of a BC Sikh leader

#88
post #9

Play stupid games (Canadian government bill C-18 [1]), win stupid prizes. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_News_Act

This isn't C-18, this is way worse. The context is that there's a Canadian Sikh who has been calling for parts of India to secede from India. In response, India had him assassinated. India has laws on the books that allow them to remove content globally for things that violate Indian law. They enforce this on social media companies by requiring them to have employees on the country's soil in order to take them hostag…

> They enforce this on social media companies by requiring them to have employees on the country's soil in order to take them hostage

Are you suggesting that India requires Facebook to employ people who reside in India in order to operate in India, and that they use those employees as hostages in order to coerce Facebook to succumb to their demands even when when those demands concern communication between non-Indian nationals residing outside of India?

If so, I'd love to hear more about this; do you have any resources?

Re: Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts on the assassination of a BC Sikh leader

#89
post #66
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indian nationalist circles close to the government have been claiming credit on behalf of RAW for some time (e.g., https://tfipost.com/2023/06/raw-will-never-confirm-but-harde... ).

Even that article you cite stops short of saying that RAW was definitely the perpetrator. There are occasionally people who opportunistically claim credit for crimes they didn't commit, when it suits their politics. And even if it was someone in RAW, being "close to the government", does not necessarily mean it was ordered by that government. None of us have enough information to say for sure at this point. Yet peopl…

> The Prime Minister of Canada just did a state visit to India, where he was not warmly received, and made to look foolish on the world stage. So, he has his own political calculations in this affair, and is far from an objective arbiter of truth.

He is also deeply unpopular, sinking in the polls, and facing major public pressure over Canada's housing and cost of living crisis. He also has taken significant criticism for his handling of Chinese foreign interference campaigns.

A cynic might point out that starting a fight with an unpopular foreign government is a great way to distract attention from the government's domestic policy failures.

Re: Facebook is blocking Canadians’ posts on the assassination of a BC Sikh leader

#90
post #9

Play stupid games (Canadian government bill C-18 [1]), win stupid prizes. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_News_Act

Facebook is not playing a smart game either. The government is already and understandably furious at India for this encroachment to sovereignty (the murder of a Canadian in Canada by a foreign state), it was also already not happy at Facebook for their previous encroachment to sovereignty (the blocking of Canadian news), and now it has more reason to be mad at Facebook for this latest encroachment to sovereignty of a…

Actually, Facebook is playing it smart.

Canada has less than 40 million total people. If Facebook completely exited Canada and banned all Canadians from Facebook, it wouldn’t be all that big of a deal.

India on the other hand has over a billion people.

If you have to choose to piss off a government, Canada is a much better choice than India.

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