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

Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

alqst.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 512 posts

Re: Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

#91

Post by jazzypants »

mannanj wrote: post #80
jazzypants wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buddy... Are you a doctor? Are you a scientist? Why do you think that you have an inalienable right to proselytize your "health practices" on a public forum? My experience was that there wasn't nearly enough moderation on social media about Covid. The absurd amount of misinformation was the final straw that finally got me to leave Facebook and Instagram.

I see. So you employ the Ad Hominem style fallacies to attack my credibility. No thank you. Unlike you, I listen with an open mind and curiosity. It's led me to an obsession in my health practices as a nearly full-time job for about 10 years, I don't just blindly follow what I'm spoon fed by a doctor or some authority figure. And neither do I blindly call forth the label of "science" to win approval and credibility.

You were talking about your personal experience, were you not? How can I avoid Ad Hominem when we are literally talking about you? I definitely could have phrased my question better, but I genuinely don't understand why you think that a public forum run by a private company should be required to publish unverified "health practices" in the midst of a global pandemic.

I'm not going to pretend that the CDC did a good job during Covid, but it's very clear to me that a lot fewer people would have died if we had all followed their guidance more strictly. I generally err on the side of sparse moderation, but life and death scenarios are one of my main exceptions.

I'm sorry if I offended you. It seems like we disagree on the fundamental nature of science, and I don't think that it's likely that we will overcome that disagreement. So, it looks like this conversation is over. Have a good day!

Re: Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

#92

Post by alex1138 »

some_furry wrote: post #4

Disappointing but not surprising. This is what happens when you're a billion dollar company and your ethical bone is tied to "we fully comply with the law". You get compliance by default , even if doing so would exacerbate human rights abuses.

I don't know the list of everything they've complied with but contrary to Google who once(?) refused to remove pirate bay results, Facebook blocked it even in private messages

Zuck doensn't care. His motto is 'dumb fucks'. And that wasn't a joke. It's how he sees people

Re: Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

#93

Post by caymanjim »

xinu2020 wrote: post #49
haritha-j wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people I know from Saudi Arabia refer to it as Saudi, so maybe thats the better word? I've never heard anyone call it Arabia.

KSA works too and matches UAE pattern.

KSA is never used in US media. No one here would know what it meant.

Re: Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

#94

Post by mohamedkoubaa »

philipallstar wrote: post #48
0x5FC3 wrote: post #18

Social media companies post record earnings year after year from their ads business while increasingly proving to be harmful to society. They do the bare minimum in terms of content moderation and bots while priming the algorithms to maximize revenue. The good ol' privatized profits, socialized harm model. In a just world, would social media platforms be taxed higher on corporate revenue and how would that pan out? M…

This is the exact opposite of what you think. The problem is the governments in those places, and not the private company. The private company would gladly connect everyone.

The transnational private sector is neither morally consistent nor geopolitically neutral.

The transnational private sector is neither morally consistent nor geopolitically neutral.

The transnational private sector is neither morally consistent nor geopolitically neutral.

Re: Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

#95

Post by ktm5j »

latexr wrote: post #43
ktm5j wrote: post #12

Do folks have a suggestion for a Facebook alternative? I'm about fed up with the state of things, but still want to feel connected to social circles (even if they're online only) and politics (ideally without the hate spam bots).

Social is where the people are. If you’re using Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family, the only viable alternative is wherever your friends and family are. Chances are it’s going to be impossible to switch everyone (or even most people) over, so you’re stuck if you care about those connections. Or you can do what I did and simply say “fuck it”. Get rid of your account anyway and deal with the consequences…

Thanks for the reply.. yeah I might just be at the "fuck it" point. I've done that before and it always makes me feel healthier (calmer, sleep better, etc).

Re: Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

#96

Post by maratc »

saghm wrote: post #42
input_sh wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The title as it is right now is 79 characters long, the limit is 80.

What about "Meta blocks human rights accounts for audiences in Saudi Arabia and UAE"? I don't think "reaching" adds much to the headline

> "Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE"

79 chars.

Re: Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

#97

Post by ktm5j »

thinkingtoilet wrote: post #37
ktm5j wrote: post #12

Do folks have a suggestion for a Facebook alternative? I'm about fed up with the state of things, but still want to feel connected to social circles (even if they're online only) and politics (ideally without the hate spam bots).

[flagged]

I will do as I please, thanks.

Re: Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

#98

Post by diydsp »

cmiles74 wrote: post #60
philipallstar wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the exact opposite of what you think. The problem is the governments in those places, and not the private company. The private company would gladly connect everyone.

Strong disagree on this one! The problem is the company will do anything to stay operational in these repressive countries, including helping them hide human rights abuses (among other things). The logic that if the local government was more open about their repressive policies then Meta would happily help spread that information is probably true but I don't think anyone has ever disagreed with that.

Yep. The worst of both worlds..

1. Whatever the govt wants

2. Their own mods to max profit.

Corporations were conceived specifically to remove responsibility. They should not be this widely available.

Re: Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

#99

Post by Pay08 »

p-e-w wrote: post #27
strictnein wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it better for human rights for a channel of communication to exist only if every single person can use it? Or is it a net positive for these communication channels to exist, albeit in an imperfect form?

Communication channels like Meta are a strict negative for human rights everywhere (including in the West), because they funnel all communication into a single channel that is easy to surveil and censor.

What would the alternative be? Radio?

Re: Meta blocks human rights accounts from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia, UAE

#100

Post by marcosdumay »

throwaw12 wrote: post #56
philipallstar wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the exact opposite of what you think. The problem is the governments in those places, and not the private company. The private company would gladly connect everyone.

> The problem is the governments in those places, and not the private company. Do you think Meta will comply if North Korea or Iran requests same censorship? If your answer is "No, they will not comply", then problem is the company

They can't operate there. AFAIK, that's the only difference.

A company can not operate in a country and not follow its rules.

Post reply on HN