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Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

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Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#121

Post by joshuaheard »

benmmurphy wrote: post #61
IgorPartola wrote: post #28

I get some kind of sick satisfaction out of watching a certain small subset of HN lose their mind trying to square the circle when it comes to stuff like this. On one hand “this is government overreach!” (it’s not because the committee here is on a specific task to investigate a specific crime) and “free market!” and on the other hand “big social media companies are evil and decide what’s right and what’s wrong.” Nev…

if congress is investigating a 'crime' then it is overreach because that is not the responsibility of congress. congress has investigatory powers like the subpoena power in order to help it make decisions about passing law. it is not meant to use this power primarily to pursue individuals.

This is true. Enforcing criminal statutes is the job of the executive branch. Congress can investigate other branches of government, and for the purpose of formulating policy, but I can see no policy formulation here. This is clearly a show investigation to try and paint their opponents in the worst light for the next election.

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#123

Post by throwawaysea »

Bhilai wrote: post #60
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #17

Quoted post unavailable.

Funny how you think this is a political theater but you do not acknowledge the anger stroking speeches from Trump and appearances of Republican senators on Fox news claiming widespread election fraud and forcing Pence and congress in not certifying election as not a serious matter.

If you look at the transcript of Trump’s speech (https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-speech-sav...), he literally called for a peaceful march from one location to another:

> I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.

And indeed, the overwhelming majority of the ~10000 people in that march never set foot on the Capitol grounds.

As for doubting election results, I feel like there are two things to consider here. One is why we think it is so easy to trust the American election system but cast so much doubt on those of other countries - I feel like that’s just blind faith, particularly when basic security measures like strong voter identification are not in place. The other is that the grounds for doubting election results were laid by the Democrats more so than the Republicans. Remember, Democrats formally objected to certifying results in 2000, 2004, and 2016 (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/opinion/democrat-republic...). Look at the claims Hillary and the Democrats made about Russia interfering in the 2016 elections - polls showed that even in 2018, 2/3rds of Democratic voters believed that Russia literally tampered with vote counts (https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/20...). Where’s the outrage around all of these situations?

Meanwhile, after a year of sustained rioting and manipulation of politics via violence (BLM riots in 2020), the left crying foul seems incredibly disingenuous. All Sides wrote at length about media bias in covering the Capitol riot (https://www.allsides.com/blog/capitol-hill-breach-riot-cover...). Let’s not forget that it was only very recently that hundreds of rioters were arrested for disrupting SCOTUS nominee Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45754771). This wasn’t the first time either, and there are many similar examples previously (example: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/more-100-arrested-...). Why is it that an escalation of such tactics is only a problem when one political side does it?

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#124

Post by davesque »

pumaontheprowl wrote: post #82

These companies overwhelmingly support the Democratic party. The idea that they are deliberately stonewalling this investigation strains credulity. Poking some of their most powerful allies like this feels like a tactical error for the Congressional Democrats.

In a way, that seems to suggest that the investigation is about ascertaining the facts instead of avoiding upsetting powerful allies.

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#125

Post by throwawaysea »

wvenable wrote: post #89
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

The guy with zip-tie cuffs...

Not that this condones zip tie guy of breaking the law on other counts, but I thought the zip tie cuffs were found to be immaterial to his charges, because he found them rather than brought them with him (https://www.yahoo.com/news/capitol-riots-zip-tie-guy-1906441... or https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/eric-munch...). My understanding is that he claimed he found them and took them away so Capitol police would not use them to restrain protesters. To my knowledge, subsequent charges have not actually determined any further malicious act stemming from the zip-tie cuffs specifically.

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#126

Post by barney54 »

Ardon wrote: post #16
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #9

We have a First Amendment... but if you run a platform that does not even use the First Amendment, you'll get subpoenaed and harassed. In theory, I ran a platform that protected everything the First Amendment did, and protected nothing that the Amendment did not protect, I should be legally in the clear. But I'm not going to attempt such a thing - because it's clear Congress would do the ultimate shakedown.

But this subpoena has nothing to do with the first amendment, they're demanding for more records, not levying a penalty for not removing these people.

Not necessarily. The First Amendment is implicated if the federal government is trying to get these companies to act on their behalf and censor speech.

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#127

Post by etataetaet »

satronaut wrote: post #93
kerneloftruth wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they're also sending a message: Censor more! (because the mid-terms are coming).

Quoted post unavailable.

Almost no one (~5%) agree with lawmakers being able to trade stocks. This is one of the few things that basically all Americans agree on.

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/588630-76-percent-of-voter...

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#128

Post by clarge1120 »

coolso wrote: post #119
IgorPartola wrote: post #28

I get some kind of sick satisfaction out of watching a certain small subset of HN lose their mind trying to square the circle when it comes to stuff like this. On one hand “this is government overreach!” (it’s not because the committee here is on a specific task to investigate a specific crime) and “free market!” and on the other hand “big social media companies are evil and decide what’s right and what’s wrong.” Nev…

This sounds personal, and reads like you read headlines every day from 2016-2020 and got very angry at “someone” (there is a common term for this) and now you are happy that the shoe is on the other foot, despite it being a false equivalence and no such similar syndrome existing for the other side?

Yep, a syndrome commonly known as a derangement.

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#129

Post by davesque »

commandlinefan wrote: post #41
oxymoran wrote: post #4

Man, the democrats are really trying to hand republicans every election for the next decade.

if the republicans nominate anybody except for Trump. A lot of us suspect they’re going to try to tie this to Trump to bar him from ever holding office again. If so, they’ll have won the battle but lost the war - but honestly, I suspect they’re all political insiders (democrats and republicans alike) and really don’t care much which party holds power as long as it’s one of them.

[flagged]

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#130

Post by caleb-allen »

whimsicalism wrote: post #100
DerpyBaby123 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't just do that, it pushes you more and more into specific niches. It doesn't have to do that either, but Youtube has designed it to do it, to put users into the famous Youtube Rabbit Hole. This rabbit hole encourages extremism in some people, and that can be harmful to society. Why the defeatist attitude, that huge companies have to encourage extremism or people will stop using their products? That's non-sen…

Youtube recommends videos you are likely to click on. It is unclear to me what else they are supposed to recommend. It is also unclear to me that the recommendations ought to be moderated by some embedded state entity to make sure the results align with what is in political vogue.

There is a difference between holding a view that isn't "in vogue" and inciting violence. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous and ignorant.
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