Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store • Hacker News Board

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#171

Post by encom » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:08 AM UTC

kortilla wrote: post #66

awillen wrote: post #17

Good for them for not bothering with the half-assed CYA nonsense Apple is doing. "Give us a moderation plan in 24 hours" is just such a ridiculously unmeetable demand (at least if they require that plan to be anything close to actually feasible) that it's just pointless. Just kick them off. And to the people complaining about censorship, this is an app that was literally used to plan a violent attack on the capitol.…

> And to the people complaining about censorship, this is an app that was literally used to plan a violent attack on the capitol. Some things should be censored. Wait until you find out what the text messaging apps are used for. “This was used in an attack” is a bullshit excuse to banish something. WhatsApp and signal have enabled countless terrorist actions and they are still up.

>“This was used in an attack” is a bullshit excuse to banish something.

Remember when the Christchurch shooter streamed his rampage on Facebook? Why hasn't Facebook been banned yet?

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#172

Post by ekianjo » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:08 AM UTC

awillen wrote: post #17

Good for them for not bothering with the half-assed CYA nonsense Apple is doing. "Give us a moderation plan in 24 hours" is just such a ridiculously unmeetable demand (at least if they require that plan to be anything close to actually feasible) that it's just pointless. Just kick them off. And to the people complaining about censorship, this is an app that was literally used to plan a violent attack on the capitol.…

> this is an app that was literally used to plan a violent attack

This is exactly the rhetoric used to ban Twitter in other countries. Funny how things are turning.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#173

Post by tatrajim » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:08 AM UTC

dumbfounder wrote: post #34

roberto wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not censorship, it's free market. These are private companies.

Censorship - noun the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security. It is censorship. But not all censorship is bad.

That's what I saw daily under military dictatorship in South Korea in the 1970s and 80s. My Time magazine would arrive with gaping holes where pages had been cut out. These days the scissors in the US are virtual, but the goal is the same: suppression of political speech and news deemed heretical to one's ideological viewpoint. If you approve of censorship. try China, all the public rhetoric is very clean and faultlessly progressive.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#174

Post by EMRZ » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:08 AM UTC

roberto wrote: post #9

post_break wrote: post #4

Wow, is this the great purge? I don’t support certain people, but man I don’t think this is going to end well. This censorship just seems crazy to me.

It's not censorship, it's free market. These are private companies.

Wait until Google starts blocking URLs in Chrome and Android to protect you from "harmful" content.

Maybe Facebook can join and block in WhatsApp too.

Hey it's free market, private company product yay!

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#175

Post by lovecg » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:08 AM UTC

option wrote: post #51

roberto wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not censorship, it's free market. These are private companies.

what’s would be your argument when utility cuts off water to your house? Or you will go to another company?

Let me introduce you to centuries of thinking on this subject and the concept of “natural monopoly”.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#176

Post by guscost » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:09 AM UTC

Nacdor wrote: post #150

dleslie wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost like there was some sort of catalyst event that occurred very recently that would provoke such a response. /s

I'm curious why so many Democrats were allowed to encourage the BLM riots (more than 25 dead, $2 billion in property damage) without so much as a peep from Google, Twitter, Facebook or any other tech giant. Kamala Harris said "they should not stop" and helped with a bail fund for the people who were involved with them. I think protest is a fundamental requirement of democracy, and as Chris Cuomo himself reminded us:…

BLM riots were not a direct and realistic threat to the establishment. They are scared.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#177

Post by jackson1442 » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:09 AM UTC

Nacdor wrote: post #150

dleslie wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost like there was some sort of catalyst event that occurred very recently that would provoke such a response. /s

I'm curious why so many Democrats were allowed to encourage the BLM riots (more than 25 dead, $2 billion in property damage) without so much as a peep from Google, Twitter, Facebook or any other tech giant. Kamala Harris said "they should not stop" and helped with a bail fund for the people who were involved with them. I think protest is a fundamental requirement of democracy, and as Chris Cuomo himself reminded us:…

Did the BLM riots promote sedition? That's probably why.

Also worth noting that there was no property damage or injuries in more than 97 to 98% of protests[1]

[1]: https://today.uconn.edu/2020/10/study-2020-protests-shows-di...

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#178

Post by ng12 » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:09 AM UTC

danijelb wrote: post #62

post_break wrote: post #4

Wow, is this the great purge? I don’t support certain people, but man I don’t think this is going to end well. This censorship just seems crazy to me.

What is the alternative? Do you think that the government should nationalize private companies? Or perhaps they should dictate to them who should be their clients? If a company like Google doesn't want to do business with Parler, that is their right. That is free market. If the market didn't agree with it, the free market forces would make sure that Google dwindles and another company replaces them.

Google and Apple have a duopoly. In the wake of 2016 we collectively agreed that Big Tech has the ability to influence elections, now is the time to think about how to protect our democracy.

My take is simple: either treat social media conglomerates like we do telecom or break them up like we did AT&T.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#179

Post by olivermarks » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:09 AM UTC

krastanov wrote: post #91

olivermarks wrote: post #52

Is there any new way to circumvent the play and app stores so you can still download an app and use it? This throttling at OS level feels like checkmate versus free speech to me

You have always been able to do that on most Androids. And you can always use the mobile website. I do not understand what is the point of this app when it is identical to a website.

Thanks the obvious answer. Parler is very slow for me on android, presumably the incredible scaling issues Twitter dealt with back in the fail whale days. Maybe just using website is better

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#180

Post by the_drunkard » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 1:09 AM UTC

Remind me if Google ever threatened to suspend Twitter over the fake stories, threats, and "mob" incited violence against a teenager named Nick Sandmann?