Live data from Hacker News

Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

play.google.com

181–190 of 880 posts

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#182

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.

Newspapers and magazines have always had a choice who or what to print in their papers. TV and radio stations have always had a choice who or what to air. Why shouldn't social media companies have the same liberties?

There was no "network effect" deterring me from dropping the NYT. These social media platforms, and the internet in general-- which are entirely "private"-- are the new public square.

Twitter, Facebook, et al just excluded leading conservative voices from the public square.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#183

It’s pretty coincidental that all of these tech companies are having epiphanies simultaneously now that Democrats will control the house/senate/and presidency. The interesting question is whether they are doing it out fear of anti trust action from Democrats or weren’t doing it for the last four years out of fear of Republicans.

With the new War on Domestic Terror(TM) ramping up, I think the tech companies see a business opportunity for a private-public partnership to save the republic.

We can silence dangerous speech with no concerns about the 1st amendment (it's a private platform after all). All your Whatsapp chats can now be mined by Facebook (which the NSA will have access to as well). And the switch that controls social media communications is safely in the hands of Zuckerberg.

It's all coming together perfectly. Well... perfectly for big tech.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#184
post #150
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:…

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-kamala-harris-l...

Look things up before you throw fuel on the fire.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#185
post #150
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:…

For context: Washington Post Fact Check about Democratic support for bail funds -

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/03/kamala-ha...

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#186
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

Months of violent rioting in the streets? 2/3rds of democrats believing Russia hacked and changed vote counts in 2016? The hypocrisy is unbelievable. This will not end well.

Source that 2/3 democrats believe russians hacked voting machines? I haven't heard anyone claim that.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#187

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.

Never let a good crisis go to waste. I think we are seeing the beginning of a purge of a certain line of thought from the internet, using a few crazy people as the catalyst.

Could you explain exactly what that line of thinking is, and why you're troubled by this?

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes people cannot think for themselves, we need to make sure they cannot speak or be near us. If they make their own platform like we tell them to, we'll just ban that too, haha.

I don't need an app to think for myself

Yeah you can think in the corner and noone will hear you like you don't exist.

It's about having a voice. It's about the main argument being "it's a private company" then going and banning the alternatives.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#189
post #51
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?

Agreed: Internet, like water, is a market failure and should be a public utility. c: That way, your DDoS protection & hosting is subject to First Amendment protections.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#190
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realise that it’s possible for entities outside of the government to censor things, right? That word isn’t only applicable to state actions, and nor should it be.

Real censorship means that the government prosecutes you for speech, no matter where or how or to whom are you saying it. That was happening in parts of Europe from 1945 to 1990. This what is happening in USA right now is nowhere near that. It's just free market. If you're banned from a certain platform you can reach your audience in another way. No one is censoring your speech. It's just a certain company not wantin…

> This what is happening in USA right now is nowhere near that

It's going to happen. These platforms are so large they encompass a signification amount of the communication market .. and I don't say that lightly. Look at how Facebook has literally gobbled up all its competition and now is pushing policies that make WhatsApp and Oculus useless without handing over full control of all your accounts and devices?

These companies ARE STATES! They may not look like governments, but the communication power they wield is stronger than many nations.

You can no longer just say "They're private companies" when you literally cannot buy a well supported Mobile device unless it runs Android or iOS, unless you have the skill, ability and time to run something like a PinePhone or PostmarketOS.

Post reply on HN