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Twitter is blocking tweets that criticize the Indian government

thewire.in

211–220 of 261 posts

Re: Twitter is blocking tweets that criticize the Indian government

#211

Situation in India is far grim than Official no. portray. Many district report only <5 Covid deaths adding to the normal death rate of 50-100. But, when you go to cremation grounds they are overflowing, platforms to burn the dead a full and bodies are being burned at sides, footpath.

Have you seen them with your own eyes or just posting what someone else said?. These type of comments bodies burned on road sides, footpath were common last time as well.

dont know much about ground reality as i am not living in India but i saw this post (very sad, no matter if anyone is at fault or not)

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/ghaziabad-cre...

Re: Twitter is blocking tweets that criticize the Indian government

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am saying the tweets mentioned in the article are cherry-picked to paint this censorship in a positive light as these tweets contained false claims. The issue at hand is that the government censored other tweets that are accurate or are statements of opinion rather than on making factual claims. The tweets mentioned by Medianama and The Wire are are not, by any stretch of the imagination, disinformation. They blame…

Did you read the article. Once guy posted a old cremation pic as covid cremation happening now. Another posted a pic about a different city as happening in guj(since modis from guj). They are by definition disinformation. Unless you have a source that includes other tweets which are accurate. For Wire claims it be true while OP claims its false. Obviously OP is more free to diss on that. If the situation was reversed…

I read the post, but it looks like you did not understand my comment.

The OP India article reproduces a small subset of the censored tweets that is disinformation. The government action here is not too problematic.

The Wire article, and the Medianama article, reproduces a different subset of blocked tweets. Those are certainly NOT disinformation, were made by very prominent individuals (elected MPs and MLAs) and were blocked by the government because they were highly critical. This is the problem.

> Unless you have a source that includes other tweets which are accurate.

I do: the wire.in article mentioned above and the medianama article I linked to on another thread. If you are in India you may need a VPN to see them. I am not going to reproduce them here out of the same concerns as the editors of The Wire and Medianama.

Re: Twitter is blocking tweets that criticize the Indian government

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of countries in the world have a lax view on nudity, show it on TV, go to the beach naked, have a regulated sex work industry etc. Yet, since almost all large platforms and payment processors are American, good luck posting photos of sand dunes because some algorithm at Facebook might confuse it with woman's breasts, and I don't see anyone pushing back. Point being adapt to local laws and culture instead of pr…

> adapt to local laws and culture instead of pretending that a couple of thousand of unelected dudes in Silicon Valley should have any say I think we might both agree there's a line beyond which even you would abandon this view. We may just disagree on where that line should exist. If the Indian state was forcing Twitter to delete the profiles of anyone who is a homosexual, would you agree that Twitter should just ad…

> If the Indian state was forcing Twitter to delete the profiles of anyone who is a homosexual, would you agree that Twitter should just adapt to local laws and not at least say something?

You might want to pick another example to make your point. Persecution of homosexuals is a Christian (and, to an extent, Islamic) phenomenon. Historically, Hindus haven't really cared[1] about homosexual behavior till the British came in and brought their anti-buggery laws with them. Unlike animals in heat who do it in public, human sex in India has generally been a private affair.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_India

Re: Twitter is blocking tweets that criticize the Indian government

#214
post #49

The expectation that a corporation operating in India will not obey Indian laws but American ones is appalling. EU, Canada, China, Turkey or North Korea - if you want to do business there you have to respect their laws. “For profit US corporation fighting foreign government atrocities” is a deeply flawed idea. If Indians believe that they need wider free speech rights or other protections, they need to change their p…

This is a warped framing. I don't buy moral relativism, it may be legal in China to put the Uyghurs in camps but any company helping to enable that is on the wrong side of history - legality is irrelevant. Stuff above that threshold (kinder eggs) sure, follow the country's policies - provided the country is a real democracy, with a free press, and rule of law.

so many Chinese shills downvoting you, so sad :(

at some point you need to draw a line where "profit is the only thing that matters" ends and some basic humanity should prevail

Re: Twitter is blocking tweets that criticize the Indian government

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why would you abbreviate 500000 as 5e5 and not say 500K or 500,000?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh is an Indian unit. They write five lakh where I'd write half a million.

Yup, the number in my head was 5 lakh and it doesn't occur to me to write it as 0.5M.

I've been forcing myself to remember lakh=1e5,crore=1e7,million=1e6 while doing calculations these days, so just happened to write it that way.

Re: Twitter is blocking tweets that criticize the Indian government

#216
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why did people try so hard to censor this story?

Because people are idiots and would be swayed by hannity sound bites even though the story has nothing to do with Joe?

If that's what you really think, I guess it's an indication of how well the story was suppressed. Does the part where Hunter explained that the long-standing arrangement was for Joe to get half of the loot ring a bell?

Re: Twitter is blocking tweets that criticize the Indian government

#217
post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> adapt to local laws and culture instead of pretending that a couple of thousand of unelected dudes in Silicon Valley should have any say I think we might both agree there's a line beyond which even you would abandon this view. We may just disagree on where that line should exist. If the Indian state was forcing Twitter to delete the profiles of anyone who is a homosexual, would you agree that Twitter should just ad…

> If the Indian state was forcing Twitter to delete the profiles of anyone who is a homosexual, would you agree that Twitter should just adapt to local laws and not at least say something? You might want to pick another example to make your point. Persecution of homosexuals is a Christian (and, to an extent, Islamic) phenomenon. Historically, Hindus haven't really cared[1] about homosexual behavior till the British c…

What Christian theocracy will put you to death, today, for being homosexual? Numerous Islamic government examples exist, yes. I’m looking for Christian, since that’s where you say the focus must be.

Re: Twitter is blocking tweets that criticize the Indian government

#219
post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the Indian state was forcing Twitter to delete the profiles of anyone who is a homosexual, would you agree that Twitter should just adapt to local laws and not at least say something? You might want to pick another example to make your point. Persecution of homosexuals is a Christian (and, to an extent, Islamic) phenomenon. Historically, Hindus haven't really cared[1] about homosexual behavior till the British c…

What Christian theocracy will put you to death, today, for being homosexual? Numerous Islamic government examples exist, yes. I’m looking for Christian, since that’s where you say the focus must be.

> since that’s where you say the focus must be.

Not what I said. I simply asked him to pick an appropriate example instead of one that has no basis in reality.

Re: Twitter is blocking tweets that criticize the Indian government

#220
post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What Christian theocracy will put you to death, today, for being homosexual? Numerous Islamic government examples exist, yes. I’m looking for Christian, since that’s where you say the focus must be.

> since that’s where you say the focus must be. Not what I said. I simply asked him to pick an appropriate example instead of one that has no basis in reality.

> no basis in reality.

It's just a hypothetical that I put out there for rhetorical purposes. It doesn't have to be realistic. You can substitute India for another country (say, Saudi Arabia, like another poster did) if you think that realism is important. The argument will remain the same.

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