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Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

#51

Post by atlgator »

partiallypro wrote: post #15
CivBase wrote: post #2

I don't know which social media platforms use AWS to any critical extent, but I can't imagine them ejecting a big name like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc over "finding dozens of posts on the service which it said encouraged violence".

I would be near willing to bet that more of the Capitol Hill events were planned on private Facebook groups, chats, etc than on Parler. Signal is a chat app that is secure and group chats are big in planning... So are they going to ban Signal? Conspiracy theories are rampant on WeChat and even over text messages.

Agree. Parler's discovery capability was garbage. You had to search for and follow big name people to get anywhere. So if Parler was really the breeding ground for the Capitol siege there'd be a clear smoking gun on who the organizers were. That never surfaced.

Meanwhile there are lots of private conservative/Republican groups on Facebook no one wants to talk about.

Re: Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

#52

Post by jtdev »

CivBase wrote: post #2

I don't know which social media platforms use AWS to any critical extent, but I can't imagine them ejecting a big name like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc over "finding dozens of posts on the service which it said encouraged violence".

Ayatollah posts to Instagram... they don’t seem to care much about that.

Re: Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

#53

Post by standardUser »

CivBase wrote: post #2

I don't know which social media platforms use AWS to any critical extent, but I can't imagine them ejecting a big name like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc over "finding dozens of posts on the service which it said encouraged violence".

It's not about finding posts encouraging violence, it is about refusing to try to moderate that content, and your suggestion otherwise is disingenuous. If Facebook said "we are no longer going to try and moderate content that incites violence" there would obviously be blowback.

Re: Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

#54

Post by eejit_compiler »

inglor_cz wrote: post #19
ortusdux wrote: post #7

It fascinates me that the people most offended by the recent actions of google, amazon, facebook, etc are the ones pushing for the repeal of section 230.

I am offended by the recent actions of digital giants and I never called for repeal of S230. This is fairly clearly an antitrust case, which has nothing to do with S230. Behavior of the digital giants is very similar to the behavior of railroad oligopolies of the 19th century which actually led to antitrust legislation.

How is it an antitrust case? Amazon doesn't have a monopoly on hosting internet services. And there is no oligopoly for this line of business, there are many thousands of suitable providers worldwide.

It would be different if, say, CenturyLink were blocking content across their transit infrastructure. That would be more like your railroad analogy.

Re: Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

#55

Post by mgkimsal »

chasing wrote: post #41

Parler wasn't some innocent social media site that happened to have some disgusting content on it. The disgusting content was literally its reason for existing, despite all of the bland "we're just a free speech site" stuff. And I have yet to hear anyone discuss how "anything goes" and social media do not mix. It's much easier to turn a community toxic than it is to keep it healthy, and healthy communities (of any so…

I poked around on it some, and noticed something ... disturbing.

I saw what I assumed were bots posting a lot of garbage links to 'articles' like "Obama compound raided!" and "8 Democrats switch to Republican Party" (that actually happened in Feb 2020, but the link was to an undated rerun and the link was posted.. 2 days ago?).

The links were to such trustworthy sites as 'firstusanews.us' (made up, but all variants like that), and they all would throw "update your flash player!" malware popups.

Next to each of these links on Parler were view counts - 207, 412, 897, etc - of people who'd clicked the link to view the article.

I could not reply to the link with a comment like "this has malware" because... my account was not verified. Only 'badged/verified' accounts can comment on 'links'. AND... the only way to get 'badged' is to use the mobile app and take a picture of govt ID (driver license, passport, etc). This becomes incredibly lopsided "free speech" biased against moderating/critical voices.

It was literally a field day for bots to post malware garbage and have thousands of victims per day, and no ability for people to warn others.

On one 'article' I followed there were comments from people saying "I don't understand how Parler works" in the comments on the linked article. Indeed...

Re: Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

#56

Post by jtdev »

valuearb wrote: post #34
derision wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about calling for the eradication of Jews? https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1003332853525110784 Twitter doesn't seem to have any issue with this content

That’s not what that tweet says. So you admit your argument carries little weight without sensationalizing it?

Did you not read the tweet? Seems rather clear to me.

Re: Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

#57

Post by NDizzle »

standardUser wrote: post #53
CivBase wrote: post #2

I don't know which social media platforms use AWS to any critical extent, but I can't imagine them ejecting a big name like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc over "finding dozens of posts on the service which it said encouraged violence".

It's not about finding posts encouraging violence, it is about refusing to try to moderate that content, and your suggestion otherwise is disingenuous. If Facebook said "we are no longer going to try and moderate content that incites violence" there would obviously be blowback.

It wouldn't be such a big deal if "hurts feelings" didn't equal "incites violence".

Silence is also violence. All of you lurkers will be purged as well.

Re: Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

#58

Post by chr1 »

Left wing democrats and Trump supporters want to eliminate each other, in a sense of eliminating their defining idea. Sadly in their war they are weaponizing the shared infrastructure, harming themselves and the people not interested in their war. (e.g. triggering the new wave of internet regulation in other countries, delaying a flight because there is someone with red hat etc.)

The economy and civility that allow billions of different people to cooperate is a fragile thing. So we need to explain the warring sides that they need to go throw their stones in another place, e.g. try to use courts and legislation if they want to ban each other, or have different laws in different states.

The situation is remarkably similar to the situation with religion in 1600s England, when people were trying to blend it with state, and only after long wars did they understand that not allowing someone into shop based on religion is not acceptable.

Re: Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

#59

Post by jcranmer »

hammock wrote: post #22
valvar wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's quite strange, but I'm guessing it's mostly due to media disinformation about section 230. People who are actually informed and in favour of free speech and opposed to megacorp oligopolies are strongly opposing changing section 230. Rather, they advocate breaking up the megacorps or making them utilities.

I've heard this before, and I'm so confused by section 230. Where can I read some reliable info on it?

Ars Technica's got a good explainer, including bits on why the law was enacted and what a purported legal framework without it might look like:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/06/section-230-the-...

Re: Parler drops offline after Amazon pulls support

#60

Post by wobblyasp »

mensetmanusman wrote: post #5

It would be interesting if power companies run by various oligarchs started disconnecting power to AWS servers: “go generate your own power” Or maybe food delivery truck drivers is a better analogy since that isn’t a utility...

I mean; if there was a company that would capable of doing it... but yah this feels like a false equivalency.

Private companies are free to refuse service to anyone; unless there is specific legislation to the contrary.

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