Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

play.google.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

611–620 of 880 posts

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#611

Post by djsumdog »

modriano wrote: post #446
djsumdog wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The purge has been happening for years. I hate how people on HN is praising this. There are literally few alternatives for the average person apart from Google and eyeProducts. I have a PinePhone, but what percentage of America can truly put in the effort to use one? If you cannot install an run your own software on a device, you do not own the device. You cannot praise the removal of Gab or Parlor now and complain l…

Are you at all worried about the possibility that America could have another civil war because a sufficiently large proportion of Americans are radicalized in uncensored, insufficiently moderated communities? Facebook's own research found “64% of all extremist group joins are due to our recommendation tools” and that most of the activity came from the platform’s “Groups You Should Join” and “Discover” algorithms: “Ou…

> large proportion of Americans are radicalized in uncensored

You do realize, both sides of America think the other side is radicalized. This was literally the reaction on Trump's first day of office:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXR3d22BhHs

Have you forgotten about that? Does that look anything like the 6th? No, of course it doesn't. Had those people been let into the State House, it may have burned to the ground in 2017!

> insufficiently moderated community

Section 230 was put in place because it's difficult to moderate effectively when you're trying to launch a startup. Are you saying no one can launch a social network unless they have the money and staff to moderate each an every single post that comes in?

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#612

Post by djsumdog »

lenkite wrote: post #602
modriano wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you at all worried about the possibility that America could have another civil war because a sufficiently large proportion of Americans are radicalized in uncensored, insufficiently moderated communities? Facebook's own research found “64% of all extremist group joins are due to our recommendation tools” and that most of the activity came from the platform’s “Groups You Should Join” and “Discover” algorithms: “Ou…

Actions like these where one side fully suppresses the other - one set of standards for themselves and another set of standards applied to people they oppose - are exactly the kind of actions that lead to civil war. Comparing ~70 million Americans to paedophiles...

or comparing ~70 million Americans to Nazis

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#613

Post by amluto »

mumblemumble wrote: post #252
Nacdor wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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:…

It's all pretty complicated, but one obvious mitigating factor is the ends being pursued by each movement. Rioting aside, BLM is ultimately pushing for justice and equality. There's also a question of blame - many would argue that most of the BLM rioting was provoked by a disproportionate police response. This movement, on the other hand, is quite transparently rooted in white supremacy, and had an explicit goal of t…

I don’t think you need to put moral or political judgments on this. As I understand (and I have not really done my homework here), there are two reasonably objective distinctions here:

1. The BLM protests were planned, in public at least, as peaceful protests. Things went wrong and they didn’t all end up peaceful and law-abiding, but I did not see any reports of people using major internet platforms to plan to start riots or cause property damage. The reports of planning of the DC riots on Parler, in contrast, seem to have been quite explicit about the intent.

2. (In my mind rather less clear cut.) The BLM protests were not based on objective lies. The DC riots were. Ignore all the people saying there was no proof of widespread voter fraud — that’s like people saying that there is no strong evidence that MSG causes headaches. In fact, there isn’t even a reason to suspect widespread voter fraud. The proponents of the fraud theory have, when they’ve presented evidence at all, presented comically weak evidence. The theory is obvious BS.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#614

Post by bun_at_work »

vimy wrote: post #44
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.

Looks like it. - Twitter has suspended both General Michael Flynn, President Trump's first National Security Adviser, and attorney Sidney Powell. Also less know users. - Twitch and Snapchat disabled Trump's accounts. - Shopify took down two online stores affiliated with the president. - YouTube says it's accelerating its enforcement of voter fraud claims against President Trump and others based on Wednesday's events.…

It looks like the whole thread is being brigaded.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#615

Post by lenkite »

mbreese wrote: post #543
SpaceRaccoon wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or Parlour can just distribute as a web app. Okay. Then hosting providers refuse to host. Payment processors refuse to process your payments for web services. Your domains are revoked. Your SSL certs are revoked. Where does this end? If they have the power to, and they've justified it this far, why wouldn't they keep going?

A {hosting, domain, ssl} company doesn’t have to accept another company as a customer. What about the hosting company’s freedom of speech rights? If a hosting company doesn’t want to host your site, that’s their decision. If they don’t want to be associated with a site or app or spend their resources, that’s their decision. These aren’t regulated monopolies that have to serve all customers. Now, if you want to claim…

Ok, Can businesses refuse gays, lesbians and transgenders now ? Can one refuse to serve depending on whether customers are republicans or democrats, white or blacks ?

Surely, this should all be just OK by your logic ?

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#616

Post by Blikkentrekker »

valuearb wrote: post #597
Blikkentrekker wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then it's still censorship; private businesses simply have the right to censor.

Nope. Censorship: the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security. A private business not distributing a product because it doesn’t represent their or their customers values isn’t censorship, it’s a marketing decision. If Walmart decides to stop carrying Coke because of its sugar content, is that “censorship”? If a…

> Censorship: the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.

And this was indeed done because it was considered politically unacceptable and a threat to security.

> A private business not distributing a product because it doesn’t represent their or their customers values isn’t censorship, it’s a marketing decision.

The problem is your thinking that those two are some exclusionary.

The censorship that most company practice is of course for financial gain.

> The advocates for Parlours right of distribution don’t actually believe in individual rights, or they would argue it has to be imposed on the App Stores.

Nor does their believing in free speech or not have anything to do with whether this is censorship.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#617

Post by bluescrn »

kumarvvr wrote: post #532
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.

I can understand the viewpoint you have, though I don't agree with it. Radical ideas have always looked for ways to spread around and influence people. As in with any idea, there are good ones (Why should a worker not have paid holidays, or days off, or have work life balance, education rights, voting rights, etc) and bad ones (the ones we see espoused by many radical right wingers like the claimed inferiority of the…

If you're only exposed to left-wing media, you only see right-wing radicalisation.

If you're only exposed to right-wing media, you only see left-wing radicalisation.

Both tribes are convinced that the other is dangerously radical.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#618

Post by f430 »

4234 wrote: post #565
ceph_ wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its amazing you can take the message of "cops shouldn't kill people" and spin it to be about killing the cops. It's a view of the world detached from reality.

The message was really "COPS ARE KILLING BLACK PEOPLE," yet most people killed by police are white (somehow none of these ever seem to merit national, 24/7 news coverage), and while a disproportionate number killed are black, they also commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime and have more violent encounters with police.

I don't know about stats but lets see the big picture: they were brought over as slaves, abused for generations, and then put in shitty economic environments where there is no education, only poverty.

Crime goes hand in hand with poverty, and it builds stereotypes and biases that makes it easier for incarceration which in America is just privatized slave labor market who makes mundane everyday items.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#619

Post by agiroth »

zmmmmm wrote: post #378
jpxw wrote: 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.

Look at it this way: when private companies censor something the user has the option to go elsewhere to exercise their speech. When the government does it, they can't go anywhere. In this case, if a significant number of people are disenfranchised by this, it will naturally create the market pressure for a solution that they can use. It will spur adoption of tools like F-droid and open devices etc. It'll force these…

If there were a large, vibrant community of public squares, I'd very much agree with you; the problem is that the network effect means that there will only ever be 2-3 big ones. It's a form of natural monopoly if not monopoly-in-fact and that has to be accounted for if "the people" are to remain in control of their ability to exercise their rights.

So, one solution would be to foster an environment where Twitter et.al lose their power because they really CAN'T lock people in anymore and I would absolutely love to see such a future.

But unfortunately that isn't where we are right now and the incentives around us are all set up to ensure it never changes.

Re: Google suspending Parler from the Google Play store

#620

Post by bun_at_work »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #607
bun_at_work wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is accurate. Just because you have to go directly to the website doesn't mean it's censored. Google, Apple, FB, Twitter, etc are not in the business of supporting outlier extremism in our society. Claiming censorship because they don't want to platform that stuff is ridiculous. Imagine a Jewish-owned store being forced to sell nazi paraphernalia because not selling it is censorship. The users of parler or gab ar…

Huh? Last time I checked, BLM app ( https://apps.apple.com/us/app/black-lives-matter/id955318790 ) is on Apple store and the group has, among other notable events, burning Kenosha done on their bucket list. Google, Apple, FB, Twitter et al have zero issues supporting violence as long it supports a given side. I don't buy the analogy ( mostly because most analogies are crap ). Normal people try thought experiments and…

I didn't say anything about the BLM app. Don't know why you're bringing that up, other than to strawman, but hey, that's what they do.
Post reply on HN