Google, Apple remove Navalny app from stores as Russian elections begin • Hacker News Board

Re: Google, Apple remove Navalny app from stores as Russian elections begin

#671

Post by Talanes » Tue, Sep 21, 2021, 4:53 AM UTC

lotusmars wrote: post #523

emiliosic wrote: post #520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'authoritarian regime' is a slippery slope. There can be clear human violations, but at what point does a government become authoritarian? USA has plenty of violations on its shoulders, perhaps complicit in many others. I would not call it authoritarian but it has been repressive (Citing USA as a clear example, not picking on particular politics). Genocide is distinctively clear from freedom of expression, so by no m…

Why do you always bring up USA when people are talking about injustices in other countries? Every time.

Assumablely in this hypothetical, it would be the USA arresting Cook and Pachai, no?

Re: Google, Apple remove Navalny app from stores as Russian elections begin

#672

Post by prepend » Wed, Sep 22, 2021, 4:34 PM UTC

whimsicalism wrote: post #475

prepend wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I think the problem is that Apple is choosing to support dictators by removing this app. The ability to side load apps is a smokescreen because only 1% of people would use any alternate means. So even if they had alternate app stores, Apple removing it from the main App Store is egregious. Similar to how it’s terrible that Google removed it even though it’s available in alternate stores. (Of course Apple…

> I disagree. I think the problem is that Apple is choosing to support dictators by removing this app. Is he still a dictator if he would win contested elections? The polling on Putin in Russia is pretty darn clearcut, don't see how you can look at the numbers I do and conclude anything other than that Putin has the tacit support of most of the population.

Take a look at the Soviet bloc elections. They won by big margins through voter suppression and much more.

Castro was elected for what, 50 years. He was definitely a dictator.

There was (is) voter suppression in the US and the civil rights movement directly worked to overturn polls that showed that only white governors and mayors in the south will win.

I don’t think Russian polls can be interpreted fairly to mean Putin has the tacit support of most of the population. Putin’s opponents are jailed and they are billionaires. If I get a poll, I’m not going to answer honestly due to fear.

Re: Google, Apple remove Navalny app from stores as Russian elections begin

#673

Post by donkeybeer » Tue, Sep 28, 2021, 3:02 PM UTC

Kublaicant wrote: post #664

emilsedgh wrote: post #612

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll try my best, but obviously these are just my thoughts and a lot of other people don't necessarily agree with me. I think all authoritarian governments rely on a chunk of their population to stay in power. This population can be very small, but sufficient. In order to maintain their popularity they rely on: 1. Lack of education 2. Strong propaganda 3. Poverty 4. Social welfare 5. Religion & ideology 6. Fear of en…

Your assessment may be true for Iran, but I don't think they can be applied to Russia: 1. Russia has very high education -- it's ranked 3rd in the world in terms of people who attend college/university. 2. Russia is a 2nd-world country, so they don't suffer from extreme poverty. 3. Russians aren't very religious. If Google leaves there wouldn't be much difference in terms of people accessing information on the web be…

If google leaves and is replaced by a local alternative, Mr Putin's people will be directly monitoring and actively taking action in response to the things communicated there. Which leaves the population in a worse place than before.