Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Key word here is "asking".
Yes the government asking for content to be censored is censorship. They don’t always ask either, e.g. Julian Assange/Wikileaks
U.S. investors, Trump close in on TikTok deal with China
731–740 of 802 posts
Re: U.S. investors, Trump close in on TikTok deal with China
#732Re: U.S. investors, Trump close in on TikTok deal with China
#733Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why are so worried, then, whether the world is anti-american or not? Why use that term, if you personally don't want see the world through nationalist optics? I saw a commenter the other day here claiming that in EU, there are lot of "anti-american" far left sentiments. They weren't able to elaborate, who exactly that is; as someone on the left, I don't see it. For example, I live in EU, I support DiEM25, and I am ag…
If people outside the US complain about what the US does, we should stop doing it. The fact that everyone complains about US foreign policy means we need to course-correct. No one complains about Swiss foreign policy. I think we agree, since we're both against NATO. Not sure why you're trying to argue with me.
No, I think we agree, that's why I wonder why you use the word "anti-american". And I think you should consider not using it, as it's inappropriate* to use that word to denote just critics of american government or american foreign policy. I think people abroad who criticize these things recognize that not every American agrees with these policies, and mostly don't have any objection against ordinary Americans or their way of life.
*The issue is in American politics, especially on right-wing, the term "anti-american" is typically implies presumed hatred against ordinary Americans or their way of life. In other words, its meaning is about ethnicity, not a political view.
Re: U.S. investors, Trump close in on TikTok deal with China
#734Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Biden administration started this whole TikTok thing in the first place, you just liked the platform at the time and are now getting bit in the ass when the group in power has changed. I'm not interested in which side is supposed to be worse than the other so someone can feel better about the speech they are okay with suppressing, I'm interested in free speech all the time. The Kimmel thing is indeed a stupid and…
Others have addressed "this whole TikTok thing" being attributed to Biden. I asked you for a left wing equivalent for Kimmel and you couldn't name one. Somehow this lack of an equivalent left wing attack is evidence of them sharing responsibility for this right wing attack on free speech. That is a perfect illustration of my point. I'm not going to "waste time in an internet debate with someone" who can't see the sil…
Fair on "starting", I should have said "was perfectly in support of and did not attempt to stop" https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-administration-leave-t... and I'm willing to see it was silly to forget the specifics by claiming a different sequence to the topic - hopefully you are also willing to make the same kinds of considerations instead of only using such questions as assumptions of other people.
There is no lack of "equivalent left wing attack", just shifts on when it's okay to do based on how much the individual agrees with it. I've had this exact conversation with right wing folks but the other way around (where nothing conservative was unreasonable suppression but plenty left wing was unreasonable suppression). Because you agree with the views of whatever the Biden admin supported e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation_Governance_Boar... then you don't consider it a problem (and yes, the Biden administration likes to claim it was just building on something the Trump administration had started... which gets us nowhere in actually doing something positive for free speech instead of using it as a blame game). Because someone else agrees with Trump/Kirk they don't consider it a problem. As a result, there is nothing I can say that will make anyone agree when things are equivalent. The difference is not that I agree with a different agenda, nor do I need to find equivalence, it's that I'm not interested in weighing the speech itself.
I, obviously, don't like Russian misinformation (or human smugglers or whatever thing is obviously malintended), but I don't think trying to have a government body decide what is misinformation is a good way to solve the concerns. That's what a free speech absolutist is after all, not just a way to say only a certain party did something bad. I could go on and on about specific instances, but all that does is rile people up about "why would you put that in a list of bad things" or "that's obviously not as big a deal to worry about" whenever they see something they tend to agree with. Those not in support of free speech have no problem saying other transgressions on free speech are a bigger deal, just in agreeing what "other" is.
Supporting free speech is not about agreeing with the speech, it's about tackling any perceived bad speech with open means instead of power. I don't agree with either the Biden or Trump administrations on the ways either seek to suppress social media, regardless if you think some are justified and others aren't. You think it's okay to suppress things as long as they seem harmless or small to you, I don't. That's the only fair assumption of what a free speech absolutist is.
I will give credit that at least my original comment isn't already flagged dead for saying I'm really about free speech instead of the opposition, which has been the typical result the previous 4 years.
Re: U.S. investors, Trump close in on TikTok deal with China
#735Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Biden administration started this whole TikTok thing in the first place, you just liked the platform at the time and are now getting bit in the ass when the group in power has changed. I'm not interested in which side is supposed to be worse than the other so someone can feel better about the speech they are okay with suppressing, I'm interested in free speech all the time. The Kimmel thing is indeed a stupid and…
> Biden started this whole TikTok thing in the first place No, Trump started it in his first term, Biden just continued it, as did Trump continue what he started.
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Re: U.S. investors, Trump close in on TikTok deal with China
#736Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Biden administration started this whole TikTok thing in the first place, you just liked the platform at the time and are now getting bit in the ass when the group in power has changed. I'm not interested in which side is supposed to be worse than the other so someone can feel better about the speech they are okay with suppressing, I'm interested in free speech all the time. The Kimmel thing is indeed a stupid and…
> Biden started this whole TikTok thing in the first place No, Trump started it in his first term, Biden just continued it, as did Trump continue what he started.
I stand corrected on the claim I made, merging https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45292731
Re: U.S. investors, Trump close in on TikTok deal with China
#737Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Biden administration started this whole TikTok thing in the first place, you just liked the platform at the time and are now getting bit in the ass when the group in power has changed. I'm not interested in which side is supposed to be worse than the other so someone can feel better about the speech they are okay with suppressing, I'm interested in free speech all the time. The Kimmel thing is indeed a stupid and…
> The Biden administration started this whole TikTok thing in the first place No, it didn't. https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/ex...
I stand corrected on the claim I made, merging https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45292731
Re: U.S. investors, Trump close in on TikTok deal with China
#738Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cancel culture has been firmly adopted by all political sides now. It is simply too powerful and effective a weapon to be not used.
It is a pretty big difference when the left wing cancel culture is a grassroots efforts of the populace trying to enforce moral behavior versus the right wing cancel culture we are seeing today in which the government is the one exerting pressure and not the populace.
Yup. It always comes back to "both sides are bad, so vote Republican".
Dril said it best.
Re: U.S. investors, Trump close in on TikTok deal with China
#739Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
You said conspiracies always land on one place, which clearly implied blaming "the jews". There is no point in debating people like you but I will reiterate a point you should care deeply about. Israel, right or wrong, is losing massive support among the younger generations world wide. And pretending they aren't massacring civilians and intentionally starving them only weakens Israel in the long run. So keep it up, y…
You can both care about the issue and not see the dastardly hand of Israel in every shadowy corner. The grandparent comment by volleyball is clearly not a reasoned take and is conspiratorial in it's linking of Jews and Netanyahu and the constant bugbear of certain types, Bari Weiss.
I am neither Israeli, Jewish, or particularly vested in Israel, I just find the constant banging on about Jews lately in the discourse to be troubling. A lot of it has a real Protocols of the Elders of Zion vibe where anything a public Jew does is linked to a shadowy Israeli conspiracy. Particularly this volleyball keeps posting about epstein conspiracies involving random Jews. several of those comments have now been removed.
People like you should be careful about who you're taking up cause with, because eventually you'll find yourself in very unsavory company.
Re: U.S. investors, Trump close in on TikTok deal with China
#740Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> China is doing well as a country and the standard of living has increased even if it’s under an authoritarian regime. What do you mean "doing well"? https://asiatimes.com/2025/05/chinas-economy-on-cusp-of-a-de... May 2025: Tariffs are drying up international demand for Chinese goods, and in a bid to keep factories alive, Beijing is urging exporters to turn inward. However, that pivot is compounding the very proble…
Look at the past 15 years in the US vs the past 15 years in China, it’s fairly obvious
Are you taking into account the obvious currency manipulation over the same time by the Chinese?