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TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

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Re: TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

#91

Post by bantheads »

ridaj wrote: post #74

Calling this censorship rather than editorial curation implies that content distribution platforms are somehow expected not to have an editorial line. I find this very odd and a misuse of the term censorship. "America's got talent" is a great show too, and they certainly select who gets onstage from all the people they audition. Is that censorship? I don't expect that TV show to give me info about protests any more t…

>Censorship is when the powers of government or the marketplace are such that nobody could, if they wanted, get their message out.

No, that's not the definition of censorship.

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

It's funny how many people are trying to redefine the definition of censorship in recent times; since Big Tech has grown more powerful than governments in their ability to control information flow. Though I'm glad it seems we have moved past the "only the government can do censorship" psuedo definition that many on HN were so frequently asserting.

Re: TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

#92

Post by cheez »

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #14
oefrha wrote: post #13

I fail to see why every platform has to become a fucking idealogical battleground. If I’m in the market for a social network myself (HN notwithstanding) I’d probably choose a politics-free one if possible.

There is no such thing as a politics-free network, only one that only allows politics you agree with.

Well said. I like Twitter but god forbid I say anything against anything on the mainstream media networks, I get banned. On my 4th banned account now.

99% of what I tweet is completely technical. 1% gets me banned, no matter how reasonable or unemotional language is used.

Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiyfwZVAzGw

Re: TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

#93

Post by xiphias2 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #76
yourbandsucks wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean.. politics ought not to be an exercise in demanding conformity and punishing any non-standard thought.

Exactly. What I like on HN is that, unlike some other communities I've observed, you can still gain votes when reasonably arguing on either side of the issue. The hive mind isn't as strong yet to defy all reason.

Didn't it change a lot in the last couple of years?

A few years ago I felt that I can speak freely, and in the worst case I wasn't upvoted.

Nowdays I feel much more like I need to choose my words very carefully.

Re: TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

#94

Post by piedar »

yourbandsucks wrote: post #77
TeMPOraL wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. What I like on HN is that, unlike some other communities I've observed, you can still gain votes when reasonably arguing on either side of the issue. The hive mind isn't as strong yet to defy all reason.

Eh. I commented that "Chinese people are people too" the other day and got pretty heavily downvoted. Are those downvoters expressing a reasoned belief that Chinese people aren't people? Or are they just reduced to a set of tribal motor reflexes with up and down arrows? I'm actually kinda hoping it's the 2nd one rather than the first.

Oh come on now - don't pretend that comment was some neutral statement of fact. It was a clear implication of moral failure in your opponent's argument. And it's not really persuasive to then double down on a false dilemma (is my out-group evil, or just stupid?).

Re: TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

#95

Post by carapace »

yourbandsucks wrote: post #73
TeMPOraL wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As it should be. Politics done right means we can agree or disagree with each other, but otherwise still coexist in peace. As for burning karma, you can lose it when arguing either way, and in my experience, whether you lose or gain points depends primarily on a) the quality of your comment (as separate from contents), and b) whether it's the US or Europe that's awake at the time you post it.

I mean.. politics ought not to be an exercise in demanding conformity and punishing any non-standard thought.

Yeah, that's called culture.

Re: TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

#96

Post by echelon »

pgeorgi wrote: post #4

Their approach to moderation is unusual in that they don't even pretend to be a neutral platform and as such it's a powerful differentiator to businesses that are rooted in a "free speech" culture. Shadow-banning individual posts ("Visible to self") is relatively unusual and acts as a demotivator to publish controversial content because such content doesn't drive engagement, as is actively demoting entire classes of…

Could a theoretical new US-based competitor lobby to have TikTok removed from the app store as it is a tool of the CCP?

TikTok seems easy to defeat if you were to use the law to ban it.

Re: TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

#97

Post by SlowRobotAhead »

pgeorgi wrote: post #4

Their approach to moderation is unusual in that they don't even pretend to be a neutral platform and as such it's a powerful differentiator to businesses that are rooted in a "free speech" culture. Shadow-banning individual posts ("Visible to self") is relatively unusual and acts as a demotivator to publish controversial content because such content doesn't drive engagement, as is actively demoting entire classes of…

Ok, so TikTok has up front chosen clearly to be a publisher of content. I have no problem with this.

It’s when a site/company only pretends to be a platform that I take issue with.

Re: TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

#98

Post by rdiddly »

_akei wrote: post #39
oefrha wrote: post #13

I fail to see why every platform has to become a fucking idealogical battleground. If I’m in the market for a social network myself (HN notwithstanding) I’d probably choose a politics-free one if possible.

Did you just call Hacker News apolitical? I feel even Reddit is better when coming to political debates because on Reddit you can find a subreddit that aligns to your political ideology. On HN, if you are from China, India, Russia, African country, the best thing you can do is to avoid articles about those geographical locations because comments will be mostly negative and any dissenting view will be downvoted until…

If you don't like Python, or Tesla, or simply want to put a Paul Graham essay through the usual paces of critical inquiry, you're in a similar boat.

Re: TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

#99

Post by simion314 »

Faark wrote: post #61
simion314 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think so, I am thinking for example of some on topic subreddits like r/DaystromInstitute , any post that would try to go offtopic and politicise stuff will be removed. As a non US citizen it is a breath of fresh air not to have all topics devolve into republicans vs democrats. IMO if you have rules that current politics is off topic and moderators that can enforce the rules, a community that respects the r…

I also like single issue communities. They are indeed a great escape from broader conflicts and focus on specific interesting stuff. But calling them non-political just because it's not the place to argue about e.g. what politics this community reinforces seems wrong. People should understand those are not places to find a balanced view of the world. But creating a general virtual spaces for people to "live" in while…

What I want is not to get politics showed in my face especially if is something I don't care about. If there is an election coming in my country and I intend to vote then I will probably find all the dirty stuff about the politicans from TV,relatives and friends.

The only thing I am against is if a group creates a forum and they ban of topic and inflammatory topics to be accused of censorship if we down vote or ban off topic politics comments.

Re: TikTok: Cheerfulness and censorship

#100

Post by simion314 »

CriticalCathed wrote: post #32
simion314 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think so, I am thinking for example of some on topic subreddits like r/DaystromInstitute , any post that would try to go offtopic and politicise stuff will be removed. As a non US citizen it is a breath of fresh air not to have all topics devolve into republicans vs democrats. IMO if you have rules that current politics is off topic and moderators that can enforce the rules, a community that respects the r…

I believe the idea underlying what he said is that everything is political. If I am wrong I apologize. It's an extension of the 1960s revolution of "the personal is political." To expound: everything is political in the sense that any action we take or decision we make or conclusion we reach rests on assumptions, norms, and values not everyone would affirm. That is, everything we do is rooted in a contestable point o…

Even if everything is political I would still ban in my forum topics related to current or recent political events/people. 1
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