Big Tech Authoritarianism

Permabanned
Joined
23 Apr 2014
Posts
23,553
Location
Hertfordshire
If you want to have extreme views, tout lies or just love fake news use the cesspits of Gab or Parler. There are platform readily available for the ********* of the world.

If you read the drivel on either of those platforms any normal person would be in favour of social media moderation. :D
 
Caporegime
Joined
20 May 2007
Posts
39,733
Location
Surrey
I can guarantee that won't last forever and the people who take up the reigns in future will have a level of extremity directly proportional the the effort it took them to seize control and get their message across.

I can guarantee you it will because the sole purpose of these rules is to protect themselves as a viable means to advertise through. Thus common decency will prevail.

twitter and Facebook etc are rich and successful, because so many companies advertise through them. If they turned solely into cesspits of hate, vitriol, pornography, and incitement of violence companies will pull their advertising.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Aug 2009
Posts
10,721
What a future.

Held to account by advertisers.

You fail to provide a safe family friendly space no more advertising money.

These companies live on advertising money not the whinging of X faction over Y. They'll put up with anything as long as the money is safe.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Jan 2016
Posts
8,776
Location
Oldham
Your first sentence is ridiculous. You make a point and then have no evidence to back it up. You may as well have copied the in vogue statement and said "do your research", implying the level of wokeness you posses.

I'm not sure what wokeness you are meaning. I just stated a personal observation of 3 people I know who had banking problems down to their views. You can either take my opinion in good faith or not. I didn't ask you to "do your research". If you don't think its valid or relevant to the post then ignore it.

It wasn't an extreme position, it was an analogous position to affiliation with individuals or movements which put the platform or the organisation turning a blind eye, bad press with its core business (or followers in the platform instance). Please don't tar me with the same brush as the individuals invoking Godwin's law.

I had to look up what Godwin's law is. I was just wondering why you was giving examples of illegal incitement posts when I was talking about the moderation of legal posts.

Your final point makes sense, its just how you and others in this thread are arguing it. No doubt platforms with the reach and targeting that Facebook and Twitter enable need better, more appropriate regulation. Banning Trump is not the event that has given prominence to that thought leadership though, it has been around for a long time. Zuck even testified about it, so it isn't a new point bought upon by this. Infact, linking Trump being banned, the odd point about handover of the presidential account being inappropriately handled, all just make a mockery of what is a serious topic that a knee-jerk reaction to would likely cause an even bigger problem. And typical westerners, we are ignoring all of the other global platforms out there that are MUCH bigger and have MUCH more influence.

I agree with mostly of what you've written.

This isn't just about Trump. He is the carrot dangled in front of people.

I made the point about the handover as an example of the changing position of Twitter specifically. I've been around the internet since the late 1980s, way before these social media sites appeared. Back when websites were just walls of text using ansi and ascii characters on a screen. The fear of big tech companies taking over, as you say, as been around from nearly the start of the Internet.
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Sep 2009
Posts
13,967
Location
France, Alsace
Personally, I think free flow of information (as long as it is not illegal) is better than private companies having more influence on the public sector. This is of course opens another can of worms, which can be debated at length as well.
I agree with this.

Mainly because big corps still have agendas, they can still be paid to focus on certain things which have huge influence on peoples' opinions. I'm not defending Drump in any way whatsoever, but at the same time that sort of power held by FB/Twitter/Google can completely sway the entire world in their thoughts, opinions and decisions and that's super dangerous!
 
Capodecina
Soldato
Joined
30 Jul 2006
Posts
12,129
. . . BLM should be removed when it encourages looting and burining down buildings, but it isn't. . . .
Is BLM an "individual" (like Trump) or even an identifiable "Organisation" :confused:

ANYONE or ANY ORGANISATION encouraging violence or breaking the law should be denied a platform. Trump certainly qualifies under the first category; but not the Republican Party as a whole.
 
Soldato
Joined
21 Jan 2010
Posts
22,434
I'm not sure what wokeness you are meaning. I just stated a personal observation of 3 people I know who had banking problems down to their views. You can either take my opinion in good faith or not. I didn't ask you to "do your research". If you don't think its valid or relevant to the post then ignore it.
Irrelevant information then, no? I assume your pals, Tom, Dick and Harry are fine and not "forced off grid" as you imply.

I had to look up what Godwin's law is. I was just wondering why you was giving examples of illegal incitement posts when I was talking about the moderation of legal posts.
Brand affiliation with people who damage the brand. Tiger Woods shagging around wasn't illegal but he lost a lot of endorsements.
I agree with this.

Mainly because big corps still have agendas, they can still be paid to focus on certain things which have huge influence on peoples' opinions. I'm not defending Drump in any way whatsoever, but at the same time that sort of power held by FB/Twitter/Google can completely sway the entire world in their thoughts, opinions and decisions and that's super dangerous!
Look-up lobbying in America if you think FB/Twitter/Google are the monopolies controlling thought/ government policy.

What a future.

Held to account by advertisers.

You fail to provide a safe family friendly space no more advertising money.

These companies live on advertising money not the whinging of X faction over Y. They'll put up with anything as long as the money is safe.
If the product you are receiving is free, then you are the product. How do you think free/low-cost newspapers survive? Why do you think Ad Block is such a big problem for major components of the global economy?
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Oct 2007
Posts
12,100
Location
London, UK
I think the other mistake big tech as made is deplatforming Parler. They have just been in hearings saying how they don't stifle competition but here blatantly both Apple and Google have. So they will ban you off their platforms and stop you going anywhere else. It's a cartel.

You can understand Apple and Google wanting nothing to do with Parler given some of the heinous comments on that site, especially after Wednesday. Still all they have done is stop the app being on their stores. You can still visit Parler from both phones, you just need to use a browser like Safari or Chrome, exactly how I visit this site on my phone. If either party blocked you being able to visit Parler with their browsers you'd have me and the vast majority saying that is completely wrong.
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Sep 2009
Posts
13,967
Location
France, Alsace
Look-up lobbying in America if you think FB/Twitter/Google are the monopolies controlling thought/ government policy.
Dude, thanks for this but I'm well aware of the lobbying that occurs. The difference is that this content is what people are pushing to their eyes all day everyday. I'm not saying this is what is responsible and lobbying isn't... they both are, but this is a newer form to influence joe public's decisions and thoughts.
 
Associate
Joined
23 Dec 2010
Posts
276
Location
Uk
The third/fourth panel makes no sense. If you don't like the government/what they are doing/the laws they are introducing you vote it out.

America had the chance to keep Trump elected so he can implement authoritarian government rules on what private businesses can/cannot host, but the American people rejected him.

Correct, it's more to point out the strawman arguments of these comics to the original person I quoted.
 
Caporegime
OP
Joined
26 Dec 2003
Posts
25,666
It's the double standards that people should be scared of.

When a leftist mob tried to storm the Whitehouse in June the corporate media response was to poke fun at Trump hiding in the basement, because the elected president fearing for his life due to a unruly mob is obviously funny.

When a minority of MAGA supporters do similar it's made out to be a coup, they get erased from the internet, and then the big tech authoritarian monopolies go after smaller competitors like Parler for having the audacity to support the US first amendment right of free speech.
 
Soldato
Joined
21 Jan 2010
Posts
22,434
It's the double standards that people should be scared of.

When a leftist mob tried to storm the Whitehouse in June the corporate media response was to poke fun at Trump hiding in the basement, because the elected president fearing for his life due to a unruly mob is obviously funny.

When a minority of MAGA supporters do similar it's made out to be a coup, they get erased from the internet, and then the big tech authoritarian monopolies go after smaller competitors like Parler for having the audacity to support the US first amendment right of free speech.
Which of Trumps policies are you the biggest fan of?
 
Permabanned
Joined
23 Apr 2014
Posts
23,553
Location
Hertfordshire
It's the double standards that people should be scared of.

When a leftist mob tried to storm the Whitehouse in June the corporate media response was to poke fun at Trump hiding in the basement, because the elected president fearing for his life due to a unruly mob is obviously funny.

When a minority of MAGA supporters do similar it's made out to be a coup, they get erased from the internet, and then the big tech authoritarian monopolies go after smaller competitors like Parler for having the audacity to support the US first amendment right of free speech.

It is and was a coup attempt because the MAGA terrorists believe the baseless conspiracy lies Trump has been touting for weeks with zero credible evidence. He is a dangerous man, his 4 years of lies have created a cultist like following of gullible brainwashed loons, much like yourself.

These traitors to democracy and America have consistently been making up election fraud lies since the election, riling themselves up on social media to steal the election and riling themselves up for violence. All because of Trump.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Jan 2016
Posts
8,776
Location
Oldham
Irrelevant information then, no? I assume your pals, Tom, Dick and Harry are fine and not "forced off grid" as you imply.

I think they ended up going to a smaller bank. But they shouldn't need to do that for having a legal political opinion. They aren't my pals. They are people I know.

If you don't want to have a balanced view of the situation then continue to disregard other peoples experiences and opinions.

Dorsey himself knows there is a problem with moderation on Twitter with conservative views. There is bipartisan support to bring in new more transparent moderation rules. The posts aren't brand damaging. The posts aren't against the rules. The posts aren't against the law. It is someone who as taken a dislike to an opinion and removed removed the person from the platform.

If you can't see that a global communication platform getting involved in debate manipulation then I respect your right to that opinion. But my position is that it is something to be concerned about.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Jan 2016
Posts
8,776
Location
Oldham
You can understand Apple and Google wanting nothing to do with Parler given some of the heinous comments on that site, especially after Wednesday. Still all they have done is stop the app being on their stores. You can still visit Parler from both phones, you just need to use a browser like Safari or Chrome, exactly how I visit this site on my phone. If either party blocked you being able to visit Parler with their browsers you'd have me and the vast majority saying that is completely wrong.

I've never signed up to Parler or visited it. I just know about it through other media. So you frequent these heinous comment places more than me.

The problem is instead of respecting there are different legal opinions we've got companies trying to virtue one up each other, and sadly people thinking that censorship is great. The principle is being set.

If I was the boss of the electricity company that happened to supply the Apple and Google servers and I didn't like what they did, would you support me if I decided to pull their electricity? I'd be a private company too. Do you see where this silliness is going to end up?
 
Back
Top Bottom