Most active commenters
  • brigandish(7)
  • snowwrestler(4)

←back to thread

1444 points feross | 16 comments | | HN request time: 1.477s | source | bottom
Show context
ALittleLight ◴[] No.32641619[source]
I can see how this might backfire. You notice a censored jump and start to feel the itch of curiosity as to what it concealed. I had to watch several of the censored scenes whereas I would have never just randomly watched clips of the show.

Also, love the presentation on this page.

replies(8): >>32642328 #>>32642481 #>>32642563 #>>32643000 #>>32643351 #>>32643643 #>>32644533 #>>32648241 #
andruby ◴[] No.32642481[source]
We (the HN crowd, often living in less-censored societies) would be very curious.

I’d like to know how curious this would make non-HN people, and those living in more censored places.

My assumption is that they take it for granted and just continue to watch the show. It might be hard for them to even find the uncensored clips.

replies(5): >>32643389 #>>32645007 #>>32646115 #>>32646867 #>>32647033 #
lettergram[dead post] ◴[] No.32645007[source]
brigandish ◴[] No.32645224[source]
I think the downvotes you're attracting give some indication for the HN crowd.
replies(4): >>32645308 #>>32645346 #>>32646106 #>>32646123 #
1. snowwrestler ◴[] No.32646123[source]
Not a single one of those stories was suppressed by the government in the U.S., which is what the article details happening in China. In fact many government officials supported and promoted those stories.

Disagreement among private parties, or getting less private promotion than you wanted to get, is not “censorship”. It’s free speech in action.

replies(3): >>32646279 #>>32646312 #>>32649177 #
2. ALittleLight ◴[] No.32646279[source]
The Hunter Biden laptop story wasn't suppressed by the US government? Zuckerberg was on Rogan recently explaining that the FBI told him the story was Russian disinformation and Facebook took that to mean they should suppress the story and they did. Presumably something similar happened to Twitter and possibly other platforms. If memory serves former intelligence officials do go to mainstream media and say the story was fake. In what sense is this not government suppression?
replies(2): >>32646538 #>>32646541 #
3. lettergram ◴[] No.32646312[source]
These are just a handful off the top of my head…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BN3PIGLDscQ

https://twitter.com/alexberenson/status/1558060844549902338

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/FACEBO...

https://nypost.com/2021/07/16/government-dictating-what-soci...

I can keep going, but most of those people who are impacted you don’t hear from due to censorship.

replies(1): >>32646608 #
4. ipython ◴[] No.32646538[source]
Good lord. If the government was so committed to “suppressing” those stories as you claim, they were awfully bad at it, as anyone who ever wanted to learn about them certainly won’t shut up about it. And I don’t see black helicopters anywhere picking you up to some secret prison.

Unlike the ccp example here, where I would say they do have a great handle on what can and cannot be discussed on any public platform and dissenters are most definitely threatened with if not actually subjected to physical force.

replies(1): >>32649217 #
5. snowwrestler ◴[] No.32646541[source]
In the sense that the government did not suppress it. The NY Post ran the story with zero legal consequences and people in the U.S. have published and spoken continuously about it from then until now.
replies(1): >>32649191 #
6. snowwrestler ◴[] No.32646608[source]
Always funny when people link to publicly available content in order to demonstrate that it is being censored.
replies(2): >>32646797 #>>32647192 #
7. lettergram ◴[] No.32646797{3}[source]
Censorship doesn't mean you cannot reach data; it's a suppression of speech (which Zuckerberg, Dorsey, and Youtube admitted to censoring publicly). https://www.britannica.com/topic/censorship

> censorship, the changing or the suppression or prohibition of speech or writing that is deemed subversive of the common good. It occurs in all manifestations of authority to some degree, but in modern times it has been of special importance in its relation to government and the rule of law.

8. Banana699 ◴[] No.32647192{3}[source]
Not as funny as when people link to publicly available content in order to demonstrate China is banning it.
9. brigandish ◴[] No.32649177[source]
> Not a single one of those stories was suppressed by the government in the U.S.

How long were the FBI in possession of Hunter Biden's laptop, why is Mark Zuckerberg trying to blame them for the censorship of the NY Post's story, and do you consider the FBI to be part of the government?

replies(1): >>32650162 #
10. brigandish ◴[] No.32649191{3}[source]
Should we applaud the government for finding lackeys to help them avoid the letter of the law but not the spirit?
11. brigandish ◴[] No.32649217{3}[source]
> If the government was so committed to “suppressing”

There's no need for quotes around suppressing as it was suppressed, objectively.

> they were awfully bad at it

It was done to sway an election, which went the way was desired, and without any legal blowback. That is not being "awfully bad at it".

> as anyone who ever wanted to learn about them certainly won’t shut up about it.

But at the time and when it was most important people were shut up regardless of whether they wanted to be.

replies(1): >>32649887 #
12. ipython ◴[] No.32649887{4}[source]
I was there at the time and I was very aware of the story. At no point was it difficult to learn more. References to the story were posted everywhere. Anyone who wanted to be aware of it was aware and could easily read it.

Again, if you are somehow equating this hunter biden story with the censorship of, say, tiannamen square by the ccp, I encourage you to visit china and research the subject. Compare the efforts you mentioned were used to suppress the hunter biden story with what is outlined here, for example: https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/03/a-look-at-the-many-ways-ch... and you will see how awfully bad the us gov is at censorship.

If the government was so concerned about trump as you say, then why did the same fbi re open an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server just weeks before the 2016 election?

Actually, tell you what, if you believe that the efforts to censor the hunter biden laptop story and tiannamen square are equivalent, I will make a bet. I will pay to print up two shirts: one with “hunter biden is a criminal” and a QR code to the New York post article. The other will say “remember June 5, 1989” with a QR code to the Wikipedia article titled “tank man”.

Wear both shirts in public outside the US capitol and take selfies. Then wear both shirts out in Beijing. Hell just try to get through customs wearing the June 5 shirt and let me know how that goes. I’ll pay for the shirts.

replies(1): >>32658694 #
13. snowwrestler ◴[] No.32650162[source]
Zuck is trying to blame the FBI to draw attention away from the fact that it was his company that decided to limit the sharing of that story.

The government tells publishers all the time not to print things. The decision is up to the publishers. That’s free speech.

What do you think the government said when the Washington Post called them up and said “we have a bunch of top-secret stuff that one of your contractors stole from the NSA”? The Post published the Snowden stories anyway. This sort of thing happens a lot.

Many people posted and talked about the Hunter laptop story. None of those people went to jail for it.

replies(1): >>32658731 #
14. brigandish ◴[] No.32658694{5}[source]
> I was there at the time and I was very aware of the story.

Your ability to know about a story does not tell us whether the wider population knew.

> At no point was it difficult to learn more.

And yet it was actively suppressed. I also wonder what topic you couldn't claim that for?

> Again, if you are somehow equating this hunter biden story with the censorship of, say, tiannamen square by the ccp

I didn't use that example, perhaps it was used further up. Regardless, equating is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Comparing would be a better fit. Yes, all instances of censorship can be compared simply because they are censorship.

> you will see how awfully bad the us gov is at censorship

Are you suggesting that we shouldn't be worried about this censorship because the government is bad at it compared to the Chinese government? That's not going to fly. I also think the obvious slippery slope here would be hard to characterise as fallacious, given we're provided with both ends of the slope, and in actual fact, the US is not at the top of the slope.

> If the government was so concerned about trump as you say, then why did the same fbi re open an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server just weeks before the 2016 election?

The government is not of one mind, it is made up of many departments, groups and individuals, each with their own attitudes, desires and intentions. Regardless, how am I supposed to answer that? Or more to the point, what kind of answer would satisfy you?

> if you believe that the efforts to censor the hunter biden laptop story and tiannamen square are equivalent

Did you mean to reply to me?

> I will make a bet

I skipped this as it was childish and unhelpful, and only builds on the straw man (intentional or not) that you are building.

15. brigandish ◴[] No.32658731{3}[source]
> Zuck is trying to blame the FBI to draw attention away from the fact that it was his company that decided to limit the sharing of that story.

That may well be true.

> The government tells publishers all the time not to print things. The decision is up to the publishers. That’s free speech.

If the mafia offer your business protection you could also make your own decision. Would that be freedom of conscience?

> What do you think the government said when the Washington Post called them up and said “we have a bunch of top-secret stuff that one of your contractors stole from the NSA”? The Post published the Snowden stories anyway. This sort of thing happens a lot.

Why does that incident mean that this incident is different? Were the same people involved?

> Many people posted and talked about the Hunter laptop story. None of those people went to jail for it.

Would people need to go to jail for the aims of the censor to be realised?

So many questions, so few answers.

replies(1): >>32685919 #
16. brigandish ◴[] No.32685919{4}[source]
In the last 24 hours[1]:

> The email, which was recently disclosed during discovery in a federal lawsuit that Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed in May, vividly illustrates how the Biden administration engages in censorship by proxy, pressuring social media platforms to implement speech restrictions that would be flagrantly unconstitutional if the government tried to impose them directly. Landry and Schmitt, both Republicans, argue that such pressure violates the First Amendment.

> Judging from the examples that Schmitt cites, the tenor of these communications has been cordial and collaborative. The social media companies are at pains to show that they share the government's goals, which is precisely the problem. Given the broad powers that the federal government has to make life difficult for these businesses through public criticism, litigation, regulation, and legislation, the Biden administration's "asks" for stricter moderation are tantamount to commands. The administration expects obsequious compliance, and that is what it gets.

[1] https://reason.com/2022/09/01/these-emails-show-how-the-bide...